Debates of Feb. 17th, 2021

Health

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, from the very beginning we valued the work of scientific and industry experts who were volunteering their time to ensure sound, evidence-based decisions during the pandemic on the vaccine task force, which has a robust conflict of interest process in place and goes above and beyond the practices of other volunteer external advisory bodies.

We have moved forward on procuring vaccines for Canadians. In the coming weeks, we will be receiving millions of vaccines. We are going to hit our March deadlines, and all Canadians will be vaccinated by September.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has the expertise to manufacture vaccines. That is a fact. Unfortunately, the Liberal government ignored Quebec businesses like Solstar Pharma, choosing instead to partner with a Chinese state-owned company.

Why did the government abandon Canadian businesses and embrace Chinese state-owned firms?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, from the outset, we have relied on experts who have given us recommendations on investments we could make here in Canada to advance the biopharmaceutical industry.

We invested up to $173 million in Medicago in Quebec City and $4 million in Glycovax Pharma in Montreal. We invested in VIDO-InterVac in Saskatchewan, AbCellera Biologics in Vancouver, Variation Biotechnologies here in Ottawa, Precision Nanosystems, and ImmunoVaccine Technologies in Dartmouth, to name only a few.

We are here to invest in domestic production.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps promising us that there will be many vaccine deliveries in March and many more before September.

That is all well and good, but can the Prime Minister tell us how many Canadians will be vaccinated next week?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to report that this week, we will receive more than 400,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and they are arriving in the provinces and territories as we speak.

We know there are still minor delays in vaccine delivery, but we have seen that of the 1.2 million vaccines we have delivered, the provinces and territories have managed to get almost 90% into Canadians' arms. We will continue to work to get those millions of vaccines into Canadians' arms.

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

Mr. Speaker, since the feds refused, Quebec is going to step in with funding for Université Laval's Infectious Disease Research Centre, which has laid the foundation for a vaccine that could save lives. The federal government would rather hand hundreds of millions of dollars over to multinational pharmaceutical companies. The Prime Minister is hiding behind a panel of experts and scientists who have advised him on his decisions.

I would like the Prime Minister to share with the House what his panel told him that led him to shut out the vaccine developed by an international expert at Université Laval.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to correct my hon. colleague and point out that, in February, Dr. Kobinger did in fact receive a $1-million federal grant for his research from the COVID-19 rapid research funding opportunity.

We will always invest in promising Canadian solutions that will help combat COVID-19. We have been there to invest in scientists across the country for the past five years, and we have been there for them since the beginning of this pandemic.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister needs to stop taking people for fools.

Dr. Kobinger asked for $2 million to develop the vaccine and was told no. The Prime Minister is refusing to tell Quebeckers what he heard from a panel that made him decide to shut out Université Laval, a decision with consequences for people's health, safety and even their lives. He is refusing to release his contracts with multinational pharmaceutical corporations for vaccine delivery. We all know that has been a colossal failure.

Why is the Prime Minister behaving like a monarch who is accountable to nobody and who makes decisions all by himself and in secret?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I can hear the Bloc Québécois leader's frustration at seeing a federal government investing in Quebeckers and Canadians, being there for people as we have been from the start, being there to support Quebec families, Quebec workers and Quebec scientists and researchers.

We will be there for all Canadians, as we have been since the start, investing in promising science and supporting families.

I really think the Bloc Québécois leader should refrain from calling people fools just because he is so frustrated that we have kept our promises to Quebeckers.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the new COVID-19 variants spread more quickly and pose a greater threat. People are worried. This is not the time to hold an election.

Will the Prime Minister commit today that he will not call an election during the pandemic, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, since the start of the pandemic, our priority in the House, and in the government's work, has been to help Canadians and pass legislation to support families, seniors and youth. That is what we have been doing in partnership with many members on all sides of the House.

The reality is that we are now seeing delays caused by the Conservative Party with respect to measures that I know that Conservatives want Canadians to accept. We will keep doing our best to work with opposition members to deliver for Canadians for as long as we can.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister told his party to get ready for a spring election. All the while, the new variants of COVID-19 are spreading like wildfire. We have seen the effects of the new variant in Newfoundland and Labrador, where people are getting sick and are afraid to vote, and it has meant they have had to delay the election.

I have committed that I will not trigger an election while we are fighting this pandemic. Will the Prime Minister commit today in this chamber that he will not call an election while we are fighting this pandemic, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we know well that in a minority Parliament the government does not have the sole power to decide when we go into an election. The opposition members have a role to play not only in providing confidence for the House, but also by being able to function appropriately to deliver the help to Canadians that Canadians so seriously need.

We will continue to stay focused on delivering for Canadians and delivering vaccines, with over six million vaccines by the end of March, tens of millions of vaccines into the spring and every Canadian vaccinated by September. That is our focus. That is what we will stay concentrated on.

