Debates of Jan. 26th, 2021

COVID-19 Vaccine

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary for his speech.

I would like to come back to something that happened earlier today. The Prime Minister held a press conference, but in the end, no new information was provided. He did not announce anything new on travel restrictions or vaccine supply. He wanted to reassure the public on this issue, but instead he only increased our concerns. Our dependence on foreign production for vaccine doses is worrisome when other nations threaten to bring in export restrictions, as could be the case with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

A reporter asked the Prime Minister what would happen if this were to occur regarding a vaccine approved by Health Canada. The Prime Minister replied that it would be extremely worrisome, and that was it.

Can the parliamentary secretary give us an answer that is more reassuring?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure my hon. colleague that the Prime Minister, his ministers, Canadian diplomats and the entire government are working with our European counterparts.

Those countries are some of our closest allies. We worked with countries in Europe and around the world to keep supply lines and supply chains for personal protective equipment open. Obviously, we will do the same for vaccines, and we want to reassure the House that the contracts signed for the vaccines that are to be delivered in the first quarter of this year are intact. We expect those deliveries by the end of March.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by acknowledging the stress that Canadians have been under during the second wave of the pandemic.

We are all tired, anxious and frustrated by the resurgence of the virus, the ongoing uncertainty and the constant disruptions to our daily lives. The pandemic has been going on for a long time, and things have been hard as the virus continues to wreak havoc on all aspects of our lives, including our economic, physical and emotional well-being. We know that the only thing that will let us get back to normal is the COVID-19 vaccine. We have all been looking forward to it. It cannot come soon enough, since the pandemic weighs on us every day.

Today more than ever, I am asking that we rise above our political differences and party lines and work together to help the country get through the most difficult stage of the pandemic. Canada's response to the COVID-19 pandemic requires everyone's involvement to ensure that we make it through these hard times and turn the corner. We cannot get caught up in brinkmanship. We are at a critical point in the pandemic, and we must join forces to make it through this last leg. For Canada to get to the finish line, all of us in the House must work together as part of a completely collaborative approach. This approach has been central to our strategy from the beginning, and it is especially vital now.

Our government has kept its promises to Canadians. We worked day and night in a hyper-competitive global market to obtain vital personal protective equipment, build one of the most diversified vaccine portfolios in the world and act quickly to provide doses of the two currently approved vaccines to the provinces and territories. Only by working together will we get through this situation. It is time to lower the temperature and focus on what Canadians need us to do.

As we started rolling out the biggest vaccination campaign in Canadian history, we knew that there would likely be some bumps in the road. That is to be expected when undertaking this type of initiative during a global emergency. We saw that in the recent slowdown in delivery of the Pfizer vaccine, which, I would remind hon. members, is true for every country being supplied by the European plant. We knew we would be facing challenges when it comes to supply given the complexity of production, an unprecedented global demand and a rapid acceleration of production.

It is precisely with these types of questions in mind that Canada signed seven agreements with the key vaccine manufacturers and developers in order to guarantee the diversity and flexibility of our supply chains. To be clear, I understand and share the concerns of Canadians over this temporary delay in delivery. We can rest assured, though, because the minister, the Prime Minister and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada are in constant contact with representatives of Pfizer to strongly reiterate how important it is to Canada to get back on schedule as soon as possible.

As we have said many times, Pfizer assures us that we will receive every dose that we have been promised and that we have bought. I agree that this is an unfortunate and unwelcome situation in light of our urgent situation, but we are living in volatile times. I want to assure the House that Pfizer has committed to meeting our quarterly objective and has said that deliveries will increase considerably as promised in the spring. Between Moderna and Pfizer, we will have access to 80 million doses in 2021 and we will have enough vaccines for everyone in Canada who is eligible and who wants to be vaccinated by the end of September.

We want this to be a safe and speedy vaccination campaign. Unfortunately, we have to expect that problems like this and others may arise. As always, we have to adapt. As part of our procurement strategy, our government has secured a diverse portfolio, signing seven agreements for the main vaccine candidates.

These seven agreements will provide access to no fewer than 234 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine and the option to buy up to 164 million additional doses. From the start, we adopted a diversified approach to vaccine procurement. We did not put all our eggs in one basket. We made sure we diversified our risk by ordering vaccines from many different suppliers. That means Canadians will get guaranteed access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines as soon as they are available.

