Debates of Sept. 15th, 2014

Ebola Outbreak

[Dany Morin, NDP, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, one of the things the Public Health Agency of Canada does is research on disease prevention. Unfortunately, the Conservative government decided to slash that agency's budget in recent years.

I have to wonder how long that agency's team has really been working on the Ebola crisis. After all, news of the Ebola outbreak has been heard all around the world for weeks, if not months now.

Does my colleague think that Conservative cuts to the Public Health Agency of Canada may have hurt our ability to properly study this kind of disease?

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when research budgets are cut, the results and findings of that research are definitely affected. As the government said a little earlier, we know that vaccines that are not yet ready, that have not been tested, will be used on humans. Ethically speaking, I would rather see an agency like Health Canada carry out research and development at the right place and time. I would prefer to avoid such experiments on humans if they are not completely proper.

Yes, I think that cuts to Health Canada do have an impact on a situation like this, when we run the risk of a pandemic.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Good evening, Mr. Speaker. It is my great pleasure to be here. I am pleased to discuss the international coordination effort to address the Ebola crisis in West Africa and Canada's contribution to this threat to international public health.

The World Health Organization has declared this a public health emergency of international concern. My thoughts are with those affected by this tragic outbreak in Africa, with all of their families and all individuals worried for their safety. I take this opportunity to update not only members of this great Parliament but all Canadians on what we are doing, the current international situation, the impact it may have on Canadians, and measures already in place to ensure a consistent and coordinated response to this threat to international public health.

I want to begin by reassuring members of the House and all Canadians that there has never been a case of Ebola in Canada, and according to the Public Health Agency, the risk to Canadians remains very low. The Government of Canada is working closely with our international partners to monitor the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and to support the response, while at the same time reviewing our domestic public health preparedness systems and working with our provincial and territorial colleagues.

I will start by providing the facts we have on Ebola based on the current scientific evidence so that we can all understand what the Ebola virus is and how it spreads. Ebola, as many Canadians are now well aware, is a severe viral disease that causes hemorrhagic fever in humans and animals.

It first appeared in 1976, and outbreaks since then have been primarily occurring in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests. The current outbreak began in December 2013, and came to the world's attention in early March when an outbreak was officially declared. This outbreak is now the largest in history but remains confined to several countries in West Africa.

Ebola is introduced into the population through close contact with infected bodily fluids. Once contracted, Ebola can spread in the community without proper precautions. However, current scientific evidence shows that Ebola is not airborne and cannot be transmitted through casual contact. This is a very important distinction from other infectious diseases with which Canadians may be familiar, and the virus cannot spread as easily as SARS or the H1N1 influenza.

The Ebola virus can also be spread through contact with infected animals and medical equipment. During an outbreak, those at higher risk of infection are health workers, family members, and others who are in close contact with an ill or deceased person.

Another important fact is that the Ebola virus cannot be spread by a person who is not showing symptoms of the disease. I think this is perhaps one of the most reassuring facts for Canadians. As we know, the incubation period, the time between infection and the onset of symptoms, varies between two and 21 days.

The countries where there is ongoing spread of the disease are Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. There have been only a limited number of cases reported from Nigeria and Senegal. Those are associated with travellers from Liberia and Guinea respectively. Cases of Ebola have also been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, these are unrelated to the West African outbreak.

These suffering West African countries have limited resources to respond to prolonged outbreaks, especially in rural areas. I think we have all been captivated by the images that we have been seeing on television. Some of the current challenges and complexities of the outbreak include infections not only taking place in remote and forest areas but also in large cities.

Outbreak control strategies have been met with distrust due to fear and misinformation at times. There are varying health care infrastructures, lack of experience and fear among health care workers, and treatment to date has been supportive, not curative. Some who become sick with Ebola are able to recover, though medical experts do not yet fully understand why.

Ebola outbreaks have had a case fatality rate of up to 90%. Thankfully, this particular outbreak has shown a survival rate of 47%, much better than earlier outbreaks.

On August 8, the World Health Organization declared the Ebola virus disease a public health emergency of international concern. While the situation and media reports from West Africa are dire indeed, I want to reiterate to colleagues, and most especially to all Canadians, that the risk to Canadians remains very low. There has never been a case of Ebola in Canada. The Ebola virus does not spread easily from person to person and cannot be transmitted through casual contact. The Government of Canada has already taken action and will continue to take action against Ebola both at home and abroad.

As per the recommendations of the World Health Organization, Canada is already implementing measures, including maintaining our preparedness to detect, investigate and manage persons with the Ebola virus in the unlikely event that a case were to appear in Canada. Canada has the capacity to identify and manage ill travellers and perform the necessary diagnostic testing for Ebola.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is taking precautions to prevent and control the spread of communicable diseases such as Ebola in Canada through the administration of the Quarantine Act. The Quarantine Act is administered 24 hours a day, seven days a week at all points of entry into Canada. Together with the Canada Border Services Agency, the Public Health Agency of Canada helps reduce the spread of serious communicable diseases and ensures that travellers are aware of the actions they should take if they begin to experience symptoms of illness.

In light of the current outbreak, the Public Health Agency of Canada recommends that Canadians avoid all non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. There are also public health notices that have been issued for Nigeria and Senegal, recommending that travellers take special precautions. This recommendation is to protect Canadian travellers. The risk of infection is low for most travellers; however, the risk may be increased for those who are working in a health care setting or for travellers who require medical care in affected areas as most human infections result from direct contact with the body fluids of an infected patient.

