Debates of Feb. 16th, 2021

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Gary Kobinger, of Université Laval's Infectious Disease Research Centre, developed a viable vaccine that had potential and was tested on animals.

He asked the Canadian government for $2 million and received nothing. That is one more example, on top of the delays experienced by Medicago, and the fact that Quebec's colleges and universities also have research centres, that shows we did not do what could and should have been done in Quebec for research.

Did the Prime Minister intentionally exclude Quebec until it was too late?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am quite disappointed by my hon. colleague's suggestion that politics played a part in this.

We have been clear from the very beginning that we would listen to the recommendations from experts and scientists about our vaccination plan. We did everything we could to invest in science and in solutions. We listened to our experts and their recommendations for local investments and for vaccines. We worked with them to ensure that everyone, around the world, would get vaccinated.

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

Mr. Speaker, we have too much faith in science to believe that his experts recommended excluding Quebec.

We do not know how much we are paying for the vaccines in the contracts the Prime Minister signed. We do not know when these vaccines will be delivered. We do not know whether these vaccines will be delivered. He talked about his 400-million-dose insurance policy. He bought so many vaccines without guarantees, in the hopes that we would eventually have enough.

Now that the provinces may be blocked from purchasing vaccines themselves, is it time for the Prime Minister to release the full, unredacted contracts?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I know that, in a previous life, my hon. colleague frequently worked with contracts, so he knows very well that many commercial contracts include confidentiality requirements.

We have been transparent with Canadians about the contracts we have signed. We have been transparent about our targets. We are being transparent about deliveries, including this week's delivery of over 400,000 Pfizer doses.

We will continue to demonstrate that our plan is working. We will vaccinate over three million Canadians by the end of March and all Canadians by September.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the longer the vaccination delays go on, the more people will get sick and the more people will die.

The Liberal government has failed to vaccinate the people of Canada. The Prime Minister must show leadership.

Will the Prime Minister do whatever it takes to get people vaccinated as quickly as possible?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, yes, that is what we have been doing from the beginning.

We are mobilizing all the necessary resources to vaccinate as many Canadians as possible as quickly as possible. That is why I am so relieved to say that we are on track to meet our targets for the end of March, namely six million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. We will receive tens of millions of doses in the spring, and everyone who wants to be vaccinated will be by the end of September.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister needs to stop hiding behind jurisdictional excuses and do everything necessary to vaccinate everyone. We live in a country of nearly 38 million people. To vaccinate everyone is going to take a colossal effort.

Will the Prime Minister start showing leadership by committing today that the federal government will fund federal vaccination sites across this country to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the NDP, apparently, we understand Canada's Constitution and respect provincial responsibilities on health care delivery.

We have worked hand in hand with the provinces from the very beginning to deliver vaccines for Canadians. We are moving forward on supporting them as they vaccinate and as we brace for the big lift, the moment at which tens of millions of vaccines will be arriving in Canada. We are going to need to work very quickly to vaccinate everyone.

We will be there for Canadians, as we have been from the beginning.

The Economy

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, business investment is the lifeblood of the Canadian economy, yet under the Prime Minister, investment in factories, machinery and new technologies has declined dramatically.

The Financial Post reports that the Prime Minister has presided over the worst business growth of the past five prime ministers. Today, domestic and foreign investment is at an all-time low.

Does the Prime Minister recognize that our country has a serious competitiveness problem?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me start by congratulating the hon. member for Abbotsford on his recent appointment as his party's critic for finance. He and I worked together in our previous roles in trade, and I look forward to working with him in this new role.

Let me take this opportunity to encourage the hon. member and all members of his party to end their delaying tactics on Bill C-14, to wrap debate at this stage and to move this legislation, which is really important in our fight against COVID, to the finance committee so it can do its work.

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

Before going to the next question, I want to remind all members who are coming in virtually that having the microphone right in front makes it difficult for the interpreters because there is a popping sound. For everyone's enjoyment and for the health of the interpreters, just lower it a touch, about an inch below the mouth or above, and we will not get the popping sound.

The hon. member for Abbotsford.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister really does not have to ask me. A chorus of business leaders have sounded the alarm. Former Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge has said that under this Prime Minister Canada has doing “things to shoot ourselves in the foot.” There's no jobs plan. There's no plan for small businesses and now no plan to salvage Canada's reputation as a great place to invest.

Does the Prime Minister not recognize that his failed policies are chasing away jobs and investment?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me apologize to the translators for that popping sound.

I am grateful for the question because it gives me the opportunity to highlight the report that the IMF released today on Canada's economy. The IMF forecast that our economy will grow by 4.4% this year and found that Canada “took strong and well-coordinated policy actions at the onset of the pandemic that provided crucial support to the economy and the functioning of financial markets, and helped protect lives and livelihoods.” I could not agree more.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians want to work.

