Debates of Dec. 3rd, 2020

Opposition Motion—Status Update on COVID-19 Vaccines

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, I recently met with local firefighters in Port Alberni who are members of the International Association of Fire Fighters. They are concerned that, with the COVID-19 pandemic threatening their key fire and emergency medical service response, the risk of exposure is much higher for firefighters than the general population since they provide emergency medical response as part of their duties. Right now they are urging the government to ensure that firefighters, as emergency health care providers, are included in a priority group for health care workers for the available COVID-19 vaccines so they can get enough to ensure firefighters are healthy and remain available for duty in order to protect Canadians.

This did not happen during H1N1. Unfortunately, firefighters were not included in the same group as health care workers then. Rather, they were categorized in the same tier as the general public. There is a ton of anxiety right now and a lot of unknowns. They want to know they are going to be protected.

Can the member speak about the importance of getting this information out to the first responders who are putting their lives on the line and the impact this could have on small fire departments like those in the city of Port Alberni?

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

I hope the response from the member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles will be brief.

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

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.

That is part of the reason why we are calling for a clear plan. We are calling for clarity. As I mentioned in my speech, what Germany is doing is clear. That is what has been lacking from this government since day one.

Firefighters and police officers are right to be concerned, because they do not know which end is up.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today to talk about this very important issue. I want to thank the Leader of the Opposition for bringing this motion forward today, as we try to get some answers that Canadians desperately want to know about what is happening in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. I thank our shadow minister for health as well, the member for Calgary Nose Hill, for her incredible advocacy on behalf of all Canadians in trying to find out exactly what the government's plan is to make sure that we get vaccines in our arms.

In my speech today, I want to talk about the involvement of the Canadian Armed Forces in all this and why they have been brought in at the very last minute. Really, this is a public health issue that should be handled through the Public Health Agency of Canada, but because of a lack of leadership from the Liberal government, we now have, in the final minutes, a call-in-the-army scenario.

There is no doubt that the Canadian Armed Forces are an amazing organization with some of the best and brightest men and women in the country. They have a motto, which they pretty much live by: Failure is not an option. I can therefore see why we are so attracted to making use of their expertise, logistical capabilities, kit and equipment, and their ability to move personnel, products and all sorts of different material across the country. We know they have the greatest Canadians working for them, so we first and foremost salute them for their incredible service. However, unfortunately, they are being brought in to clean up the Liberal government's mess.

How did we get to this point where the government could not figure out how to get vaccines rolled out across the country?

We need to work with our provincial and territorial partners to ensure vaccines are in place in communities to make sure we get treated and cured so we will not have this virus any longer and can get back to opening up our economy. Instead of having people locked down, we should get back to business and back to our jobs. That is what Canadians are asking for, but they are not seeing any leadership from the Prime Minister and the Liberal government.

We learned in the news this morning that there is a directive from the chief of the defence staff. The operation the military will be doing on behalf of the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Liberal government is called Operation Vector.

The document itself brings to light a lot of the information we have been asking for. It shows there will only be three million doses of vaccines available in the first quarter of 2021, so only three million Canadians are going to be administered the vaccine. We see through the planning that the government does not expect all Canadians to be vaccinated until the end of 2021. It will be 13 months from now before every Canadian is vaccinated.

We know the government is trying to plan out how to deal with the challenges the Canadian Armed Forces have to deal with, but how are they going to be out there deploying troops and equipment and making sure we are moving the vaccines in a timely manner? They are very sensitive and need to be in super freezers and kept under 70°C.

Furthermore, how is the government going to manage the rollout of the vaccine while dealing with Operation Laser? It has the Canadian Armed Forces backfilling in personal care homes and long-term care institutions across the country to care for our loved ones and our seniors.

How is the government going to deal with Operation Lentus? It is a domestic operation by the Canadian Armed Forces that supports emergency measures at the provincial level regarding forest fires, floods and ice storms. We never know if there is going to be an earthquake or a hurricane, but they are called in often to provide a backstop to the provinces when volunteers get tired out on the front lines and when first responders can no longer keep up.

We have a number of international obligations as well: Operation Impact in Iraq; Operation Unifier in Ukraine; the enhanced forward presence initiative in Latvia, a NATO mission; and NATO staffing on missions across the globe, including the maritime task force that ensures we always have at least one or two of our frigates in patrol in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Baltic Sea. There is personnel required to do these roles, yet the government has decided to throw even more work at them to try to cover up its mistakes.

