Debates of Nov. 2nd, 2009

[The Acting Speaker, NDP, Denise Savoie]

If the hon. member does not wish to respond, then we will resume debate.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Madam Speaker, I do believe that the comments of the advisers to the Conservative government are quite shocking. What the Conservatives said in the summer was that they would be prepared. They need to fix what has happened on the ground now.

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the Chair for allowing this debate, because it reflects the national urgency of this issue. I also thank the hon. member for St. Paul's for her remarkable work on these issues.

This debate is not simply about an epidemic; it is a debate about the proper role and function of government. The role of government is to prepare citizens, to lead citizens and to inform them. In all three dimensions, the government has failed in its duties. I will begin with the government's failure to prepare.

The H1N1 flu first appeared on April 23, in Mexico. On April 27, I asked the first question in the House, namely: where was the government's plan to meet this challenge? But there has not been any plan since then.

The Conservatives waited before ordering vaccines. The United States ordered vaccines on May 25. France did so on July 16. But the Conservative government waited until August 6. That delay is critical. It shows a lack of leadership and a blatant lack of preparation. Thirty-five countries ordered their vaccines before Canada did.

The Conservatives began vaccination later than other countries. China, Australia, the United States, Sweden, Japan, the United Kingdom, all began vaccinations before our country did. Canada did not begin vaccinations until October 26. The U.S. began administering the vaccine on October 5, before Canadian trials had even begun.

Two weeks ago, the Minister of Health said the vaccine would be available to all Canadians in early November, and now she says it will not be available until Christmas. We have discovered that there is not an adequate supply for next week.

The Conservatives did not order non-adjuvanted vaccine for pregnant women until it was too late, and they provided extremely confusing advice at all times.

This failure to properly inform the public has become a source of enormous anxiety to Canadian families. They do not know what public information to believe. This is producing anguish in families that is the direct responsibility of the government.

Earlier, I referred to a lack of preparation, but there was also a lack of leadership. The provinces and territories asked the federal government for additional resources. Four hundred million dollars were allocated in the 2006 budget—which amounts to $80 million annually—to help the provinces and municipalities face this challenge. So far, there has been no reply and no cooperation on the part of the government.

Finally, I want to mention a simple reality: epidemics do not care about jurisdictions, about territories. The municipal, provincial and federal levels of government must work in a spirit of consultation and consensus building, and it is the federal government's responsibility to develop a national plan so that all stakeholders can be interconnected. This is what is lacking in the government's approach.

Instead of taking responsibility, the government blames everybody else. The government blames the drug company because there is not enough supply for next week. The government blames the provinces and territories. “We do not deliver health care,” the government says. We understand that, but the role of a national government is to provide the planning framework in which everybody does his or her job, because as I said, epidemics do not care about jurisdictions. What the national government is there to do is to bring people together. The government has failed to do that consistently since the beginning of the crisis.

The question now is when will the government own up and take responsibility? When will the Prime Minister begin to exercise the leadership that is his responsibility here? Why does he refuse to lead? Why does the entire government shift responsibility to the drug companies, to the provinces, to the municipalities, anybody it can instead of standing up and doing what the Government of Canada ought to be doing?

Finally, there is the failure to inform, the failure to prepare, the failure to lead. This is a government that has spent something like 10 times more on its own publicity, publicizing its own highly partisan infrastructure program than it has spent on public health information. This is the most astonishing failure of all of the government's failures. Clean, clear public information that everybody can understand is the right of every Canadian citizen. We could have avoided the anguish in all the Canadian households had the government done its job. It failed to do so.

Ultimately, this is not just about an epidemic; this is about the proper role of government in our society, the proper role of a federal government. The government has failed to do its job, which is why we are having this debate tonight.

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Madam Speaker, I am sure it will come as no surprise to you that I find the comments of the hon. member distasteful, outrageous and irresponsible.

The Liberal Party of Canada has sought from the outset to politicize this, to confuse and to confound Canadians, to work against the coordination that has existed among this government, the provinces and people who deliver health care in our country. They should be ashamed of themselves, that member in particular.

The member has pointed out that other countries ordered the vaccine in advance. Could he name a single country that has more vaccine per capita than Canada? If he cannot, he is wrong. He should name the country.

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Madam Speaker, the member opposite has attempted to say that we are politicizing a public health problem. It should be perfectly clear that we are doing our job.

