Mr. Speaker, I do respect the admonition that you gave to the House. However, since my presence yesterday was brought up, I would like to point out to the House that I had the great pleasure of accompanying the Prime Minister to Nova Scotia yesterday to make a historic accord on funding with Nova Scotia. It was related to the offshore revenue that will greatly assist that province in meeting all commitments that it has to the people of Nova Scotia, including the areas of vaccination which of course the federal government gets involved in ensuring, with the provinces and territories, that the proper amount of vaccines are out in the country as needed.
Canada is the leading country in terms of vaccinations proportional to its population. We encourage all Canadians, especially those who are at greater risk, those who have some respiratory ailments, people over the age 65, to seek those inoculations.
The member points out our lack of concern, I believe that would be the way that he puts it, for the ordinary Canadian. I have been in public life for a long time, municipal and later in the federal government, and I have yet to meet that ordinary Canadian. I find all Canadians to be extraordinary. Those are the people that I work with all the time, 30 million extraordinary Canadians, all of them different, and all with different aspirations. We always ensure that we give them the tools that they need to meet their aspirations and keep this extraordinary country growing.
I do not look to establish big norms where everybody is the same, all families look the same, two and a half children and a dog. I recognize that extraordinary Canadians need extraordinary measures and that of course is what we do.
The member points to research and that is the crux of the important question. What do we do in vaccine research?
We have great confidence in the private sector, but we know that it needs some assistance and that is why we have health research funding, funding in other programs that we have in Industry Canada that assists in the research and developing of new products within the country. Another area is to improve our regulatory side so that we are effective and efficient. Product safety is very important.
We have seen the failings of other countries where safety has not been protected in the approval process. We want to ensure that we always protect the safety and integrity of our system, but not unduly stop the research from happening with the approvals of the drugs as they go forward.
The international issue is very important because the member was pointing out what is happening in Asia in development. We cannot do it alone and stand alone. Canada's participation in the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, assisting in the research with other countries, participating with them in their research, and the exchange of information is important so that we develop new products jointly in a timely fashion. This contributes greatly to the safety of those 30 million extraordinary Canadians that we seek to serve.