Evidence of meeting #22 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was vaccines.
A video is available from Parliament.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
Anita Anand Liberal Oakville, ON
I will say that from my understanding, the money is going to research and labs, such as VIDO-InterVac in Alberta.
I'll ask my deputy to clarify the $600 million. Again, this is a lead from ISED, not PSPC.
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
No, I appreciate that. It would be nice to know, though, if they're going to some of our world-class post-secondary education.... I look at McMaster and the work that's coming out of there on leading pharmaceutical research. I'm wondering if they would be a part of that $600-million investment.
March 24th, 2021 / 5:20 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Chair, I think it would be best if those questions were directed to the National Research Council and ISED as the responsible ministry.
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Well, that was a waste of about 45 seconds.
Can I ask whether Sanofi has been involved in any preliminary negotiations for the domestic production of vaccines?
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
Anita Anand Liberal Oakville, ON
Again, in terms of lead, I personally am not involved at all in any of those negotiations. That is François-Philippe Champagne. I believe he is reaching out to various vaccine suppliers in order to continue the discussions regarding domestic production. That's why we have an MOU with Novavax, for example, that he announced.
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Okay. So there's $120 million going into public-kept IP. Right? We've put a bunch of money through the NRC to create the foundational science for a lot of the [Technical difficulty—Editor] $35 a pop.
There's $600 million going out to the private sector; we're not quite sure. People don't want to comment on that. There's no clear understanding, from your department's perspective, early on about whether or not there are earmarked facilities in place to have the capability of domestic production.
Is that what I'm hearing here today? And you wouldn't have that information?
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
Anita Anand Liberal Oakville, ON
—two things? The first thing I want to clarify is that it's not that I don't “want” to comment. My lead is on the vaccine contracts with international suppliers. ISED's lead is domestic production. Your questions relate to domestic production. Therefore, they should be given to François-Philippe Champagne and his department.
The second point I will make is that we do have an APA with Medicago, which is based in Quebec, for the provision of 20 million vaccines. In addition, we have up to an additional 56 million options with Medicago. That was a contract that we worked on with ISED.
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Would you care, at this point in time, to kind of re-establish the difference between a sale and an option? You'll recall, Minister, that we had a lengthy discussion. You assured us that we'd be front of the line. It turned out not to be the case. Many of the options that were in this world-class diversity of portfolio of vaccines didn't materialize until there were diplomatic interventions, which you've touted here today.
I'm wondering if you could just be clear with Canadians in terms of what's outstanding and how much of them are actual sale contracts versus remaining options in terms of what's been expected.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
Anita Anand Liberal Oakville, ON
Sure. I'll be very clear with Canadians. We were one of the first countries to sign with Pfizer, one of the first countries to sign with Moderna, one of the first countries to be—
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
Anita Anand Liberal Oakville, ON
—we were able to have vaccinations beginning in Canada in December.
In terms of your hesitation regarding our portfolio, I think the reference to it not being world-class is misguided. We do have a world-class portfolio, with the most—
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
How did some of those original ones get cancelled if they were hard sales? I still don't understand that.
5:20 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Robert Gordon Kitchen
Thank you, Minister.
We'll now go to the second round.
We'll start with Mr. McCauley for five minutes.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Minister, welcome back.
You obviously saw the New York Times article about the EU emergency legislation to prevent exports for a six-week period. How is that going to affect us, please?
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
Anita Anand Liberal Oakville, ON
Well, thank you for the welcome back, and thank you for the question.
You will note that we are continuing to receive vaccines from the EU—
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
I didn't ask whether we're continuing to receive. How is this going to affect Canada? Canadians deserve to know and the provinces deserve to know how that six-week emergency legislation will affect us and our numbers delivered, please.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
Anita Anand Liberal Oakville, ON
If I could finish the answer that I started, it would be very much appreciated.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
I would like an answer. That would be wonderful. Thank you.