For months, my hon. colleague, based on her experience of many years in family medicine, has been patiently taking the government to task, asking it to do its job. It is our party that has pointed out that the government has failed to launch a public information campaign. It is our party that has raised the question of when it will have a plan to deal with this crisis. It is our party that has been asking consistently when it is going to work in co-operation with the provinces. It is our party that has been asking where the plan is.

We have no apologies to make about the work we have done in the House of Commons.

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Madam Speaker, would the member agree with me that one of the failures here has been that the federal government does not seen to understand the role that a national government needs to play in a crisis?

If this were a weather disaster, if we were dealing with a storm or flood that had done enormous damage, the federal government would immediately step in with 90% of the funding for the work that would need to be done. It takes off of the shoulders of the local folks, who are trying to respond to the crisis, the sense of how they are going to cover the costs and they can simply get down to doing the work that needs to be done.

This has not happened in this instance. Only 60% of the funding for the vaccine itself is being provided by Ottawa. The local governments and provinces are having to provide 40% and that does not cover any of the delivery.

Would the member agree with me that this fundamental failure has resulted in the disastrous situation we saw this past weekend, where families were lined up from four in the morning trying to get help? When will the government take the action that needs to be taken by a national government?

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am delighted to see the hon. member has sided with the Liberal position, which is this is fundamentally a question about the role of a national government in a time of crisis.

However, I cannot help observe that last Friday in the House he seemed to be saying something very different, which was that everything was going pretty well. He must have had an awakening weekend, as he has discovered the full extent of the problems that have begun to transpire in the way the government has handled this crisis.

I would simply repeat what I said earlier. This is a test of the function and role of a national government and on the basis of that test, the government has failed it.

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, I am always pleased to provide the House with an update on the efforts of health portfolios to respond to the H1N1 flu virus outbreak. The reason for that is I am very proud of and stand behind all of our efforts to date, especially considering H1N1 is a novel virus. It is not something we have encountered before.

This new form of influenza is causing sickness and death in demographic groups that are usually most resistant to seasonal viruses and other disease outbreaks. For the first time in a long time, we are seeing school-aged children, youth and working-age adults hit hardest by this virus. More often it is the very young and very old who are most at risk of severe cases of the flu. With seasonal flu, over 90% of deaths and about 60% of hospitalizations occur in people older than 65. I would like to focus today on the facts about our response.

In April we received a report of these illnesses from Mexico. Our international reputation is such that when Mexican officials realized they had a problem, they called Canada first. We indicated that we would be happy to assist and immediately began doing so. We also began working immediately with the World Health Organization and our international and Canadian partners to respond quickly to this developing situation.

Since that day, the Government of Canada's actions have been unprecedented and we continue to demonstrate the leadership that Canadians, governments, health professionals and organizations are looking for during an outbreak. Let me provide just a few examples.

This is a very unique, new virus that could not be identified by a traditional method. However, the Public Health Agency's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg is an international leader in infectious disease diagnostics and research. Our lab had processes in place to identify emerging pathogens along with cutting edge technology that not all labs have.

Once we received specimens from Mexico, we got to work right away. Our National Microbiology Laboratory had test results within 24 hours. We mapped the genetic code of the Canadian and Mexican flu viruses, the first time that was done in the world.

The scientific excellence and leadership has been the hallmark of our response to the H1N1 influenza virus outbreak.

On the epidemiological side, we implemented heightened surveillance through FluWatch and began providing support to affected areas, including first nations and Inuit communities.

We began holding regular media briefings. In fact, since the spring, I have held over 41 media briefings. This is unprecedented and it is consistent with our commitment to keep Canadians informed as part of the pandemic plan. In addition, the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada and myself have conducted hundreds of media interviews.

The 1 800 O Canada information line has received calls requesting over 300,000 copies of the government's H1N1 preparedness guide and almost 50,000 of the guides have been downloaded from the Public Health Agency website. Radio and television ads are airing nationally, focusing on personal preparedness and vaccine information in the weeks to come. We will continue to roll out our multimedia, multi-phased citizen readiness marketing campaign.

In order to ensure that my colleagues on the other side of the House are kept up to date, we have provided over 40 briefings for opposition members of Parliament.

Last summer, after consultation with the provinces, territories and international partners and suppliers, we purchased enough doses of the H1N1 vaccine for every Canadian who needed and wanted it. In addition, we have ensured that pregnant women have access to unadjuvanted vaccine, following the advice of the World Health Organization.

