COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 9th, 2020

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Chair, the question here is that we have a government that won't apologize and won't move forward.

When the Prime Minister said that systemic racism is “the result of systems which far too often condone, normalize, perpetrate, and perpetuate inequality and injustice against people of colour”, was he referring to his leadership of the country?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Waterloo, ON]

Madam Chair, our government has taken the approach to invest in an anti-racism strategy. We have set up the anti-racism secretariat and we did that by working with Canadians from coast to coast to coast, including racialized Canadians and black Canadians.

Our approach is very different from the previous government's approach. We acknowledge that there is a—

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

We will go to Mr. Kmiec.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madame Chair, all of my questions are for the health minister.

Testing for the presence of antibodies would be a great help for businesses and citizens in our country in making wise judgements about their lives, about their businesses and about their livelihoods. Antibody testing can tell us the percentage of Canadians who have been infected with the virus and the percentage of Canadians who remain susceptible to future infections.

Why is it taking so long for Health Canada to approve new tests?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I am thrilled to talk about the work of the national immunity task force, which our government has been supporting in its development and start-up. These are national scientists who are coming together to ensure that we have a robust scientific approach to understanding immunity and the prevalence of COVID-19 in Canadian society.

Of course we're working very closely with the task force to understand what their needs are and to make sure they have the equipment and the resources necessary—

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Go ahead, Mr. Kmiec.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Chair, Health Canada has only approved two serology tests, according to my count, and the U.S. FDA has approved 15. Why is there a difference between the two countries?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, it's extremely important that any testing devices, equipment and approaches that are approved by Health Canada be verified to the utmost accuracy. We have seen other jurisdictions loosen approval processes and then backtrack because the tests flooding the market were providing inaccurate responses.

It is extremely difficult and dangerous to have—

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

We will go back to Mr. Kmiec.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Chair, there are 22 serological testing devices—

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Mr. Falk has a point of order.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Madam Chair, I have noticed in the last several questions that you have allotted three times more time for the answer than you have for the question.

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

I am trying to get answers to the questions being asked, and sometimes an answer is a little longer than the question being asked. I am trying to get answers for the members. I will let Mr. Kmiec determine if I have been lacking in fairness.

Go ahead, Mr. Kmiec.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I thank Mr. Falk, my colleague, for standing up for my rights as a member.

There are 21 serological devices that are still awaiting approval from Health Canada. What is the estimated timeline for their approval?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, each test has a different length of time for approval, depending on the manufacturer's compliance with the information that's requested from them to ensure that we can run the appropriate tests.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Under the interim order with respect to the importation and sale of medical devices for use in relation to COVID-19, a post-market authorization condition is placed on every serological test approved for use in Canada. There are two approved tests for use in Canada. The requirement of the order that the minister signed is that two weeks after approval, companies have to start providing information—data and evidence—on their use in Canada.

Does the minister have that information and can she share it with this committee?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I am happy to report that there are 22 test kits now and two serological tests, as the member notes, available for use in Canada.

I will get the information to him. I do not have it in hand.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Will the minister table that evidence with the committee?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I will follow up with the minister's office for the information that the member is requesting.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Chair, I will table it with the committee the moment I receive the email, and I will send it to the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and to you, Madam Chair, as the chair of the committee of the whole.

I have one more series of questions on antibody testing, because it's so important for my province of Alberta.

How many tests does the government expect to administer over the next three months?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I think the immunity task force has set its sights on 10,000 across the country in its initial approach. Those studies are being conducted in a very precise approach to try to understand the prevalence of infection, not just among Canadians in each province but among different kinds—

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

We will go back to Mr. Kmiec.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

That number of 10,000 comes from a test that will begin with an online questionnaire that will be sent out to 10,000 Canadians through the Angus Reid Forum. It's not actually antibody testing at this point, so I'm going to repeat my question: How many tests does the government expect to administer over the next three months?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I'll correct the member. The government is not administering the tests. The tests will be administered through the immunity task force in partnership with provinces and territories that have the capacity to analyze the tests.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Will the federal government be doing antibody testing on any of the members of the public service, including the RCMP and military personnel?