Debates of Nov. 27th, 2020

Government Programs

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Speaker, the Liberals are good at making fancy speeches and grand announcements.

They are not so good at answering Canadians' calls, however. In fact, the government has just stopped responding. Its programs are unclear and confusing. People have questions, but they are sick and tired of waiting hours on the phone to get the right information.

Will the Liberals provide the necessary resources to answer people's questions, or, at the very least, give parliamentarians a reliable tool to answer our constituents' questions?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, I can appreciate the member's question.

The government goes the best it can at providing the responses that are necessary in order to try to accommodate the type of answers that members are looking for. I know that the member is not necessarily specifically putting a question to a specific department, but, unfortunately, that is the best I can do for an answer.

Health

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

Madam Speaker, this week we found out that the delivery of the Pfizer vaccine will be, according to the minister, a just-in-time delivery method. This vaccine needs to be stored below -70°C. This means that our capacity to give that vaccine to Canadians depends on our capacity to store it.

By April 1, 2021, how many doses of the Pfizer vaccine will Canada be able to receive from the company per week?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, what we have been repeatedly saying is that we have been working with the provinces for many months now, since May, in fact, day and night. The best people in the Government of Canada, and the best people right across this country, are working on this.

I want to take this opportunity to applaud the hard-working and dedicated public servants who are putting in place one of the world's most robust vaccine logistics and distribution systems, which will obviously conform to the requirements of specific vaccines. Canada will be ready when those vaccines are ready.

Public Safety

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

Madam Speaker, the government signed a contract with a company called CanSino regarding a COVID vaccine in early May. Contracts with the leading vaccine candidates were not signed until months later. The CanSino deal fell apart on August 26.

For the period between May 12, when the deal was announced, and August 26, was the Minister of Public Safety ever briefed by CSIS or the RCMP about potential problems with Canada signing a deal with CanSino for a COVID vaccine?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Madam Speaker, although I cannot speak to the specifics of any advice given by the national security establishment in this or any other case, let me assure the member opposite that the national security of services of Canada, CSIS and CSE, are very conscientious and comprehensive in the advice they give to government. We pay a great deal of attention to their advice.

Health

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

Madam Speaker, we know Canadians will not receive the COVID vaccine until months after other countries have. This will cost lives and jobs.

The government's decision to focus on a deal with CanSino, which may have been signed due to diplomatic priorities as opposed to health priorities, may have fallen apart due to diplomatic reprisal or advice from CSIS and the RCMP.

Did that decision have any role to play in why Canadians are so far behind in receiving doses of vaccines from other companies?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, it is quite the contrary. Canada is in a very privileged position with a diversified portfolio of vaccine candidates. We look forward to the regulatory approval of all of those. In fact, of the first three that have received encouraging news, Canada has arrangements with all three of those vaccine candidates.

Canada compares very favourably. For example, with the Moderna vaccine, we were among the first in the world, in front the U.K. Canada is in a very good position. When vaccines are ready, Canada will be ready.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Madam Speaker, Canadians are becoming impatient, the provinces are becoming impatient and our health care system is stretched thin.

The government has been very vague about when we can expect vaccines. At the current rate, Canadians will be getting vaccines after some countries that Canada wants to help, which raises some questions about this government's standing on the world's stage.

Could we be given consideration and get the vaccines at the same time as the other G7 countries?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, our order book and portfolio of vaccines compare favourably to those of the rest of the world.

Of our seven suppliers of potential vaccines, three have been very promising. This was good news. Canada is working with the 10 provinces and three territories and with those arranging the logistics to distribute the vaccines.

When the vaccines are ready, Canada will be ready.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Madam Speaker, the government needs to consider all the options to strengthen Canada's vaccine production capacity.

One very simple way to do that is to provide Canadian companies with a long-term guarantee that the government will buy Canadian-made vaccines on a regular basis. That would support Canadian infrastructure and know-how.

When will the government sign long-term agreements with Canadian companies to manufacture vaccines?

[William Amos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Madam Speaker, when the pandemic started, Canada's production capacity was minimal. It was important to address the lack of investment in production capacity.

This has been a problem for decades, and we immediately realized that we needed to invest in the country's production capacity.

That is what we did. We have increased that capacity. We are building it. I know that Canadians have confidence in the investments we are—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Madam Speaker, Dany Tremblay, the CEO of Plastiques Gagnon in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli has been waiting since June 1, 2019, for the foreign workers he hoped to bring in from Madagascar because they are not only qualified, but also francophone.

