Debates of Dec. 4th, 2020

Health

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, first, let me thank Canadians who are making extraordinary efforts and sacrifices to protect each other. It is Canadians who are working together to get us through this time. It is small business owners adapting and changing the way they do business so they can support their workers. We are there with them, with wage subsidies, subsidies for people who have lost their jobs, supports for seniors, supports for long-term care and supports for the provinces and territories to care for people in long-term care homes.

We have distributed over 7.2 million rapid tests to the provinces and territories to date, and we are there to help them in implementing their use.

[Rosemarie Falk, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry, but that answer is not good enough. Our seniors have been isolated and separated from their loved ones for not weeks but months. They need to know that there is a real plan to navigate through this pandemic, but this Liberal government refuses to be up front and honest with them. It refuses to offer these seniors the hope that comes with a plan. They deserve better.

Will the minister finally offer seniors the clarity they deserve and tell them when they can expect to have access to a vaccine?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, every step of the way we have been there to support seniors, particularly in long-term care homes, where we used the Canadian Armed Forces to help support the provinces and territories that are struggling to care for seniors under their care.

We are going to be there for seniors in long-term care every step of the way. We have committed, through our fall economic statement, $1 billion to ensure that there are national standards. No matter where one lives, people deserve to age in dignity.

We have been there for the provinces and territories, and we will continue to be there so they can deliver on their health care responsibilities.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, everyone, including the entire Quebec National Assembly, the House of Commons, all the provincial premiers, and the people of Quebec and of Canada, agrees that a sustainable and, above all, unconditional increase to health transfers is needed to combat the pandemic.

We are in a health crisis. Our long-term care homes are the battleground, and the care workers are the soldiers. Only the Liberal Party of Canada does not understand this.

When will they realize that this is a health crisis and that their job is to increase health transfers?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, every step of the way we have been supporting the provinces and territories, not just with equipment, tests and other kinds of guidance, but also with billions of dollars. In fact, $24 billion to date has been spent to support the provinces and territories with their health response to this pandemic. We have purchased personal protective equipment. We have purchased testing. We have helped them every step of the way to deliver on their health care responsibilities. We will continue to be there for the people of Quebec.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is a health crisis going on. The government must help the health care system by increasing health transfers. Everyone understands this except the Liberal Party of Canada.

On December 10, there will be a meeting with all the first ministers. All the premiers will be asking for an increase in the transfers. The Liberals will have no allies at this meeting or among the public. Sometimes, when everyone agrees on something except one person, that person should have the humility to ask themselves if they are in the wrong.

When will they increase the transfers?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, in addition to billions of dollars transferred to the provinces and territories, we have been there for Quebec, whether it is through additional supports, people in long-term care homes receiving support from the Canadian military and the Red Cross, which the federal government is paying for, or making sure that people have access to rapid tests, which the federal government is paying for.

We will continue to be there for Quebec. This is not a time to pick a fight. This is a time to work together.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, only the most tone-deaf government would say it stands with seniors by letting the standards get so bad it had to send the army in.

Canadians are eagerly awaiting a safe, effective COVID vaccine so that they can see their loved ones and return to their daily lives without worrying about spreading the virus. Yesterday, Pfizer confirmed it will be distributing half the amount of vaccine doses it had originally proposed, citing supply chain issues. We heard from the government that Canadians are getting four million doses of Pfizer vaccine before March. Is that still the plan?

Will the minister explain what Pfizer's supply problems mean for Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have been consistent in communicating our delivery window in Q1 of 2021. Given the number of variables and the novelty of the process, we are still communicating a delivery window in Q1 of 2021. We do not anticipate any impact on delivery of the Pfizer vaccine to Canada, which is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2021 as planned.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are rightly worried by the Pfizer news and the government owes them answers. Talking about a diverse portfolio of vaccines will not change the fact that Canada is way behind other countries. The U.K. has already approved a vaccine. In the U.S., the vaccine is being stockpiled on American soil while it awaits approval. Other countries, like Germany, India, China, Brazil, the U.S. and the U.K., are all producing vaccines in their own countries to ensure fast delivery. None of that is happening in Canada.

Why did the Liberals let Canada fall so behind these other countries?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canada, by many accounts, is far ahead of other countries with the most diversified and most promising portfolio of vaccine candidates in the world. In fact, the first four, for which we have received very good and promising news, are all in Canada's portfolio. Of course, there will be more good news to come pending the regulatory processes. When a vaccine is ready, Canada will be ready.

Public Safety

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

Mr. Speaker, international security experts are raising alarm bells about recent global cyber-attacks against supply cold chains targeting vaccine transportation. This is a direct threat to Canada's vaccine rollout, but the Liberals have their heads in the sand. The Liberal government has already ignored the advice from our Five Eyes partners when it comes to banning Huawei.