There may also be difficulties accessing health care services due to the increasingly burdened health care systems in these countries. The Public Health Agency of Canada continues to provide information to Canadians, such as travel and public health notices, through websites such as phac-aspc.gc.ca, as well as through special and social media platforms. Technical guidance and protocols have been developed and disseminated to partners in the provinces and territories and the transportation sector, including airlines and airport authorities. Front-line staff have been trained to identify travellers who may be ill and to take the appropriate measures to ensure public safety. The Government of Canada has strengthened training programs for front-line staff at the main points of entry and has enhanced working relationships internally and with partners, including public health staff and local health units, first responders, border service officers, and law enforcement agencies. It is important to note that to date there has not been a single confirmed case of Ebola contracted on an airplane anywhere in the world.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is also working closely with its provincial and territorial partners in health. The agency's National Microbiology Laboratory is well-connected with its networks of provincial labs to ensure it is ready to respond quickly should symptoms associated with Ebola be suspected in a traveller to Canada. Our hospitals in Canada have sophisticated infection control systems and procedures in place that are designed to limit the spread of infection, protect health care workers, and provide the best care possible for the patient. As part of the increased vigilance and precautions across Canada, hospitals send samples for persons under investigation to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg for testing to rule out Ebola.

Canada is also involved in an international early warning system that detects reports of outbreaks and emergencies around the world. This enables our Public Health Agency of Canada, along with provincial and territorial partners, to respond to emerging issues before they arise in Canada.

In recent weeks, there have also been some media reports of suspected Ebola cases in Canada from people who had travelled to West Africa, notably in my home community, in Brampton. In every single instance, individuals were identified, isolated, investigated, and all tested negative for the Ebola virus by the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. These cases have all demonstrated that our system is working as it should, and Canada has learned and applied important lessons from our experiences with SARS and with H1N1.

Canada is also proactively contributing to international efforts to combat Ebola at its point of origin in West Africa. Canada has also contributed over $5 million to the World Health Organization and other international non-governmental partners towards this effort.

At the present time, there is no specific licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola, but as colleagues here may have already been aware, leading scientists at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg have developed an experimental vaccine for the Ebola virus. Currently the recognized treatment options are limited to strict isolation to prevent the infection from spreading, supportive care in an intensive care unit, maintenance of fluid levels and electrolytes, maintenance of oxygen status and blood pressure, and the replacement of lost blood and clotting factors.

That said, our government has offered 800 to 1,000 doses of this experimental, developed-in-Canada vaccine known as VSV-EBOV to the World Health Organization as a global resource to help fight this outbreak. Approximately 1,500 doses of this experimental vaccine, designed by the Public Health Agency of Canada, were produced under licence by a U.S. company to support ongoing research on the subject. Canada will keep a small supply of the experimental vaccine to conduct applied research and clinical trials, such as toxicity and safety studies, which are necessary before the vaccine can be used on humans.

Canada will also keep a small supply of the experimental vaccine in the unlikely event that it is needed for compassionate use in Canada.

The World Health Organization, in its role as an international coordinating body in responding to this outbreak, will help facilitate the distribution and use of the vaccine. I would also like to add that while the safe transportation of our vaccine is an important consideration, these doses are ready to be transported the moment the World Health Organization recognizes or requests that they be transferred or deployed.

The decision on whether the experimental vaccine should be offered for compassionate use is not something that the Government of Canada or its partners have taken lightly. While the vaccine and treatment in which Canada has been involved have not been tested in humans, they have been effective in animals and are potentially life-saving options for people who have been exposed to the Ebola virus.

There are significant legal and ethical questions around the use of experimental vaccines and therapies in humans. This is why we are working with our partners in the World Health Organization to evaluate the difficult ethical and logistical concerns on the use of experimental vaccines in outbreak areas. While the experimental vaccine is promising, it is very important to remember that it does not replace the need for rapid diagnosis, good infection control practices, and tight coordination amongst partners involved in the response.

Scientists at the Public Health Agency of Canada, at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, have also contributed to the development of two of three elements of an experimental treatment called ZMapp. ZMapp, owned by a U.S. company, Mapp Biopharmaceuticals, is perhaps the most promising Ebola treatment to date. The treatments enable the immune system to fight an infection following an exposure to the virus. Mapp Bio has indicated that all ZMapp doses in its supply were exhausted after the company provided ZMapp to West Africa.

Another experimental treatment called TKM-Ebola was developed by Tekmira, a Canadian company, under a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense. The Tekmira therapeutic began phase one clinical trials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March 2014, before being halted in July 2014 due to safety concerns. In early August, the FDA changed the status to allow emergency use on infected patients. The Government of Canada does not own any intellectual property in this product, but we are monitoring the company's progress in clinical trials and the potential applicability of this therapy to the ongoing outbreak with great interest.

The Government of Canada has also provided over $5 million in support of humanitarian, security, and public health interventions to address the spread of Ebola in West Africa. We have also deployed experts to West Africa to assist in ground efforts, and the National Microbiology Laboratory's mobile lab and Canadian experts have been deployed to Sierra Leone, since June, to conduct rapid laboratory testing, allowing the early identification, isolation, and treatment of Ebola-affected individuals.

Just last week, a brand new team of Public Health Agency experts were deployed to this mobile laboratory to assist in the ongoing efforts to help fight the outbreak. Their work is a crucial part of the international aid efforts being made by the world community to address this developing situation.

The Government of Canada is taking a whole-of-government approach to aggressively fighting the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, including National Microbiology Labs. It is providing $2.95 million to the World Health Organization to strengthen the field response to the outbreak and mitigate associated threats to health and safety. It is also contributing $1.7 million to support humanitarian interventions, led by Doctors Without Borders, to reduce and control the spread of the virus in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, and provide care to those affected.