The rollout was planned for early November, however, because of the hard work of many people in my department, who have been working 24/7, we were able to announce, on October 21, the authorization of the adjuvanted H1N1 vaccine. This means that provinces and territories were able to begin last week, on October 26, the largest vaccination campaign in our country's history. To date, six million doses of adjuvanted H1N1 vaccine have been delivered to the provinces and territories. That is currently more H1N1 vaccine per capita than any other country in the world.

We have sufficient vaccines for high-risk populations that need it. Many more Canadians will continue to get their shots over the coming weeks as more vaccine becomes available. Let me make one point very clear. There is not a shortage of vaccine. Every Canadian will be able to have the vaccine by Christmas.

There has been a tremendous uptake since the campaign began. We are encouraged by the fact that Canadians see the importance of being vaccinated against this pandemic flu. Provinces and territories are reporting many thousands of Canadians getting their shots. Right now, jurisdictions are giving more vaccine per day than they have ever given in history. There will be enough H1N1 vaccine available in Canada for everyone who needs and wants to be immunized. Not a single person will be left out.

Because we know that it would be impossible to vaccinate everyone in the country at one time, the Government of Canada, in co-operation with the provinces and territories, jointly determined sequencing guidelines for the distribution of the H1N1 flu vaccine. It is important for these guidelines to be implemented and respected. That is why we have started distributing the vaccine ahead of schedule so health care workers and Canadians at high risk of severe complications could be first in line to receive the vaccine.

In addition, I would like to remind colleagues that the northern isolated communities of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories have received their entire allotment of adjuvanted vaccine and will be able to have their populations vaccinated within two weeks.

Our goal is to have vaccinated every Canadian who needs and wants it by Christmas. This will be an incredible help to us in the fight against the spread of H1N1.

However, in broad terms, all of this is just the beginning. The flu season in Canada traditionally lasts until April. I know my colleagues, the parliamentary secretary to myself and members of Parliament will provide more details on our response so far, but I will also say that all of these efforts are a testament to the planning and to the strengthened systems we have nurtured over the past few years. Our response to the H1N1 flu virus began as soon as we were informed.

As the House knows, the World Health Organization officially declared an H1N1 pandemic in June. What is different this time around relative to previous pandemics is that we are better prepared than we have ever been before.

The reason is the Government of Canada is working from a strong framework, the Canadian pandemic influenza plan. It is a plan built on years of collaboration with provinces, territories and the medical community. Its goals are to minimize serious illness and overall deaths and to minimize social disruption among Canadians as a result of an influenza pandemic. That plan is constantly being fine-tuned. We are continuing to work on all the recommended preparedness activities and outstanding issues it outlines.

To help in rolling out pandemic plans and response, we continue to develop and update guidance documents for such concerns as clinical care for pregnant women. In fact, just last week, we released three new sets of guidelines. We released guidelines on how Canadians can reduce the spread of H1N1 flu virus while they are traveling. These guidelines help clarify how passengers, crews, travel agencies and operators can help reduce the spread of infection on planes, trains, ferries and buses.

We also issued guidance to assist those in remote and isolated communities, homes to some of our most vulnerable population. Our guidance on clinical management of patients with influenza-like illnesses will help doctors, nurses and other health care providers provide the care that residents in remote and isolated communities need.

The third guidance document will assist remote and isolated communities across Canada develop a plan for mass immunization. This is critical because health care services in many remote and isolated communities are carried out in small to medium-sized nursing stations and health centres by a small number of staff.

Because of the unique health challenges that remote and isolated communities face, we will be issuing several more guidance documents over the coming weeks to ensure that those who live far from the large urban centres in southern Canada receive the health care services they need to stay healthy.

Other supporting documents are being updated based on more recent data and experience we have seen during the influenza outbreak. This has laid the foundation for us. It is the strongest example possible of the spirit of collaboration.

Since the outset I have stressed the importance of collaboration in every action taken to manage the outbreak on behalf of Canadians. Our response has been supported by systematic ongoing contact with the World Health Organization and other international partners.

Within our borders we have made a concerted, coordinated effort to share information and lessons learned with our provincial and territorial counterparts. Experts and decision-makers from all jurisdictions from the entire spectrum of public health management have come together to ensure an appropriate and timely response to the outbreak.

From day one we have been working with first nations leaders and provinces. We are working to ensure that communities have everything they need in a timely manner based on the best public health advice, and of course we are committed to making sure first nations have the support they need to protect their communities.

