Madam Speaker, I could ask for the unanimous consent of the House to continue my speech, but I will not do so, because I know the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands would not agree to that.
I would like to commend my hon. colleague from Perth—Wellington who just gave a remarkable speech about how important tourism is in his region. He talked about the Stratford music festival, which is known across the country and around the world. I had the opportunity to travel to the riding of Perth—Wellington with my colleague and visit an agricultural fair. It certainly was one of the largest agricultural shows I have ever had a chance to visit.
Although it is essentially a business, that exhibition is also a tourist destination. Everyone who travels to this exhibition spends money in my colleague's riding. These visitors will travel around and explore my colleague's riding. I would like to sincerely thank my colleague for giving me the opportunity to visit his riding and, especially, for introducing me to such nice people. The tourism industry is about beautiful scenery, but it is also about people, engaged people who believe very strongly in the potential of their region and the potential of their events.
Most people do not do that for the money. Rather, they are exceptionally passionate about what they do. Unfortunately, it is this same passion that is currently making them suffer, not because they do not want to comply with the health measures or because they do not think it is important to stop their events to prevent the public from being affected by the pandemic, but because these people cannot offer their products or showcase their region, their events and their festivals to the public. That is why they are suffering.
In my riding there are events that I absolutely want to name. Obviously, some people are paid, but there are also many volunteers. For example, there is the Festival Promutuel de la relève de Thetford Mines. I represent the riding of Mégantic—L’Érable, where many of the festivals have a connection to the maple tree, l'érable in French. For example, there is the Plessisville Festival de l'érable, the Festival des Sucres in Saint-Pierre-Baptiste, the Rockfest and the Inverness Festival du Bœuf. It is our mini-stampede. That all happens back home in our neck of the woods. All these people are asking for is to be able to resume their activities as soon as possible. When will they be able to that? They can do that as soon as everyone is vaccinated.
There is no other solution. We need vaccines for everyone. The Liberal government is taking so long to supply enough vaccines to everyone that the majority of the population will not be vaccinated until September. What are the Défi de la Gosford, the Carnaval Ti-Cube, artisan festivals, summer sporting events, country and western festivals, local theatres, summer theatres, theatres like Les bâtisseurs de montagnes, fairs, beer, food and cultural festivals and the Maison du granit going to do this summer? They will not be able to do much of anything, because the majority of the population will not have been vaccinated in time. However, this could have been done. Saint-Robert en fête, the Fêtes du Lac William, the Relay For Life, fishing derbys and concerts by various artists could have happened if the government had been able to vaccinate the majority of the population.
Canada is ranked 58th in the world for vaccination rate. That is unacceptable. Some countries are vaccinating more people in one day than Canada has vaccinated since the beginning of the pandemic. That means that, unfortunately, companies like Autobus Vausco, which runs charter buses, cannot operate. This company has big, very expensive buses rusting away in garages. The owners do not know how they are going to get them back up and running, because this equipment is supposed to be kept in constant operation out on the road.
That is the problem right now. The tourism industry's problem is not that people cannot operate their businesses. Rather, it is that the reason they cannot do so is that the members on the other side of the House decided to put all their eggs in one basket by signing just one agreement with a company run by the Chinese communist regime.
Today, we have seen what is happening in China. The Minister of Foreign Affairs told the House that he was voting on behalf of the entire government, but he abstained from voting on our motion to condemn the Uighur genocide.
He of course apologized afterwards, but he was sending a message. He meant that members of the House would be voting the complete opposite, but that the government would abstain.
Thus, what members say in this place is of little importance. That is unacceptable.
However, it is easier to understand when we think of the Prime Minister's admiration for China's communist regime. We all know he appreciates the Chinese Communist Party's soft dictatorship. He expressed it publicly. It is therefore not surprising that today he is refusing to condemn the genocide.
This all began with the stubborn determination to sign an agreement with CanSino. Unfortunately, we have fallen behind. We now know that most Canadians will not be vaccinated before September, and that is in the best possible scenario, if everything that is going on and everything the Prime Minister is saying is true.
I have my doubts because, up to this point, the Prime Minister has missed many deadlines, not just on this file, but on many files.
In closing, I would like to talk about sugar shacks. Maple syrup season is coming, and sugar shacks are where people go to make maple syrup, eat eggs and pancakes, enjoy a meal and have a great time. Unfortunately, sugar shack season has been compromised.
Fortunately, the people who work in sugar shacks have pivoted and are going to offer sugar shack meals to go. I invite everyone to support them because that is what they need. We will see how the public responds, but these people have worked hard to offer people a solution. I congratulate them. I approve of and applaud this innovation.
Long live Mégantic—L'Érable, long live maple syrup, and long live springtime sugar shacks.