Obviously, we cannot defeat this virus in Canada if we do not eliminate it everywhere. That is why we will participate in COVAX, a global vaccine supply initiative that will develop and deploy safe, effective, accessible COVID-19 vaccines around the world. Supporting other countries in their fight against COVID-19 is an essential investment that will help put an end to this pandemic around the world.

Make no mistake. We are tackling this pandemic head on, and this government's top priority remains protecting people from COVID-19, saving lives and helping Canadians get through this crisis. Our government is continuing to do everything in its power to overcome the challenges presented by this pandemic. However, we can be more effective if we work together. As elected members of the House of Commons, it is our duty to rise above our political interests and focus on protecting Canadians. This is a pivotal moment in our history, and it calls for rapid, unified action. We must unite to serve Canadians. Every day here in the House, we must work to fight the pandemic responsibly and effectively as we head into the home stretch. Canadians expect nothing less from us.

While we continue to see an increase in the number of infections, our government is remaining focused on its response and on rebuilding the economy, while preparing for any scenario during these uncertain times. Nonetheless, we know that the real solution, the wide-scale administration of an approved vaccine, will take time and there will be challenges along the way. In the meantime, Canadians must continue to manage the risks of COVID-19, follow public health advice and make a concerted effort to slow the spread of the virus. It is hard work that challenges us in a way that we could never have imagined. However, we will get through this together and come out of this even stronger.

I want to reiterate how essential it is that we commit to working together for the health and safety of all Canadians. To overcome this pandemic once and for all, we must all work together, every level of government, every community, all Canadians.

In closing, I want to thank the medical officer of health of eastern Ontario, Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, and his team who have already started the vaccination campaign back home in Glengarry—Prescott—Russell. They are an incredible team.

[Luc Desilets, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Madam Speaker, the first thing I want to say to my colleague is that no serious business or institution could move forward without a clear game plan that has been clearly articulated and laid down. That is what we are really missing.

Any business that wants to survive, especially during a pandemic, has the duty to plan, to predict the unpredictable and to create a game plan. We are not seeing or hearing anything like this from the government. We want to see it develop its projections for the next few months. At present, they are all talk, and voters are certainly not buying their projections. No board of directors would accept that its CEO would govern the way our Prime Minister is currently governing.

My question for my colleague is very simple. As his predecessor stated so well earlier, some countries have not yet started vaccinating their citizens. I would simply like to know why, in his opinion, New Zealand has not started vaccinating its citizens.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am glad my colleague mentioned New Zealand.

I would rather focus on Canada's vaccination plan. My colleague said we do not have a plan, but I would like to set him straight and assure him that Canada has a guarantee for the delivery of six million vaccine doses by March 31. I can also tell him that Canada will receive an additional 26 million doses by June. If he does not consider that to be a solid enough plan, I would point out that we have already received 1.1 million doses.

I believe our plan is credible. Yes, there is a vaccine shortage today, this week. However, contrary to what some of my colleagues have suggested, that does not mean we can tell people that, because we did not get vaccines this week, we can just lift the lockdown for everyone next week. I think we need to be careful with how we present political arguments to the public.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Speaker, the reality of course is that provinces are struggling to get vaccinations out because they do not have the vaccines. We are in a situation where front-line workers and first responders such as firefighters, teachers, and people who work in grocery stores and on farms to put food on our tables are not able to access the vaccines because the provinces do not have them. I hope the member and the government will take this to heart.

My question for the member is this. On the issue of vaccinations for everyone, does the Liberal government include those who are migrant workers: those who are documented and undocumented as well? Will it take the approach to ensure that truly anyone who wants a vaccination would be able to get one free of charge? Would it be accessible and not require, for example, a health care card? Would they not have to fear authorities?

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is important that we put things into perspective. I was reading this morning about when Europe anticipates it will have vaccinated 70% of its population. It intends to do that by the summer at some point, which could be up to September 21. I was also looking at when Australia plans to vaccinate its entire population, and the plans right now put the date in October or November if things all go well.

In Canada's case, we plan on vaccinating every Canadian who chooses to have the vaccine by the end September. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Health, as well as the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, have been clear that vaccinations will be free for every Canadian who chooses to get one.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell. It seems like forever ago, but I used to refer to the hon. member as my neighbour as we sat so near each other in Parliament when such a thing was allowed.

