Foreign Affairs Committee on April 25th, 2022

[Kiersten Combs]

I asked for the indemnification clause on the Vaxzevria contract with Canada, to be clear—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

We were told by a previous witness who's affiliated with Gavi that industry representatives asked for indemnification clauses as part of contracts for the global distribution of vaccines. Why?

[Kiersten Combs]

I think that indemnification clauses, in all of my time in the pharmaceutical industry, are a standard part of contracting. With regard to the specific details you talk about, I don't have the knowledge to answer.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I don't.... I wonder if Mr. Paquette can come in on that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

I'm sorry, Mr. Genuis; we'll have to leave it there. Thanks very much.

Mr. Ehsassi, you are next, please, for two minutes.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to share my time with MP Vandenbeld.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you very much.

I'd like to ask a question that hasn't come up yet.

We know that right now, certainly in the global south, testing and treatment are becoming vitally important. In terms of treatment, the antivirals—I'm looking at Paxlovid and some of the others—are becoming very important. I'm not a scientist, but there seems to be some anecdotal evidence that this could also be effective in terms of long COVID.

We're looking at a pandemic right now, but we know that the debilitating long-term effects of COVID are still not known and there will need to be treatments for that as well. Are you putting any money and research into antivirals and into long COVID? How do you see this as being something that could help in terms of the global south and where the pandemic is going next?

Could we have Pfizer first, please?

[Fabien Paquette]

Thank you for the question.

We are investing significantly in looking at further options. We have Paxlovid, as you mentioned, which is an important treatment that is available right now around the world. Of course, we need to continue the research. We need to look at other studies to see what the impact of Paxlovid will be on long COVID.

As we're doing this, we are also continuing some research to see if there is anything else that could be used eventually to address the long COVID issues.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Would AstraZeneca also be interested in doing research for this?

[Kiersten Combs]

As I talked about in my opening statement, we are in the process of making available a long-acting antibody for the prevention of COVID in patients who don't mount an immune response to the vaccine, which I think is really important for an untreated population today. The commitment to longer-term development in this space is something that AstraZeneca is doing.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Vandenbeld.

Colleagues, on our collective behalf, I'd like to thank our witnesses from the second panel for being—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, if we have until 1:15, you might find consent from the committee for every party to have another 90 seconds.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

I know some colleagues have advised me that they have obligations, but is there unanimous consent for another 90-second round per member?

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

No.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

My understanding is that adjournment is by consent of a majority. You don't need unanimous consent to prolong—

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

If we can trigger a majority to extend, that's certainly within the will of the committee. I don't know whether there is.

We do have another point of business that I am hoping to get the committee's agreement on.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I suspect that there's a will from the majority of the committee for every party to have another 90 seconds.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Can we do a quick thumbs-up or thumbs-down for 90 seconds per member?

I see two...three...four thumbs-down. Monsieur Bergeron has to leave as well, I think.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

I do, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Okay, thank you.

That's the way we shape the will of the committee. Thank you for the suggestion.

Colleagues, let me thank the witnesses on our collective behalf.

Ms. Combs, thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Paquette.

Thank you for being with us. Thank you for your work and your expertise this afternoon.

Colleagues, there are two things. One is a point of information as we let our witnesses disconnect. The analysts are going to circulate, through the clerk, a proposal for committee travel. There's a deadline on Friday. Submissions at the top level have to be brought to the liaison committee if the committee wishes to travel from the end of June through September and October. They will prepare that for discussion and potential approval on Thursday.

The other thing I need is a motion and agreement from the committee to hear the delegation from Tibet, which we have been advised of through the vice-chairs. I think there is unanimous consent, as far as I can tell, to have that meeting. We need a formal motion and approval for the clerk to be able to organize that meeting.

Can somebody bring that motion?

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

I move that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you, Mr. Chong. It is so moved.

Is there any opposition?

(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

We have agreement on that, colleagues.

Thank you very much.

Go ahead, Mr. Chong.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

I have a question: What committee travel have you already proposed?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

No committee travel has been proposed at this time, but a trip to Eastern Europe may be in the cards. There are other options as well.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Okay. You're going to come to us with proposals for that at some future date.