The other good part that came out of the CDS report was that they were going through the hard planning now. This only started on November 27. They will plan to be ready to start handling vaccines by the end of this month, December 31. However, they still have a lot of questions and they need answers from the government, just like opposition members have been asking the government. When are the vaccines going to show up? Who are going to be the suppliers? What are the logistic capabilities? Who is going to procure or contract the private logistics team that is familiar enough and capable enough to deal with vaccines in this type of format?

We are still sitting here. We were expecting the Canadian Armed Forces to come up with a plan, but it cannot finish its plan until the Liberals answer some questions. That is what they keep refusing to do. They have been dithering, delaying and been completely undecided for months now. We have been dealing with this since March, when we were in lockdown. We knew about this virus back in December 2019. Here we are 12 months later and the Liberals still cannot answer the critical questions we need to ensure that vaccines get into the arms of Canadians safely and timely.

We keep hearing the Liberals say that they have been working with the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces for months planning this. We had government officials at both the public accounts committee and the national defence committee only a couple of weeks ago.

On November 19, General Cadieu, the director of staff of the Strategic Joint Staff, was before the committee. I asked him if there was a named operation for rolling out vaccines. He said there was not, that it would be happening under Operation Laser. Two weeks later and we have a name, Operation Vector. He did not know about it because this was made up in the last few days.

We asked if National Defence was procuring super freezers so they could help with the distribution. They were not. Deputy Minister Jody Thomas said that they were looking at some stored capability, but that was for internal Canadian Armed Forces use when we got to the point of vaccinating our own troops. Again, they did not know they would have to buy super freezers until just recently.

General Dany Fortin is now the commanding officer of Operation Vector and is in charge of it on behalf of the whole of government. He has great credentials. In his comments to the national defence committee, he said that the CDS and deputy minister would give directions to the CAF and the Department of National Defence to adopt robust risk mitigation, protect the force and stand ready to conduct operations in support of their nation. They are standing ready, but still no direction. That was on November 20. He said that if the requirement came and the public safety and the Minister of National Defence considered they needed to be prepared, then the chief of the defence staff would give his best advice possible. Again, no advice was given by November 20.

Then we have discovered this morning that the chief of the defence staff's strategic directive on Operation Vector, November 27. This just came out. I want to point out page 3. This is what the Canadian Armed Forces are expecting:

...:the following national-level decisions will be made and communicated by PHAC no later than early-December 2020

(1) Apportionment of Track 1 vaccine doses by province/territory and select Canadian populations living outside Canada;

(2) Advice to provinces/territories on priority populations that should receive the Track 1 vaccines;

(3) Designation of the points of delivery for the Track 1 vaccines;

Public health was asked if it would procure the logistics service provider to get these vaccines delivered where it could and then backfill that using the Canadian Armed Forces heavy lift capabilities.

Again, the Canadian Armed Forces are looking for some leadership. They need some answers if they are going to finish their plan to be ready by the end of December. However, they get nothing but radio silence from the Liberal government.

[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 would disagree with the member. When I listen to what it the member is actually saying, it sounds as if the Canadian Armed Forces are a part of the plan. At the end of the day, we can take a great sense of pride in our civil servants, health care experts, scientists and members of the forces who have been involved virtually since day one.

The forces were brought into the provinces to assist with health care. They have all sorts of logistical capabilities. We know how a chain of command works. I was a member of the forces for only a few years, but I am very familiar with their capabilities. I am very confident, as are Canadians, that they will be very effective at doing they are asked to do.

What the member cited, it seems to be somewhat reasonable. I suspect they will be getting the results for which they are looking.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Speaker, all of us are proud of our Canadian Armed Forces. As I said in my speech, there are no better people on this planet to do the job with which they are tasked. They will not allow this task to fail, because failure is not an option.

The armed forces will continue to move forward on this, but they need the support from the federal government. We are not seeing that from the Liberals. We are now 12 months after the pandemic started. The Canadian Forces medical intelligence first raised the red flags about COVID-19 in Canada, yet the government is still not providing them with all the information they need to build a plan to distribute vaccines across the country.

When is the member going to force his health minister to finally provide the answers? It is not just Canadians who need and want them, but it is critical to the operations of Operation Vector under the Canadian Armed Forces. When will he do that and get some answers for Canadians finally?