Tonight's debate is terribly important, and I want to get a few points on the record, because I will not have a speaking occasion.

I agree with the hon. member for Vancouver Kingsway that contracts should be transparent and that Canadians have a right to know on what terms we are getting vaccines. I am not as critical as some others in opposition about how things are going in getting vaccines, which were not even invented until months ago. Who could have anticipated that we needed to buy refrigerators at mega-levels of freezing? However, I am concerned. I do not know if the hon. member can answer this question. If he cannot, perhaps he could ask a member of the cabinet for help.

We were attempting to get, as a country, not just vaccines but also other treatments: antibody treatments. We saw the Department of Innovation and Science invest about $200 million in one such company located in Vancouver: AbCellera, partnered with Eli Lilly. Their treatment apparently was looking very promising. Tens of thousands of doses came to Canada, and they are potentially effective.

In terms of the suite of treatments, vaccines and preventative measures, the full suite included antibody treatments. I wonder if the hon. member knows anything about what has become of that strategy.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have to say to my colleague that I miss her too, and this is a different format.

However, if I do not have enough time to answer the complete question, I will say that any strategy we put in place will always be led by science. I know that, at the Public Health Agency of Canada, Dr. Tam is doing a great job of leading this country, and I can only applaud her.

The contract questions we can discuss after the pandemic is over. Right now I do not think it is a smart strategy to expose all of the contracts that Canada has signed, knowing that the vaccine is a rare commodity around the world.

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

Madam Speaker, I want to mention that I will be sharing my time with the member for Foothills.

Today's debate has to do with vaccines and how hard it is to get vaccines, but I want to take this opportunity to say the following.

This evening, I heard many of my Liberal colleagues talk about a lack of co-operation on the part of the opposition parties, particularly the Conservative Party. I would like to remind everyone that, exactly one year ago today, when the virus first appeared, it was the Conservative Party that called for an emergency meeting of the Standing Committee on Health to talk about the virus. As the shadow minister for public safety, I personally attended the committee meeting to ask questions about what was happening with our borders. At that time, on January 30, 2020, I was told that the government was beginning to look into that. From the start, we have taken a collaborative approach.

What we found worrisome was that the government, the minister of health at the time and the Prime Minister were somewhat in denial. They said that this was not dangerous, that there was no need to worry and that Canadians did not need protection or masks. They said that the virus was not transmissible. From the start, the government was in denial, which worried us.

Then we realized that the easiest and fastest way to stop the virus in Canada was to control our borders, so that is what we called for. I said that the border was our first line of defence. The government did nothing. It said it was watching this closely and that border service officers were providing information to international arrivals. We said that much tougher measures were needed. Sometimes we were told that Canada is a big country and the territory is huge. I am trying to understand, but the fact is that there are three major international airports: Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. If we direct our flights to those airports, we are talking about three locations. Even though the country is 10 million square kilometres, we can still control three airports. That is no worse than a smaller country with the same number of airports.

What bothers us is the government's very weak and listless response. If we had worked together as team Canada, if the government had agreed that what the Conservatives were saying made sense and we could have agreed on how to respond, then we could have easily worked together.

It is easy to say that the opposition parties do not want to co-operate, but we are taking concrete action to try to work together. It is not working. At some point, we have to come to an agreement.

Over the past year, the key word, as far as I am concerned, has been “consistency”, and this applies at every level, whether we are talking about the border, vaccines or even economic programs like the CERB. When it comes to matters involving the government, “consistency” will be the key word for me in 2020 and early 2021.

We are doing what we can to help. Even when discussing the economic agenda, we brought forward solutions whenever we saw a problem. Just because we are an opposition party does not make us stupid. We are still experienced people. We already had lives before becoming MPs. We brought forward amendments, and they were rejected out of hand. Worse than that, they publicly said that the Conservatives do not want to help Canadians...

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

I am going to have to interrupt the member in order to see whether the interpretation is working properly.

The hon. member may continue since everything seems to be working.

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

As I was saying, Madam Speaker, since the start of the pandemic, we have been working to bring forward solutions and proposals in order to help, but instead the government dismissed them out of hand. Therefore, it is difficult for us to accept—

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

Order. I think there is a problem with the member's microphone, because the interpreter is having trouble understanding what he is saying. Apparently she has no problem hearing me from where I am speaking. I would ask the member to make sure he is on the right channel before we continue.