It has contributed a total of $160,000 to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to support the response to the outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone through its emergency disaster assistance fund, which is managed by the Canadian Red Cross society. I sat on the board of the Canadian Red Cross society for well over a decade throughout southern Ontario and in Toronto, so I can tell the House how excellent its work is.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is providing $200,000 to the World Health Organization through the international health grants program to support a request for assistance toward operational costs in West Africa, and the coordination and deployment of international technical expertise. We are also supporting the deployment of four Canadian Red Cross delegates to Guinea and Sierra Leone to support the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' response efforts through this strategic partnership.

It is important to reiterate that there has never been a case of Ebola in Canada and the risk to Canadians remains very low. I do not want to leave anyone with the impression that there is an imminent threat to this country. There is not. The Government of Canada has a number of systems in place to identify and prevent the spread of serious infectious diseases in Canada. Precautions are being taken to prevent and control the spread of communicable diseases, such as Ebola, in Canada, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at all points of entry into Canada.

Our health care system in Canada is state of the art, with infection control systems and procedures in place that are designed to limit the spread of infection, protect health care workers, and provide the best possible care to patients. Promising Canadian research has already made a number of early contributions to developing experimental vaccines and treatments for Ebola. We are actively engaged internationally with the World Health Organization and other non-governmental organizations to combat the disease at its point of origin in West Africa and to get the outbreak under control to protect international health and security.

I personally think we are very fortunate to live in a wonderful country that not only effectively guards our health and security, but contributes Canadian expertise to the international response to the situation in West Africa and leads cutting-edge research that is applied internationally.

I would like to end by identifying what individual Canadians can do. We have been asked by many what they can do personally to help take up the fight. Aside from medical professionals, the most meaningful contribution that Canadians can make is a financial contribution to an international relief organization working in this area. Details are available on the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have two questions for the member.

First of all, how many Canadians live in the three countries we are talking about here this evening: Guinea, Sierra Leone and the third, whose name escapes me just now?

Second, the member pointed out that she sat on the board of the Canadian Red Cross in Toronto for 10 years. Could she tell us about the protocol followed when the Canadian team returns from West Africa and is replaced by another team? What is the protocol for ensuring that those people are not infected and that they do not bring the epidemic here to Canada?

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, those are excellent questions. We have asked all Canadians who are currently in the three affected countries to leave if possible. We have also indicated to all Canadians that any non-essential travel to those countries should be avoided. We think this is first and foremost in the interest of their health and safety. It is also in the interests of evacuation teams. If something should arise, we obviously need to ensure that Canadians can leave promptly. Finally, if they should happen to have some other medical problem take place while they are travelling to these affected countries, those heath care systems are under a great deal of stress currently.

The member's second question dealt with health care workers who are currently assisting these affected regions and what precautions are taking place. She may have heard in the news that there was a team that was evacuated. That team was brought here and was immediately put into isolation as a precautionary measure. I am delighted to share with the House that the team will be returning to work tomorrow. Another team has gone over to West Africa and is continuing to assist in any way they possibly can.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her comments, but, yet again, I want to remark that reassurance from a parliamentary secretary is not the same as the reassurance from a medical officer of health.

Tomorrow, members of Congress are slated to hear from the federal health officials who are leading their nation's efforts. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta, where he will be briefed. As we know, Samantha Power and the Americans have insisted on a security council debate on Thursday. This is a week after this disease was designated out of control. Today, the Centers for Disease Control drew up a six-point action plan that says now is the time to prepare. They are saying it is only a matter of time before the disease arrives on home soil.

I heard the member say many times that we have not yet had a case in Canada. That is true, but having lived through 2003 when we had not yet had a case of SARS in Canada, it is no time for complacency. I would ask the member when parliamentarians and Canadians at large will hear from the acting chief medical officer of health. That was the lesson we learned from SARS. We must be hearing directly from medical people, not from politicians, if we are going to expect Canadians to have confidence in our public health system in Canada.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member may or may not be aware that her colleague, the critic for health, received a direct briefing from the chief medical officer. It was yesterday, I believe. It was also offered to the NDP critic. I do not believe that meeting has taken place yet.

To answer the question, we have been communicating. We have been hearing a great deal throughout these debates that the risk to Canadians remains very low. This is something that has been issued by the Public Health Agency of Canada. It is fully independent from Parliament and fully independent of any politician. Its assessment is fully in line and in lockstep with the World Health Organization's assessment for the risk to Canada, which is the same risk, by the way, to the United States or other developed countries.

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health made an announcement tonight at 7 o'clock. I wonder if the member could inform the House what that was.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in fact Canada will be contributing additional equipment. This is in addition to over $5 million that we have already given, and in addition to the wonderful work from the Department of Foreign Affairs that I detailed in my speech.

[Dany Morin, NDP, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my Conservative colleague for her speech. I learned some new information from that speech. This is what is important when we are in the House of Commons: having a dialogue, sharing information that others do not know, and raising the level of debate.

However, I find one thing absurd, and my colleague mentioned it briefly in her speech. The Public Health Agency of Canada has a laboratory in Winnipeg that has worked, and is perhaps still working, on Ebola. It produces a vaccine that has the potential to help us.

I would like to ask my Conservative colleague whether, in retrospect, she believes that making $60 million in cuts to the Public Health Agency of Canada over the last three years was a good idea. We know that money is the sinews of war and that research needs a lot of money, not only in order to be able to conduct experiments but also to attract highly qualified researchers.

