Debates of Jan. 26th, 2021

COVID-19 Vaccine

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question, which shows that he is a caring and generous person.

People are growing increasingly anxious because they are not getting any news or information. People want to get back to work, see their families, have fun, go out for drinks, play pool and go outside to talk to others without worrying about getting sick or getting their family sick. Knowing what is happening with the vaccine would make all that possible.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Vancouver Kingsway.

I want to begin by talking about the impact of COVID-19 in Canada. To this point, over 19,000 Canadians have lost their lives. Families are grieving their loved ones. We have seen losses on the front lines among front-line health care workers. We have seen loved ones lose their lives.

Seniors have been the most impacted, though. Long-term care centres, which have already been in crisis, have been devastated by COVID-19. What is happening in long-term care right now is being described by over 200 doctors in Ontario as a humanitarian crisis. To be clear, the crisis in long-term care existed before COVID-19, but COVID-19 has laid bare the crisis in a devastating way.

To compound this crisis, we have even worse news: delays in receiving vaccines, which are a part of the solution to protect those who are most vulnerable, including our seniors in long-term care. We see surging numbers around the country and variants that are even more likely to spread and even more contagious. Every day the vaccine is delayed, every day the rollout is delayed, more Canadians die. One physician, Dr. Dosani, noted there is one senior dying every hour in Canada. That is a staggering number.

Given how serious this is, it is clear the Liberal government's plan for procurement and rollout has been inadequate to meet the severity of the crisis. The rollout has been too slow and has not procured enough doses, and people are hurting as a result.

We know additional measures need to be taken in addition to procuring and delivering the vaccine, but I should make very clear that it is not enough to just procure the vaccine. Seniors who are vulnerable are safer only if they are actually vaccinated. We need to get the vaccines into people's arms.

In addition to the problems around procuring and delivering the vaccine, which is one major part of the solution, we also have to identify some of the key problems. One of the biggest problems right now in the COVID-19 pandemic, and the reason we need vaccines so badly, is the crisis in long-term care, specifically the crisis in for-profit long-term care. A recent report indicates that for-profit long-term care residences in Ontario have 78% more COVID-19 deaths than non-profit residences. The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that for-profit long-term care means more infection and more deaths among residents.

One of the points we laid out at the beginning, months ago, is that Canada lacked a clear plan, the Liberal government lacked a clear plan, and the outcome would be that we would not meet our goals. When we contrast that with other countries, we see there was a very clear plan in Australia, in the United Kingdom and even in America. They had a clear plan for procurement and delivery, and they are doing better than we are.

The Liberal government has certainly failed in having a plan that gets us to our goal. It is not enough to say there is a goal to vaccinate a certain number of people by a certain date unless there is a plan, a road map, to achieve that result.

What do we need right now? We need a clear plan with deadlines, timelines and specific details about vaccine procurement and delivery. We want the Liberal government to be clear and transparent with Canadians about when we will receive vaccines, who will get vaccinated and how quickly that will happen. We need details month by month. We need to know the plan for the next 100 days, and we specifically need to know the plan for the most vulnerable Canadians.

Today we are talking about vaccination and vaccines in general. This is an emergency debate because we are in a state of emergency. To date, COVID-19 has taken 19,000 lives in Canada. That is not just a number. Those 19,000 people were our loved ones, our seniors, our front-line workers. Families are mourning the loss of their loved ones.

Over 200 doctors and health experts in Ontario have called the long-term care situation a humanitarian crisis. Canadians are extremely concerned about the impact of the Pfizer vaccine delays on Canada's vaccination schedule. This interruption will further delay the vaccination of Canada's highest-risk populations even as the incidence of COVID-19 is rising and very contagious variants of the vaccine are spreading across the country.

Each day's delay in rolling out the COVID-19 vaccination plan will result in avoidable infections and deaths. When the Liberals announced that Canada would finally be getting the vaccine, people were relieved that this horror story would be coming to an end. Unfortunately, the Liberals are not deploying the vaccine fast enough. Canada seems to have fallen well behind other countries. As Canadians are being forced to wait, people are dying.

