Debates of Nov. 30th, 2020

Health

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we still do not have an answer.

Quebeckers have been in lockdown and have been making sacrifices for eight months. There is no end in sight to the pandemic, given that there were 1,333 cases today. People are losing their jobs, their businesses, their health and their lives.

What would it cost this government to realize that people deserve to know, that they deserve to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel? What is the government waiting for? When will it unveil its vaccination plan?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as scientists around the world do important work on a vaccine for COVID-19, we are ensuring that Canadians will be able to be vaccinated when the time comes.

We secured different types of vaccines and hundreds of millions of doses to keep Canadians safe and well served. Some clinical trials have published promising results and seem to be progressing quickly.

We will continue to work with all our partners to ensure that Canadians will have access to a vaccine when it becomes available.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to share Kristina's story.

Kristina is a single mother who lives in Gatineau. Before the pandemic struck, she held down three jobs. Now she is down to one, and she is having trouble making ends meet. For her, a vaccine means going back to work.

When will the Prime Minister deliver a plan for the vaccines?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, across our government we are working to make sure Canadians are well situated to get vaccinated when the time comes and these vaccines are approved as safe for use in Canada.

We are working with seven different manufacturers, with promising results. In fact, four of them have applied for regulatory review in Canada, and we have a process that will allow for our regulators to rapidly review evidence and work with other regulators. As soon as a vaccine is safe for use in Canada, Canadians will have access to it.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Australia, a very similar-sized country to Canada, has a plan that one can look up on its website, with detailed steps about everything that is going on with its plan. Kristina is a single-parent mom in Gatineau who is struggling to get by. Her kids need dental work. She has lost her jobs. For her, a vaccine will mean she can get back to work.

Why will the Prime Minister not tell Kristina what the plan is for the vaccine?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, since very early on, we have been working with provinces and territories to ensure that our plans are robust. I want to remind the member opposite that over the last several weeks, we have immunized 16 million people for influenza, just in a few weeks. That speaks to two things: one, the experience that provinces and territories have in delivering vaccinations in their own jurisdictions; and, two, the fact that we have a public health care system that makes vaccination available to all Canadians free of charge.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am actually interested in the answer for Kristina as well.

Across the country, working-class women are worried about whether their child care centres are going to close and if they can get to work. It has been 11 months, with no end in sight. On Friday, the Prime Minister said that it would be September before most Canadians would have access to a vaccine.

When will the workers of the BrightPath Childcare centre in Vaughan have access to a vaccine?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said repeatedly, Canada is well situated, with more doses per capita than any other country in the world. We are working closely with provinces and territories which have an immense amount of expertise in delivering vaccinations across the country. In fact, over the last several weeks, 16 million Canadians have been vaccinated for influenza. That demonstrates just how much of a world leader Canada is in immunization.

We will continue to support provinces and territories so they can also deliver on COVID-19 vaccines.

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

Mr. Speaker, for 11 months, places of worship have cancelled in-person services to stop the spread of COVID and they have complied with every rule. However, now churches like Springs Church in Winnipeg are facing steep fines for allowing people to sit in their cars with their windows rolled up, while their pastors are standing far away on a stage, looking at RCMP cars, while they are preaching their message.

The Prime Minister said on Friday that it would be September before most Canadians would have access to a vaccine. Does the Prime Minister think it is appropriate for Canadians to have to wait until September to have their charter rights to worship respected?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Minister Friesen for taking strong action in Manitoba to prevent further spread of COVID-19. As we know, public health measures are important even while we wait for vaccines. That is what is saving lives, the strong leadership by health ministers and premiers who are stepping up to impose public health measures while the world waits for a vaccine.

Canada is well positioned. We are one of the first countries to have purchased vaccines. We have seven, in fact, in our portfolio, four of them under regulatory review as we speak.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister is absolutely right in that Minister Friesen, Minister Elliott, Minister Shandro, every minister across the country needs the information that we are asking for today: When is the vaccine coming? When should they be ready? What is the plan? Where are the resources to do this? Every day we do not get an answer, more people die, more civil liberties are eroded and more businesses close.