As we move forward we are increasing efforts to make sure H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines get to those Canadians who need and want them the most. I am confident that the actions taken so far along with our continued efforts this fall and winter will continue to serve Canadians well. While the course of this pandemic may have been unexpected, we have demonstrated our ability to adapt quickly and effectively to rapidly changing events.

On October 29, we learned from our supplier GSK that the quantity of vaccine to be shipped to the provinces and territories would be, for the short term, much lower than expected. While we had known before that there might be less vaccine available, we had no idea until then the extent of the shortfall. When I found out and when we found out, we advised the provinces and territories immediately.

The temporary reduction in supply was caused by the fact that GSK can produce only one type of vaccine, adjuvanted or non-adjuvanted, at a time. It needed to shut down production of adjuvanted vaccine in order to comply with its commitment to producing non-adjuvanted vaccine for pregnant women.

This temporary shutdown combined with the earlier-than-expected authorization and roll-out of the vaccine caused the reduction we are now seeing. However, GSK assures us that it will be back up to providing the provinces and territories with millions of doses over the coming weeks. We are in constant contact with GSK on its production schedule. We have begun posting information on the expected supply on our website and sharing this information with the provinces and territories.

We are dealing with a very new disease and we have been working and will continue to work as quickly as possible given these circumstances. This government's planning efforts have paid off. No matter what else comes our way, we are well prepared. We plan to continue regular media briefings and get information out to Canadians quickly and effectively through advertising and otherwise.

We are committed to ongoing collaboration, transparency and communication. These are the tools that will help us prevent the spread of H1N1 and manage the outbreak and get us through this pandemic.

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Madam Speaker, may I ask the hon. member three very specific questions? First, if the influenza was first detected in Mexico on April 23, decoded in early May and declared a pandemic in June, why did Canada not order vaccine until August 6?

Second, given the unexpected, by her own admission, interruption of supply by GSK this coming week, what guarantee can she offer Canadians that supply will be adequate in subsequent weeks?

Third, given the fact that every Canadian can see these lines, the long waits, the confusion, the uncertainty and the anguish, can the minister begin to accept any responsibility for this situation? It appears she is pretending she has no responsibility for the evident distress that Canadians are facing.

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Madam Speaker, since April, I have been working with the provinces and territories in the rollout of the pandemic plan.

I was a territorial health minister for five years and know full well, intimately, the plan that was developed back in 2006 and agreed to by provinces and territories. There were lots of lessons learned at that time, and during the SARS outbreak, to develop a plan for Canada. When it was time to implement the plan, provinces and territories became aware of the presence of H1N1, over a weekend, from the confirmed lab results in Mexico.

In terms of why August was the date chosen, the chief public health officers and medical officers across the country through their ministries advised us at the time that it was very important for us in Canada to complete the production of the regular flu vaccine.

We know full well that in Canada about 4,000 Canadians die of the regular flu. The medical experts recommended that it was important to complete the vaccine against that. So that was completed over the summer months. As soon as that was done, the production of the H1N1 vaccine started, again based on the medical advice of the provinces and territories.

Something else that was developed, which my good friend from the NDP took part in, was a gathering in Winnipeg of a group of medical experts and chief medical officers to look at the cases we were seeing in Canada, the more serious cases, and what some of the underlying conditions were. They brought together a number of experts across the country and international community to develop the sequencing guidelines.

We recognized at the time that we could not immunize 33 million Canadians at one time, and it was important to target the most vulnerable. That guideline was established for the provinces and territories to use in the rollout of the first six million doses of vaccine distributed to the provinces.

I will continue to work with the provinces to roll out the vaccine to them as soon as it comes through from GSK.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Madam Speaker, I take encouragement in the minister's specific reference to dealing with H1N1 in first nations.

As the proud representative of northern Manitoba, one of the regions that has been hit the hardest by H1N1, I am encouraged to see that direction being taken. However, the way H1N1 has been dealt with, specifically with regard to with these first nations, since we have seen the first signs, makes me wonder about the commitment behind the direction that has been proposed.

I saw chiefs put out call after call for meetings with the minister. I saw chiefs and leaders from our region frustrated that they were being denied on the basis of facts coming out of their communities, about people on respirators, about the needs on the ground. Certainly we all know about the debacle that took place around the body bags.

