Debates of Nov. 26th, 2020

Health—Main Estimates, 2020-21

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Madam Chair, did the minister just blame the provinces for not accessing and distributing rapid tests? I want to make sure I am clear on that.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, what we know is that provinces and territories still have not fully deployed the rapid tests they have received in many cases.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Madam Chair, at the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis, the health minister as well as the Prime Minister told Canadians to stay home, especially during Easter. During that time, the health and the Prime Minister used the government jet to travel. In fact, the health minister used it 11 times.

Once again, during Christmas, they are telling Canadians to stay home. What are the health minister's travel plans for the Christmas holidays?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I work in Ottawa and live in Thunder Bay. I will be returning after the House rises to spend time in Thunder Bay over the Christmas season, and I will return to Thunder Bay this weekend. Like many other Canadians, I travel for work.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Madam Chair, the point is that it is do as I say, not as I do. Will Canadians be able to travel over the holiday season, if they have access to rapid or home-based testing, with a negative test result?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, we have released guidance for Canadians to protect themselves from COVID-19 over the holiday season. Of course the safest choice is to limit our interactions outside of our immediate family members, but there are additional tips—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Foothills.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Madam Chair, the Deputy Prime Minister, who heads Canada's COVID response team, said that accessing rapid testing is like selling snake oil to Canadians when Canadians are losing their businesses, losing their homes, and in many cases losing their loved ones and mental health is at a critical stage.

Does the health minister agree with the Deputy Prime Minister's assessment of rapid testing?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, testing, whether rapid or not, is a very important component of containing COVID-19 , but so are the following steps, which include, contact tracing and isolation of close contacts. We know that COVID-19 can spread while people are asymptomatic. That is why testing has to be a component of a strategy to contain COVID-19, using contact tracing and isolation.

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member has 27 seconds.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Madam Chair, during the COVID-19 crisis, the suicide and opioid deaths in Alberta have doubled from the first quarter to the second quarter. Mental health is at a critical stage. Will the health minister commit to implement the 988 system in Canada, yes or no?

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The minister has eight seconds to respond.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I would hope the member opposite would encourage the Province of Alberta to reverse its harmful decision to close safe consumption sites, which is making it harder for people who use opioids to stay alive.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Madam Chair, earlier this year, about 360 international farm workers, who were working in greenhouses in Leamington, Ontario, were put in solitary confinement after being required to quarantine in hotel rooms. They had no contact with anyone for 14 days, and 12 of the workers were found to be asymptomatic. The owners of the greenhouse had to shut their greenhouse down, resulting in the loss of 7.8 million pounds of vegetables. It was shut down the same day the cucumber harvest was supposed to start.

For workers, while they are in Canada, their co-workers are like their family. They live together, and then they were put in solitary confinement, away from their Canadian families. For the workers, being barred from in-person human contact was inhumane and it took a toll on their mental health. This was like COVID prison for them.

For many farmers, their farm workers return year after year to work with them. Some of them even go and visit their workers in their home countries. The relationship between farmers and their workers is like a family. In fact, earlier in the part of this forced confinement, the farmers were providing three square meals a day to each of the workers until they were banned from doing so. Then the Red Cross came in and offered them so-called meals of chips and pop.

In my family business of farming, my family has brought international seasonal workers here, just like Juan, Tyrone and others who were confined. Given that this happened earlier this year, it is understandable that Juan, Tyrone and several other seasonal farm workers like them may be reluctant to come back to Canada.

Finally, shutting down a farm or a greenhouse shuts down food production and puts Canadian food security at risk. Of the 575 greenhouse workers tested at that particular greenhouse in Leamington, 199 came back with positive tests, but none of them were hospitalized and most of them were asymptomatic.

What steps are the minister and her cabinet colleagues taking to ensure Canadian producers and workers like Juan and Tyrone will not have a repeat of what happened this year with farm workers coming to Canada?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Madam Chair, I worked extensively on the Windsor-Essex outbreak with public health leaders, political leaders, members of Parliament and with the farming community and ensured that we all had one thing first and foremost, which was the protection of lives. It was tragic to see young farm workers die so far away from their homes. More had to be done. In fact, we provided support to farmers for the quarantine time. We ensured that farmers had the necessary financial resources to complete that quarantine for incoming workers.

When it became clear that crowded housing conditions were accelerating the spread, along with interaction with other workers who were COVID-positive, and these workers were yet again becoming infected, we did send in the Red Cross to help support a humanitarian response to a growing crisis. Not only was this a risk to the farm workers, but it was a risk to the entire community of Windsor-Essex. It saw its cases climb exponentially and with a great degree of alarm. In fact, working together, we were able to put out that outbreak.

I think we have all learned a lot about how we can better protect the lives and health of farm workers, who are so far away from home, and the people who live near them.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Madam Chair, is the minister not aware of the inhumane treatment these workers faced? Would she treat Canadians the same way?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, as we speak, thousands of Canadians are in isolation, protecting themselves and their families from COVID-19. One of the terrible aspects of COVID-19 is that we cannot necessarily tell when we are infected. Sometimes we are asymptomatic and—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Madam Chair, is the minister aware that the 2021 season for greenhouse growers begins in January in Ontario? This is when they need their international farm workers. We need to hear from the minister what she will do to guarantee that we can put them to work right away, when they are needed, and I have a suggestion for her.

Instead of the 14-day quarantine we saw earlier this year, will the minister put in place a rapid-testing pilot project for farm workers coming to work in greenhouses in Ontario?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, if that is what the Province of Ontario wants to do, then I am certain that could be a very useful research tool. I think the more that we understand about the blend of testing and quarantine as a way to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the better.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Madam Chair, is the minister not aware that the Government of Canada is already partnering with the Government of Alberta in a rapid-testing pilot project at the Calgary Airport for travellers who are arriving internationally?

On Tuesday, here in Ontario, the premier of Ontario announced rapid testing, with results in as little as two minutes, will be more available, especially in long-term care facilities and in partnership with a few Ontario employers. Why can the minister not create something similar to the Alberta pilot project and the Ontario government's rapid testing for international farm workers coming to Ontario in January?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, it is great to hear that Ontario is now beginning to use the two million tests that it has received from the federal government and deploying them in long-term care.

I actually have a call scheduled with Minister Elliott this week. I will be happy to speak with her about additional pilot studies that can be undertaken. I am certainly always interested in more evidence and data that demonstrates how we can better stop the spread of COVID-19.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Madam Chair, does the minister not understand that this is a key piece in ensuring Canadians' food security in terms of preventing food shortages, guaranteeing the safety of food produced and to holding down food prices?

Again, I will ask the minister this: Does she feel it is important, and will she work with the Province of Ontario, in implementing the pilot test project for greenhouse workers coming in January?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I am extremely seized with the safety and protection of temporary foreign workers who come to Canada to pick our produce, help farmers and help Canadians. In fact, they deserve safety and dignity.

That is why our government has been working with the farming industry to ensure they have the supports they need to provide safe and adequate housing. That is one of the factors that contributed to the spread of COVID-19.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Madam Chair, will the minister at least agree, perhaps with flexibility, when producers have large acreages or large greenhouses, that their workers can both isolate and continue to work at the same time, so they can tend to the crops, we can ensure food security and we do not go down the same road that we did earlier in the spring?