The number of cases in long-term care homes is rising, and families are losing their loved ones. A recent report revealed 79% more COVID-19 deaths at for-profit long-term care homes in Ontario than at not-for-profit homes. People are making huge sacrifices to keep their communities safe because they know that every day counts during this pandemic.

Other countries have implemented clear and concrete plans, and Canada's lack of such a plan has created this crisis and this situation. We call on the government to present a clear and detailed plan. When are we going to get the vaccine? Who will be vaccinated? What are the details for planning purposes? What is Canada's plan for the next 100 days?

This is essential. We know there are problems. We must act now. We can save lives, but we need a concrete plan to do so.

[Paul Manly, Green, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for outlining the situation in long-term care homes. It is abysmal what is happening in long-term care homes. I was talking about this issue before the pandemic, particularly the foreign ownership issue with Anbang Insurance buying up Retirement Concepts in British Columbia. We need to make sure that our seniors are not warehoused in profit centres. This issue has become about senicide, as our seniors are dying in horrible numbers.

Does the member think we should be using the Emergencies Act to force the provinces to change the way they are operating long-term care facilities, and make sure we are preventing deaths in these facilities?

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I think there are a couple of things we can do right away. I absolutely believe that we need to set some national standards. What are the best practices? What has worked in this pandemic, and what has not worked?

One of the things that is absolutely clear is that for-profit long-term care does not work. It results in more infection and more deaths. One starting point for the federal government, in addition to establishing national standards and norms, would be to start the process of removing profit from long-term care with Revera, which is owned by a federal agency. The federal government can immediately end the profit, move it to public and ensure we are saving lives.

We are calling of the federal government and on the Prime Minister to ensure that Revera, which is owned by a federal agency, is turned into a public service that is no longer private, so we save lives.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the leader of the NDP for his speech tonight. I also want to tell him that the member for Vancouver Kingsway has been a very hard worker on the health committee. That is just a little plug for him.

I wonder if the leader of the NDP can give some feedback on whether or not he thinks the government is doing an adequate job in procuring vaccines for the provinces, and what he thinks we could be doing better as a Parliament to light a fire under the federal government.

Provinces cannot distribute what they do not have. I was wondering if the member could comment on some potential solutions that the federal Liberals could undertake in order to overcome the fact that we have received zero doses of vaccines this week.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that is really at the heart of this debate. We are up against a crisis in which one of the solutions, the light at the end of the dark tunnel for a lot of Canadians, was the vaccine. The reality is that we are now at a point where there are not sufficient doses of vaccines. We have no vaccines coming this week, and this is the crisis we are up against. We absolutely need to emphasize to the Liberal government that any delay in procuring vaccines and vaccinating vulnerable people means more people will die.

What we have said from the beginning is that there has been a lack of a clear plan. Other countries had very detailed plans around procurement, and they were very transparent with their plans. This Liberal government has been very reticent to provide details and transparency. We need that now.

Canadians are urgently in need of answers to their questions. They want to know what the plan is. There needs to be a clear deadline and a timeline laid out with clear steps to achieving the goal of ensuring that everyone is vaccinated. That is what is lacking.

[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]

Mr. Speaker, I just want to quickly indicate that we have been very clear in terms of the plan. A part of that is to say that we will have six million vaccines by the end of March. When we take a look at Canada's population of just over 37 million, I think that is a fairly significant commitment.

I wonder if my friend could provide his thoughts in regards to ultimately being able to achieve that aspect of the plan, which is six million vaccines by the end of March. Is that a good thing, a bad thing? Does he think we could do better than that?

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the member raises exactly what the problem is. Having a goal that just describes the outcome at a certain point in time without a plan to achieve that outcome is exactly what we are missing. To say we will have six million doses by a certain date in March is not sufficient. We need to know what the plan is on a week-by-week basis.

