Health Committee on May 21st, 2021

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

I would just reiterate that it's very important to get two doses to maximize protection. I think provinces are at the moment going back to vaccinate the initial high-risk groups, so you'll see that happening. Many of the long-term care facilities have already had two doses.

From a supply perspective, given that age group and the amount of vaccine needed in the younger age group, what I've been told is that you can actually do both. Because of so many vaccines arriving, you can do both simultaneously.

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

I have to say I'm happy to hear that, knowing that my grandchildren will be getting their vaccines next week.

My next question is to Mr. Vinette.

I'm sure that pre-pandemic, CBSA officers at the border were used to processing much higher levels of passengers and cargo on a daily basis. With the pandemic, I'm sure the nature of the job has changed.

Can you share with us a bit about how there's been different training for CBSA officers, what they've gone through to adapt, and what's being done to ensure their safety as they continue to do their jobs?

[Denis Vinette, Vice-President, Travellers Branch, Canada Border Services Agency]

Thank you, Chair and member, for the question.

I must say that right from the onset of our preparation of our response at the border, our officers' personal health in the performance of their duties on a day-to-day basis was front and centre in all of our preparation, in everything from making sure they had sufficient personal protective equipment on. Since that time, we've moved into providing shelter from some travellers by using plexiglass, and we've instituted sanitization chambers so that their tools can all be sanitized at the end of their work day. It's been an ongoing effort to ensure their safety.

As for how the work has changed, I must say that commercially, the truck traffic and the commercial cargo entering the country have actually surpassed pre-pandemic levels, and so we've been successful in ensuring that economic activity and trade have continued throughout the pandemic, notwithstanding that there was an immediate lull through the March to June period of last year.

As it pertains to dealing with travellers, clearly we've trained them on understanding the new legislation as it passed through the OICs for its application. We've continued to support them in many ways. They have 24-7 access now to our border task force, which provides them with policy advice on the application of the legislation. Also, we've ensured that they have all of the latest information on what is transpiring as their work has shifted. They've been briefed by local health authorities, certainly at the onset, about what COVID was and what protective measures they could take, so that they could continue to come through and report to work.

We're extremely proud of the professionalism of the men and women of the CBSA and of all frontline workers, who continued to come to work on a daily basis, making sure that the borders are secure.

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

Thank you.

I'll go back to Dr. Tam. It's encouraging to see that Canadians are being vaccinated in such large numbers, and I hope this trend continues until everyone is vaccinated. What does this uptake tell you about the confidence that Canadians have in vaccinations?

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

I think it's very encouraging. Of course, with the groups at the highest risk and seniors, the uptake has been really remarkable, and also in long-term care. I think the key is to keep it up.

The latest surveys indicate that the vast majority of Canadians—more than 80% for sure—want to be vaccinated or have already been vaccinated with at least one dose. Once you get one dose on board, the key is to keep up with making sure people remember to get the second dose.

I think we could do more work in making sure that the younger adults, at this point, and the younger youth, also pick up on that momentum. Things are, however, extremely encouraging at this point.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Van Bynen.

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

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

A Government of Canada document entitled “Vaccines for COVID-19: Shipments and Deliveries” states that, as of May 11, 2.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been distributed in Canada. The Janssen vaccine has not been distributed.

However, Quebec and some provinces have already indicated that they will limit their use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the first dose due to unpredictable supply and safety concerns. I am concerned about the agreements between the vaccine manufacturers and the federal government. The agreements are for 20 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and up to 38 million doses of Janssen vaccine.

Is the federal government responsible for the full cost of the doses obtained despite issues with vaccine supply and safety?

Do the agreements include provisions that allow future shipments to be cancelled without financial penalty?

[Bill Matthews]

Thank you for the question.

First of all, all contracts have clauses that allow Canada to give the doses to other countries. That is always an option. Almost all contracts include clauses that allow Canada to purchase doses—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Excuse me, Mr. Matthews. Could you raise your mike a little bit?

[Bill Matthews]

Is that better? My apologies.

We have in place clauses that allow Canada to donate as well as to exercise options, if more doses are allowed. I would underline for members that when these contracts were negotiated. it was uncertain whether the vaccines would work against COVID, and also whether there would be any production challenges along with those things. There were thus very uncertain timelines.

If the question is whether Canada can arbitrarily decide to opt out of the doses it has committed to, the answer is no.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

The answer is no. That means—

[Bill Matthews]

The answer is no, but we can adjust the schedule to obtain doses next year or the year after that.

But can we cancel a contract?

There are certain clauses that...when you're referring to AstraZeneca, it is a vaccine approved by Health Canada from a regulatory perspective, so it has met that test. That's really all I can offer at this stage.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

So the contract has no clause clearing you of all financial penalties if a vaccine has risks and you decide not to use it. You're saying we will take the vaccine and send it somewhere else. So all the vaccines that are reserved have to be paid for.

Is that correct?

[Bill Matthews]

Yes. As I mentioned earlier, Canada can give doses to other countries. That is an option.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Thériault.

We go now to Mr. Davies.

Go ahead, please, for two and a half minutes.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you.

Dr. Tam, you've said on a number of occasions that on a global basis no one is safe until everyone is safe. The World Health Organization is urging wealthy countries like Canada to delay plans to vaccinate low-risk people, such as children, and instead donate available doses to the COVAX facility to provide vaccine access to high-risk populations in low-income countries.

In your view, should Canada comply with that request? If not, why not?

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

Mr. Chair, I think that is a very important underlying principle and global policy on vaccine equity, so I absolutely support the need to ensure vaccine equity. I know that our decision-makers have difficult decisions to make, making sure that Canadians get the doses they need while at the same time supporting COVAX with significant investments. I do know that discussions are very much live on what we should do as the next step in terms of COVAX and donor nations.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you.

Mr. Stewart, who in government is responsible for quarterbacking the delivery of documents to this committee that were ordered by the House of Commons last October?

[Iain Stewart]

Thank you, member.

Do you mean the House motion for the production of documents?

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Yes.

[Iain Stewart]

Dr. Lucas is probably best placed to speak to the overall portfolio response in that regard.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you.

Dr. Lucas, the Clerk of the Privy Council, Ian Shugart, put in writing to this committee that there were over a million documents to date—and that's going on seven months. This committee has received about 8,000, meaning there are about 992,000 documents yet to be delivered. Is the government purposely delaying the delivery of documents to this committee, given that it doesn't have to do any redacting, but is supposed to deliver all of those documents unredacted to the law clerk?

[Dr. Stephen Lucas]

Mr. Chair, in response to the first part of the question, the organization in government responsible for the overall coordination of this is the Privy Council Office. Within the health portfolio we have worked to gather up documents and have provided them. Further review continues on legal or personal information to at least be able to identify those sections. That work continues on the provision of documents on an ongoing basis through the Privy Council Office and the law clerk.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Davies.

We'll start round five now with Ms. Rempel Garner.

Go ahead, please, for five minutes.

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

Thank you, Chair.

I just wanted to clarify with Mr. Matthews his response to a question from my colleague, Mr. Thériault.

Are you saying that the contracts that we have with AstraZeneca do not allow Canada to cancel the contracts?