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Speaker, the member's questions and comments are very important and very meaningful. He will know that my province of Alberta has the highest number of active cases of COVID-19 in the country. We have more than provinces that have much higher populations. In fact, today we have learned that the provincial government has asked for field hospitals in our cities to help with the COVID-19 stresses in Alberta.

Could he talk about what the federal government needs to do to ensure that Albertans are protected in the absence of its provincial government doing the job it needs to do?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Speaker, the Canadians Armed Forces have been preparing to provide assistance to civil authorities under the National Defence Act forever. Nobody was quite anticipating we would have a pandemic of this scale. The need for field hospitals and yo provide staff to backfill in long-term care facilities is something no one ever expected. The Canadian Armed Forces has stepped up every time they have been tasked. They do it with grace, honour and compassion, especially in our long-term care facilities.

My father is in long-term care. My wife is a nurse in a long-term care facility. I know her colleagues, all medical practitioners of all levels, from health care aides right up to the doctors, are working overtime and trying to ensure we keep this virus out of our institutions so we can keep our populations safe. The Canadian Armed Forces will always be there to stand with them shoulder to shoulder.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Madam Speaker, the member made reference to the defence committee and the study of COVID-19 on the military. In the initial day of testimony, before we knew they were going to be the entity rolling out the vaccine execution, what was his impression of the people who testified? Did they have any knowledge whatsoever of the fact that there was a plan and that they would be involved?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Speaker, the member's long tenure on the defence committee for almost 20 years now has been just an amazing contribution to ensuring that us, as Parliamentarians, are standing up for our troops.

Part of the discussion we were having around COVID-19 is, how do we protect our troops? How do we support them in what they are doing in Operation Laser in supporting long-term care facilities in Quebec and Ontario, now Manitoba and elsewhere?

They were prepared to continue on doing that role. They were thinking about potential work in vaccines, but mainly as it applied to members of the Canadian Armed Forces in Canada and around the world. What they got tasked with by the government was completely out of the blue.

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

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased and proud to share my time with my colleague, the hon. member for Milton.

Eight months after the beginning of Canada's response to COVID-19, we are all feeling the burden of the pandemic. That is just as true in my riding, Gatineau, which is where I am speaking from today, as it is across Canada.

Many Canadians have lost a loved one and our hearts go out to them. Families have been separated in the wake of strict, but necessary, restrictions, and many livelihoods are at risk.

The majority of Canadians are co-operating to flatten the curve and even though we are all weary of the restrictions, we must continue to be diligent as we deal with the second wave.

From day one, our government has acted swiftly to help the most vulnerable Canadians, especially those having difficulty making ends meet, and small businesses trying to survive these tough times. We will continue to do so, and, as a member of Parliament, I hear testimonials about this every day.

The support provided by our government to individuals and businesses ensures that local authorities do not have to choose between Canadians' health and the economy. That is a decision that no one in our country should have to make.

We know the only way out of this pandemic is through a viable vaccine. This is why we have made that pursuit our absolute top priority. Our approach to acquiring vaccines is deliberate, strategic and comprehensive.

I must pause to thank the men and women, not only of the department with which I have the honour of working, Public Services and Procurement, but also those right across this government who I know, because I represent many of them, are working day and night to help Canada and Canadians get through this pandemic.

Our goal is to ensure early access to diverse portfolios of vaccines so Canada is well positioned to receive doses of safe and effective vaccines early. That is precisely what we are doing.

Our government has negotiated agreements with the manufacturers of seven promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates. This work is complex and is taking place at rapid speed in a highly competitive global marketplace.

I am going to explain the process followed by the government's procurement experts to carry out this absolutely crucial work.

The COVID-19 vaccine task force guides the procurement of vaccines in Canada. This task force comprises leading Canadian experts in the fields of vaccines and immunology, and industry leaders, who provide scientific and technical advice on the most promising experimental vaccines.

In order to move forward as quickly as possible, in the initial phases, the majority of our agreements with suppliers of potential vaccines were agreements in principle. We began signing these agreements in July. This guaranteed doses from vaccine suppliers while we were negotiating details for a final purchase agreement.

Today I can announce that we have agreements with six of seven vaccine suppliers: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Sanofi—GSK and the flagship of Quebec industry, Medicago.

Negotiations on a final agreement with Novavax are going well and should be concluded soon. With these seven agreements, Canadians will have access to at least 194 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. These agreements also give us the possibility of buying up to 220 million additional doses. This ultimately means that we have the possibility of getting more than 400 million doses for Canadians, as well as 15 million additional doses through the COVAX global initiative.