How many doses do we need to receive on a weekly basis to achieve that goal? What is the plan to get to that point? How is that going to be delivered to people and the provinces? Ultimately, what is the plan to ensure vaccinations are happening? Without the details to get from here to there, it is not sufficient to just say there will be a certain amount by a certain date. We need the plan and the road map to actually achieve that goal.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I think I can safely speak for all parliamentarians when I say that none of us could have possibly envisioned how profound this colossal economic and health shock has been to our country. I do not think any of us ever anticipated having to deal with a global pandemic that would have such tectonic impacts on our society, families and communities across this country.

It is equally fair to say that the light at the end of the tunnel, as it has been referred to by some of my colleagues tonight, is the hope we can get—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

One moment, please. The member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue on a point of order.

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

Someone's microphone seems to be screeching loudly on the interpretation channel. Those participating online can hear it and so can we. I wonder if that can be fixed, as it is hard to follow the debate.

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

It is working now. We will continue.

The hon. member for Vancouver Kingsway, thank you for putting up with the technological glitches we sometimes have to face. Please proceed.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I began by saying that I think I speak for all parliamentarians when I say how surprised perhaps we were at having to deal with this completely unique situation, which has faced not only our country but also our globe. I think that none of us envisioned that we would be dealing in 2021 with the colossal dislocation in our communities, our economy, our families and our health care systems that we have been confronted with. I think I also speak for all parliamentarians when I say that the hope we all have to restore ourselves to some sense of normal, hopefully a better normal, is that we all get access to a quickly administered and broadly effective vaccine or treatment.

The proximate cause of this very important debate tonight is Canadians' concern about the impact that delayed shipments of the Pfizer vaccine will have on our country's vaccination schedule. Of course, this was generated by news last week from Major-General Dany Fortin, our military commander overseeing vaccine logistics for the federal government, who confirmed that Canada will receive only one-third of expected deliveries between January 18 and February 7.

This was the third time in two weeks that the federal government's delivery schedule was revised downward. Canada will not receive any COVID-19 vaccine doses this week at all, and will only receive 79,000 doses in the first week of February. That is one-fifth of what was once expected. Major-General Fortin has yet to confirm how many doses will arrive during the second week of February.

Despite previous assurances from the Liberal government that countries will be impacted equally by supply reductions, the European Union will in fact have a much shorter interruption in deliveries than Canada. However, even before this delay, Canada's vaccine rollout had fallen far behind that of our closest allies and trading partners. For example, last week the United States administered an average of 1.16 million doses per day, but as of today Canada has only administered a total of 863,000 doses overall. Now we hear that the Biden administration is aiming to provide vaccines to 1.5 million Americans per day. The Government of Canada, by contrast, has not even established a daily target.

The government claims that the current supply interruption is a temporary and isolated incident, due to a factory expansion at Pfizer's Belgium plant, but unfortunately other factors could further disrupt Canada's delivery schedule. Just today the European Commission announced a new plan to require companies to register any exports of COVID-19 vaccines out of the European Union.

The EU is also poised to impose export controls to preserve supply on that continent. That proposal would require drug companies to seek approval before shipping vaccines to countries outside the trading bloc. Given that Canada is entirely dependent on importing COVID-19 vaccines, we could very well find ourselves squeezed by this growing vaccine nationalism.

That is the specific context for the debate, but there is a broader context. The broader context is that the Prime Minister's talking points really amount to this: We have secured the biggest portfolio of vaccines in the world, and not to worry. The truth is that Canadians are not interested in how many vaccines we could get. They are interested in how many vaccines we will get.

Moreover, the federal government's response on the entire COVID file, in my view, has been slow, weak and inconsistent. It has been marked by a shocking lack of transparency, and that is now borne out in performance. Canada is now 16th in the world in terms of vaccinations per capita, and we still have no clear plan for vaccinations in this country.

That is why New Democrats are calling on the federal government to do a number of things to rectify the situation and fulfill the dreams and hopes Canadians have for returning their economy and health to a more normal state of affairs. First, we are calling on the federal government to establish a public drug manufacturer, so that Canada is never again dependent on foreign drug companies for vaccines and critical medications during a pandemic.