Everything appears to be working. The hon. member may continue.

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

Madam Speaker, I was talking about consistency and transparency.

The problem with the vaccines is that there is a lack of transparency. I have heard my Liberal colleagues say that they cannot disclose what is in the agreements. How do they explain that the Americans have disclosed this information? I have here eight pages of information from the U.S. Department of Health. These documents contain the agreements signed with assorted companies since March 2020. For example, the documents indicate that Pfizer was paid $1.9 billion and that the first 100 million doses must be given to American citizens and distributed directly by Pfizer. I have eight pages of similar kinds of information. Why can the Americans disclose the amounts paid and the quantity of vaccines in the contracts but we remain in the dark here in Canada?

I heard my Bloc Québécois colleagues talking about this earlier. This is what bothers us the most. If the government wants to take a team Canada approach, it needs to be transparent. Were party critics invited to a briefing? Were they asked to collaborate and were they given information? No. No one did that. It is quite insulting to be attacked like this.

I have heard members talking about the situation in New Zealand. They are wondering why there is no vaccination campaign happening there. It is important to understand that New Zealand is a shining example of border control, which explains why there are nearly no cases of COVID-19 there. It is therefore less urgent to vaccinate people. The borders are very well controlled, there are very few cases of COVID-19 and even the economy is doing well. The same is true in Australia. These countries do not have the same problem that we do.

As I was saying, the government's lack of transparency is a major problem.

Since we are talking about vaccines, the number one problem is the agreement that was signed in May 2020 with the Chinese Communist regime and CanSino Biologics. There was another article about that again this morning. Canadian patents, Canadian intellectual property, our knowledge, everything was transferred to CanSino Biologics. What did that company do? It left the containers of manufacturing equipment on the dock in China and then said to forget about Canada. We gave that company all of our information and knowledge and it said that it was not going to do anything for us. That is what slowed the Canadian government down. While other countries were moving forward with Pfizer, Moderna and other companies, we were lagging behind because the government put its trust in the Chinese Communist regime.

Madam Speaker, are you signalling to me that I have one minute left?

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

I will have to interrupt the member again because we are having problems with the sound. Since it seems that the interpreters can hear the hon. member better when my microphone is on, I will ask that my microphone remain on while the hon. member finishes his speech.

The hon. member.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

The first mistake was the agreement with CanSino, which the Chinese Communist regime did not honour. Canada fell behind after that. We have talked about this since the start, but every time we reminded the government that we are several weeks behind our international partners, they laughed at us instead of saying it was true and trying to work together. The Liberal government refused to collaborate every step of the way.

My time is almost up, and the sound is bad, so I will wrap up my speech. As the Conservative Party critic, formerly for public safety and now for procurement, I want to work with the government to help Canadians get through this as quickly as possible.

We all want to defeat this damned COVID-19 pandemic, which is taking a toll on the Canadian economy and Canadians' health. The only way to do that is with transparency and consistency. That is all we are asking. I am pretty sure that all my opposition colleagues agree with me.

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

Madam Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's speech. We often work on the same files, including issues related to public safety and borders. We are interested in the same issues. I agree completely that there is a lack of transparency, a lack of consistency and, I would even add, a lack of leadership in how the vaccine supply is being managed. I am sure he will agree with me.

I doubt the Prime Minister is accustomed to calling up pharmaceutical companies when problems arise. Having to come up with solutions to the delays we are experiencing today seems to be new to him.

Why is it that countries like the United States can share the details of the contracts signed between the governments and the pharmaceutical companies? Why do we not have access to those details? This government lacks transparency. I would like to hear my colleague's opinion on that.

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

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.

As I mentioned in my speech, we can see a list of all the agreements the U.S. government has signed with the various companies. It is quite clear. We can really see everything that is planned and understand why 6% of the American population has already been vaccinated. Quebeckers can get vaccinated in Florida because the United States was able to get its act together.

On our side, we have only half the information. The Prime Minister comes out of his cottage to say things that are not clear. It is never clear. Consistency and transparency are the key words here.

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Madam Speaker, the member opposite is critical of our government for not closing the border soon enough. I point out that the international health regulations, which we are bound by as members of the WHO, require our government to take the least restrictive measures for travel and trade. I believe these regulations and measures were partly put in place in response to the criticism of the Conservative government during the SARS pandemic. It was very critical of the WHO for imposing travel restrictions then, so it was the Conservative government that had a hand in creating this rule under the IHR.