Employment

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, 834,100 is the number of paycheques that are missing in Canada. It is the number of families sitting teary-eyed around the kitchen table trying to figure out how they are going to fund their future.

While the Deputy Prime Minister is congratulating the Conservatives for supporting income programs for those same families, those families need jobs back in order to secure their future.

With our unemployment a third higher than the G7 average, when will those families have their paycheques back?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, from the beginning of this pandemic we made a simple and straightforward promise to Canadians that we would have their backs regardless of how long it took, regardless of what it took. That is why we delivered the CERB to eight million Canadians, even while Conservative politicians, like the member for Carleton, were saying we were doing too much too fast, we should not be helping workers and we have to help businesses faster than workers.

Sorry, but we were there for Canadians and we continue to be there for Canadians. We know the best way to get the economy to come roaring back is to create opportunities for Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what the Prime Minister has just said is false. In fact, his Deputy Prime Minister thanked the Conservatives for supporting that assistance.

It just shows how out of touch he is that he thinks families can go on living forever off a measly $2,000 cheque from the government. They do not have multi-million dollar trust funds like he does. They want jobs like workers in other countries, where unemployment is significantly lower than it is here.

Why is it that workers abroad get paycheques while ours here at home just get credit card debts?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, among others, the IMF has recognized that Canada's approach to supporting workers, supporting businesses and supporting communities through this pandemic has left us better positioned to come roaring back once this pandemic is over. We had to do the things that were necessary to protect Canadians during this pandemic, and as a government we were there to support those families.

We are all looking forward to getting back to work right across the country, but the fact is that we need to continue to be there to support them while we get through this pandemic. This government will continue to do so regardless of what the Conservatives say.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what the IMF actually did is cut Canada's growth projection for this year by a third, not to mention that we are falling behind the rest of the world on jobs. In fact, the G7 average is 6%; the U.S., 6.3%; the EU, 7.5%; and Canada, 9.4%. They also have COVID, but they are getting their jobs back.

Is it not clear that for Canadians to regain their jobs the Prime Minister will have to lose his?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this crisis demanded targeted, time-limited support to keep people and businesses afloat and that is exactly what this government chose to do.

The IMF report indeed found that Canada's strong and decisive actions at the onset of the pandemic “provided crucial support to the economy and the functioning of financial markets, and helped protect lives and livelihoods” and that “Canada’s strong history of prudent policymaking afforded it the policy space to respond forcefully to the crisis and avert much steeper declines in economic activity and employment.”

We were there for Canadians. We will continue to support them through this pandemic.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, while the Liberals are searching the globe for a vaccine supply, we could have produced one in our own backyard at Université Laval's Infectious Disease Research Centre. It is the only Canadian team that got an Ebola vaccine all the way to the approval stage. In a matter of weeks and with little to go on, they developed a prototype COVID-19 vaccine that was effective on animals.

Why did the federal government not prioritize vaccine research and development in Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have been investing in Canadian industry and Canadian scientists, not just during this pandemic, but for the past five years, because the previous Conservative government seriously under-invested in science. Since we are talking about Université Laval, we gave Dr. Kobinger a $1-million federal grant for his research at the beginning of the pandemic through the novel coronavirus rapid research funding opportunity.

We will continue to invest in Canadians. We will continue to keep our promises to Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Prime Minister chose China to develop a vaccine instead of supporting Canadian companies. We ultimately lost the deal with China, we lost our intellectual property and the government wound up behind in its other negotiations. The Prime Minister had no issue helping his former federal MP Frank Baylis when the opportunity arose.

Was the Prime Minister surprised to be once again duped by China?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we did make investments around the country while we were signing contracts with international companies to secure vaccines for Canadians, and our plan is working. We will have more than six million vaccines by the end of March. We will get everyone vaccinated by this coming September.

We have also invested in Canada's manufacturing capacity, with companies like Medicago, in Quebec City; Glycovax, in Montreal; Variation Biotechnologies, in Ottawa; AbCellera Biologics, in Vancouver; Symvivo, in Burnaby; and VIDO-InterVac, in Saskatchewan.

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

Mr. Speaker, the government can keep insisting that Canada will receive six million doses by March 31, but it is already behind schedule. What is more, those six million doses are only a fraction of what we need. People are dying because of bad management and a vaccine supply shortage.

How many lives will be lost because of this government's incompetence?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in early December, members of the Conservative Party were saying that billions of people around the world were going to be vaccinated before a single Canadian received the vaccine. That is simply not true. On the contrary, we have seen that Canada was among the first two or three countries in the world to vaccinate its citizens with safe, approved and effective vaccines. We are there to deliver vaccines for Canadians. We are preparing to receive six million doses at the end of March, as we have been promising since November. We will have vaccinated everyone by the end of September.