Madam Chair, I'm pleased to speak to the amendment that has been brought forward today by my excellent colleague, Mr. Turnbull. I would like to thank him for his always thoughtful work and his thoughtful proposition.
It's nice to see Ms. Normandin this morning and Mr. Calkins as well.
I would like to thank my colleagues, Monsieur Lauzon and Mr. Long, for their speeches this morning. I really appreciate hearing about Monsieur Lauzon's teaching and Mr. Long's life in hockey with the Sea Dogs.
I think we should absolutely be inviting to the committee our Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, as well as the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth. I think it's important that this amendment has been put forward. After all, we are a government that believes in ministers being accountable, effective and transparent, raising the bar on openness and answering the questions of members of Parliament at committees.
While I will speak very directly to the motion, I will once again make the point that there is nothing more important than addressing the global crisis that we are still fighting, That is what this committee should be focused on. While this is about politics, I would just like to share with my colleagues that 1.2 million people developed COVID in the last three days globally, and over 23,000 people died. Now there have been over 124 million cases worldwide and 2.7 million deaths—so many lives, a tsunami of suffering.
Here in Canada, 22,000 Canadians have died. They were grandparents, parents, loved ones and neighbours, and they mattered to so many more people. My heart goes out to all those who have lost family, friends and loved ones. I honour all our health workers for their dedication and sacrifice and all our other essential workers who have kept society running. They put the interests of their neighbours, communities and country ahead of their own every day. Beyond saying thank you for their heroic efforts during COVID-19, let's each of us do our part to slow the spread of the virus. That means working from home if you can, keeping two metres apart from others, wearing a mask and downloading the COVID alert app.
The point is, COVID-19 remains an unprecedented global health crisis that has shaken the foundations of economic, political and social security, and it should be the focus of this committee.
However, with respect to the amendment before us, let me explain why I think we should reinvite our Deputy Prime Minister. She is extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary, and not only led our COVID-19 response through the spring and the summer, but also now serves as Minister of Finance. I would just like to recognize that the Deputy Prime Minister is the first woman in Canadian history to be sworn in as finance minister. This is a milestone 153 years in the making, and we should celebrate this.
From the beginning of COVID-19, our government understood that the pandemic turned our lives upside down, with office buildings emptied, streets quieted and schools closed. Canadians and communities had to adapt, and our government had to find the balance between health and the economy. In some public debate, the response to the pandemic was framed as a choice between health and the economy, but that's a false choice. They always go together. Health and the economy go hand in hand.
We promised to be there for Canadians through the pandemic to our recovery. Our government had a number of overarching goals to protect the health and safety of Canadians, to provide the necessary economic supports to allow Canadians to isolate at home, to try to slow the spread of the virus and to protect jobs and livelihood.
In order to protect the health and safety of Canadians, we closed the borders. We directly funded the provinces and territories: $19 billion for the safe restart agreement. We bought personal protective equipment, testing kits—