Public Safety Committee on March 10th, 2021

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Chair, everything we do at the Government of Canada is done with the utmost care for Canadians.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Was a gender-based analysis done for the hotel quarantine program?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Chair, the Government of Canada takes its obligations very seriously to protect all Canadians.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

So, a gender-based analysis was not completed for the hotel quarantine program.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Chair, the member, again, is trying to assume that what I am saying confirms her assumption. That is not correct.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Well, was a gender-based analysis completed for this program?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Chair, every step of the way, this government has had the protection of Canadians—

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Would you say that it's misogynistic to not complete a gender-based analysis for this program that saw sexual assault occur?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Chair, the member opposite should know that this government puts the safety of women and girls at the centre of everything that it does.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Like no locks on the doors and a rape.

Was there a gender-based analysis completed for this program?

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Answer very briefly, Minister, because Ms. Rempel Garner's time is up.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Chair, if the member opposite is implying that—

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Where is it?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

—anyone is not horrified by the sexual assault of women, then that is simply incorrect.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

With that, we are moving on.

Thank you, Ms. Rempel Garner.

Ms. Lambropoulos.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank both ministers, Minister Hajdu and Minister Blair, for being with us today and also for all of the work that they and their teams have been doing since the start of this pandemic.

Minister Blair, two of the things that you mentioned that caught my attention were that you basically said that international travel by air has been down by 59% since these measures have been put into place and that there's an over 99% compliance rate.

Can you give us some more insight as to why you think these new measures have been effective and why you think this was the best way forward?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

With respect to the measures we've put in place, over a year ago we issued travel advisories and urged travellers to avoid non-essential travel. We recognized the risk that represented to Canadians as those travellers returned. Over a year ago, we began putting very rigorous measures in place. Canadians overwhelmingly listened, but we know that there are some people, for a number of different reasons, who may choose to travel. We also know that under the Constitution, Canadians and permanent residents and indigenous people have a right of re-entry into Canada. The measures we put in place were put in place to respect that right.

At the same time, we have made it very clear that the quarantine measures that we have required non-essential travellers to enter into.... I will tell you that the evidence is overwhelming that those have been the most successful measures. The quarantine coupled with the tracing and testing that have been put in place have been the most effective measures to protect Canadians from the spread of COVID. We continue to add layers of protection. Canadians have listened.

I will share with this committee the fact that when we put in a requirement for people to have a pre-boarding test, and now at land borders before they arrive at the border a negative test obtained within three days, we heard from many people who said that this was too onerous and difficult to do. I think we've all seen some of the media reports of people who have quite proudly defied those requirements. But the reality is that the overwhelming majority of Canadians have respected those requirements and have complied with them, at more than 99%. For those who choose not to, there are appropriate ways to resolve that. Fines are possible, but our goal always has been compliance, not enforcement. I'm very proud to say that the overwhelming majority of Canadians have respected those rules and the reason for those rules, and are in fact complying.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you. I have to agree with you. The many constituents I spoke to about this issue agreed that this was the way forward. They were happy to see stricter measures taken. Many of them had actually suggested to me months ago that we begin quarantining people in hotels in order to make sure the rates stayed down. So I was very very happy to see that and was advocating for it.

I also saw a few people cancel trips because of this. I know it was effective in making sure that people did not travel during this time if they didn't absolutely need to.

I'd like to ask another question. I know that in a very short period of time, many CBSA officers were hired. I don't know which of you can answer this question, but can anybody on this call answer the question as to whether the right steps were taken in order to make sure that background checks and everything were done, the right people were hired, and this wasn't rushed just because we needed more and more support at the borders?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

I can certainly answer that. I'm responsible for CBSA, and I have joining me today the president of CBSA.

CBSA officers who have been answering the call throughout this entire epidemic have done an extraordinary job, in my opinion. We did close down a number of remote and smaller points of entry so that we could concentrate our resources. The change we made on international travel, for example, to concentrate it into four international airports—Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver—was an acknowledgement of the extraordinary amount of work.

I will also tell you that these measures have had an impact on their workload. It has affected the time it takes to process travellers and goods arriving at our border because of the additional measures we have put in place. We've had a number of orders in council that have placed additional requirements on our border service officers. They are all trained and designated, for example, as screening officers under the Quarantine Act. They perform the very important role of protecting Canadians from people coming back into the country to ensure that they're not ill and that they have an appropriate plan. They have the important role of referring individuals who are going into quarantine to the Public Health Agency.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you very much.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

A point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Yes, Mr. Kurek, on a point of order.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

I would just note that Madam Khera asked a very similar question to a question that Ms. Stubbs asked in her opening round, yet the minister repeatedly said that was PHAC's jurisdiction and refused to answer that question. When a very similar question, although asked in a little bit of a different manner, was asked by a member of the government's party, the minister certainly had lots to say.

I think it's concerning and it sets a troubling precedent about ministers and how they are meant to be held accountable at these committees.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

I agree with you that this is a point of observation, but I'm not sure that it is a point of order.

Thank you.

Madam Michaud.

Ms. Michaud, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

When the quarantine hotels were identified, were they given clear guidelines as to what price to charge for the rooms or what basic services to offer? We remember the Prime Minister tossing around the infamous $2,000 figure when it may not have been $2,000 after all.

I heard the story of a single mother who arrived at the hotel with her children. She had booked her room for $300 a night, but when she arrived, she was told the price was $700.

Could hotels set prices arbitrarily? Could they decide how security measures were implemented? What guidelines were given to the hotels?