Is the Prime Minister taking this threat seriously or is he ready to gamble with the lives of Canadians and just roll the dice?

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

Mr. Speaker, this government has repeatedly risen to the occasion when it comes to procuring PPE for Canadians, when it comes to assembling perhaps the best vaccine candidates in the world, and when it comes to supplying and collaborating with provinces. Every step of the way, we have come up with a response to this unprecedented pandemic.

What we have not come up with is a response to the member for Hastings—Lennox and Addington, whom this member sits with in caucus every week. He should tell him to stop this anti-vaxxing nonsense, to stop this anti-science campaign and to get with the program of communicating with Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, this is why Canadians do not trust the government, because all they get is political rhetoric.

It was recently revealed that the Canadian Armed Forces is preparing for potential criminal and cyber-attacks that could attack our vaccine distribution network, but the Liberal government's track record when it comes to cybersecurity is abysmal. It does not have the guts to ban Huawei from our 5G network and it rarely prosecutes cybercrime in this country.

How can Canadians trust the Liberal government to protect our desperately needed COVID vaccines?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have every day and in fact we are briefing Canadians now every week on the process and on the progress of our distribution and logistics effort. There will be more news on that today.

These conspiracy theories keep coming from the opposition over there. They have always been a little fuzzy on science over there. I am giving an occasion to stand up, once and for all, and express, on behalf of that party, confidence in the Health Canada regulators, the science of vaccines and that the end of this pandemic will be brought about as a result of the efforts of this Liberal government.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the member should stop blustering angrily and just, actually, answer the questions.

It is increasingly clear that the Liberals do not take hostile foreign influence seriously, and Canadians are suffering the consequences. They refuse to answer questions on a potentially politically exposed person in their own caucus. They will not make a decision to ban Huawei, going against our own intelligence officials and our allies. Now it seems the Liberals put all hopes for a vaccine in a company whose executives worked in a program investigated by CSIS. It is unreal.

Was the government briefed on potential security threats about partnering with CanSino?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have repeatedly put in place plans for PPE. We have collaborated with provinces. We have risen to the occasion.

We have put in place plans for the acquisition of vaccines, and have promising candidates and an amazing portfolio of vaccine candidates. We now have plans for logistics and distribution. We are working very closely, of course, with our partners in the provinces and across this country on that.

What we do not have is the response that the member should provide on behalf of her party. That member should look behind her and talk to the member for Hastings—Lennox and Addington and tell him to stop this anti-vaccine nonsense.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Order. It is getting more difficult to hear the exchange in here. It is Friday after all.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, again, there is a really long answer and lots of blustering and berating, but no actual concrete answers to the question I asked.

Here is the truth. If the Liberals actually took security officials seriously and actually listened to them, Canada would not be so far behind the rest of our allies. On Global News, a former CSIS official said that the government is ignoring security warnings and lacks a coordinated plan to combat the risks from China. He said, “The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing, and [the National Research Council] has been abused by China before in this way”.

How could the Liberals just ignore all the security threats when partnering with CanSino?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have been negotiating vaccine candidate agreements since last summer. We have a very diversified portfolio and we are very confident in the promising news that comes out.

What we want to understand and what is very important for this member to do is to stand up on behalf of her party and put an end to these crazy anti-science, anti-vaxxing, anti-end-of-pandemic conspiracy theories that emanate from the dark recesses of the Conservative Party.

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, we are now just five sitting days away from the House of Commons rising, yet the government has still not given any indication when it will be bringing legislation to Parliament on the Canada-U.K. trade agreement. The deadline is the end of this month. The international trade minister talks about predictability and stability for businesses, yet business owners have no idea what is in the text of this agreement. They have no idea if there are new processes or paperwork.

When is the minister going to be releasing the text of this agreement and bring it to Parliament?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the member well knows, we have welcomed to committee many industry representatives. We are protecting, through the transitional trade agreement with the U.K., our agriculture sector, our seafood sector and our auto industry. They know that we are working on mitigation measures in the event that the transitional trade agreement does not come into force on January 1, and our legal teams on both sides of the Atlantic are working very hard in order to get the text to us as quickly as possible.

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

Mr. Speaker, if the government is not going to get this done by its own deadline of December 31, exporters are facing tariffs in industries like lobster, auto, seafood and beef. I have asked the international trade minister numerous times what her plan is if exporters are forced to pay tariffs by the end of the year.

Can the minister name one part of the plan, just one part, or will she continue to leave exporters and businesses in the dark, just like parliamentarians?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have spoken to our hard-working members of our industries, including the seafood industry, the auto industry and our agriculture industry. They know that we have their backs. We worked hard for them in order to get a very good transitional agreement in place, and we are working hard in order to have a parallel mitigation strategy should the trade agreement not come into force on January 1. Our industry representatives know this and they have confidence in this government.