Debates of Dec. 8th, 2020

Health

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the delay proves that no matter what was done, it was not done properly, because there are still delays.

The government has decided to resurrect a dangerous sense of security by saying that we now have a vaccine and we might be okay, but treating just 125,000 people in Canada is obviously inadequate.

Given that fact, will the Prime Minister choose to help the real people on the ground, the ones who will have to manage this?

Will he show up before the premiers of Canada and the Quebec premier on Thursday with health transfers that meet their demands?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are working to deliver vaccines as quickly as possible. This depends largely on the production capacity of the companies supplying the vaccines.

As for the premiers, I have been very pleased to work with them for the past several months to invest billions of dollars in the health care system and to help Canadians, partly with the support of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Red Cross. We will continue to ensure that the provinces have all the help they need from the federal government to get through this crisis. That is our priority, and I look forward to discussing it with—

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

Order. The hon. member for Burnaby South.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians were encouraged by the announcement of a small quantity of Pfizer vaccines being delivered, but the vaccine has some problems. It is hard to transport and store. We are still concerned for our seniors. They need to have access to the vaccine. The Moderna vaccine could solve these challenges.

What is the plan for the Moderna vaccine to protect our seniors?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have worked with all the different vaccine companies to ensure that approval is done quickly and according to all the rules. That is why vaccines from four different companies are being assessed, including those from Pfizer and Moderna. We hope that in the case of Pfizer, this will be settled soon and that in the case of Moderna, it will be settled shortly.

We know that it will take different types of vaccines to vaccinate everyone. That is why we are confident that we will be able to vaccinate three million Canadians in early 2021.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians were encouraged by the announcement of a small quantity of Pfizer vaccines being available in Canada, but the Pfizer vaccine presents some problems. It is difficult to store and difficult to transport, and it will not be available for people who live outside of major Canadian cities. I think of the outbreaks in indigenous communities, and in rural and remote communities, and the fact that they will not have access.

The Moderna vaccine is promising in solving some of those problems, but we want to know what the plan is. What is the plan for the Moderna vaccine to provide access to people who live outside of major cities?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Pfizer is in the news right now because we are expecting to see the first deliveries of those vaccines as early as next week. We can start working on the delivery of those vaccines, which are logistically more complex.

The Moderna vaccine is a somewhat more simple vaccine to transport and administer. That is why we are counting on the Moderna vaccine to be able to reach communities that are further off and northern Canadians. We are working very closely with Moderna to ensure that we get those doses to them as quickly as possible. As I said, we are expecting millions of people to be vaccinated, the most vulnerable—

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member for Carleton.

The Economy

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister has a big idea and it involves your bank account. She is very worried that Canadians are saving too much, even though those same savings are lent out to and invested in other job-creating businesses, so now she is looking for ideas on how the government can act to unlock those savings of Canadians.

Does the government really believe that holding Canadians upside-down by the ankles and shaking their change loose is a stimulus plan?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, yet again the Conservatives are misconstruing my words. It almost makes me wonder if they are doing it on purpose.

The fact is there is nothing dystopian or even very complicated about the idea of a preloaded stimulus. We all know that local small businesses are the heart of our economy. We all also know that because of physical distancing, we are unable to patronize them now. That is why, as soon as it is safe for our economy to fully reopen, our government is looking for ways to encourage Canadians to support our local small businesses.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, preloaded stimulus sounds like she wants to use Canadians' savings as her own preloaded credit card, but this is no surprise from a government that is running the biggest deficit in the G20 by far, even with the worst unemployment, other than Italy, and has among the higher rates of COVID mortality.

Now the minister says she has no fiscal anchor. Instead, she has fiscal guardrails that will one day be attached to a fiscal anchor. Will the anchor at the bottom of the sea not pull those guardrails off the edge of the cliff?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite still seems to have some trouble understanding why it is good economics to support our small businesses and to encourage Canadians to do that. Therefore, let me quote someone he might find a little more simpatico, Ontario's Conservative premier Doug Ford.