It is a well-known fact by now that the government failed to negotiate with a single one of the seven drug manufacturers the right to manufacture a COVID vaccine in Canada. Many other countries did, including Australia, India, China, Malaysia, Japan, etc., and yet we still cannot receive a single explanation from the government why it failed to do so in this country. Today we are seeing the results of that as we wait, receiving no doses of vaccines while we see vaccines produced in other countries by other companies.

In the immediate term, the federal government has an obligation to outline a detailed plan in case Canada's vaccine supply is further curtailed. This morning the Prime Minister claimed that he is very confident that Canada is going to receive all promised doses by the end of March 2021 and that our vaccine supply is in “good shape”. However, he provided no explanation for this confidence, and confidence is not a plan. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister's glib response typifies the federal government's opaque, confusing and often contradictory approach to communicating Canada's vaccine plan.

As I said, for months the federal government has been totally secretive about the terms of the deals it signed with drug manufacturers. It has failed to release a single word from a single contract of the seven contracts it has signed on behalf of Canadians. This is not only unfair to the taxpayers who are paying for these doses, but also, transparency is essential for maintaining the public's trust and confidence in Canada's vaccine strategy. Taxpayers also have a right to know how their money is being spent and the provinces and territories need clarity from the federal government to adjust their vaccination programs in response to supply shortages.

New Democrats are also calling on the federal government to reveal how many vaccine doses have actually been secured for each month until September 2021; confirm if Canada is actually guaranteed delivery of four million doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of March and what recourse is available to us if this deadline is missed; and provide full transparency on the terms and conditions of all vaccine supply agreements between the Government of Canada and drug manufacturers. Furthermore, the Prime Minister insists that Canadians do not need to worry about the current vaccine shortage because the government's goal of securing enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to immunize all Canadians by September remains feasible. However, this talking point obscures the grim reality that Canada's current supply disruption will have severe consequences for our most vulnerable citizens.

Indeed, Canada's vaccine shortages will further delay inoculation of the highest-risk populations, namely, seniors, long-term care residents, indigenous communities, teachers, first responders and front-line health care workers, at a time when COVID-19 cases are surging and highly contagious COVID-19 variants have reached our communities. Every day that the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is delayed will result in avoidable infections and deaths across Canada. That is not positive news.

The Public Health Agency of Canada's latest modelling projects that Canada is on track to hit 10,000 new daily cases by February. We remain on a rapid growth trajectory with widespread community transmission and increased outbreaks in long-term care facilities. Public health experts are also issuing dire warnings that dangerous COVID-19 mutations could undermine Canada's COVID-19 efforts.

Yesterday, epidemiologists from Simon Fraser University warned that a massive spike in COVID-19 cases could be coming to Canada if the U.K. variant becomes further established here. The researchers looked at the exponential growth of COVID-19 cases linked to new variants of concern and concluded that failure to prevent or contain these strains now will spell disaster for Canada as early as March. The authors do not expect to see much impact for about six weeks. However, if and when the spike comes, they expect it will come steeply, with a doubling time of one to two weeks in case numbers. This would represent a sharp increase from the doubling times of 30 to 40 days recently recorded in provinces like Ontario.

The U.K. variant is believed to have a substantial transmission advantage of a 40% to 80% increase in the reproduction number. A transmission rate increase of this magnitude is worse than a higher severity or mortality rate because so many more people can get infected.

In most of Canada, we have been able to control previous variants of COVID-19 with strong physical-distancing measures. However, we are being warned that a variant with a 40% or more increase in transmission rate would likely not be contained with the measures we have in place today. Therefore, instead of relying on the Prime Minister's ambiguous assurances and unfounded confidence, we must be willing to act decisively to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in Canada now.

The federal government must take immediate steps to prevent the introduction of new variants into Canada through stricter border controls, a ban on non-essential international travel, mandatory hotel quarantine like Australia and New Zealand have introduced, and improved detection.

The federal government must also take immediate steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within Canada through additional essential public health measures such as paid sick days, national standards for long-term care, frequent rapid—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

We will now go to questions and comments.

The hon. member for Winnipeg North.

