I'll use that quote again because it had such an impact on me. The quote was to “stop calling us heroes and start treating us like human beings”.
That gets to your point about dignity and the dignity of workers. I'm sure this is something that the committee deals with regularly, that is, talking about the dignity of workers and the dignity that should be afforded to them. I am here on this day to once again implore you of the urgency of this.
To your point, it is the individual decisions that people make every day and the multiplier effect of that through this country that will have a significant impact on how we deal with omicron and how we deal with COVID. To make sure that we do not go through the significant lockdown this country has gone through before, those individual decisions that people make when they feel they might have a symptom of COVID.... Unfortunately, too many are in a position where if they do not show up at work they could possibly not make the rent or could not pay their mortgage. They have to make a choice between a sick day and groceries.
Where we can we should relieve that pressure so that people can make honest decisions, based on the symptoms that they have, that they should stay home. Think back to the early days of the pandemic when we saw workplaces pinpointed and we saw COVID spread through particular workplaces when we could have minimized that. I would be the first one to say, yes, but here we are now, knowing that, having learned our lessons. As I've said, even a few days ago I would have come here with urgency, but today I come here with great urgency. I implore this committee.
I thank you, first of all. I know that you will be working very hard in the next 48 hours. I thank you for that. It is not work that is going to waste. This is more than just politics, ladies and gentlemen. Getting things like this done, right now, will have a deep effect, even in the next few weeks and months, I would argue, on just how bad omicron could be. We need to minimize it where we can. We absolutely do. It is here.
In our ability to deal with it, we have shown the world, to be honest, how well we can deal with this collectively. Again, the individual decisions that we make, collectively what a difference they make. Ultimately, what counts here are lives saved, the number of lives saved in this country. This will save lives in the very short term.
I thank you for your kind attention and for your concentration on this in the next few hours. It will be recognized and noted. I am deeply appreciative.