Does the hon. member believe that, with those $60 million that perhaps we ought not to have cut, we could have made more progress and responded more quickly to the crisis?

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian government, under Conservative leadership, is the single largest investor in research across Canada. It invests about $1 billion each and every year, for critical things like cancer research, Alzheimer's research, and emerging health for women and children.

When it comes to this vaccine, I think we are all very proud of the leading role that Canadians have taken in fighting Ebola. What members of the House and Canadians need to recall is that prior to this outbreak, there were fewer than 2,000 cases of Ebola. While we have carried out groundbreaking research in developing the crux of these vaccines, it is not for the Public Health Agency of Canada to commercialize them and run them through trials. This has always been done with the assistance of private sector companies, which then invest millions of dollars to take these medicines and vaccines to trial. That is exactly what is taking place here.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, according to U.S. scientists, the Ebola outbreak may last a further 12 to 18 months, although the WHO is standing by its original numbers. The director of CDC, Dr. Frieden, has said that the situation is worsening and is spiralling out of control.

The U.S. said that it will build a 25-bed, $22-million field hospital in Liberia to care for health care workers, with 100 staff and 50 more coming. France will deploy 20 specialists to Guinea. Britain will build and operate a 62-bed hospital in Sierra Leone.

We have a critical shortage of trained health professionals. I wonder if Canada will help with the field hospital. How many specialists has Canada sent, and will Canada do more?

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has always been a leader in providing assistance to countries in need, especially during emergency or disaster times. I am very proud of the investments we have made as a nation.

The $5 million to date includes almost $3 million to the World Health Organization, to strengthen field response specifically. Another $1.7 million has gone to support humanitarian interventions, led by Doctors Without Borders, to reduce and control the spread. We have given $160,000 for the emergency disaster assistance fund. In addition, there is today's announcement for new equipment, and of course we have just sent a new team directly to the affected areas.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be back in the House and to see you again.

I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Chicoutimi—Le Fjord who certainly has some good insights to share on this issue.

I am not sure whether I am the only one to notice this, but it was a strange summer. Summer is normally the most festive season in our respective ridings; this may well be, but as they say, in the summer every day is a slow news day. However, this summer, the events caught up with us night after night, casting a dramatic pall over the festivities going on in our ridings.

This summer, we saw numerous armed conflicts going on, one air tragedy after another, a lot of political tensions, unresolved economic crises, and young women being abducted. I am thinking, for example, of Boko Haram, a name that was unfortunately on everyone's lips for all the wrong reasons.

So here we are back for another session of Parliament where a number of issues will clearly divide us. In our emergency debate this evening, I would prefer to do away with the word “debate” and talk instead about a discussion on an urgent matter to which the Government of Canada must say “present,” while constantly reasserting or updating that presence as the situation develops.

I dare hope that this issue will bring us closer to each other and to the international community. Indeed, the crisis the people of some West African countries are going through speaks to our solidarity, but also to our desire to be safe wherever we are.

At a time when our planet has become very small and it is possible for almost all of us to go around it in about 24 hours, when our means of transportation allow us to travel back and forth as if globalization had erased all borders, we must act responsibly at home. Ultimately, our home is everywhere.

Before I continue, let me give a heartfelt salute to my colleague from Laurier—Sainte-Marie who requested this emergency exchange, or this debate as it is more commonly referred to. It enables us not only to learn more about this tragedy , which is far from over, and how various countries are trying to deal with this crisis, but also to put additional pressure on the Government of Canada to do more. Far be it from me to criticize the actions already taken by the Government of Canada. However, in a crisis such as this, we clearly need to follow its progress daily, even hourly, and adapt our response according to the needs.

What about this situation, this Ebola crisis? Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal are grappling with an epidemic confirmed by the World Health Organization. We are talking about more than 4,000 confirmed cases since the infection was first identified in 1976. There have been a few multiple cases over the years, but nothing like the crisis we are currently facing. Research has made great strides in trying to develop a vaccine, but about 50% of people who contract the virus one way or another will still die from it.

Of course, we need to continue focusing our efforts on this research. However, we also need to put in place everything we can to confine this crisis to the smallest possible area in order to fight it as effectively as we can.

Why is the epidemic now being described as “unprecedented”? First, it is because of its magnitude. Over 2,000 people have now contracted the virus, and the geographic distribution is quite different. In fact, when the virus affects people living in a relatively modest village, or it is brought under control quickly, or the disease decimates a large part of the village, it is relatively easy—I am weighing my words carefully because there is nothing easy about this—let us say, it is easier to beat a virus like this. What we are seeing now is that the virus has also moved to large centres, to the cities where people live much closer to one another and where spreading a virus, even without intending to, has perhaps become much easier.

That is one explanation that may help us understand the extent of this crisis.

As well, since the number of victims is increasing, there is a direct impact on the health system itself. Doctors, nurses and health care workers are doing the best they can to the best of their knowledge as they work with those afflicted. Sometimes, as a result, and despite all the protections that have been put in place, they contract the virus and die. Their death rate is no different from that of the general population, which is to say approximately 50% of those who contract the virus. If the medical team is reduced, it is clear that there will be a downward spiral.

The fight is increasingly difficult. It is so difficult that in some particularly underdeveloped regions that have less well-equipped health infrastructure, we are now seeing collateral damage. If there is no staff or infrastructure to treat diseases that could be dealt with, stopped, controlled and treated with relative success in the past—such as diarrhea or malaria—that, too, has a direct impact on the mortality rate of the population in general and infants in particular. That is yet another catastrophe.

