Point of order, Chair.
Evidence of meeting #25 for Health 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.
Evidence of meeting #25 for Health 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.
1:55 p.m.
Liberal
1:55 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Yes, I do, Chair. Per Robert's Rules of Order, which are contained in Bosc and O'Brien, I have the right to direct questioning to the minister, so I will have my time back now.
Thank you.
1:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Now, Ms. Rempel Garner, I will decide about the time at my discretion. Whatever questions you ask are up to you within reason, but you also are expected to allow the witnesses to respond.
I'll make a small adjustment for this particular intervention and the one I made before, but please do express appropriate courtesy and fairness to the witnesses.
1:55 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Chair, I think at this point, a year into the pandemic, when the minister is asking for hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, to come to a supplementary estimates committee and not be able to answer some basic questions indicates that it's she who's being discourteous, but I digress.
March 12th, 2021 / 1:55 p.m.
Liberal
Tony Van Bynen Liberal Newmarket—Aurora, ON
I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.
It's not that the minister is not answering; the minister is not being given an opportunity to answer.
1:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you for your point of order, Mr. Van Bynen.
Now we'll go back to you, Ms. Rempel Garner. Please carry on with your questions.
1:55 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Thank you, Chair.
Did you, Minister, or anyone in cabinet, phone the Biden administration to ask if we could have some of the doses of AstraZeneca that are sitting in the U.S. right now?
2 p.m.
Liberal
Patty Hajdu Liberal Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON
Mr. Chair, I did not personally phone the Biden administration to ask for doses of AstraZeneca.
2 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Minister, has your department been in contact with the Department of Finance with regard to budget development in tying specific benchmarks for ending lockdown restrictions to the upcoming federal budget?
2 p.m.
Liberal
Patty Hajdu Liberal Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON
Again, Mr. Chair, I think the member opposite is confused. The lockdown measures, as she refers to them, are not imposed by the federal government. These are public health measures that are taken by provinces and territories according to their own epidemic and modelling.
2 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Thank you, Chair, but the minister does realize that the federal government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on measures to pay for provincial lockdown measures, so doesn't she think the federal government has a responsibility, given that they have tens of thousands of people working on medical advice, to help provide benchmarks and modelling moving forward on when lockdown measures would be ended?
2 p.m.
Liberal
Patty Hajdu Liberal Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON
We have always told Canadians we'd have their back while they struggle so immensely in every single community, in every single province and territory. That's exactly what we've done. We've been there for families, for businesses, for communities, and we'll continue to do that because, you know what? That's the right thing to do for Canadians.
2 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
As just a last question, do you think it is the right thing to do to provide some advice—
2 p.m.
Liberal
Marcus Powlowski Liberal Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
Thank you.
As you all realize, I tend to run down the clock all on my own with my lengthy questions.
Let me first of all say that this is for Dr. Tam and Dr. Stewart, so I hope you'll listen.
I want to ask about therapeutics. Like all of you, I know that health care is primarily a provincial jurisdiction. However, I think we'll all admit that the federal government has put billions and billions of dollars into helping the provinces in dealing with the pandemic. There's also a national therapeutics task force, so here's the question.
The question is around bamlanivimab, a monoclonal antibody made here in Canada by AbCellera. Several studies have shown that it seems to be effective when used early in the disease by high-risk people in preventing them from going on to have severe COVID. There have also been a number of other studies with other monoclonal antibodies. As infectious disease people have pointed out to me, there are no studies that have shown that it isn't effective.
The problem, at least in Ontario, has been in getting this treatment out to people. It would certainly be useful, especially in a place such as Thunder Bay, where our ICU is filling up with COVID cases, but they've been unable to use it—and this is all provincial.
I know that for a month across Ontario, six groups of infectious disease people were trying to access it and weren't able to do so. People with transplants have a 20% mortality rate when they get COVID, but they couldn't access it. All across Ontario, and I think all across Canada, people are having difficulties accessing this medication, and with the funding to administer it, because you have to bring people into heated tents or something and transfuse it over a couple of hours.
Given the fact that this is a problem all across Canada, are we aware of this problem, and what can we do to help the provinces in order to get this potentially important treatment out to them?
As for the certainty of its use, as one infectious disease person told me, he felt that an informed physician treating an informed patient should be able to use it, but it's not getting out there.
2 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Dr. Powlowski, could you maybe identify again to whom that question was directed?
2 p.m.
Liberal
2 p.m.
Liberal
Patty Hajdu Liberal Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON
Mr. Chair, if I can speak, I think perhaps questions on therapeutics might be best positioned to Dr. Tam or Dr. Lucas.
2 p.m.
Liberal
2 p.m.
Chief Public Health Officer, Public Health Agency of Canada
Yes. Mr. Chair, this is a provincial issue. I think the federal government provided support and the drug is available to the provinces, so it is up to the individuals to access this through the provincial mechanisms.
I do know that some provinces are using it under specific circumstances. It is a difficult drug to use for early illness because it needs infusion and is definitely difficult under local circumstances, but it is up to the provinces and the individual physicians to access it. The federal government has already provided that support.
2:05 p.m.
Liberal
Marcus Powlowski Liberal Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
There's a lot of concern about the increased spacing between the first and second doses of Pfizer and Moderna and the possibility that the increased time between the two doses could potentially allow variants some selective advantage. Perhaps increasing the interval works with the wild type, but perhaps not as well with the variants.
How are we going to be tracking that? I understand that in Ontario, for example, there is a database saying who got the vaccines and what vaccine they got. It's tied to their OHIP number. When test results come back, including test results for the variants, they are also tied to the OHIP number. These two could be linked, and we could follow them in real time and look to see whether increasing the interval between the two doses is adequately controlling the spread of the disease, particularly the variants.
Are we looking at that? Are we investing in it?