[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]

Mr. Speaker, in listening to my colleague's comments, one of the things that stood out was his comment to the effect that the United States President is now saying 1.1 million people a day. He seemed to emphasize it as if that were a really good thing. If we look at that number, and please correct me if I am wrong, that would imply that sometime by the end of the year all Americans south of the border will have been afforded the opportunity to be vaccinated. We have made a commitment to Canadians through the process that we have established—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

I believe we have a point of order.

I am just going to interrupt the hon. member for Winnipeg North.

The hon. member for Shefford.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order, as we no longer have interpretation.

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

It seems there are some problems with the interpretation this evening.

Can we see if the translation is working?

It appears to be working now. The hon. member for Shefford can now hear the interpretation.

I will let the hon. member for Winnipeg North continue.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the essence of the point is that member made reference to the United States' 1.1 million people a day, and kind of hit home that particular point. That means that the Americans would have their population vaccinated sometime toward the end of the year.

Through our plan, we have made a commitment that every Canadian will have a safe, free vaccine made available to him and to her before the end of September. We have made the commitment that there will be six million vaccines by the end of March.

Would the member not agree that the way we present things can be somewhat deceiving and that the reality is that tangible numbers are being shared with Canadians and the provinces by this government.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, just to correct my hon. colleague on numbers, the United States was vaccinating 1.1 million Americans a day to last week, and they announced today that they are going to move that to 1.5 million Americans each day. If we compare that with Canada, it means that the Biden administration's commitment that it will vaccinate 100 million Americans in the first hundred days means that about a third of Americans will be vaccinated in three months.

We compare that with Canada where we are talking about six million doses in three months. That is about three million Canadians, which is eight per cent of the Canadian population. Therefore, we can see that the Americans will have one third of their population done within about the first three or four months, and we will at less than 10%.

The other thing about this is that the Biden administration is announcing a plan, not just a future goal with a commitment to vaccinate everybody, but an actual plan with numbers per day. I challenge my hon. colleague to tell Canadians how many Canadians are going to be vaccinated every day between now and the end of this year in this country.

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

Mr. Speaker, I really liked what my colleague said in framing this debate, namely that it is not the Prime Minister's vaccine. It is Canadians' vaccine, and they actually deserve to know when they are going to get it, under what terms, how much we paid for it and if we are actually going to get it at some point. That is information we have not received to date.

I am wondering if my colleague could expand on that comment and the fact that the federal government should not continue to be opaque with the information that we need to understand when we are going to be getting these vaccines, from which manufacturing company, under what circumstances, and if he could also expand on how this lack of information has stymied both Parliament's job in holding the government to account on this critical issue and also the provincial governments' ability to deliver vaccines in a timely manner.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, another question that is repeatedly asked of the government and that it utterly refuses to answer is why is it refusing to release a single line from any of the seven contracts it has negotiated on behalf of Canadians, and why will it not tell us why?

We all understand that there may be commercially sensitive information. There may be some technology secrets in the documents. There may be some confidential aspects that may interfere with the government's ability to negotiate. Surely there is information in those contracts that does not fall into those categories, and which Canadians have a right to know about. However, the government will not release a word.

What does that tell Canadians? How can that inspire confidence that the government really is backing up its rhetoric with reality? If someone goes to a lawyer and the lawyer tells them not to worry, that everything is taken care of, and they ask to see the paperwork but are told they cannot see it, that is not going to inspire confidence that the paperwork backs up the words spoken.

It is time the government trusted Canadians with the basic information in those contracts and assisted the provinces and territories with planning their vaccinations, because it is the provinces and territories that are responsible for rolling out the vaccination plans. They cannot do so if we do not know the basic details from the government, details it is so carefully and inexplicably hiding.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to share my time with my hon. friend and colleague from the national capital region, the member for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell. I am pleased to have the opportunity, at least metaphorically, to rise in the House and speak about vaccine delivery.

Canadians have been struggling through this pandemic for almost a year now. From the very beginning, we have had their health and their safety at the forefront.