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

Madam Speaker, I understand the meaning of my colleague's question. At the same time, it should be noted that a report was drafted, and my former colleague, Tony Clement, gave us some advice on it. We can criticize every year, every criticism, but at some point we just want to get out of this. The advice we were given at the start was to screen passengers at the airport. That was the foundation. When we get meaningless answers, it is hard to stay calm.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Madam Speaker, I am hearing from a large number of people in central Alberta about how damaging the economic effects of a lasting lockdown is on their businesses, their livelihoods and their mental health. I wonder if my colleague could elaborate on why it is so important that we have a plan to get our Canadian population vaccinated so that we can get back to business as usual and back to our lives. Is my colleague hearing the same thing?

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

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.

It is clear today, one year in, that we have no intention of going on like this. At the same time, we realize that from a public health perspective, we have no choice. In Quebec, there is a curfew starting at 8 p.m. People are in lockdown. We have to stop the virus from spreading.

The only way to get out of this is to get a vaccine as quickly as possible. As soon as the population is vaccinated, we can get out of this. The end of September 2021 is a very long time from now. It is nine months away. That is why it is vital to pick up the pace.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise to speak in this emergency debate to try to address some of the issues that I know many of my constituents are concerned about. The goal of what we are trying to achieve with this debate on vaccines, vaccine distribution and procurement, is answer some questions that many Canadians have. I know I am not the only member of Parliament here who has had numerous calls of frustration, anxiety, depression and mistrust from constituents. They just do not know who to believe anymore.

If I may, I would like to back up a bit to where we started with this, and the mixed messages and inconsistencies from the very beginning from the Liberal government when it came to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Liberals dismantled Canada's early warning system which would have allowed us to learn much more about this pandemic than we did before. We had members of our military warning the Liberal government about the impending impacts of the COVID pandemic and the Liberals ignored that. They were flip-flopping on travel restrictions. At first they said that wearing masks was not important, was not necessary and did not help. Now we have a very different message.

The Liberals even talked about accessing rapid and home-based testing. They compared rapid testing to selling snake oil to Canadians, when at the same time our allies, our partners and western democracies around the world were accessing technology like home-based and rapid testing to keep their businesses open, keep their schools open, keep their front-line health care workers safe and allow their constituents to travel. That is where we started, how we got here and why we are so adamant to learn more about the vaccines and where we are.

That came to a head when we saw that no vaccines are being delivered right now, zero. I saw a map on the Health Canada website that said our vaccination distribution process is well under way. In many jurisdictions around Canada, it is about 1% of Canadians who have been vaccinated. We can compare that to the United States where it is well over 5%.

I have constituents who have family in Texas and Oklahoma who have said their families will be vaccinated by this spring and many of us may not have that first dose until next September. That shows us the very stark difference between what is happening in Canada and what is happening in other parts of the world, why we are so far behind and why, as Conservatives, as members of Parliament and elected officials, we are so concerned with this information and certainly, in many cases, this lack of information.

We have come full circle on the vaccines. I spoke about some of the numbers we have right now, but I am going to talk about why I question why we are here and where we could have been if the Liberal government was not discriminating, and I do not know another better way to say that, against a made-in-Canada solution. Canadian vaccines could have been developed and manufactured here in Canada.

The Liberal government originally started with an agreement with CanSino, a Canada-Chinese partnership to develop and manufacture the vaccine. The Liberal government poured literally millions of dollars into that partnership at the beginning. I would question after everything we have been through with the Chinese Communist Party why we would have ever put our trust in a partnership with the Chinese government. Why would that have been the one solution that the Liberal government looked at?

Not surprisingly, that partnership fell apart in the spring and early summer. As a result, the Liberal government had to scramble to find what other solutions were out there. Unfortunately, we do not know what agreements it signed. We do not know the details of what it relinquished or what we gave up. Did we give up the licences to manufacture the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines here in Canada? What I find the most frustrating is we did not have to go through any of this. We could have had a made-in-Canada solution.