The Prime Minister said on Friday that it would be September before most Canadians would get access to a vaccine. Was it because he was distracted with the WE Charity scandal, the botched deal with CanSino or both?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I spoke with Minister Elliott on Sunday, I think that was yesterday, and had a great conversation about the work Ontario was doing to prepare to receive the vaccines, in fact at all levels across government. At health levels, at officials levels, at the health care levels people are working together to develop plans. As the member opposite notes, the federal government has an important role, but provinces and territories have an even more important role. They are the experts on immunization.

We will be there for them as we deliver those vaccines and ensure they have what the need to make sure Canadians can access them.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on Friday, the Prime Minister stated that the majority of Canadians would be vaccinated by September 2021. Does that mean 51% of the population? If so, that is not enough. We will not have herd immunity, we will not be able to get back to normal, and more lives will be lost along the way.

Can the Prime Minister give us an actual clear plan?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we have been working on a plan for a long time in partnership with provinces and territories to ensure everybody is ready when the first vaccine is approved. As we know, worldwide, there is not a vaccine approved that is among our portfolio, but we have a leading one, and I will tell members why. In fact, we have had the vaccine task force guide us to put our bets here in Canada on the most promising candidates. We have four of them now in the regulatory approval process and we are looking forward to having good news soon.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is obviously not working because on Friday, the Prime Minister told everyone that the majority of Canadians would be vaccinated by September 2021.

The minister just told us that we cannot make a plan because we do not know when the vaccine will be approved.

Can the government make a decision, be honest with Canadians, come up with guidelines and develop a clear, precise plan? At this point, everyone is waiting, businesses are closing and people are dying.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, we have one of the best vaccine portfolios in the world. Canadians should be proud of the work this government has done on their behalf. In fact, it puts them in a good position, with more than 10 doses per Canadian, more doses per capita than any other country in the world and four of them are already in regulatory approval. It is because our regulators are recognized as world-class regulators. When Canada can approve a vaccine, it is a good demonstration of safety and effectiveness. Canadians can be confident that we will work quickly to enure vaccines are safe and we can get them out the door.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, how can the government claim to have the best portfolio of vaccines and say there will be 10 doses per Canadian when it has not yet brought a single dose into the country? It is ridiculous.

Can the minister also explain to me why her government signed an agreement with a company owned by the Chinese communist regime? An agreement was signed with CanSino Biologics, but it fell apart.

Why was her government forced to renegotiate all kinds of contracts at the last minute back in August, and how can she now say that there will be 10 doses per person when nobody even knows when the first dose will get here?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we are going to invest in flexible production here in Canada so we can increase—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Manicouagan on a point of order.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the interpretation is not working.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We seem to be having a problem with the connection for the minister. I am not sure if the headset is plugged in, or turned on or if it is the connection. We will try that again and see if we can make it work.

The hon. minister.

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Malton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we immediately realized that we had to invest in flexible production in the country and increase our facilities, which we did.

I can assure the House that when a vaccine is ready and approved, we will be one of the first countries to get these doses from the developers under contract to Canadians.

Intergovernmental Relations

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this morning I introduced a bill that asks for one simple thing from the federal government, that Ottawa respect Quebec's laws and municipal bylaws, period. The federal government is currently circumventing our environmental laws when it intervenes in Quebec. It circumvents agricultural zoning when it approves airport projects, allows telecommunications giants to erect cellphone towers anywhere they want without the public's approval. Asking the government to obey the law seems to go without saying. In fact, we should not even have to ask. It is the least the government can do. I am curious though.

Will the government vote in favour of our bill?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to the hon. member, that is nonsense.

The hon. member seems to think that the federal government is a big meany that always wants to pick a fight with Quebec and the other provinces, when it is the Bloc that is trying to create the impression that there is bickering, that we bicker with everyone all the time.

That is not true. We are working with Quebec on the environment, agriculture, and COVID-19. We are working with Quebec every day on everything, whether the Bloc likes it or not. I know that the hon. member would like there to be some big dispute, but there is none. We are working together.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Ottawa must respect Quebec's environmental laws; it is that simple.

Quebec has the strictest environmental assessment process in Canada. We are certainly not about to let the federal government run roughshod over it. That is why the Bloc Québécois is pushing for Quebec's environmental sovereignty. For instance, Ottawa must respect our soil decontamination standards. It must respect the laws that apply to our ports, including the Port of Québec. Federal projects must go through a BAPE assessment, like all the others.

Will the government vote in favour of upholding the rights of Quebec?