Fear is also taking hold. When so many health care professionals die because they wanted to give their all to the people, that obviously deters other health care professionals who would certainly want to help and apply their knowledge to help curb the crisis, but who want to be 100% sure that they can do so in completely safe conditions. That also slows the process down.

Those are a few reasons that provide some explanation.

What is the World Health Organization saying? According to its roadmap, there is a need for $600 million. So far, the various countries that want to help find a solution to this crisis have committed approximately one-third of that. The goal is still far from reach. It is very easy to imagine that the sum of $600 million will increase if this epidemic grows exponentially. It will require additional funds.

In other words, time is of the essence. We have to make decisions quickly while making the best choices and providing the necessary funds to win this fight.

What are the top priorities? Perhaps expanding isolation centres. In some cases, these have to be built in the first place before they can be expanded. We also have to be able to deploy mobile labs to diagnose people with the disease on site and even faster so that they can be isolated even faster.

We need to be able to create airlifts for the safe international transfer of personnel who want to help handle the crisis and for the transportation of necessary equipment and supplies. Lastly, we need to build a regional network of rural hospitals.

There is no doubt that all of these measures will require a significant contribution from each participating country in addition to the $5 million that Canada has already pledged. That is good, but I think it is not nearly enough.

I would like to close with two short quotes.

The first is from Margaret Chan of the WHO:

In the three hardest hit countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the number of new patients is moving faster than the capacity to manage them.

The second is from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in a letter to President Barack Obama:

I am being honest with you when I say that at this rate, we will never break the transmission chain and the virus will overwhelm us.

Canada's help during this crisis is of the utmost importance, and we must be unwavering in our support.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his kind words.

I would also like to thank him for his approach, when he said that today we should be having less of a debate and more of a discussion in order to come to an agreement on the need to take immediate action. As he so aptly said, time is of the essence.

Everyone appreciates what the government has done to date. However, as my colleague so clearly demonstrated, the health care systems in the countries in question are simply not up to the task and neither is the aid being given to those countries. The needs are enormous.

Does my colleague think it would be appropriate for Canada to send specialized personnel and our Disaster Assistance Response Team? We send it in when natural disasters occur. For example, we sent this team to the Philippines because it is accustomed to deploying quickly in crisis situations.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Laurier—Sainte-Marie for her question, to which she provided part of the answer.

One of the suggestions I was going to make involved deploying this team, which is able to intervene quickly. The team is always ready and just waiting to be told the time and location of its mission so that it can go there and work with its partners to find solutions to the crisis.

We could also think about deploying military personnel who specialize in health care. In every garrison, there are a certain number of doctors, nurses and heath care professionals who chose a career in the military. They are still health care professionals. They therefore have all the skills required to intervene.

What is more, you need to be familiar with the army to understand how great a capacity military personnel have to isolate themselves and create a safe environment before intervening.

All members of the House could consider these two options so that Canada could take further action in this crisis.

[Dany Morin, NDP, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Trois-Rivières for his excellent speech. I will gladly follow him in a few minutes, but I have a question for him first.

He was just talking about the Canadian government aid that will go to the WHO's road map. The WHO needed roughly $600 million and appealed to all its global partners for support. The United States gave $100 million, the United Kingdom gave $40 million, and Canada gave $5 million. According to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health's lastest version, Canada may have possibly given slightly more than $5 million.

In any case, $5 million is a paltry sum in a $100-million budget, especially considering that Canada apparently weathered the recession best, according to the Conservative government.

If this government is in the best position economically, then why is it giving barely $5 million to a cause that needs $600 million worldwide in order to eradicate the problem?

Personally, I think this is no time to be burying our heads in the sand. If we do not manage to deal with this problem quickly, this could go beyond the five countries mentioned.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Chicoutimi—Le Fjord.

We have to be careful when we talk about numbers and compare Canada's $5 million to the United States' $100 million. Let us not forget that in the United States there are 250 million people contributing to the public purse, while in Canada there are 34 million. In this type of situation, we have to understand that if the problem we are discussing this evening changes exponentially, then the aid provided by each country, while remaining proportionate to each country's weight and finances, must change exponentially as well and not just mathematically, slowly and always keeping the relative proportions of each country's finances. We cannot ask Canada to invest as much as the United States. I think that is easy to understand.

This progression must follow the scope of the disaster.

[Dany Morin, NDP, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be here this evening. I did not expect to be working until 11 p.m. on my first day back in the House, but it is always a pleasure. When I was elected three and a half years ago, it was to give a voice to the 100,000 people I represent in Chicoutimi—Le Fjord here in Ottawa.

I am so glad my colleague from Laurier—Sainte-Marie asked for this emergency debate to discuss this transnational crisis, which has the potential to become a worldwide crisis. I would also like to thank the government for allowing us to talk about this issue.

I listened carefully to the speech given by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, which was meant to reassure Canadians. I am relieved to hear there has not been a case of Ebola in Canada. I also understand that the Ebola virus is transmitted differently than the H1N1 virus and other kinds of infections that have frightened Canadians in the past.

However, we live in a world in which the spread of viruses and bacteria can be disastrous. Throughout our long health history, humans have developed antibiotics and vaccines to prevent certain diseases. However, the resistance of these viruses and bacteria means that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the right cure for these problems. What worries me about the Ebola crisis is that this problem should have been solved already.

I will come back to this later in my speech, because I do not want to jump from one subject to another, but we have reached a pivotal moment in the spread of the Ebola virus, and Canada must play its part. Basically, that is my conclusion.