As we move forward, beyond the work around the vaccine, because I see we are quite focused on that, my concern is what confidence we can give to first nations in the area of funding. When it comes to giving out the vaccine, when it comes to getting extra staff, and when it comes to the fundamental issue—

[The Acting Speaker, NDP, Denise Savoie]

The hon. Minister of Health.

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Madam Speaker, as I have said before in this House, I know some of the challenges of living in small, remote communities, because I come from a small, remote community and the nearest hospital is about 500 or 600 miles away. We have a nursing station. There are always challenges in delivering health care.

What I can say to the member, and I said this in a question period in response to her, with regard to funding, is that as Health Minister I increased funding for first nations health. Our government increased housing for first nations. The member voted against that.

I will continue to work with first nations communities to address their issues. In fact, I had to cancel a very important meeting with 400 chiefs in British Columbia to stay for this H1N1 emergency debate. I will continue to work with them.

I have had numerous meetings with the chiefs in Manitoba. In fact I was there just a few weeks ago and met again with the chiefs. I delivered a radio show to 65 first nations communities. I was in Regina. I went to a reserve to meet with first nations chiefs.

We will continue to work with the first nations chiefs, not only in the area of pandemic preparedness but also to address some of the health challenges they have in their communities.

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Madam Speaker, my question is for my colleague, the minister.

Seeing us in the House today, politicizing and not being partisan--

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Look in the mirror, for God's sake. Look in the mirror.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Look at your nose.

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Madam Speaker, I am being harassed about being partisan.

I would like to know how the minister feels about this. When the Leader of the Opposition uses a first nations child, an action that is racially motivated for political gain, I find that unacceptable. I see the member for St. Paul's doing the same thing with an aboriginal youth with a thermometer in her mouth. That is hurtful. To hear in committee that she is just trying to help is unacceptable. That is how I feel. I would like to see the Leader of the Opposition and the member for St. Paul's stand and apologize to the House tonight.

I want to know how the minister feels about this very issue, being aboriginal herself.

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Madam Speaker, I have said from the beginning that it is very important when dealing with a health care crisis, like a pandemic, to keep party politics away because Canadians would want us to do that.

One of the first things I did when we started dealing with this situation was to call the opposition critics to get them onside and explain to them what we were dealing with. My number one concern was the health and safety of Canadians.

In terms of managing a pandemic, it is also very important to communicate facts based on science and not to be fearmongering in any population, particularly the most vulnerable in first nations communities.

[The Acting Speaker, NDP, Denise Savoie]

The hon. member for Verchères—Les Patriotes has only one minute and a half for a very brief question.

[Luc Malo, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Madam Speaker, I will be brief.

In her speech, the minister spoke about discussions she had had with GSK, the supplier of the vaccines, regarding the availability of unadjuvanted vaccines, without being specific about when things would get back to normal. She simply told us that more will be available in the coming weeks or in the near future.

Can the minister be more specific about when the unadjuvanted vaccines will be available?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Madam Speaker, when we approved the authorization of the adjuvanted vaccine, we also started looking immediately for non-adjuvanted because GSK had not yet produced them. We have 225,000 doses that are currently being distributed across the country for pregnant women and more vaccine will be produced through GSK in the coming weeks.

[Luc Malo, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Madam Speaker, like my colleagues, I am pleased to participate in this emergency debate on the second wave of the H1N1 pandemic.

It goes without saying that there is an urgent need for this debate, since in Quebec and in all the provinces of Canada, we are seeing lines of people waiting to be vaccinated but unable to get the vaccine.

I heard the minister and the government members accusing the opposition of playing politics with this debate. I can understand some of the government's criticisms of the Liberal Party, because, unfortunately, the Liberals used a 10 percenter to send a document to aboriginal communities, resurrecting the body bag issue, when the communities had already accepted the government's apologies. However, I do not appreciate having the minister associate me and my party with this or having her accuse us of simply trying to take advantage of the situation.

Throughout consideration of this issue, ever since the WHO declared the pandemic a level six on June 11, we have been trying in every way possible to cooperate with the government and the Public Health Agency in order to ensure that the people of Quebec and people across Canada receive the best services, the best information and the best care.

That has always been our motivation. However, we see the confusion surrounding this vaccination. It is important to get answers from this government since it is up to us to relay accurate information to our constituents. We want to ensure, through our interventions, that our constituents have access to the vaccine, the antivirals and the information.

