Health Committee on April 30th, 2021

[Dr. Stephen Lucas]

Yes, indeed.

As Major-General Fortin indicated, the Government of Canada responded to a request for assistance from the Government of Ontario. As part of that response, the Canadian Armed Forced deployed 55 personnel, including ICU nurses and the mobile medical assistance teams, to Sunnybrook, where they're working with the hospital team at that location to provide support in a coordinated fashion.

In addition, the government has provided a series of medical equipment to the Government of Ontario as well as to other provinces, including ventilators and infusion pumps.

In terms of the Eli Lilly monoclonal antibody therapy that you noted, that drug was reviewed and approved on a rapid basis by Health Canada and was purchased and provided to provinces. They're working with clinicians in terms of its deployment. I think that provides the context for support to provinces and to clinicians in Ontario and across the country.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Dr. Powlowski.

Mr. Thériault, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My question is for Minister Hajdu.

Madam Minister, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board is being reformed. Did you know that, when Mr. Levine and Mr. Clark appeared before the committee, they told us that they had done no studies on the impact of the reform on the life sciences ecosystem?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I can't speak to former presenters at this committee, but I can say that the work we're doing right now is very important to lower the cost of drugs across the country.

I have met with a number of—

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Did you know that no study has been done on the impact of the reform on the life sciences ecosystem? Did you know? That is my question. I gather that the answer is no.

We are in favour of reducing the price of medications and we want people to pay a fair price for their medications. But it seems more complex.

According to the testimony from patients' groups, from members of the industry and from researchers in various areas, the reform has a flaw. Everyone agrees that the basis of comparison has to be changed. According to the briefs we have received, that would allow the price of medications to be reduced by 20 to 30%, just as a start. Then, the only thing left would be to find points of commonality.

Are you going to apply that progressively, starting on June 1, by focusing on the service baskets? Then, people will have to be brought together to find the best possible solutions to ensure that patients, our children, will be able to get novel medications that could save their lives.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I would say that our goals are the same. It is to make sure that people can afford medication and that patients who have rare conditions that require extremely novel or very expensive therapeutics also have access. That is why we have two processes: the PMPRB review, as you know; and also the rare diseases strategy that's under development.

I am going to continue this path, Mr. Chair, to ensure that we can get to a place where people are not having to choose between paying rent and buying medication.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Madam Minister, should you not introduce that strategy before you even apply the second part of the reform? This is not helping all the people I have told you about. Did you know that?

I would like a short answer, Mr. Chair.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

We will continue to keep Canadians and indeed this committee abreast of the work that we're doing to lower the cost of drugs and ensure that people with rare diseases have access to life-saving medication.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Thériault.

We'll go now to Mr. Davies.

Mr. Davies, go ahead for two and half minutes, please.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you.

Minister, many countries had employer-paid sick leave in place through statute prior to COVID-19. This includes countries like Finland, which has nine days; Australia, 10 days; Iceland, 12 days; Norway, 16 days; Switzerland, three weeks; and Germany, six weeks.

Minister, can you let us know if there are any plans with your government to amend the Canada Labour Code to match this international standard, such as by legislating a mandatory 10-day paid sick leave for every Canadian worker under federal jurisdiction?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

This gives me an opportunity to talk about some of my previous work as Canada's labour minister, updating the Canada Labour Code for the first time in—I don't know—three decades or more. Indeed, we included paid personal leave, up to five days of leave with three days paid, and we'll continue that work, Mr. Chair, working with employers and unions to get to the right balance here in Canada.

I think the member is on the right track. This is not just a matter of money; it's about protecting people's jobs. Of course, in the context of COVID-19, there's an important role for provinces to play in updating their provincial labour codes to protect people's jobs as we cover the financial—

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Minister, I'm sorry. The question was about your job. You're a federal minister. I'm asking about the Canada Labour Code, Minister.

Dr. Tam, how long is a person who has COVID-19 infectious?

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

It varies, but overall, in terms of the infectious period, if someone is infected, it's usually within 10 days.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

So if we have paid sick days of three days, that doesn't cover the period that a person is infectious with COVID-19, does it?

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

It depends on when the sick days start, but certainly it may take that long to recover. That also includes people who may be asymptomatic as well.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Right.

Minister, the Liberal-appointed Hoskins advisory council called on your government to establish a universal public pharmacare program for all Canadians no later than January 1, 2022. Will your government meet that deadline?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

First of all, just to respond to the previous question, I'll note that we do have the Canada recovery benefit, which is up to four weeks of income replacement, so it does cover the length of time that someone could potentially be sick with COVID-19. I think it's important that we have facts out there for Canadians so that Canadians are empowered to do the right thing if they feel unwell or if they are diagnosed with COVID or taking care of someone with COVID.

In terms of the work on pharmacare, we have taken significant steps, more than any government in the past, to ensure that we have a national pharmacare program. We now have a Canada drug agency that's being set up. We have an interim president and we have the interim president working on an essential medicines list. We'll continue to move forward with pharmacare with provinces and territories in collaboration.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Davies.

That brings round three to a close. We'll start round four. We're running out of time, so I'm going to abbreviate round four. We'll use three-minute slots for Liberals and Conservatives and minute-and-a-half slots for the Bloc and the NDP.

Next up—

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

I think we have enough time, though, for everyone to have their five-minute round.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Well, that would take us well past noon, and we still do have to have a vote on the estimates, so—

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

Why not go four minutes and two? I think we have enough time for that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Sure. Let's go with four minutes, four minutes and two minutes. Okay?

Go ahead, Mr. Barlow.

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

I think it's me, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

If it's you, go ahead. My information says Mr. Barlow, but go ahead.

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

Thank you.

Mr. Stewart, just to confirm my colleague Mr. Barlow's question, is the known traveller digital identity project in budget 2021 not being considered for use as a system for providing proof of COVID vaccination for Canadians travelling abroad?