Regardless of what the opposition members are saying—and I have heard all kinds of outrageous things—our government has signed a record number of agreements with potential vaccine manufacturers. We now have one of the best vaccine portfolios in the world. The opposition wants everyone to think that Canadians will be the last in the world to get vaccinated, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Earlier this week, Noubar Afeyan, the co-founder and chairman of Moderna, which is producing one of the most promising vaccines, said unequivocally that not only is Canada not last, but that it was one of the first countries to pre-order the Moderna vaccine. More importantly, he said that Canada is guaranteed to receive a certain portion of the company's initial batch of vaccine, subject to all required approvals, of course.

In terms of timelines, the first deliveries of a number of COVID-19 vaccines are anticipated to start in the first quarter of 2021. That is what we have been saying for sometime and that is what remains the case. What we need to understand is that timelines for delivery for each candidate are dependent on the company's clinical trials timeline and results, and of course, regulatory filings and regulatory approvals.

Before it can be received, delivered and administered to Canadians, any vaccine candidate must first receive Health Canada's authorization. It is a gold standard in authorization, and I once again thank the professionals who have been working overtime at Health Canada. I would like to think that all members of this House would agree that, in all that we do, we must put the safety of Canadians first.

We have seen some promising news lately and we anticipate approval of some of the more advanced vaccines, such as those from Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, to happen shortly. Once they are approved, deliveries will start as soon as possible.

Vaccine distribution and administration is another challenge. Our government is working to ensure that items such as needles, syringes and freezers are available and ready for shipment as soon as manufacturers are ready to ship vaccines, and we are making significant progress in this area.

I can confirm that we have received enough of those supplies to administer nearly 25 million doses of vaccine, and more supplies will arrive every month. Our government is also seeking a logistics service provider to ensure the efficient distribution of vaccines to Canadians, including transportation and storage. At the same time, we have purchased and received several freezers that can operate at extremely cold temperatures to store vaccines.

We launched a competitive procurement process for the purchase of dry ice in order to ensure the proper distribution and storage of the vaccine across the country.

The time has come for Canadians to unite, as they did at the beginning of the pandemic to flatten the curve. Effective immunization against COVID-19 will be one of the greatest achievements in the history of this country. Even though this will not be accomplished overnight, there is now an end in sight to this pandemic. Our government laid the groundwork, and we know that it is only by working with others and mobilizing all of our resources that we will succeed. We are already working with the provinces and territories on the subsequent distribution of vaccines throughout the country and we will ensure that the Canadian Armed Forces play a visible and important role in that distribution.

We are continuing to make progress by working with others who are fully dedicated to the well-being of Canadians. All Canadians can be assured that we will get to work as soon as a vaccine is approved thanks to a strong vaccination strategy that they can and should be proud of.

We did the necessary work and we will be ready to vaccinate Canadians effectively and efficiently so that we can put this pandemic behind us once and for all. When a vaccine in ready, Canada will be too, and we will get through this together.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Madam Speaker, the question is that, for Niagara Falls and ridings like it, COVID is having an impact on tourism. It is having a devastating impact on tourism. There are 40,000 people in my community who work in that sector, and 4,000 of those are in the two casinos alone. Those employees have not been back to work since March. This talk from the government and failure to present a plan is impacting those people.

For now, we are hearing that September is a possible date for vaccinations. If that is the case, are we putting the tourism season for 2021 at risk? We need a plan, and we need it now.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Madam Speaker, I too have an important casino in my riding, and it is an important tourism generator and employer. Of course we are all committed, and recommit every day, to the task of ending this pandemic. Everyone can be sure that I am no exception to that rule, and that the hundreds of thousands of employees of the Government of Canada, who are working day and night on not just acquiring these vaccines, but also approving them, distributing them, and making sure the provinces and territories are in a position to administer them to the population, are doing the same thing.

I want to assure my hon. colleague that the Government of Canada has this as an absolute top priority, not only for our tourism operators, but also for small business people everywhere. We want to make sure that we put this pandemic behind us.

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech.

Again, the speech is long on good intentions but short on concrete facts about what Canadians want to know: When will we be vaccinated?

I heard a public health representative say that, once 70% of the population is vaccinated, we can start thinking about lifting restrictions. That is what everyone is looking forward to.