In August, the members of the Standing Committee on Health held a meeting to get an update from the government on the status of its plan. At the time, I already mentioned to the minister that I felt this plan was being disclosed bit by bit. It is hard to work with a piecemeal plan because we end up reacting to situations instead of providing the public with clear guidelines. The public was entitled to the facts because when it comes to H1N1, it is their health that is at stake.

We know that some patients with this disease have had very serious respiratory problems and that a number of deaths have been associated with this flu pandemic, hence the need for a clear plan.

However, it seems that the government does not want to give us a clear indication of the availability of doses of vaccine that will be distributed to Quebec and the provinces. We know that in Quebec and in the provinces structures are already in place or are being implemented in order to optimize the doses received at the mass vaccination centres.

The fact that the Chief Public Health Officer and the minister only found out last Thursday that Quebec would receive approximately 300,000 fewer doses of vaccine indicates a lack of foresight.

To inform people at the last minute, while they are waiting in line to get a vaccination, that they will not be able to get it the next week or in coming weeks shows a lack of preparedness. It simply makes no sense that they did not know beforehand. The Chief Public Health Officer seemed to even say that vaccination clinics will have to close. That just does not make sense.

In my opinion, the confusion began when the government delayed approval of the vaccine. Other countries had approved the vaccine before Canada. The United States, Australia and France approved a vaccine on September 13, 18 and 25 respectively. At that point, Canadians began saying that the government must have delayed approval because there was something not right with the vaccine. Conspiracy theories surfaced on the Internet about how components of the vaccine or the adjuvant were harmful to health. People began to have doubts.

But when people understood, they all wanted the vaccine. We did educate people, and I do not accept the government's suggestion that we did not do our jobs. My Bloc Québécois and I did everything we could using scientific evidence to reassure our fellow citizens that the vaccine is safe. Once we did that, a huge number of our people wanted to get the vaccine. Once again, the government should not have based its action plan on the assumption that a certain percentage of the population would get the vaccine. It should have acted on the assumption that the vast majority of people would want it.

Earlier, the minister said that the vaccine supplier—the sole supplier, I should point out—completed its production of seasonal flu vaccine before starting to produce H1N1 flu vaccine because seasonal flu can be fatal and we need the right tools to deal with it properly. I agree with that. However, a government with a clear and precise plan would have sought out other avenues or even other suppliers to ensure that all of our fellow citizens receive the vaccine while it mattered.

At the moment, we are right in the middle of the second wave of the H1N1 pandemic, and many of our fellow citizens are not yet vaccinated. We know that those at low risk of complications will not be vaccinated until December. Earlier, the minister said that everyone would be vaccinated by Christmas. However, people are coming to see us and they are saying that by Christmas, it will all be over. They are wondering if they will even need it by then. They are wondering whether they will already have come down with this flu by Christmas. These are legitimate questions. The government has to give people the answers they need.

The minister also said again in her speech that production of adjuvanted vaccines for the general public had to be stopped so that GSK could produce unadjuvanted vaccines for pregnant women. But I believe I heard that the World Health Organization and government representatives have said that the adjuvanted vaccine could also be suitable for pregnant women. This message will have to be clarified.

Last Monday, the government announced that it was purchasing 200,000 doses of unadjuvanted vaccine from an Australian company. When the government announces that it is buying unadjuvanted vaccine for pregnant women, people can easily think that the government has found an alternative way to distribute unadjuvanted vaccine to Quebec and the provinces for pregnant women. But now, a week later, we are finding out that that was not the real reason the government was buying unadjuvanted vaccine from Australia. Here again, the way in which the government is going about procuring vaccine is not clear.

All these questions are relevant because, as I said earlier, people expect to be vaccinated quickly because we are right in the middle of the second wave of the H1N1 pandemic.

We know that the federal government has a $400 million special fund created by the previous government for use in the event of a pandemic. We have watched the Conservative government whittle away at this money, withdrawing $80 million a year because the fund had not been used to respond to a pandemic in the previous 12 months. But this money could be made available to Quebec and the provinces to improve information sharing about the vaccination campaign, for example. Or it could be transferred to Quebec and the provinces to help them hire more nurses to administer the vaccine when it arrives. Of course, all that needs to be part of a clear, coherent plan.

Earlier, I heard my colleagues talking about the situation on native reserves and in first nations communities, and rightly so. When the health committee examined this issue in August, first nations representatives, including grand chiefs, came to tell us about a disturbing situation, one that this government should be ashamed of. It is also disgraceful for the Liberals, who formed the previous government, since one of the reasons this virus, the flu virus, has been able to spread so quickly in those communities is due to overcrowding, in addition to the fact that certain isolated communities do not have access to potable water.

