Evidence of meeting #14 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was vaccines.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Noon
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Thank you.
Minister, when we talk about vaccinating all Canadians by September, do you mean that all Canadians will get one or two doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine by that time?
Noon
Liberal
Patty Hajdu Liberal Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON
Through the chair, the concept is that all Canadians who want to be vaccinated will have an opportunity to do so by the end of September. Some vaccines don't require two doses and so some people may be vaccinated with, for example, Johnson & Johnson, which does not require two doses. Others may be vaccinated with two doses.
The regime should be followed dependent on the kind of vaccine the person is receiving.
Noon
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Okay.
You talked about securing as much variety as possible, but I want to zero in on variety of production. Of course, AstraZeneca has been mentioned and domestic production is in the news today.
We know that AstraZeneca pledged to provide its vaccine on a not-for-profit basis for the duration of the pandemic and was open to manufacturing partnerships. In fact, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, India, Japan, South Korea, China and other countries all negotiated licensing agreements to manufacture the AstraZeneca vaccine domestically and are doing so today.
Can you tell us why Canada failed to secure a similar licensing agreement to manufacture the AstraZeneca vaccine in Canada?
Noon
Liberal
Patty Hajdu Liberal Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON
Through the chair, I can't speak to the negotiations that the procurement team and that Minister Champagne's team had proceeded with.
Noon
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Fair enough.
My last question is for Mr. Stewart.
Mr. Stewart, there was I think it's fair to call it a scathing report called “Lessons Learned” from the Public Health Agency of Canada. It was a comprehensive audit. Frankly, it revealed serious gaps in capacity at PHAC, including a lack of senior medical expertise needed to support Dr. Tam. They said it was slow to be put in place and most likely is still insufficient to provide the support required. There were gaps in critical skills, limited capacity, a lack of emergency response, management expertise, and it went on and on.
I'm going to break that down a bit. One of my biggest concerns was the finding that Dr. Tam often received information in the wrong format with inaccuracies. Now, for a government that wants to make decisions based on science, of course, we can't base science on incorrect information. Is that still a problem at PHAC or has it been fixed?
Noon
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
It was a lessons learned report that management asked for in order to learn from what was happening, and one of the problems identified, as you say, was the support for Dr. Tam. We have, in fact, augmented the support for Dr. Tam. We've also hired more doctors, more nurses and more epidemiologists in order to surround better support of the nature you're referring to.
Noon
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sherry Romanado
Thank you very much.
We will move on to the next round of questions.
Mr. Généreux, you have the floor for five minutes.
Are you on mute? Mr. Généreux?
I'm just going to check with the clerk whether there was a change in the speaking order. The next round is for the Conservative Party. Anyone?
What I'll do is go to MP Ehsassi and then we'll flip back to the Conservatives, if you could let me know who will be next on the rotation.
Noon
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sherry Romanado
MP Dreeshen, please go ahead.
You have the floor for five minutes.
Noon
Conservative
Earl Dreeshen Conservative Red Deer—Mountain View, AB
Thank you very much.
There are just a couple of things. Certainly, the Prime Minister has been telling Canadians that we're doing fine when it comes to fighting this pandemic and distributing vaccines, but of course some of the statistics don't particularly bear that out. Canada is now ranked 61st out of 98 countries in performance in fighting COVID, according to a think tank from Australia.
In addition, according to data collected by the University of Oxford-based Our World in Data, Canada now ranks 20th globally in terms of vaccines distributed per capita and we are behind many countries that have been doing a much better job.
Of course, there are reports today that the Prime Minister is refusing to show Parliament the terms of any of the contracts for the vaccines that have been acquired.
As the Minister of Health, can you assure us that this lack of transparency is only short term, so that Canadians can have the transparency that this Prime Minister has always promised?
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Patty Hajdu Liberal Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON
I'll speak first of all to the transparency that we have shown Canadians.
I invite Canadians to visit Canada.ca/coronavirus where they can follow along with a number of details regarding the data on transmission, on cases, on equipment that has been shipped to provinces and territories, on the vaccination process, on the vaccinations distributed to the provinces and territories, and those that have been delivered by the provinces and territories. We have been sharing data as quickly as we can get it. Obviously, this is a shared jurisdiction, so sometimes data is not as forthcoming as we'd like.
