Mr. Chair, the Deputy Prime Minister told the House last week that she holds former Liberal MP Irwin Cotler in high regard after he blamed Communist China for the scale and spread of COVID-19. Mr. Cotler also likened Beijing's cover-up to the Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union. As well, the Deputy Prime Minister agreed that democracies are more transparent and accountable than totalitarian governments.
Why then has Ottawa not joined Australia and other democracies in calling for an investigation of Beijing's reporting of COVID-19?