That is also true in my riding, Gatineau, where people are patiently waiting, as are the people from Vancouver Island or Newfoundland and Labrador for whom this pandemic has been a challenge. That is what drives and motivates us every day to ensure that we can secure supplies, provide vaccines, the necessary material and equipment for all Canadians and get through this pandemic more quickly.

From day one of the pandemic, Public Services and Procurement and the team at the department have focused on one thing: ensuring the protection of all Canadians. I want to make a point about our current situation and assure Canadians by telling them that we are still on track to provide vaccines to all Canadians who want one.

From day one of the pandemic, we started buying hundreds of thousands of N95 respirators, gowns, surgical masks and any other personal protective equipment that front-line workers need to ensure the safety of Canadians. That is also why we started negotiating early with the manufacturers of vaccine candidates.

In fact, Canada was one of the first countries to sign agreements with Pfizer and Moderna, which are of course the only two currently approved vaccines in Canada. This we did back in early August. We knew that having a diverse portfolio of vaccines with strong delivery schedules and options to increase our orders would ensure that we would have enough vaccines for every Canadian who wanted one as early as possible.

I can assure Canadians that we are on track to vaccinate every Canadian who wants to be vaccinated by the end of September 2021. Through our sound negotiations with these companies, we prepared for every eventuality, in the event of delays in vaccine delivery and in the global supply chain. We are prepared for this situation and we believe that we will still be able to meet our target by the end of September.

We understand that Canadians are urgently awaiting vaccines. They certainly are in my riding, and I know that all members share in that urgency from their constituents. Whether they are people in long-term care homes, front-line workers, grocery workers or drivers, everyone is anxious and wants access to a vaccine quickly. That, of course, motivates and animates us every day. Let me reassure all of those people through their members of Parliament that we are still on track.

Allow me to provide an explanation of the delays that we are seeing with the Pfizer vaccine this week. Pfizer is retooling its distribution at the moment. While this is temporary, it means that the vaccines that we were meant to receive this week will be coming a little later, but let me be clear: We are not losing any doses, not a single one, as part of this retooling. We are still in position to have at least three million people vaccinated by the end of March.

I remind members that we were one of the first countries to approve a vaccine and start distributing it across the country. To date, we have distributed 1.1 million vaccines, which puts us among the top five G20 countries in terms of COVID-19 vaccinations.

As we have been saying, we will continue to receive deliveries of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the coming weeks, and three million people will be vaccinated across the country by the end of March. By the end of June, 13 million people will be vaccinated, and by the end of September, we will be able to vaccinate 36 million Canadians with our orders from these two manufacturers alone.

That is with Pfizer and Moderna alone. Because of our strong agreements with these candidates, we have ensured that we will be able to vaccinate all Canadians who wish to receive a vaccination with just these two vaccines. We have agreements with five other candidates, two of which are currently in rolling reviews with Health Canada. With these contracts, we will far exceed the number of doses that we need to vaccinate all Canadians.

With the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada, we have also ensured that the logistics of distribution to provinces are strong and secure. To ensure that vaccines will be delivered effectively, we entered into contracts with FedEx and Innomar Strategies to provide vaccine logistics.

We have also ensured that we have enough freezers to keep the vaccines stable so that they are ready for use. Furthermore, we have bought syringes, needles, gauze, bandages, sharps containers and all other supplies needed to administer the vaccines. All of these supplies will be provided to the provinces and territories at no cost. We have kept Canadians informed throughout the process so that they can see we are making informed decisions in their best interests. This has been our approach all along.

We started strong by procuring the PPE and medical equipment front-line workers needed. When the global market was incredibly volatile and demand was high, we were still able to begin acquiring and delivering much-needed PPE in a matter of weeks. We took the same approach with vaccines, and we are seeing the benefits of the strong agreements we made unfold now.

Despite our assurances in the House and to the public, sadly the opposition is once again trying to say that this government has somehow missed the mark. Nothing could be further from the truth. I understand that opposition members have the right, the privilege and sometimes the need to raise issues, but one thing that I think we can all agree on is that Canadians require the clarity needed and the assurance that their government is there for them and will provide the vaccinations that we need to get through this pandemic.