The Prime Minister told us vaccination would be complete by September. How can the Prime Minister tell us when it will be done when he cannot even tell us when it will start?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Madam Speaker, I can assure my hon. colleague that the haze and confusion around this issue was not created by the government. The government is providing clear, simple answers.

In my speech, I listed the Government of Canada's purchases, procurements and measures for not only acquiring the vaccines, but also distributing them for general public immunization.

This will take time. It is a generational challenge, in my estimation. It will take the entire country and every level of government coming together and collaborating. We will continue to operate in that way.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, there is a tremendous amount of anxiety and concern about when and who is going to get the vaccine. I just met with Port Alberni firefighters here in the city of Port Alberni and they were saying that during the height of the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 they were excluded from being prioritized in sequencing for getting the vaccine. Health care workers were categorized ahead of them, and certainly they should be a priority, but firefighters were categorized as tier two, which is the same as the general public.

Right now, they are on the front lines dealing with this, and 65% of the calls in my city are first responder calls. I want to make sure we get information out and prioritize firefighters, who are on the front lines, especially with the opioid crisis. I want to ensure they are sequenced with medical health officials and seen as priority essential workers on the front lines of this pandemic.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Madam Speaker, I want to join with my hon. colleague in honouring our first responders, and notably the firefighters in our communities, who of course take extreme risks and protect us day and night. I know first responders will be high on anyone's list.

Public health authorities will of course be the driving expert opinion on this. I know first responders will be high on everyone's list in terms of a priority to get vaccinated, because of course they are exposed to multiple risks and multiple people, through no choice of their own. They require immunization, not only so they are protected, but also so others are protected against spread. I want to thank my hon. colleague for advocating for firefighters.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth and to the Minister of Canadian Heritage (Sport)]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to rise in the House and speak to this government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of procuring safe and effective vaccines.

As winter approaches and the number of COVID-19 cases reach record highs in most regions of the country, Canadians are becoming more and more concerned about how their families and communities will make it through the next few months while remaining safe, secure and healthy. Our government has been focused on containing the spread of COVID-19 since the very beginning of this pandemic, and I am sure that all members of this House can agree that this has been our most pressing mutual priority.

Public Services and Procurement Canada has a role to play by procuring personal protective equipment, and our government is ensuring this equipment is getting to our front-line health care workers and other essential workers. However, the long-term solution has been and remains to be having safe and effective vaccines, and ensuring all Canadians will have access to it. In that regard, as the Prime Minister said recently, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Much of that hope is based on the potential vaccines on the horizon, and Public Services and Procurement Canada, as the government's central purchaser, has been leading the process of securing access to vaccine candidates. Today we have the most diverse portfolio of vaccine candidates in the world, with access to more doses per person than any other country, and this did not happen by accident. It took the hard work of public servants, and science-based approaches, to be in this enviable position. This government is determined to continue this work as long as we need it, until this pandemic is finally over.

As Canada formulated its process for securing vaccines, we have been guided by the COVID-19 vaccine task force. The members of this task force include leading vaccine and immunology experts, and industry leaders in Canada. These experts have been giving us the best scientific and technical advice available on major vaccine candidates, including which ones were the most advanced in their trials and, more importantly, which ones would be the safest and the most effective for Canadians.

Our government took that advice and began engaging with the leading COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers in the summer. Right away, we began complex negotiations to secure access to vaccine candidates by signing agreements with these manufacturers. We had the first agreement with Moderna in place in July, and the others have followed. Through continued negotiation with manufacturers, the government has agreements in place with seven manufacturers: Moderna, Sanofi, GSK, Pfizer, Medicago, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax.

Altogether, these seven agreements will give Canada access to 194 million doses. These agreements also provide Canada with options to purchase up to 220 million additional doses. On top of this, we have access to 15 million additional doses through the international COVAX initiative. This means that we have the potential to access up to 429 million doses, and that will give us the flexibility to make future decisions, once we know which vaccines will be the best options for Canadians.

It is an affront to our hard-working public services workers to say we did not work hard enough or fast enough to procure these vaccines. I can assure members that these procurement officers work day and night to ensure that Canadians would have a vaccine as soon as possible. The Conservatives are clearly more concerned with their own narrative than they are of the health and safety of Canadians. Thankfully, our public service workers have Canadians' health top of mind when negotiating contracts with potential vaccine suppliers.