February 2nd, 2021 / 12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Earl Dreeshen Conservative Red Deer—Mountain View, AB
It's great to hear that you're talking about the shared jurisdiction. Of course, all of this has been put on the provinces' plates in order to carry out the distribution. They have done their job. They have to save back a few vaccines for the second doses, and they are the ones that are saying your government is not giving vaccines out in a timely way.
Could you talk about the many millions of doses that are to be available by the end of the third quarter? Right now we're in the first quarter. We're in the middle of this. This is the time when people need to have these vaccines. I don't think people are quite as confident as you're suggesting.
Yes, there's probably a website. Again, it's hearing assurances from the Prime Minister who has proven not to be overly trustworthy in that. Today you're saying we should talk to another minister. I wonder if the ministers ever talk to each other, because the answers we're getting today are like those in question period. We're not getting any answers.
Can you tell this committee what he means when he says that Canada is doing fine?
12:05 p.m.
Bloc
Sébastien Lemire Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Madam Chair, I did not want to interrupt member Dreeshen, but there was no interpretation during his intervention.
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sherry Romanado
One moment please. We're going to check with respect to translation.
Mr. Dreeshen, please place the microphone between your lip and your nose. That will help the translators.
Please go ahead, Mr. Dreeshen.
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Earl Dreeshen Conservative Red Deer—Mountain View, AB
I asked if the minister was aware of the fact that these assurances from the Prime Minister have not proven to be overly trustworthy. We had two months of prorogation. We asked for the minister back in December. It seems now, when the minister is here, that we start to hear announcements from the Prime Minister about what the government is planning to do.
This is the delay, and this is the frustration that people have. The point I was trying to make was that we can continue to say there are millions of doses that will be ready at the end of the quarter, but right now, it's the middle of the quarter and we aren't getting any.
What is the plan as far as this minister is concerned, and does she talk to the other ministers, so that we can all understand what's taking place?
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Patty Hajdu Liberal Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON
In fact, we've been there for the provinces and territories since the beginning, providing billions of dollars to the provinces and territories, paying for all of the equipment, personal protective equipment and testing equipment. We're paying for all of the vaccines, distributing the vaccines, and setting up the provinces and territories, so they could receive those vaccines—
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Earl Dreeshen Conservative Red Deer—Mountain View, AB
Excuse me. Who is distributing the vaccines? Are the provinces not delivering the vaccines?
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sherry Romanado
Mr. Dreeshen, please let the minister finish for the sake of interpretation. Thank you.
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Patty Hajdu Liberal Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON
The national operations centre run by the Public Health Agency of Canada delivers vaccines to the provinces and territories. In particular, with the Pfizer vaccine, it was very involved in ensuring that the provinces and territories had the distribution sites ready to receive those vaccines.
Deliveries continue week over week. We are in clear communication with the provinces and territories, so they know what to expect and can plan accordingly.
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Earl Dreeshen Conservative Red Deer—Mountain View, AB
I believe the provinces have been doing the job. They're the ones waiting for the rest of these vaccines to be given.
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sherry Romanado
I understand there was a fire alarm at 151 Sparks, so that might have been the problem with Mr. Généreux's microphone. We'll be able to get to him in the next round. Our apologies for that.
We'll now go to Mr. Ehsassi, for five minutes.
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you very much, Minister, for appearing before our committee.
Minister, it seems to me, looking at all of the activity that's been going on, that our government has taken a whole-of-government approach. It's essentially consisted of three different prongs, each of which we have pursued independently. First, we've secured access to leading international vaccines. Second, we've invested in the most promising Canadian vaccines and therapies. Third, we've made strategic investments to rebuild Canada's domestic capacity.
Would that be a fair assessment? I appreciate that you're responsible for various aspects of this, but would that be a good way of summarizing our government's approach?
12:10 p.m.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Thank you.
You noted in your remarks on several different occasions that we are guided by the vaccine task force, and that we were intent on making sure we had access to the best international vaccines, and that essentially it constituted a process of placing our bets on various ongoing developments around the world.
How would you assess that in hindsight? Would you say it has been an effective strategy?