The labour market impact assessment has been complete since last year, but because of this government's delays, Mr. Tremblay just lost a $4-million-a-year contract that went to a plant in Mexico instead.

The Government of Canada has 300,000 employees. What is the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship waiting for? When will he reassign as many of those employees as necessary to do something about these these completely unacceptable delays?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Before I give the floor to the parliamentary secretary, I want to remind all members who are joining us virtually to mute their microphones.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Madam Speaker, the pandemic has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives

Local restrictions have resulted in the closure of many international visa centres, but Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's processing centres have remained open. We are continuing to increase capacity while respecting public health guidelines.

What is more, we have put a number of innovative measures in place to process existing applications as quickly as possible and reduce COVID-19-related delays.

Health

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, this week, eight months into the pandemic, the Prime Minister informed us that the vaccine would arrive here later than in other countries.

Last night, the Prime Minister spoke with the Premier of Quebec, François Legault. Quebec is preparing its vaccination plan and wanted to know two fundamental things: When will Quebec receive its first doses and how many doses a week will it receive?

Did the Prime Minister provide him a response? Can he share it here? The public has the right to know.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, I can assure the hon. member and Canadians that the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec are working together to deliver vaccines to Quebeckers and Canadians. They will do so by relying on the best portfolio of vaccine candidates in the world.

Once a vaccine is approved, we will be able to communicate more specific information to the provinces, but until then we will make sure that the logistics and distribution system is ready when the vaccine is ready. Quebeckers can rest assured.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary did not answer the question, but I suspect he does not know the answer.

It has been eight months since the race for the vaccine began, and the federal government has done nothing to have it produced here. It did not convince pharmaceutical companies to get licences from the more advanced companies, as is being done elsewhere. It did nothing to increase production capacity here. It has not aligned its approval process with that of advanced producer countries. The government put all its eggs in the foreign deal basket, and this week it is telling us that it lost the deal, so we have all lost.

How does the government explain this failure to Quebeckers?

[William Amos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Madam Speaker, the Canadian public knows full well that the Harper Conservative government was hostile to science. It made cuts to research, cuts to funding for biotech companies and no investments in the manufacturing capacity of these companies.

Our government is investing in this area. We are building that capacity, and Canadians will be protected. We have everything we need in the vaccine portfolio. We are there for Canadians.

International Trade

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Madam Speaker, it has been a week since the government announced a new trade deal between Canada and the United Kingdom, yet we still have few details. We have learned the government failed to consult in any meaningful way with businesses and labour over the entire three years it was apparently working on this deal. It is disappointing, it is top down and it is certainly a missed opportunity.

Why did the minister not feel it was important to reach out and hear from businesses and labour organizations?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business]

Madam Speaker, when it comes to defending the interests of Canadians, we ensure the views and voices of all Canadians are heard. The new trade continuity agreement with the United Kingdom is not a comprehensive new trade agreement. It is a rollover essentially of CETA, which we negotiated over seven years and consulted extensively with all stakeholders during that time.

As we have always done, we will continue to engage with Canadian businesses, labour and key stakeholders on negotiating the full and comprehensive trade agreement with the U.K. that is upcoming in the next year.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Speaker, the Liberal government claims to be protecting supply management, but it made some unprecedented concessions in the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement.

In 2019, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food promised an eight-year compensation plan with a cheque in an election year, but dairy producers are still waiting for the seven other years. Egg and poultry producers have yet to receive anything, and the same goes for processors.

Canada is now starting negotiations with the United Kingdom. Will the Prime Minister commit to making no new concessions on supply management?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business]

Madam Speaker, as the Prime Minister has said many times, private sector access to supply management is prohibited in all future trade negotiations.

To be very clear with all of our dairy producers, not a single ounce of cheese will enter into the country through the transitional agreement with the United Kingdom. We have fought tooth and nail to protect supply management on behalf of our producers.

We are there for Quebeckers and Canadians across the country.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Madam Speaker, the Minister of International Trade recently spoke about an agreement signed with Australia on wine excise taxes, saying she was pleased that we came to an agreement. This agreement will be devastating to Canadian domestic wineries as it gave Australia basically what it wanted, which was Canadian wineries paying an excise tax.

Can the minister please explain what is so pleasing about putting thousands of Canadian jobs at risk and having domestic Canadian wineries paying $40 million in new taxes?