We saw today in the media Providence Therapeutics in Calgary began its first clinical trials of a Canadian vaccine earlier this month. What I found most frustrating is this. When I was watching the representatives from Providence Therapeutics on the news this afternoon I was angry. They said they approached the Liberal government in March with a vaccine based on the same technology being used by Pfizer and AstraZeneca and were ready to begin trials and hopefully production. There was silence from the Liberal government. Now they have gone public with the position they were put in.

Brad Sorenson, the CEO, said today, “We have a Canada solution. We've sourced it. We've followed the rules. We've done what we were supposed to do and we're not getting any engagement from the government.” The company even offered to transfer its production and studies to the Montreal facility the Liberal government had initially funded to increase capacity to manufacture another vaccine. However, it received radio silence from the Liberal government. Meanwhile, we have a Canadian technology that could have been in clinical trials and maybe even production.

Another example is Solstar Pharma out of Laval, Quebec. It approached many members of Parliament, including Liberal members of Parliament, last March. I have the emails that were sent back and forth to the Minister of Health and the Minister of Public Services and Procurement. It has a very unique antiviral technology and was asking for help from the Canadian government. Again, there was no response, just silence. It is frustrating as it wanted a made-in-Canada solution.

This antiviral technology requires no special storage. It is a powder that is inhaled. Unlike the vaccine, it attacks the virus in the body and kills it. Although the vaccine is important, it does not stop people from being infected or the spread of the virus. The antiviral on the other hand kills the virus in one's body. Again, it is a Canadian solution.

I spoke to the CEO of the company today. He said if it had the support of the Canadian government last spring it would be in clinical trials now and ready to begin production. As it did not get any support or even a response from the Liberal government, out of utter frustration it applied to Operation Warp Speed in the United States. It immediately received a response. It is now being fully funded and is working with Pfizer and research companies in San Diego.

Here again was a Canadian solution and the company received no response from the Canadian government and had to go elsewhere. It is incredibly frustrating when a Canadian company like Solstar Pharma, born and raised in Laval, Quebec, receives no response from the Canadian government.

That makes two. We could have had a vaccine and an antiviral on hand right now if they had received a response.

We also have the ClearMe rapid testing technology out of Calgary. It is 98% accurate and was approved for use in the United States and the United Kingdom last spring. It is still waiting for support, an answer and an approval from Health Canada and the Liberal government.

Why is there discrimination against Canadian companies that have a Canadian solution and want to be there? Unfortunately, it seems like the Liberal government is treating this like a Seinfeld sketch.

Anybody can order a vaccine, but the most important thing is actually having a vaccine that one can distribute and deliver to Canadians. This is not a joke; this is very serious. Imagine where we would be today if we had an antiviral, a vaccine and rapid testing made and manufactured in Canada. Where would our economy be? Where would the mental health of Canadians be? Would we be relying on global supply chains? The EU may block the distribution of vaccines. Can we really rely on a vaccine manufactured in New Jersey that people in New Brunswick are going to get before people in New York? That is what we are facing.

I want to offer a solution as I conclude. It is not too late. These Canadian companies still want to work with Canadian organizations. The Ontario and Quebec governments have reached out to Solstar to offer help with its lab testing at Western University. The Liberal government needs to reach out to these Canadian companies that are ready to go and expedite their approval processes and clinical trials. It needs to be there to support the Canadian companies that desperately want to be part of a Canadian solution so we can get our economy back up and running and Canadians back to work.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Foothills who, truthfully, I am noticing today for the first time in the House. I believe that his speech, together with that of my colleague from Beauport—Limoilou, was the most inspiring, pertinent and constructive speech in this evening's debate.

My question is simple. He mentioned several examples of vaccine production in Canada. In the Liberal government's strategy that he observed, at what point did vaccine production in Canada fail? Why is the solution not to produce Quebec or Canadian vaccines in Canada, and how can we fix this quickly?

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Madam Speaker, unfortunately, when we have this system we do not get to see each other all that often, and that is too bad because I am sure we could be friends down the road.

I agree with the member. This is incredibly frustrating, and I cannot even articulate how angry I was watching Mr. Sorenson on the news this afternoon talking about Providence Therapeutics and what it could have been doing in offering a Canadian vaccine manufactured here in Canada.

It is obvious that we have the capacity and the technology. What we are lacking is the participation of a Liberal government, which, for some reason, put all of its eggs in the Chinese Communist government basket. For the life of me, I cannot understand why the Liberals would put the health of Canadians at risk when they could have solved this months ago.