Debates of Nov. 26th, 2020

Health—Main Estimates, 2020-21

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Chair, does the minister understand that Canadians have had enough of this, that they have no future, no plan without her telling when we are going to get the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine? Does she understand that Canadians have had enough of this garbage?

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

Madam Chair, I, as a Canadian, fully understand how difficult it is for Canadians to be trapped in their homes, to be working virtually, to be working from home, to be missing their families and to be missing events. Yes, absolutely, I understand this is incredibly difficult for all of us.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Chair, when is the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine going to be delivered to Canadians?

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

Madam Chair, as I said, Canadians can be proud they have one of the best vaccine portfolios in the world, with more doses per capita than any country and provinces and territories that are working so hard with the federal government to be able to deploy—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Chair, when is the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine going to be delivered in Canada?

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

Madam Chair, I am so proud of the hard work of the vaccine task force, which has put us in a very good position with seven very good candidates, three of them under regulatory review right now. We are working with our American—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Chair, when is the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine going to be delivered in Canada?

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

Madam Chair, as soon as Health Canada approves those vaccines, they will be available to Canadians. As I have said before, we are so seized with this. We are working—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Chair, what we just listened to for the last 15 minutes was sheer and gross incompetence that is going to cost Canadian lives, Canadian businesses, hope and mental health.

This is not the leadership that Canada needs right now. This is somebody who is incompetent and derelict in their duty. To sit there and say that they are proud of the fact that we are behind virtually every other country in the world when two-thirds of the world's population will have access to a vaccine or some sort of plan or some sort of way out of this, it is ridiculous.

Enough is enough. We cannot sit in lockdown forever. We cannot sit in lockdown over Christmas. We cannot keep letting marriages fail. We need to be honest about a plan forward and about the impact of this. We need to have more targeted measures, better data and a plan on vaccines.

To sit there, reading talking points off a computer screen instead of having a plan, instead of being able to say—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Madam Chair, I will start this evening with a few comments, and then I will go into some questions for the minister.

I want to thank her for taking the time to be with us and for spending so much time answering questions in such a rapid-fire way today. It truly demonstrates her capability and her knowledge of the subject.

One thing to note about the pandemic is that from day one, this government took it seriously. We did this from the minute it was talked about overseas until the time it landed on our doorstep and we implemented measures to protect Canadians, and we can see the results of that.

I know some have compared us with our neighbour to the south this evening. We do not want to see even one death, obviously, but the reality of the situation is that our death rate is one-third the rate, if not better, of our neighbours to the south. I believe strongly that this is the result of the serious action that has been taken on this file, the way the minister has responded and the way that the government has responded.

I have said many times in the House, and it bears repeating, that we went from the World Health Organization declaring a global pandemic to getting money in the bank accounts of 5.4 million Canadians in one month and four days. That is action from a government that is taking this extremely seriously and is interested in protecting its citizen. It has been there with Canadians every step of the way. We saw that in the spring, as we went through the first wave and as we came into the second wave and had a lull.

I respect where the Conservatives are on this now, but they were not there on day one.

[An hon. member]

What? Tell me more about it.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

They were not. As a matter of fact, at the beginning of this, the Conservatives, when we started wearing masks, were not even wearing masks in the Parliamentary precinct.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

It is true. I was up in Ottawa quite a bit at that time.

The Conservatives have always been trying to play catch-up and trying to own the issue—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The member has a point of order.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Madam Chair, I am listening to people call us anti-maskers. I am just wondering if there needs to be truthfulness when people are speaking. I am very concerned, because as a proud Conservative—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

That is debate. I did not hear those words.

The hon. member for Kingston and the Islands.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Madam Chair, what has been very apparent, which I also witnessed at the PROC committee, is that the Liberals, and even the Bloc and the NDP, were looking for solutions on how to make the House function in a pandemic. However, what did we see as a result? The Conservatives were kicking and screaming, trying to prevent us from going there.

A virtual and hybrid Parliament, which is what we are experiencing today, did not happen as a result of the Conservatives. They did not want to go along with this plan. Quite—

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Madam Chair, on a point of order, what are the rules on misleading the House?

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The member has the floor, and he is providing his speech.

The hon. member for Kingston and the Islands.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Madam Chair, we just have to go back and read the blues from the PROC committee. The member who is continually rising on a point of order is on it now, but she was not on it when we were dealing with this situation.

Let us get to the topic at hand today with respect to the vaccines, which everyone is spending a lot of time talking about.

There is criticism coming from members of the opposition. That is their job. Their job is to push the government to make sure the government is doing everything it can to properly bring forward the right responses. However, the reality of the situation is that the groundwork has been laid by the government, by preparing to vaccinate Canadians, investing in domestic projects, negotiating advance purchase agreements with several countries, getting us the largest portfolio available that any country has secured given the various options, enabling the regulatory process to be expedited when the time comes and investing in the necessary infrastructure and supplies to make sure that when the vaccine comes, we are prepared to make sure it rolls out.

I am extremely proud of this government's response to date. It has been, in my opinion, exceptional in the way it has supported Canadians and provided the resources and supports that Canadians have needed, as well as in the way it has worked with the provinces.

I will point out one last fact. If we look at the amount of COVID relief spending in the province of Ontario alone, 97% of that came from the federal government, because the federal government understood the reason people needed to be absolutely protected throughout the pandemic.

My first question for the minister is about the bilateral agreement between the federal government and the provincial governments. It relates to the COVID Alert app specifically.

Canadians are proud of the universal, publicly funded health care system, yet we have an aging population with greater risks of chronic conditions.

They expect all governments to work together to continue to improve it. The pandemic has underscored that this is critical and that we need to find new and better ways of delivering care. Targeted investments are needed in critical areas of health for the health care system to improve access to high-quality health care that Canadians can access safely at home and that is not dependent on an individual's ability to pay. This includes a full range of health care services, including home and community care and support for mental health and substance use issues.

The government's previous mandate letter outlined the need to complete the bilateral agreements with each province and territory. These bilateral agreements supported a targeted federal investment of $11 billion over 10 years and should result in measurable improvements with clear public reporting on outcomes achieved.

I am curious if the minister can update the House on when the Government of Canada will see results from these investments.