I am the deputy health critic for the NDP, but I am not an Ebola expert. We must rely on the real experts who have been studying this virus for many years. I have complete confidence in the World Health Organization, or WHO, which has a plan that includes all of its global partners. I would really like to see the government play its part in different ways. I will expand on that a little later.

Canada's assistance should include increased efforts in the short term to eradicate the current epidemic, as well as a study of why this epidemic has been so difficult to control. I believe the Ebola virus has been around since the 1970s. In the past, the disease spread very much at the local and rural level, and the problem could be eradicated with quick, very localized intervention.

Now, we are seeing that this approach no longer works, which is why we need to move to the next stage, which involves increasing efforts in the short term to put an end to the current epidemic and looking at why this epidemic has been so difficult to control. The Ebola virus affects developing countries, and the environment there makes it more difficult to eradicate the disease.

I am very pleased with our Canadian researchers and health care personnel who are working in Canada and in the countries affected to eradicate the problem. All Canadians and all parliamentarians are grateful. The government needs to help them do their work. Many caring men and women are working passionately and compassionately and sometimes putting their own lives in danger to fix the problem.

We cannot forget that. There are a number of things that bother me, and one fact I mentioned in my question to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health was that the government has cut $60 million from the Public Health Agency of Canada's budget.

The agency has a laboratory in Winnipeg that is working on Ebola. It is working on a vaccine that could potentially combat this problem. We still do not know whether it will work. However, I think it is a bad decision for the government to cut $60 million from a research agency. This could be debated at length. I do not necessarily want to debate too long over $60 million, but I think that the Conservative government needs to do some serious soul-searching.

I also think that the government should deploy the Disaster Assistance Response Team to respond to this epidemic. That was one of the priorities set out by our critic, the member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie. She spoke at length about why the government should do this. The ball is in the government's court now.

We are once again asking the government to move forward with this. I hope that it will listen to the member, who is very familiar with the file and is up to date on the situation, in order to help people in difficult situations around the world. We should not wait any longer than necessary to send the team. I hope that the government will move forward with this.

Even though there have been no confirmed cases of Ebola on Canadian soil, the epidemic is spreading in other parts of the world. If the epidemic does spread beyond the five countries currently affected, I do not want Canada to be the next step for this disease. Honestly, we must attack the root of the epidemic to eradicate it. It is important to put in place mechanisms and barriers to prevent the virus from coming to Canada, and it is important to have good protection and teams to isolate the victims if Ebola does arrive here. However, beyond that, the government must play a role in West Africa, where the epidemic is raging and becoming increasingly uncontrollable. Unfortunately, I do not believe that the government is doing enough.

I would like to talk about the aid that Canada has promised. According to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, to date Canada has promised a little over $5 million on behalf of a population of 35.5 million people. The government is donating 14¢ per capita to the cause. I think it is being cheap. Fourteen cents is much less than the U.S. donation of 31¢ per capita, or $100 million for 318 million people. The United Kingdom is donating 62¢ per capita. For 64 million people, it is donating $40 million. Our 14¢ is a good start, but the government should loosen the purse strings in order to tackle this problem. As we often see with the Conservative approach, the government is sitting on its laurels. The situation gets worse and then we go into crisis management mode. Then we have to pay a high price in order to fix the damage that has been done.

Obviously, the Canadian Public Health Association is concerned about the budget cuts imposed on the Public Health Agency of Canada. I mentioned the cuts that were made over three years. In practical terms, the agency's budget was reduced by 14% over this period. The portion of the budget that is set aside for health promotion, disease prevention, public health infrastructure and health security, or in other words for monitoring and assessing populations, enforcing regulations and responding to emergencies, dropped by 26% in three years. We also know that the agency cut 483 jobs in 2012.

Not only could the government do more, but it has been slow to respond. More aid should be given. This was a result of the Conservatives' decisions and the savage cuts they made to health. We also see it in the cuts to health transfers to the provinces. Basically, Canada needs to get back on track and invest heavily in research, including research to fight the Ebola virus.

We see it in the cuts to health transfers to the provinces. Basically, Canada needs to get back on track and invest heavily in research, including research to fight the Ebola virus.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very thoughtful speech. Money and materials are important, but these two things alone cannot stop Ebola virus transmission. The World Health Organization said that human resources are clearly the most important need. Doctors and nurses are needed. The World Health Organization is hoping that Cuba's offer of 165 people will catalyze additional offers of support from other countries.

The government has heard all night that more needs to be done. Will Canada provide more money? The $5 million is not enough. That is the most recent investment. We have asked many times how many people, specialists, the government has sent. We have yet to get an answer tonight. Will the government send a field hospital?

[Dany Morin, NDP, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my Liberal colleague, whom I have always liked a lot and whose comments and questions reflect a unique perspective. It is likely a result of the profession she had before she became an MP. She is a nice addition to the House of Commons.

It is true that in my 10-minute speech, I focused heavily on the financial aspect, and it is true that money is not the only solution. I would like to mention four other measures before my time is up. It is important that Canada scale up the isolation centres and deploy mobile laboratories to improve diagnostic capabilities. We must set up air bridges to move personnel and equipment between West Africa and other parts of the world. It is also important to build a regional network of field hospitals to treat infected or potentially infected medical personnel.

I do not know whether the Conservative government will want to move forward with these measures, but they are practical measures and Canada must implement them.