I am sure Canadians understand that such agreements come with complex terms and conditions because of the global growing demand and the limited supply of these vaccines. However, unlike what many members opposite have been putting forward in recent days, Canada is far from being last in line to receive vaccines.

In fact, it was validated recently by the co-founder and chairman of Moderna that we are very close to the front of the line, but instead of providing support in this time of extraordinary need, the Conservatives would rather sow doubt and confusion. On this side of the House, we believe in working together and propping up our hard-working public service instead of putting it down.

Members from the Conservative party have been comparing the COVID-19 pandemic to the seasonal flu on the radio. Members of the Conservative party have been shamelessly minimizing the number of COVID-19-related deaths in Alberta, and then just recently a member of the Conservative party sponsored an anti-vax petition, signed by 22,000 people who do not believe in vaccines. The sponsoring member, when questioned, said that the petition raised some really good points. People in my riding rely on our elected representatives for good, timely and reliable information, not this misinformation, this anti-science rhetoric that has been all too common coming from the Conservative caucus.

As the House knows, an effective vaccine is the path forward for Canada and the way out of this pandemic for the world over. Canada has laid the foundation for deployment of a vaccine from coast to coast to coast. We have a thorough, diverse and large portfolio of vaccines, and we are in a great position. Of course, any vaccine candidate must first receive Health Canada's authorization and be proven to be safe and effective before it can be administered to Canadians. Once those approvals are in place, we expect to have the first deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines arriving in the first quarter of 2021, which, I note for the members opposite, is essentially the same timeline as many other countries.

As the Prime Minister has said, once a vaccine is ready, Canada will be ready. As the deliveries of approved vaccines arrive, the Public Health Agency of Canada will be on hand to distribute them to provincial and territorial health authorities; and, we look forward to the contribution of Major-General Dany Fortin in leading the logistics of getting vaccines into the arms of Canadians ASAP.

However, it is not enough just to have vaccines delivered. I would like to remind the House that we do in fact have a plan for distribution and administration. PSPC has been working to ensure that access to these critical goods and services that are needed to administer vaccines are on hand as well, and ready to go as soon as manufacturers are ready to ship vaccines. In fact, this government began procuring supplies such as needles and syringes over this past summer. We now have enough of these supplies to administer nearly 25 million doses of the vaccines, and more supplies are arriving every month. As well, PSPC has been working with the Public Health Agency of Canada on a competitive process to engage logistics services to ensure that vaccines can be transported, stored and effectively distributed to Canadians. Those contracts are set to be in place in the coming days.

We are working to ensure that vaccines can be stored at the correct temperature so that they can remain effective up until the time that they are administered. That is why we have purchased 26 freezers with -80°C capability and 100 freezers that can operate at -20°C to store these vaccines. Some of those have already been delivered, and we will also be purchasing additional freezers very soon. In addition, we plan to purchase dry ice for distributing and storing vaccine doses across the country.

At each step, we will coordinate our efforts with the provinces and territories to bring safe and effective vaccines to all Canadians. We will not cease in our efforts until we can ensure that, when a vaccine is ready, Canada will be ready.

I will close by reiterating how important it is that we continue to do our hard work in ending this pandemic, just as we have asked all Canadians to do their part in slowing the spread of this coronavirus. Canadians have always been able to withstand our winters because we know that spring is just around the corner. This government wants to ensure that our fellow citizens can maintain that resolve and that hope. Through our efforts in negotiating and planning and keeping Canadians informed about the true progress we have been making, we will get ever closer to ending this pandemic.

I ask all members in this House to be a part of this solution, and end the misinformation for the good of all Canadians.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Madam Speaker, I find it rich that the member would talk about misinformation when all that today's motion is about is simply asking a simple question that is common sense: What is the plan to ensure that all Canadians understand what their government is doing to ensure that they have access to these vaccines when they are available?

I find it rich that the member seems to think that it is necessary to add the political spin about misinformation, when it is the Liberals who are refusing to provide that information.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Madam Speaker, the reason that I bring it up is that misinformation is actually incredibly damaging to the Canadian rhetoric. It is very dangerous. I had a call with seniors from my riding, just last night. They were really worried because they are listening to this anti-vaccine rhetoric and these notions that the number of deaths in Alberta has been inflated somehow.

