Mr. Speaker, I am deeply concerned that the minister would not have followed the normal practice in this place, which is to submit the statement at least 24 hours in advance of making the statement in this place. We were given no notice whatsoever and it is just now that I have heard the minister's comments.
This is deeply disturbing on a number of levels. First, it shows a pattern of continued disrespect for Parliament and its institutions. It does not give us an adequate opportunity to respond, but particularly to do so on the issue of vaccines, one that obviously has gripped this nation and one with which we have been very concerned, particularly when it deals with those contracts. We had a lot of questions about them because they were sole-sourced. The government decided to put all of its eggs in one basket.
However, also consider the fact that just four months ago the Auditor General slammed the government for not having a plan when it came to emergency preparedness. Now when we are just beginning to get some semblance of action, which is hastily tossed together, we find out that the Conservatives are not discussing these matters with the people who are on the front lines in keeping our communities safe. As an example, when it comes to public health, the key individuals involved in public health, those who ensure our communities are safe or who respond to an emergency situation, were not consulted with the development of this plan. In fact, there is not even a clear chain of command.
In committee when one of our members asked a question about who was responsible, where the buck stopped, there was a long pause. The witnesses all looked at each other and eventually somebody said “Well, I guess it's me”. For a government that continually peddles in fear, in trying to balloon up issues to get people to be afraid, it is remarkable that it has no plan to actually deal with any of the situations it tries to get people to fear.
It is not just public health. When we talked to the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, the fire chiefs said that they were not included in the development of an emergency plan at all. They are absolutely irate that fire is not in that plan, that it has been set aside.
We talked with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture about a situation with fertilizer. Today in the House the member for Guelph asked a question about that. We have a situation where fertilizer is not being secured. The United States gave tax advantages to people to ensure they were able to put proper security measures in place, yet Canada refuses to do that. In fact, ministers have not been responded to letters requesting meetings with them. People feel left in the dark.
When it comes to emergency preparedness and emergency planning, the government is all talk and no action. Even a report from the Auditor General cannot get the Conservatives to get their act together, sit down, talk with the principal stakeholders and ensure the right thing is done.
Whether the government is proroguing Parliament, or cancelling the opinion of independent agencies, such as the Information Commissioner or the RCMP Public Complaints Commissioner, or while it is not scuttling committees, in so many different instances the government shows a complete lack of respect for Parliament, its institutions and, frankly, democracy. Yet again the minister has done it here today. It is unacceptable. This is an unheard of practice to just dump it on the table like this. She should be following the practices of the House and show more respect for an issue of this kind of importance.