Here is what he has had to say: “Now more than ever, we need to support our own.... During #COVID19 business supported communities and healthcare workers, now it’s time to support them as consumers.” I could not agree more.

Health

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after days of being questioned by our party, the Liberals hastily tracked down a few vaccines for Canadians, but again, it is a fraction of what we need.

We know that the Canadian Armed Forces will be involved in the vaccination effort. Many of these soldiers are from the Bagotville base. How will the government distribute vaccines to members of the Canadian Armed Forces, who fall under federal jurisdiction?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, every step of the way we have been transparent with Canadians as we secured the most doses per capita, as we had the most diverse portfolio for Canadians and as we planned with provinces and territories to distribute vaccines so they could deliver on their immunization responsibilities. We will work with the federal organizations under our jurisdiction as well to ensure everyone has access to a vaccine.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, things are going so well in Canada that several provinces are thinking of reviewing their lockdown measures.

We will never have an economic recovery as long as people are not immunized against the virus. Canadians deserve certainty, clarity and competence from their government.

When will we attain herd immunity, and how much longer will we be in lockdown?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, it is important that all Canadians look forward to immunization and indeed plan to get immunized when those immunizations are proven to be safe in Canada.

I want to thank the regulators at Health Canada who are working so hard to ensure that no matter what vaccine arrives, it will not be deployed until it is proven to be safe. One of the things that will happen is ensuring we do not share misinformation with Canadians about the risks of vaccination.

Justice

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the justice minister said, “We expect law enforcement to enforce Canada’s laws", but a Canadian-based website has videos and images of people under 18 and children being exploited, abused and raped. Videos are re-uploaded and stay on the website for years and years.

The minister said that the Liberals took gaps in the law seriously, so does the Minister for Public Safety think this is a so-called gap that needs to be fixed right now?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me assure the member opposite that the sexual exploitation of children is among the most heinous of crimes. We have been working very hard to ensure we support law enforcement in every way with resources not just for the RCMP but for provincial and municipal police services as well to ensure they have the resources, tools and authorities they need to combat this most heinous crime. I have reached out to the RCMP and asked it to speak to the police of jurisdiction, in this case in the province of Quebec in the city of Montreal, to ensure they have all the help we can provide.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, but this is still happening right now. Some private sector companies are taking steps to protect youth and victims of abuse. Three major payment processors say they will or have cut-off the website’s ability to monetize child abuse. Victims say the website is “making money off the worst moment in my life” and “became my trafficker”. Experts say there are more than 62 million pieces of child abuse online.

How many more children will be harmed so heinously before those Liberals act and this is stopped?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, as a father of three girls and a legislator, I find the content of these platforms profoundly inhumane. This is why our government has been working for months with experts, non-governmental organizations and foreign governments to bring forward legislation to the House at the beginning of 2021. This new regulation would require online platforms, not just websites, to eliminate illegal content, including hate speech, child sexual exploitation and violent or extremist content.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, all the premiers will be meeting on Thursday to talk about health transfers, but we are seeing the real consequences of federal underfunding to our hospitals.

The Leader of the Opposition is always heckling.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

There is too much noise in the chamber.

Order.

It is impossible to continue because there is far too much noise in the House.

The hon. member for Joliette.

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

Mr. Speaker, while all the first ministers are meeting on Thursday to talk about health transfers, we are seeing the very real consequences of federal underfunding in our hospitals.

Because Ottawa is not paying its fair share, Quebec has to make tough choices. It has had to choose who it can provide care to because there is not enough staff to care for everyone. It has had to reduce operating room activities by 50%, and that may quickly drop to 30%.

On Thursday, will the government finally announce a sustainable increase in health transfers?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we have supported Canadians.

It is now time for the provinces to step up their efforts. We announced the $19-billion safe restart agreement with the provinces and territories to help our health care system deal with COVID-19. Now, the provinces need to invest that funding in doing more testing, contact tracing and data collection.