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development]

Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to the comments of my colleague on the opposite side. I think that one of the things Canadians need to know is that the World Health Organization is the lead agency on this issue. At the request of the WHO, Canada has sent the Public Health Agency of Canada and has deployed a team of scientists and a mobile lab to Sierra Leone to contribute to the ongoing efforts to stop this Ebola crisis.

Canada has been long involved with Africa. About 80% of our foreign aid goes to Africa. We need to strengthen health care systems so that these kinds of things do not happen in the future. We have untied our aid. We have put money toward the Muskoka initiative to help with maternal, newborn, and child health. The Prime Minister announced more money in May that Canada would contribute for the post-2015 to 2020 development goals. We need to strengthen the health capacities of these countries.

Right now the World Health Organization is the lead agency on this. Rather than saying that Canada should deploy, would it not be better to work in conjunction with the agency that has the lead on this and work with our partners together to ensure that we beat this disease?

[Dany Morin, NDP, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my Conservative colleague that WHO is co-ordinating everything. However, WHO has clearly expressed its needs. On August 28, it presented a road map to prevent the spread of the virus, and the UN determined that fighting Ebola in West Africa would require at least $600 million.

As I mentioned, a number of countries have committed to contributing money. I will try again to send a message to the government party. Canada pledged 14¢ per citizen, the United States pledged 31¢ per citizen, and the United Kingdom, 62¢ per citizen. Clearly, Canada could give more than 14¢ per citizen.

[Wladyslaw Lizon, Conservative, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to join the discussion on Canada's efforts to address the Ebola crisis in West Africa and to update the House of Commons on the government's actions to date.

I was listening to the speeches and questions. We should make it clear to all here in the House and to those who are listening to the debate that this crisis cannot be resolved by financial contributions alone. There have been numbers thrown out, such as contributions of x number of dollars and that it is only 30% of what is needed. This may give people a picture that if we raise $600 million, it would be fine, and the issue would be resolved. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is not the number of dollars. It is not only financial resources that can be put toward the efforts to deal with the issue. The issue is much deeper. It requires research, medications, and other things. It cannot be resolved by financial means alone.This is what I would like to make perfectly clear before I start talking.

We can throw numbers around. We can have a political debate. This is not a political issue. If we want to address the issue that exists in that part of the world, we should all work together and focus on what needs to be done, not on what we would like to gain on the political side.

This is a very serious situation. Our thoughts are with those affected by this outbreak. Although outbreaks have appeared since 1976, they have primarily occurred in remote villages in Central and West Africa, and they have been easily contained.

Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, has described this current outbreak as the largest, most complex, and most severe we have ever seen. It is out-pacing control efforts in West Africa and requires a coordinated global response.

We understand that this is a public health crisis with grave humanitarian, economic, and security implications. The health and safety of Canadians has always been, and continues to be, our top priority. We are monitoring the situation closely, sharing information directly with Canadians throughout the outbreak, and actively working with provincial, territorial, and other partners to maintain preparedness to detect, investigate, and manage people with the Ebola virus in the unlikely event that a case were to arrive in Canada.

We are also working with other national and international partners, including the World Health Organization, to assist in the overall international response. The reality is that there has never been a case of Ebola in Canada. The risk to Canadians remains very low.

The Ebola virus does not spread easily from person to person. It is not like a flu. It is spread through direct contact with infected body fluids, not through casual contact.

The Government of Canada has a number of systems in place to identify and prevent the spread of serious infectious diseases like Ebola. We have the capacity to manage ill travellers at their points of entry. The Quarantine Act, which was introduced to prevent the introduction of infectious and contagious diseases to Canada, is administered 24 hours a day, seven days a week at all international points of entry into Canada.

Government of Canada front-line staff at the Canada Border Services Agency, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and Transport Canada have been trained to identify ill travellers. In addition, Canada's health care system and front-line medical staff are well prepared to deal with the identification and treatment of Ebola cases. In Canada, hospitals have sophisticated infection control systems in place to limit the spread of infection, protect health care workers, and provide state-of-the-art care for Canadians.

The Public Health Agency of Canada continues to provide relevant information to Canadians, including on travel to affected countries through its website, phac-aspc-gc.ca, as well as through social and other media platforms. The agency has developed, updated, and made available key technical guidance documents and protocols so that provinces and territories, physicians, hospital staff, conveyance operators, and airport authorities are well prepared. Internationally we are supportive of the leadership role being played by the World Health Organization, and we remain committed to working effectively with it and other key partners, including Médecins Sans Frontières and the Red Cross, to respond effectively to this public health emergency.

To date, the Government of Canada has provided over $5 million in support of humanitarian security and public health measures to address the spread of Ebola in West Africa. We continue to assess the needs identified in the World Health Organization road map and to explore what else Canada can do to support the global efforts in response to the outbreak.

Canada has also been on the front line of the response efforts. The Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory, which is an internationally recognized leader in infectious disease diagnostics and research, has sent Canadian experts, a mobile laboratory, and supplies to Kailahun, Sierra Leone, to conduct rapid diagnosis. Our experts are working alongside local health officials, Médecins Sans Frontières, and the World Health Organization. Early diagnosis helps to ensure that those infected with Ebola are isolated, to reduce the risk of transmission, and that they receive the supportive care they require.

In addition, the agency's National Microbiology Laboratory has provided laboratory diagnostic materials to support Ebola laboratory testing to other African countries, such as Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Liberia, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Algeria, and Uganda. It has also shared its expertise and materials with the Caribbean Public Health Agency in Trinidad and Chile as part of the worldwide effort. There are currently no specific licensed treatments or vaccines for Ebola, and patients are treated for their symptoms. The National Microbiology Laboratory research scientists have been at the forefront of research to address treatments and vaccines and are recognized as international experts.

