Health Committee on Feb. 5th, 2021

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I would very much like to respond to this question first by saying that the release of the AstraZeneca contract by the European Union occurred after a negotiation, and AstraZeneca itself agreed to the release of that contract.

Furthermore, the redactions are so intense in that AstraZeneca contract that no delivery schedules are included. That's quite unlike the transparency that the Government of Canada is providing. In fact, we do provide our delivery schedules, good and bad, so the provinces and territories can plan.

Do you understand the point that it's been negotiated that the contract can be released? I and the government do not wish to breach our confidentiality obligations under contract. We all want vaccines as soon as possible, and I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize that.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

AstraZeneca agreed to release the contract. It is true that certain parts were redacted, but we can still see that the doses are being delivered on a monthly basis. All we have here, in Canada, are quarterly deliveries, which hugely complicate planning.

Once AstraZeneca's vaccine has been approved, can you tell us whether our contract with the drug maker will provide for monthly deliveries as well?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

As I said, I am under confidentiality provisions regarding those contracts, as is the Government of Canada, but AstraZeneca has not even been approved in this country, and we are making sure we accelerate deliveries on a quarterly basis for that vaccine and all others once regulatory approval occurs.

I would sincerely and respectfully ask that you do not put words in my mouth. I am providing facts to the Canadian public as I see them and read them in our contracts. I want to be clear with Canadians that we do not provide them with misinformation.

Thank you.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

I want to believe you, Minister, because I know you are doing your best.

Nevertheless, the information Canadians and the media do have shows that, when it comes to negotiating contracts, Canada got off to a very bad start. People have real concerns about when they are going to be vaccinated.

I think I'm out of time, Mr. Chair.

Thank you.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I hope I'll be able to respond to that.

We have 1.4 million vaccines in this country. We have vaccines arriving this week: Friday, Wednesday and again this weekend. We are going to have shipments coming into Canada. The most important thing is that the temporary reduction that we saw last week is not going to continue. We are going to see a continual ramp-up of vaccines arriving in this country in Q1 and a very steep incline in Q2.

I would like to suggest, to the provinces and territories especially, that the ramp-up is something we are talking about and telling you about now, and we would very much like to work with you and provide supplies, etc., in order that the planning for that mass vaccination campaign can begin in earnest. That's our commitment to Canadians.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Paul-Hus.

We will go now to Mr. Van Bynen for five minutes.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister Anand, before asking my question, I will allow you to answer your questions, not because of Standing Order 16(2), or Standing Order 48(2), or Standing Order 18 or Standing Order 11, but out of respect and courtesy for your professional advice you're providing this group.

I also want to put an end to some of this armchair contract speculation. As a banker of over 30 years I believe the transparency in your business dealings is extremely important, but so is respecting confidentiality, particularly when it comes to intellectual property and commercial contracts. Whether in the House or in committees, the opposition keeps asking for details of the vaccine contracts to be released.

Minister, we all have a common goal: to get Canadians vaccinated through this pandemic. Would releasing a contract improve the availability of Canadians' access to this vaccine any sooner?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

At the outset I will say I too believe in the utmost professionalism when testifying at committee or appearing in the House of Commons. It's one of the reasons I entered politics, to ensure that we have proper discourse.

The release of contracts is something that I can understand Canadians and the opposition wanting, given that I too believe in transparency and accountability. I have been raising this issue with the vaccine suppliers. At the same time, we are obliged to respect the terms of our contracts. There are two parties to a contract. It's a bilateral deal. As a result, I cannot unilaterally decide to release a contract. It needs to be something that both parties agree upon, and at this point in time it would be imprudent and illegal for me to release those contracts.

To the point of your question—would it provide greater clarity?—as I said, those vaccine contracts contain quarterly delivery timelines, which we have mentioned are the end of March for Pfizer and Moderna for four million and two million doses, respectively. The part of this negotiation with the vaccine suppliers that we are making clear is these estimated delivery schedules that naturally shift given the ramp-up that is occurring in the supply chain at their production facilities.

We will continue to provide information to Canadians on whether it is positive or negative. Unfortunately, last week involved negative news, but we still provided it. This week we are seeing a ramp-up in the deliveries coming to Canada, and that is going to continue to steadily incline. We will also share that information with Canadians in the interests of transparency and accountability.

To go back to the point about what else we are doing, weekly we hold transparency or technical briefings with officials. Major-General Dany Fortin and the other officials attend to answer Canadians' questions, which is in addition to our appearances at these committees and in the House of Commons.

We will continue to be as clear and accountable to Canadians as possible. It is our commitment as a government.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

I have one other question. Has anyone else published weekly or quarterly schedules for delivery?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

The answer is no. To my knowledge, we are the only country publishing delivery schedules. Therefore I think the implication that we are not being transparent is incorrect. We are providing as much information regarding deliveries as we get. As soon as I received the information on a Thursday night that the Pfizer plant was undergoing a ramp-up that involved reduced deliveries to Canada, I came before Canadians on Friday morning. It's my commitment to provide information to Canadians as soon as I get it, and it's our commitment as a government to provide that information to provinces and territories. The contracts do not contain delivery schedules on a week-to-week basis and therefore are not the main item that Canadians think they are.

Thank you.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Minister, in addition to the vaccines, part of your role during this pandemic is procuring PPEs.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Actually, you're out of time. I'm sorry.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

All right. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Van Bynen, thank you.

We go now to—

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Can I have 10 seconds to respond?

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

No. It's my turn.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

It is Ms. Rempel Garner's turn.

Minister, I would suggest you might respond at some other opportunity.

Ms. Rempel Garner, please go ahead for five minutes.

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

The minister said she is releasing the delivery schedules as soon as they get them, so I'm assuming they've negotiated quarterly delivery timelines, but they don't actually know how many they're getting from week to week—if that's what she meant by that comment.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Is there a question there?

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

I think it was pretty clear. Anyway, I won't litigate that.

Has the government directly asked the Biden administration to allow Canada to receive doses from Pfizer's and Moderna's U.S. plants?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I had a call with Jeffrey Zients of the U.S. Biden administration and raised a number of options with him.

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

Did we get turned down?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

All doses being produced in the United States at the current time are for United States citizens. I raised potential timelines with the Biden administration and will continue to follow up with them to see if that will be a possibility for Canada.

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

We asked, but we got turned down for the near future.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

This was in the first week of the Biden administration coming into being, so at the current time, we are still having this conversation. I wouldn't classify it as being turned down.