The opposition's rhetoric last fall was nothing but hot air. A few days later, we announced that the first vaccines had been approved and that distribution was set to begin.

The Conservative Party tried to instill fear and panic in Canadians by implying that vaccines would not be received until 2030. We know how ridiculous that claim was. How can Canadians be expected to entrust them with their confidence now? It is irresponsible to continue to sow doubt and fear despite clear evidence that we are on track to receive enough vaccines this quarter, the next quarter and throughout this year.

While the Conservatives continue to be partisan and attempt to gain traction with fear tactics, we will continue to work hard for Canadians and to prove that we have their fundamental interests at heart.

With regard to claims that we are far down the list of countries for supplies of vaccines, I want to say that we continue to be in a good position among the G20 countries. In fact, Canada began receiving vaccines in December, well before a number of countries. Countries such as Japan, New Zealand, Australia and South Korea have not yet started vaccinating their citizens.

In response to the claim that we should have seen production delays coming and done something about it, I would like to clarify that we did anticipate that there would be delays in delivery schedules. It is a high-tension, high-pressure race to vaccinate citizens across the world in every country. We anticipated the pressures on this system, and that is why we planned carefully, had a diversified strategy of procurement for vaccination and ensured that any delays would be minor. That is why we are still on track for deliveries in this quarter.

As usual, the opposition's rhetoric holds no water. Once again the members are making bold, unsubstantiated claims, and once again we are proving that this government is there to deliver for Canadians.

As we have demonstrated on multiple occasions, our government puts Canadians' interests first when making any decision. We know that vaccine distribution will be a decisive and complex element of our COVID-19 response. We want to ensure that we are ready to face any situation and that Canadians will be able to receive a vaccine as soon as possible.

That is exactly what we did. The Minister of Public Services and Procurement and our team negotiated solid contracts with seven suppliers of vaccine candidates, an unprecedented number of contracts, to ensure that we will have enough vaccines for every Canadian who wants one.

We have created a strong logistics plan so that as soon as these vaccines are delivered to Canada, they can be distributed to each province and territory as quickly as possible. At every turn, we have done our best to protect Canadians, and that certainly will not stop now.

We will continue to stay focused and to work hard until every Canadian who wants a vaccine can get one. While the opposition and the Conservatives continue their partisan games, we will focus on Canadians and do everything we can to ensure their safety and good health.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the Liberal member, and he kept talking about the government being on track with vaccines. I wonder what he says to someone who has a parent in a seniors care home whom they cannot see. I wonder what he says to someone who has had a grandchild born in the last little while but has never been able to meet that grandchild. I wonder what he says to someone who is hoping to have their wedding and begin their lives together, but has had to put it on hold and wait, or to people who have lost a loved one and cannot hold a memorial service.

I wonder what he says to all those people. I wonder what he says to people who are struggling with their mental health because of the lockdowns that they are facing. What does he say to those people? Does that sound like “on track” to him? It certainly does not sound like on track to me, and I know it certainly does not sound like being on track to a whole lot of Canadians who are waiting for a vaccine while the government is falling behind. What does he say to those people when he says they are “on track”?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Madam Speaker, what I say to all of those people, all of whom fit profiles of people in my riding, and I presume in the hon. member's riding and in every riding in the country, is that their stories motivate us, they animate us, they get us out of bed in the morning and they make sure that we do everything we can to deliver every single possible dose of vaccine to Canadians in the shortest possible time. That is what we are doing every day. That is why we have signed such an aggressive number and diverse number of contracts with vaccine manufacturers. We have been very fortunate that two of the seven we have signed are already approved and deployed, a miracle of science, and we have also achieved agreements with two that are in rolling reviews. These are proving to have been very wise decisions.

I say to the young couple looking to get married or the mother looking to visit her grandmother in a long-term care home that their country is steadfast and four-square behind them and looking to get vaccines into their arms, their mothers' arms and their grandmothers' arms at the earliest possible moment.