Unfortunately, last month was a bad one for Canadian workers, because 213,000 of them lost their jobs. We are talking about more than just numbers. We are talking about fathers who had to come home and tell their families that they no longer had a job. We are also talking about mothers and about young people who had just entered the labour market and who had to come home and say that, unfortunately, it was a false start. That is the reality of unemployment.

Meanwhile, the government is dragging its feet when it comes to vaccinations and jobs. What is the government's plan for getting Canadians back to work?

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to highlight the very positive report we received today from the IMF, which says Canada's economy will grow by 4.4% this year.

With respect to Canadian workers, I agree with my hon. colleague that we have to support them, and we can do that by voting in favour of Bill C-14. We must do so because we need this legislation and this help.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister of Finance used to be the foreign affairs minister, so she should know that Canada is bringing up the rear compared to the rest of the world.

At nearly 10%, we have the highest unemployment rate of all G7 countries. That is a fact. We are well behind England, whose unemployment rate is barely 5%, and the United States at 6%. Despite that, the minister says that things are going well and that the OECD said things would be fine. Canadians want concrete action. What is the government's plan for getting Canadians back to work?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to clarify for my hon. colleague that I quoted the International Monetary Fund, a global organization that had really positive things to say about the actions taken by our government.

Regarding the unemployment rate, I would remind the member that 71% of the jobs lost in Canada during the crisis have already been recovered. We have performed much better in that regard than our partner, the United States, for example.

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, the Biden administration's buy American policies are set to disrupt supply chains between Canada and the United States. The government needs to go to the table now with the United States to prevent supply-chain disruptions that would put our businesses at risk. We need to protect jobs that rely on them in cities like Mississauga and Windsor. Many sectors will be affected by these buy American policies. What is the government doing to secure Canadian jobs?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the member and Canadians that our government will always stand up for Canadian businesses and our workers. Canada and the United States have agreed to consult closely to avoid any measures that could constrain bilateral trade and economic growth between our two countries.

I want to remind the member that Canada is the largest exporter to the U.S., buying more from the U.S. than China, Japan and the U.K. combined. Canada is its number one customer in more than 32 states. We are going to take a team Canada approach to ensure that Canadian interests and Canadian jobs are absolutely top priority.

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

Mr. Speaker buy American policies have not come out of left field. They were part of the Biden administration's election platform. The fact is that the language in these policies is much stronger than anything we have ever seen before coming from the United States. Manufacturers have already warned that this could result in their having to move south and take their business there. There are jobs at risk.

Canadian jobs will be affected by these buy American policies. What is the plan?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Mr. Speaker, to Canadian business and workers, I want them to know that our government is actively engaging with our American counterparts at all levels and that we are always going to stand up for the best interests of Canadians. The Prime Minister raised this in his discussion with President Biden and also spoke with Vice-President Harris about strengthening this trade relationship for the benefit of both countries and to avoid any unintended consequences of the buy American policies.

We are always going to take a team Canada approach, working with Canadian businesses, our exporters, our manufacturers and industries, just as we have done the last five years, and we are going to keep doing this in the interest of Canadian jobs.

Health

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are falling further and further behind. Canada now ranks 52nd in the world when it comes to vaccination rollout. We learned this morning that instead of waiting for foreign companies, we could have been vaccinated with doses from Quebec. That is right. World-renowned experts at Laval University created a vaccine that seemed to be effective, right from the start of the pandemic. Testing was in its final stage. The government told them it was not interested and refused to fund the $2 million required. That is unbelievable.

Why did the government turn its back on Quebec science?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his question. Let me set the record straight: On March 11, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic; on March 23, 12 days later, we announced $192 million to support the biomanufacturing sector; on April 23, we announced an additional $600 million. Approximately one month after the pandemic was declared, we were investing more than $800 million to support biomanufacturing in Canada, including Quebec companies such as Medicago, in which we invested more than $170 million to provide vaccines to Canadians in the future.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let me set the record straight: They invested $800 million, but they could not provide $2 million for such an innovative project.

The United Kingdom also did not have massive production capacity. They did not throw in the towel, they did not say it was too difficult. They rolled up their sleeves, had confidence in their people and increased production capacity. The result is that, today, they are rolling out a large-scale vaccination program while Canada is waiting for its turn. Quebec researchers wanted just $2 million out of the $800 million. How could the government have missed out on such an opportunity? It is pathetic.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question.

I have a great deal of respect for Quebec researchers and for the lab in question because I have visited it before. To set the record straight, we did not invest $2 million in Medicago; we invested $173 million. We also invested in Biodextris in Laval, Glycovax Pharma in Montreal, JN Nova Pharma in Montreal and Laurent Pharmaceuticals in Montreal.

We made critical investments for the industry and we will continue to invest in the research and development and the marketing of vaccines in Canada.