Given the seriousness of the outbreak, the Government of Canada has offered a donation of 800 to 1,000 doses of the experimental vaccine developed at the National Microbiology Laboratory known as VSV-EBOV to the World Health Organization as part of the international response.

The World Health Organization, in its role as an international coordinating body responding to this outbreak, will help facilitate distribution and use of the vaccine.

Canada will also keep a small supply of the experimental vaccine in the unlikely event that it is needed for compassionate use in Canada, and a small supply of the experimental vaccine to conduct applied research in clinical trials, such as those related to toxicity and safety studies.

In support of international partners, in May 2014, the Public Health Agency of Canada also donated 10 doses of its Ebola vaccine for pre-positioning in the University Hospital, in Geneva, for evacuated health care workers if they had been exposed. In August 2014, a further 10 doses were pre-positioned at Emory University, in Atlanta, after the return of two infected Americans to the United States.

The decision on whether the experimental vaccine should be offered for compassionate use is not something that the Government of Canada or its partners are taking lightly. While the vaccine and treatment in which Canada has been involved has not been tested on humans yet, they have been effective on animals and are potentially life-saving options for people who have been exposed to the Ebola virus.

Significant legal and ethical questions exist around the use of experimental vaccines and therapies in humans. While the VSV-EBOV experimental vaccine is promising, this does not replace the need for rapid diagnosis, good infection control practices, and tight coordination among partners involved in the response.

Scientists with the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory have also contributed to the development of two or three elements of an experimental treatment called ZMapp, owned by the U.S. company Mapp Bio, which may be one of the most promising Ebola treatments to date. The treatments enable the immune system to fight an infection following an exposure to the virus. Mapp Bio has indicated that all ZMapp doses in its supply were exhausted after the company provided ZMapp to West Africa.

Another experimental treatment, called TKM-Ebola, was developed by Tekmira, a Canadian company, under a contract with the U.S. Department of Defence. The Tekmira therapeutic began phase 1 clinical trials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, in March 2014, before being halted in July due to safety concerns. In early August, the FDA changed the status to allow emergency use on infected patients. The Government of Canada does not own any intellectual property in this product, but we are monitoring the company's progress in clinical trials and potential applicability of this therapy to the ongoing outbreak with great interest.

I would also like to focus my contribution to this evening's debate on the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory, which has been pivotal to Canadian efforts to address the Ebola outbreak. This lab, the NML for short, has been at the forefront of every infectious disease outbreak for many years, including West Nile virus, SARS, listeria, and the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. Many colleagues will remember how Mexico called on the NML for assistance during H1N1, and how the lab was the first to sequence viruses from Mexico and Canada, proving that it was the same virus in both countries.

As Canada's leading public health infectious disease laboratory, the NML is responsible for the identification, control, and prevention of infectious diseases.

The NML is located at the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health in Winnipeg, the first facility in the world to have high-containment laboratories for human and animal health in one building. It is recognized as a leader in an elite group of centres around the world. It is equipped with laboratories ranging from biosafety level 2 to level 4, designed to accommodate the most basic to the most deadly infectious organisms.

I would like to describe the five main roles that the NML fulfills on an ongoing basis.

As the lead public health infectious disease laboratory in Canada, the NML provides diagnostic support to provincial and front-line laboratories. This primarily involves performing tests for rare and emerging diseases that other labs would not be able to provide, performing confirmatory tests and further characterizing viruses and bacteria. As an example, 10% of influenza samples received by provincial laboratories are forwarded to the NML to determine the exact strain. This information is used in the development of the seasonal vaccine every year. In the case of Ebola, the NML is well connected with its network of provincial labs to ensure that it is ready to respond quickly should symptoms associated with Ebola be suspected in a traveller to Canada.

The second role of the NML is surveillance of infectious disease. The NML plays a role in approximately 50 surveillance systems.

A third role is applied and discovery research. This work results in an increasing understanding of viruses and pathogens, but also includes the development of better diagnostic tests or vaccines and treatments.

As we have heard this evening, the leading scientists at the NML have developed an experimental vaccine for the Ebola virus. They also contributed to the development of two of the three elements contained in an experimental treatment that enables the immune system to fight an infection following an exposure to the virus.

The fourth role is leadership and training. This includes leading networks of other labs, transferring the technology for new diagnostic tests, and providing extensive training to people across the country and around the world. The NML hosts international high-containment laboratory workshops every year, bringing in people from as far away as Nepal and Morocco to learn about biosafety and safe lab operations. Along with this, there is considerable training for international scientists and technicians.

To conclude, we recognize that this international response will need to be sustained over the coming months. We will continue to work closely with our national and international partners to protect the health and safety of Canadians, to be prepared in Canada, and to continue to be an integral part of the coordinated international effort required to respond to this public health crisis.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at the start of his speech, my colleague said that it was not just the financial contributions that would help us deal with this huge crisis. This is an urgent crisis. It is not something that can be fixed in six months; we need to deal with it now.

My colleague said that it was not just the financial contributions that would help us deal with this crisis. I fully agree with that, and a number of us here tonight have suggested various ways to take action, including sending in experts, sending our disaster assistance response team and all kinds of other things, aside from financial contributions.

However, would my colleague not agree that financial contributions are also necessary? There was a reason why WHO requested $600 million. The hon. member gave the example of the importance of medication, but medication needs to be bought and transported, and requires personnel to administer it. A location is needed to isolate the patients. Indeed, it is not just about money, but does the hon. member not agree that money is also part of the solution?