Misinformation is another pandemic, and we have to be very mindful of what we put out there. People rely on us for good information. People rely on us for quality information and not to misinform them with political spin. That political spin is coming from the Conservatives, and it is damaging the Canadian conversation around how we are approaching this pandemic, which has been exemplary and, by all standards, according to the international media it is the gold standard for vaccine procurement.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Madam Speaker, I will change the tone a little bit because I cannot stand hearing people being used as political pawns. We are talking about human lives and vaccines.

We often hear the government say that when the vaccine is ready, Canada will be ready. Obviously that means that there is a plan for approving and distributing the vaccine. However, that is all we know. I realize it is hard to put a finger on a specific date. Even though the Conservatives' motion is entirely legitimate, there are some questions the government is likely unable to answer, but at this stage, I think it could provide the bare minimum.

If it cannot, why not simply admit that it does not have these answers?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her excellent question.

I am sorry about the quality of my French. I will have to answer in English.

I share the eagerness of the member opposite for early and quick deployment of this vaccine. I would also love to see some dates, but the absolute first step in that line of questioning is Health Canada approval. These vaccines need to be approved by Health Canada and that is a process that we must respect.

Members of this House are politicians. By and large, we are not doctors; we are not vaccine experts or epidemiologists or immunologists. Let us rely on the expertise of Health Canada and the experts in Canada who have always ensured that we have access to great vaccines, including for the seasonal flu. I am not comparing this horrible pandemic to the seasonal flu, because it is not similar, despite some of the arguments and radio interviews of members from the Conservative Party. I am just as eager as my friend and colleague across the way to have a better plan, and we are working on it.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Speaker, the chief scientific adviser for the U.S. Operation Warp Speed said:

Our plan is to be able to ship vaccines to the immunization sites within 24 hours from the approval. I would expect maybe on day two after approval, on Dec. 11 or Dec. 12...the first people will be immunized across the U.S., across all states, in all areas where the state departments of health have told us to deliver the vaccine.

Here in Canada, Dr. Kerry Bowman, a bioethicist at the University of Toronto said:

So many of the people in Canada and the provinces, if they're going to be prepared for this they do need dates and they do need numbers. How do you prepare without that? ... We really, really need to build trust with Canadians right now. ...whether [we vaccinate] this month or that month [that we get the vaccine] is not irrelevant—it's highly relevant.... People will die and other people's lives will continue to be ruined until [we establish that].

Does my hon. colleague not agree that we should be doing what the U.S. is doing, pre-positioning the Pfizer vaccine, telling Canadians when the vaccination dates are going to happen and giving Canadians the details? Does he not trust Canadians to handle that information?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the hard work from my hon. colleague. We were on a panel together last night, and the collaboration was appreciated.

However, I will, in fact, take our response to COVID-19 over that of the United States any day of the week. I am proud of our response and the plan. I am especially proud of our procurement abilities. Our reaction and strategy has been far and above one of the best in the world.

I take the comment regarding the pre-procurement of the Pfizer vaccine, as did the Minister of Health earlier today. It is a good recommendation, and that is the type of collaboration that we rely on in this House to serve Canadians.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to be able to rise to speak to this important issue today. I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Battlefords—Lloydminster.

I am pleased to rise after the member for Milton so I can correct the numerous amounts of misinformation we just heard in his speech, which was written by an expert, I am sure, in the Prime Minister's Office. He talked about how the government has been so great at providing information, and how it has led the world in its response.

This is a government has been wrong or late every single step of the way, and it has resulted in pain, suffering and even death for Canadians. The Liberals were late to close the border, weeks behind other nations, like Australia, which saw the pandemic coming, which did not rely on information coming out of other countries, like China, but relied on its own experts, something the Liberal government did not have the opportunity to do because it had shut down the early pandemic warning system months before.

The Liberal government destroyed PPE that we could have used, and it shipped PPE off to China when we desperately needed it here at home, leaving us short-handed. It gave bad advice on masks. They told us at the beginning not to use a mask, and that it was more dangerous to use a mask than to not wear one. The Minister of Health said that COVID-19 does not spread person to person, and that if we wanted to close the border, then we were actually racist.

This was the rhetoric that was coming out of the government. It is no surprise that Canadians have no confidence in what the government is putting forward now, and when they see the government now saying “Just trust us, we have your best interests at heart”, it is a little hard to take when every piece of advice that has been given for the last 10 months has either been wrong or late.

The Liberal government was wrong on the border. It was late on rapid tests. It has been, quite frankly, incompetent during the period between the two waves. We are no further ahead now than we were back in March, when we locked everything down.