Government Operations Committee on March 24th, 2021

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

—and that's what I care about.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Perfect.

I just have one last, quick question for you. On January 8, you stated, “we need to be able to show to the vaccine companies that Canada is indeed following the instructions that a second dose be administered in a certain time frame.” We're now hearing, through the government, of a four-month delay for the second dose.

How do you reconcile those two comments: one, that you want to stick to what the vaccine companies are saying; and now, that it's okay to wait four months?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I have to clarify that the four-month regime and the changes to the dosage regime is not a federal government message. It's coming from the NACI, which is a separate committee of experts. So, I stand to differ from what you're saying.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

But it is through the federal government, though, Minister.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you.

We'll now go to Mr. Drouin for five minutes.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Thanks, Minister.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the minister for appearing before us.

Minister, I also want to talk about vaccine procurement. I'm an MP from Ontario, as you know, and I come from where the sunshine rises in Ontario—far, far east.

We know Ontario has over 570,000 doses in its possession right now. In January and February you reiterated on multiple occasions that Canada would get at least six million vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. Despite the fearmongering from opposition members, you reiterated on multiple occasions there would be no reason to believe our vaccine suppliers would not respect their contractual obligations.

Recently the AstraZeneca vaccine was approved in Canada, and you were able to secure over 500,000 doses prior to March 31 through Covishield. How were you able to do that? Could you explain to this committee the relationships you have with various vaccine suppliers?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I want to point to the fact that because of our negotiations—and I am involved in these negotiations—we have been able to increase the number of doses that Canadians will receive this quarter by 3.5 million. This is as a result of, first, the agreement with the Serum Institute of India. Second, Pfizer agreed to accelerate 1.5 million doses from the second quarter to the first quarter as a result of our aggressive negotiations. Third, we have negotiated with the U.S. government for the delivery of 1.5 million AstraZeneca doses, which should arrive in Canada very shortly.

How do we do that? Because we are aggressive at the table. We want to make sure we have earlier and earlier doses for Canadians. We did that with Moderna prior to the holidays. We did that with Pfizer before the holidays and again in this quarter, and we did that with the Serum Institute and the U.S. government.

Our approach is that we will not stop negotiating aggressively to continue to see doses arriving in Canada. That's why we're going to see 36.5 million doses prior to Canada Day and 118 million doses from approved suppliers alone prior to the end of September, and we have another vaccine in rolling review with Health Canada—that's Novavax.

All in all, Mr. Chair, our diversified portfolio of vaccines continues to serve Canadians well. We did not bank on one vaccine from any one country. We put our eggs in multiple baskets, contrary to what the opposition continually says. We diversified our approach and can continue to serve Canadians with vaccines coming from multiple countries and multiple locations and multiple suppliers.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you, Minister.

I keep hearing this often, sometimes on the news, that Canada does not have a diversified portfolio. For this committee, can you repeat the multiple contracts that we have engaged in with the various vaccine suppliers?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

It really is my privilege to be able to do this because the [Technical difficulty—Editor] these contracts and the continual negotiations that we are undertaking every day need to be mentioned. In addition, I will specify that we have a contract with Moderna for 44 million doses, with Pfizer for 40 million doses, with J&J for 10 million doses—that's a single-shot vaccine. We have a contract with Novavax for 52 million doses; Sanofi, 52 million doses; AstraZeneca, 22 million doses; two million doses from the Serum Institute; and Medicago, 20 million doses.

That is quite a diversified portfolio, Mr. Chair. We will continue to draw down on the contractual negotiations we entered into, recognizing the importance of getting vaccines into Canada as quickly as possible. It is the most important thing I have done in my professional life, and I will not rest until it's done.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you, Ms. Anand.

Now we'll go to Ms. Vignola, for two and a half minutes.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you very much.

I have a lot of questions. I always ask questions to understand better. I'm not playing petty politics or being partisan in committee. I'm here for the taxpayers.

Yes, the question about the average cost of vaccines is appropriate, because it allows the public to know whether or not our vaccines are reasonably priced compared to the rest of the world, and whether it would be more cost-effective to manufacture them here. So, yes, this question is appropriate

I didn't appreciate being told that a question was not appropriate when I was asking it in the interest of the taxpayers, who pay for each of us here. In short, the message has been sent and it is on record.

Having said that, in the new budget, $6.1 million is allocated to the administration and data integrity of the public service pension plan.

First, that was not in the other three parts of the budget. Second, are we talking about data integrity because we are currently concerned about the data in our public servants' pension plans?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I referenced VIDO-InterVac, and I'll clarify that it is located in Saskatchewan, not Alberta. I would also like to clarify that I did not refer to your question in any derogatory manner. My point is that I need to respect the terms of the contract and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment as a result. I have the greatest respect for you as a parliamentarian, and I would not call your question inappropriate at all.

In response to your question—

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

I want to make it clear that you are not the one who said that my question was not appropriate. I have a great deal of respect for you.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

To your question about the $6.1 million figure to support public service pension funding, we are still involved in ensuring that the Phoenix pay system ensures that people are paid accurately and on time. We are continually ensuring that the backlog is reduced. We need that funding for data maintenance, for off-cycle funding and to ensure the integrity of the pension system and the data contained in that system.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you.

We'll now go to Mr. Green, for two and a half minutes.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Honourable Minister, what impact if any does a risk-based pilot project add to streamline the defence procurements? What impact has it had on the national shipbuilding strategy?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Let me be clear that under our government, we are seeing ships coming into the water under the national shipbuilding strategy. That's the first point we have to remember: Ships are getting in the water as a result of our management of the NSS.

In addition, the NSS has been able to benefit from the work the shipyards have done over the years. The risk-based approach that our team put in place is not just for general matters. It's for every single contract negotiation we enter into with the shipyards.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

That's perfect. Let's talk about that, because the surface combatant ship program has gone from $26 billion to almost $80 billion. I'm wondering what responsibility you will take as the minister involved in this procurement for 15 type 26 ships, which is closing in on $80 billion and includes delays. How are you going to get that under control?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I will start off by saying that your question and the PBO's report are very important for ensuring that we remain accountable to the Canadian taxpayer and to Parliament. That is extremely important to me.

I will say—

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Could I ask, please, which estimate do you take into your risk analysis, the Parliamentary Budget Officer's or that of the Ministry of National Defence?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I will simply say that the Parliamentary Budget Office amount is the amount that we are cognizant of, that we are following. I will ask my deputy minister to emphasize any points I have left out.

[Bill Matthews]

There are a couple of points to raise. Number one, the risk-based approach results in fewer trips to Treasury Board where warranted, so it does make efficiencies inside government.

On the second part of the question, related to the Parliamentary Budget Officer's numbers, these are projections. There is always room for differences of opinion in terms of future costs and a long-term project. Our numbers—

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Then you're not including the taxes in your estimates.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you.