Evidence of meeting #13 for Public Accounts in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was travellers.
A video is available from Parliament.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Thank you.
I actually want to continue on the line that my colleague Mr. Desjarlais was on, but taking a slightly different tack.
Is incarceration currently being discussed for people who are non-compliant with the Quarantine Act?
12:35 p.m.
Vice-President, Health Security and Regional Operations Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
No, we are not discussing that specifically. I have to say that while the president and my colleague Jennifer mentioned that some provinces are not signatory to the Contraventions Act, we still have a summary conviction option under the act, which would apply to all provinces and territories. It's just a much lengthier process that does not allow you to have an agile response, but it is a tool we have currently in the act.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
You are considering overriding provincial authority.
12:35 p.m.
Vice-President, Health Security and Regional Operations Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
No. I'm saying that under the Quarantine Act currently, summary conviction penalties can be used in all provinces and territories, but we are not looking to jail travellers for not being in quarantine.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Even if a premier or a government of a province did not want to enforce the Quarantine Act through summary convictions, you would still proceed.
12:35 p.m.
Vice-President, Health Security and Regional Operations Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
Yes, that's a tool we currently have under the act.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
You'd be disrespecting the province's right to enforce the Quarantine Act of its own accord and just go according to what public health thinks is best.
12:35 p.m.
Vice-President, Health Security and Regional Operations Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
Mr. Chair, I'm only providing the tools that we have available. I would like to take this opportunity to say that the vast majority of Canadians were very compliant with the requirements. We understand that this was very onerous and we acknowledge all the sacrifices that Canadians have made in light of this pandemic.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Thank you for that, and I join you. I'm sorry, but my time is limited. I don't mean to be rude.
Just to follow up, has incarceration ever been discussed?
12:35 p.m.
Vice-President, Health Security and Regional Operations Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
No, we haven't discussed incarceration as a stand-alone mechanism.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
What do you mean by “stand-alone mechanism”?
12:35 p.m.
Vice-President, Health Security and Regional Operations Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
I don't think that incarceration is something you.... We have legislative tools. We have acts that provide the mechanisms to ensure compliance and enforcement, but I can't say that we have been talking about—
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
I'm sorry, but my time is short.
Mr. Kochhar, have you discussed any legislative changes that would give you the ability to incarcerate people for non-compliance with quarantine measures?
12:35 p.m.
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
The short answer is no. We haven't discussed any of this yet.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Then why did you say that all options were available?
12:35 p.m.
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
What I mentioned in my statement was that there are other options available, and some are pertinent to use in terms of having a collaborative, cohesive approach with both the provinces and territories and safeguarding public health.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
I believe the Hansard would reflect that you said “all options”, and all options would include incarceration. Now you've told our committee that it wouldn't.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Williamson
Actually, just hold on. By way of clarification, it was not the president who said that, it was Jennifer Lutfallah.
If you want to direct your question at that...but I don't want you holding a witness to a statement he did not make.
12:40 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Thank you.
I apologize for using the first name, but I can't pronounce the last.
Jennifer, would you like to respond to that?
12:40 p.m.
Vice President, Border Measures Operations, Health Security and Regional Operations Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
I'm sorry. I'm getting a lot of feedback.
Incarceration has not been looked at as a mechanism for enforcement.
12:40 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
I'm confused. You said “all options”, and incarceration is clearly one of those options that would be used in enforcement. Now you're saying it's not.
To clarify for the record, incarceration is not being considered, nor will it be considered as an option for quarantine non-compliance.
12:40 p.m.
Vice President, Border Measures Operations, Health Security and Regional Operations Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
At this point in time, you're correct.
12:40 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Thank you.
To be honest, I'm sitting here surprised and disappointed. We are ultimately all public servants. We exist, our salaries exist, because of the good people we serve. We have an Auditor General who's not talking to Canadians, despite the fact that her vision statement says it's her responsibility to work for [Inaudible—Editor].
We have Saskatchewan farmers who could be held in non-compliance because they are not staying in their dwelling, despite the fact that they have no risk. Worst of all, there's no resolution to this whatsoever. There's no way of getting recourse. There's no due process afforded to Canadians.
I would just impress upon everyone on this panel that we are public servants. We are accountable to Canadians.
12:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Williamson
Thank you very much. We will turn now to Ms. Bradford.
You have the floor for five minutes.
12:40 p.m.
Liberal
Valerie Bradford Liberal Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON
Thank you very much, and thank you to our witnesses for coming today. I've really enjoyed hearing your answers.
To do a bit of a shift, I think Dr. Kochhar is in the best position to answer this question. How were the quarantine hotels selected, and what were the criteria for picking them?