Mr. Speaker, it is the job of government to protect the health and safety of Canadians. We have a major public health crisis, the worst outbreak of Ebola in history. It is also the job of government to communicate with Canadians in an open and transparent manner.
That is the reason we put forward our motion calling on the Minister of Health, the Minister of Public Safety, and the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada to appear in front of committee every two weeks. We then heard today that the government wants to respond in writing. That is not good enough. Canadians need to hear parliamentarians asking questions. Is the government prepared, should a case ever come to Canada? The government has to be prepared. It is not enough to submit written communications. We have to be able to ask those questions.
I amended the motion in order to hopefully get all-party support.
I had questions on Ebola last week. Families in my riding have families back home, as do many members of the House. We all need to be asking these questions to ensure that the outbreak in West Africa will come to an end and to ensure Canadians' health and safety are protected.