Evidence of meeting #23 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was prorogation.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
Thank you, Minister Rodriguez. That's all the time we have.
Monsieur Lauzon, you have six minutes, please.
11:15 a.m.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I would like to thank Mr. Rodriguez for his speech.
What I understand, Mr. Rodriguez, is that prorogation is a fresh start, with the government's Speech from the Throne. The Prime Minister clearly announced it that way. The pandemic changed priorities a great deal. We needed a fresh start to focus on new priorities and meet the needs of Canadians.
You gave some examples earlier. I would like you to tell us about the fact that the government had to send members of the Canadian Armed Forces to long-term care homes in the spring. Some patients were not being fed or were wearing dirty diapers; some patients were lying on the floor after falling; and some seniors were found dead in their beds. The Canadian military had to step in to stop this. It became clear that the federal government's role in health care in a crisis situation was very important, as was the need to create national health standards for the well-being of the population, especially seniors, whom I represent here as parliamentary secretary.
Some politicians today are trying to make us believe that with a little money we can fix everything. They are trying to divert attention from this terrible and inhuman tragedy. We have seen why the prorogation was necessary. COVID-19 has already taken the lives of over 20,000 Canadians. This is about our fellow Canadians and our families. Our government will never forget the inhumane conditions in which many died. We have done everything in our power to ensure that this will never happen again, and we will continue to work hard.
Can the Government House Leader explain how prorogation allowed the government to work on a number of issues that are priorities for Canadians?
11:20 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Mr. Lauzon, thank you for the important work you do as parliamentary secretary for our seniors. It is absolutely essential work, and you do it brilliantly.
The pandemic changed everything. It has affected our seniors more than any other group. What has happened is absolutely unacceptable. We realized that our seniors were much more vulnerable than we thought and that our social safety net was not as strong as we thought. Too much was falling through the cracks. The number of deaths among our seniors is incredibly sad.
We stepped in as much as we could to lend a hand, in collaboration with the provinces, by the way. We collaborated well with Quebec and all the provinces, but we had to do this restart, that is to say press a button and start again.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the government had made its first Speech from the Throne and we were just coming out of a fresh election campaign. Who would have thought that we would be talking about a pandemic, an economic crisis, outbreaks, rapid tests, masks, hand sanitizer, wage subsidies, vaccination campaigns? No one did. We dealt with all this as much as possible. Again, I repeat that we did it in co-operation with all parties—I see Mr. Therrien, Mr. Deltell and Mr. Julian—because it's not just the responsibility of government alone to look after Canadians, it is the responsibility of all parliamentarians. We were all elected for the same reason.
This is why, once again, I would like to thank my colleagues from the different parties for their co-operation. This has allowed us to pass a series of bills that have given us the means to help people. However, towards the end of the summer, we realized that there would be a second wave. The question was no longer whether there would be a second wave or not, but rather what the impact would be. We wondered how we were going to respond and what tools we would need to deal with it. That's when we made the decision, as a government, to press “pause” and refocus all of our actions, not just those of the executive, but of all public servants.
11:20 a.m.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
That is a very important point, indeed. We saw how vulnerable seniors were at that time. We also saw what steps the government took after prorogation.
The first pillar of the fall 2020 Speech from the Throne was to protect Canadians from COVID-19 in a minority government context. While it is important to respect democracy, it is also important to remember the scope of this pandemic. It was necessary for a majority of Parliamentarians to support our government's plan, and that is what happened. The prorogation of Parliament in August 2020 allowed us to create a plan to protect Canadians.
Can the House leader tell us about the importance of prorogation? It allowed the government to put in place a plan in the context of a health and economic crisis, a plan which could be supported by a majority of parliamentarians, not just Liberal MPs.
11:20 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
That is a very good question.
You're right, it was absolutely essential...
11:20 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
Unfortunately, that's all the time we have. Hopefully, in another round you can get that in.
11:20 a.m.
Liberal
February 16th, 2021 / 11:20 a.m.
Bloc
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Rodriguez. I'm very happy to see you again. I also want to acknowledge my colleague, Mr. Deltell. We work a great deal together and it's a pleasure to do so.
I don't have much time, so I'll ask some clear questions.
We're told that the prorogation was prompted by the need for a renewal or by the COVID-19 situation.
Mr. Rodriguez, when were COVID-19 policies introduced?
11:20 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Thank you for your question, Mr. Therrien. It's very good to see you again.
We started to make adjustments as soon as we saw the first outbreaks. Like you, we were looking at what was happening in other parts of the world. We started to put things in place with the opposition. However, we needed a clear statement or a clear direction, and that's what we did—
11:25 a.m.
Bloc
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
Mr. Rodriguez, I'm just asking you when the policies related to the COVID-19 crisis were introduced.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
As soon as we were able to start introducing bills, either in March or April.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
11:25 a.m.
Bloc
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
That's fine.
So why didn't you prorogue Parliament in March? You said that the prorogation in September was prompted by COVID-19. It should have taken place in March, because that's when the practices completely changed.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
We made all kinds of decisions. We decided to shut down Parliament temporarily. When we resumed, it was in the form of a committee to address the COVID-19 issues.
In hindsight, you can develop all sorts of theories and ask all sorts of questions. Maybe we should have done it before, and maybe not. I don't know.
11:25 a.m.
Bloc
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Ultimately, it would have been better if there had never been any COVID-19.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Mr. Therrien, I can ask you several questions and ask you what would have been better eight months ago. We went as far as we could at that time, thanks to you, Mr. Deltell and Mr. Julian. However, at a certain point, we really needed to refocus all the government's efforts, and that's what we did.
11:25 a.m.
Bloc
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
Okay, but in this case, it would have been better to do this in March, because that's when all the COVID-19 policies were implemented. In September, you gave the public more of the same. That's what I understand.