Evidence of meeting #12 for COVID-19 Pandemic in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was report.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

12:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Anthony Rota

We'll now go on to Mr. Singh.

12:40 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

The conditions of seniors as outlined by the military were appalling, but seniors need more than just compassionate words. They need action. Will the Prime Minister stop hiding behind excuses and actually show leadership to fix long-term care?

12:40 p.m.

Liberal

Justin Trudeau Liberal Papineau, QC

Mr. Chair, the Constitution of Canada is not an excuse. It lays out the divisions of powers and responsibilities, and we respect the provinces' jurisdiction over long-term care facilities. However, from the very beginning, we have indicated our willingness to support the provinces on this very important issue. We need to make sure our seniors right across the country are properly cared for, which is why we sent in the military and why we are there to help the provinces.

12:40 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

The former federal health minister, Dr. Philpott, said, “We need to stop using jurisdiction as an excuse to not have federal leadership.” That is a former federal health minister. Now, we know from the military report that staff were afraid to use vital equipment because of the cost. Will the Prime Minister call for an end to profit in long-term care?

12:40 p.m.

Liberal

Justin Trudeau Liberal Papineau, QC

Mr. Chair, over the past couple of days I've had very good conversations with the premiers of both Quebec and Ontario on this important issue. I look forward to discussing issues around long-term care with all the premiers of the provinces and territories tomorrow evening as well. This is something that Canadians have seen needs concerted action. We will be there to support the provinces.

12:40 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

Needles were reused and expired medication was used, according to military reports. Will the Prime Minister call for an end to profit in the care of our seniors?

12:40 p.m.

Liberal

Justin Trudeau Liberal Papineau, QC

Mr. Chair, the contents of that report were deeply disturbing and troubling for all Canadians. That is why we are committed to working with the provinces to fix this situation. Ontarians and indeed people right across the country are deeply preoccupied by what they've seen going on. We need to fix this, and we will do that together.

12:40 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

The military report found that cockroaches and flies were present and that food was rotten.

Will the Prime Minister call for national standards so that long-term care is governed by the same principles as the Canada Health Act?

12:40 p.m.

Liberal

Justin Trudeau Liberal Papineau, QC

Mr. Chair, our priority right now is ensuring that we are supporting the provinces in their need to make sure that all seniors are protected right across the country in all those institutions.

Going forward, we absolutely will need to have more conversations about how we can ensure that every senior across the country is properly supported.

12:40 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

The military report found that “respecting the dignity of patients was not a priority”.

Will the Prime Minister call for national standards and for long-term care to be governed by the same principles as the Canada Health Act?

12:40 p.m.

Liberal

Justin Trudeau Liberal Papineau, QC

Mr. Chair, all Canadians know we need to do better by our seniors. This is something we all take very seriously, and all orders of government will work together to make sure that right now, and going forward, we improve our systems. The federal government will be there to work with the provinces on making that happen.

12:40 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

Mr. Chair, the Prime Minister has said that he's willing to work with the provinces. I'm saying that we need to see federal leadership. We need a commitment at the federal level that the Prime Minister will push for things that people need, which is to remove profit from long-term care and to establish national standards.

Will the Prime Minister go beyond working with provinces and show some leadership?

12:40 p.m.

Liberal

Justin Trudeau Liberal Papineau, QC

Mr. Chair, I will always be here to stand up for Canadians in all different situations. We are going to work with the provinces, fully respecting jurisdictions, to make sure that, all across the country, Canadians in long-term care are supported as required and receive the services and the care they deserve.

12:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Anthony Rota

Mr. Singh, we have 30 seconds. Ask a brief question, please.

12:40 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

Thank you very much.

The COVID-19 crisis should not be used as an excuse to avoid presenting solutions to the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls committee, in particular by delaying action on the calls for justice. This is the same government that would not recognize it as a genocide, the same government that delayed the United Nations declaration legislation and the same government that is still taking indigenous kids to court.

Will this government commit to core funding for indigenous services to help women and girls and ensure that the calls for justice are implemented without delay?

12:45 p.m.

Liberal

Justin Trudeau Liberal Papineau, QC

Mr. Chair, we continue to work very closely with partners on the calls for justice even as we act in many areas, including better funding for shelters and for victims of domestic violence. We will continue to work with those partners, but people will understand that many of those partners are very focused right now on helping front-line workers, not on establishing the report. We will continue to work with them on the report, but the COVID-19 situation has made that more difficult.

12:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Anthony Rota

I want to thank the honourable members who are shouting “time”, but I do have a timer here, and I am taking care of it. I appreciate the help, but I do want to remind them that I have the proper machinery here.

We will now go to Mr. Bezan.

12:45 p.m.

Conservative

James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB

Thank you, Chair.

My question is to the Prime Minister. He was just talking about the tragic conditions in long-term care facilities in Ontario, and there was a report out from Quebec today.

I want to commend the Canadian Armed Forces for witnessing these appalling conditions, putting it in the context of a report, and providing care to our loved ones in these long-term care facilities.

The government is saying they didn't receive the report from the department until May 22, but this report came out on May 14. What happened to that report for eight days?

12:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Anthony Rota

We will go to the honourable minister.

We seem to have a technical issue, Mr. Sajjan. We can't hear you. You might want to put down your bar and keep it down while you're speaking.

12:45 p.m.

Vancouver South B.C.

Liberal

Harjit S. Sajjan LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Chair, I want to thank our Canadian Armed Forces members for the tremendous work they are doing. They did their duty, noted down their observations and reported them.

While those observations were being reported directly to the managers, a report was being compiled. This report was given to me on the 21st. I then forwarded it to the Minister of Public Safety on the 22nd, and that report was then given to the provincial authorities very quickly afterwards.

12:45 p.m.

Conservative

James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB

I trust that you got the report on the 21st, but the report was written on the 14th, so what happened with that report for seven days? Why wasn't it acted upon? Could you just explain that? Our loved ones were at risk during that entire time.

12:45 p.m.

Liberal

Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC

Mr. Chair, as we stated, this report was done and given up through the chain of command, and the appropriate leadership did their due diligence. Once we received this report, it was forwarded to the appropriate authorities.

Again, I want to commend our Canadian Armed Forces members for not only the tremendous work they are doing but also for doing their duty.

12:45 p.m.

Conservative

James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB

That report from Ontario documented appalling conditions, horrific care that was being given to the clients, and also the way that the staff conducted themselves.

We know that there are 39 members of the Canadian Armed Forces currently infected with COVID-19. Minister, do you believe that the infection could have been transmitted from staff to our soldiers serving in long-term care facilities because proper protocols were not being followed?

12:45 p.m.

Liberal

Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC

Mr. Chair, when it comes to any type of activities that we send our Canadian Armed Forces on, we do our due diligence to make sure that we have the right protocols in place and the appropriate training.

This is why we have taken the time to make sure our folks not only did the appropriate training but had the appropriate equipment. We have the right protocols in place, and we will make sure that our members who are infected by COVID will get the appropriate treatment as well.

12:45 p.m.

Conservative

James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB

Does the Minister of National Defence believe that our soldiers serving in Operation Laser, who have put themselves in harm's way in battling the COVID virus as a war, deserve to have hazard pay benefits?