When, in 2009, our citizens do not have access to potable water in a country that former Prime Minister Chrétien called “the most best country in the world”, that makes no sense. One might wonder about the government's real desire to tackle this problem, which has been an issue for many years.

I remember asking government officials if they had only recently realized that certain areas within Canada did not have safe drinking water. Of course, we were told that measures would be put in place, but they had to be introduced gradually, over time, and so on. As we can see with the first wave of the flu, the fact that this aspect was neglected is making that population even more vulnerable.

The Speaker is signaling that I have only three minutes left. My colleague across the floor wishes to give me 15 minutes, Madam Speaker. Is he right? Do I really have 15 minutes left? Of course not.

In conclusion, I would simply like to come back to the fact that the minister talked about the schedule for ordering the vaccine. How is it possible that we have known since June 11 that there was a level 6 pandemic, but that the 50 million doses were not ordered until August? How is it possible that the government waited until September to order the adjuvanted vaccine, when we could have easily ordered the unadjuvanted vaccines earlier, while we were waiting to hear whether the adjuvanted vaccine was approved or safe?

That would have surely put us in a better position to help those who simply want to be vaccinated. It would be completely irresponsible on our part not to question the minister and the government about this. It is unfortunate; I know. The minister does not like it, but it is clear that deep down, we have some questions, as we all sit here in this House, and we hear from the agency and from experts. I can only imagine what Canadians are thinking, as they receive sometimes contradictory information and wonder when they will be able to get vaccinated.

I would like to thank my colleagues for their attention, and I encourage everyone in this House to participate in this important emergency debate on the H1N1 pandemic.

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Madam Speaker, I listened very carefully to my colleague, and again, I want to wish my colleague a happy birthday. For all the world to know, he is 36 years old today.

In actual fact, at the health committee, as the member is very well aware, we have had aboriginal people come and testify, including Grand Chief Ron Evans, from Manitoba, from my province, who is a great leader in Manitoba.

There was an issue, right at the beginning, about body bags. The minister was very careful to make sure that it was examined and reported. It was found out that the nurses themselves had ordered the body bags because they wanted to ensure they had a lot of all sorts of pandemic supplies, and the body bags were there as part of those pandemic supplies.

When Grand Chief Ron Evans came to the health committee last time, he applauded the minister and said that indeed things were coming along very well, that things were much better.

However, the saddest day on which I have ever been on a committee was when the grand chief held up a 10 percenter, and on the front page was a picture of a morgue. On the back of that ten percenter was a picture of a little girl, holding her head, with a thermometer in her mouth. And this came from the Liberal Party.

I would ask the member how he felt when this kind of thing happened. Did he think that opposition parties had politicized this pandemic, right in front of all the aboriginal people, to try to make points?

[Luc Malo, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Madam Speaker, if I may, because my colleague the chair of the Standing Committee on Health pointed it out, I would like to officially thank her for her birthday wishes. She may boast of celebrating my 36th birthday with me in the House, if she likes, on the night of this emergency debate.

In fact, when Grand Chief Evans came to meet with us at the committee, all of his comments dealt with the support he had received from his province and private agencies to put together a kit so it could be distributed. That was the gratifying aspect of his comments: in a nutshell, preparation plans in the event of a major problem were ready. In fact, we have heard this on several occasions from officials of this House and from government employees. I was completely bowled over to see the Grand Chief hold up that ten percenter, because to me it did not belong there. As parliamentarians, we prefer to offer accurate information and make sure that our fellow citizens have access to a vaccine or appropriate kits, for example.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech, and I would like to ask his opinion.

As early as 2004-05, the World Health Organization said we must prepare for a pandemic flu. In 2006, then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said we must come together and prepare. In 2007, the World Health Organization warned against complacency.

It was the job of the government to maintain a current pandemic plan and resources to respond. In the 2006 budget, $400 million dollars were set aside, and $80 million has disappeared since.

My question, though, is that the second wave of the pandemic was announced on a Friday, in Ontario and in British Columbia. The vaccine rollout began last week. There has been confusion, frustration and lineups. The people who were vaccinated this past week will not be protected for 10 to 14 days. There is a slowdown this week. Modelling studies show that the peak hits around five weeks.

Does the hon. member think Christmas is early enough?