House of Commons Hansard #64 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was senate.
Anita Anand LiberalMinister of Public Services and Procurement
Mr. Speaker, I take issue with the initial part of that question, which suggests that the Liberals do not have a plan.
On the contrary, the plan has been in place for months. We have negotiated seven agreements with leading vaccine suppliers for a total of up to 400 million doses from approved suppliers alone. Canadians are all going to have access to a vaccine prior to the end of September, if not before. That is the promise that the government has made and it is a plan we are sticking with.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government has come up with only one excuse for the mess it made of the infamous hotel booking system for Canadian travellers. It is blaming people for booking too early.
Every day, thousands more people join the growing line of those already waiting. In my riding, Ms. Oblin, from the Des Saules area, has been on the phone since Friday trying to book a hotel room for her son, who is currently in Paris. She calls and gets cut off. She calls back and is told to remain on the line. She calls but is unable to talk to anyone.
Can the government tell Ms. Oblin that it will look after her? If not, what does it have to say to her?
Patty Hajdu LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of the pandemic, we have added layers of protection at our border crossings to protect Canadians from the importation of COVID and, indeed, most recently from the variants that have arisen across the world. Part of the process now, as the member opposite knows, is that anyone who is returning to Canada must take a PCR test upon arrival and quarantine until the receipt of a negative test, and then go on to complete their quarantine in their own home. Quarantine has been a very important process for keeping importations low, and the screening will allow us to track variants as they affect our Canadian progress.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, that is unfortunate for Ms. Oblin's son. He did exactly what the minister said, but no one answered the phone. If he cannot get through by tomorrow, then, unfortunately, he will be unable to return to Canada.
There is a problem that the government could solve right now, and that is the much-touted $1,000 for non-essential travel by Canadian workers. That issue still has not been resolved.
I am reaching out to the government for the seventh time. Is the government prepared to introduce the bill so that we can debate it, amend it as needed and pass it?
Pablo Rodriguez LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, passing this bill is a top priority for the government.
Unfortunately, the Conservatives refused to give unanimous consent, despite how important this bill is. We are therefore looking at other alternatives. Also, Canada now has one of the strictest traveller screening programs in place. Do the Conservatives support such strict measures?
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
Mr. Speaker, the hotel quarantines are a fiasco that could easily have been avoided.
The government should have foreseen that by announcing the telephone booking system just three days before the quarantines were to come into effect, tons of people would be stuck waiting. There were 45,000 calls over the weekend, but only 2,300 people managed to make reservations. Some people were on hold for 25 hours, and only 5% of callers managed to book a room.
What has the government done since yesterday to change the situation?
Pablo Rodriguez LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, we implemented a very restrictive system, so obviously there were going to be challenges at first. There were 45,000 calls in the first few days. Some of the callers needed general information, but they do not need it anymore because the details of the program are out there. Some were making reservations months in advance, but our message is that they should book when they are about to leave, a day or two ahead of time.
This is all a result of our decision to implement some of the strictest rules in the world, and I would like to know if the Bloc Québécois supports them or not.
Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC
Mr. Speaker, we are not asking for the moon, we are asking for someone to answer the phone. That is what we are asking for. It is not that hard.
It took two months for the government to wake up. In the lead-up to Christmas, the government was asked to ban non-essential flights, but it did not. It was asked to impose a quarantine on people returning from abroad, but it did not. On January 29, it woke up and said it would institute a quarantine starting on February 4. That got pushed back to February 22, but there are flaws. It is a fiasco. When will the government wake up?
Pablo Rodriguez LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Bloc Québécois is looking for some love and attention. It is seeking attention on these issues, which is pretty much par for the course.
However, we did not wait for the Bloc Québécois to act, by implementing a multitude of economic programs, stopping flights heading south, imposing a quarantine for returning travellers, requiring mandatory tests, hotel stays, and so on.
It is working. We have the strictest system in the world. Again, will the Bloc support our efforts or not?
Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has let down workers again and again. He promised to increase the minimum wage to $15, but he broke that promise.
Workers are already hard hit by COVID-19, and now they are worried about the impact of the buy America initiative. Will the Prime Minister ask for an exemption for Canadian products when he meets with President Biden?
Mary Ng LiberalMinister of Small Business
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the member and all Canadians that we will always stand up for Canadian workers, for Canadian businesses and indeed for the best interests of Canadians. The Prime Minister, in his conversations with both the President and the Vice-President, committed to strengthening our trading relationship and avoiding any unintended consequences of buy America policies, to the benefit of both countries.
We are looking forward to continuing to work with our American neighbours to ensure that we are supporting a sustainable recovery, creating good jobs—
Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has let down workers again and again. He promised to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, but he broke that promise. Workers are already hard hit by COVID-19 and now workers are worried about the impact of the buy America initiative in the United States.
Will the Prime Minister stand up for workers and fight for workers, when he meets with President Biden, by making sure that there is an exemption for Canadian products to protect Canadian workers and their jobs?
Mary Ng LiberalMinister of Small Business
Mr. Speaker, our government will always stand up for Canadian businesses and for Canadian workers. Our countries will continue to work closely together, just as we have in the last five years, to make sure we avoid any measures that could constrain our bilateral relationship and the economic growth between our two countries. We will continue to work closely to support the sustainable economic recovery, create jobs and grow the middle class in Canada and the United States.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, a year after the great financial crisis began, Canada had lower unemployment than the United States of America. That was under a previous Conservative government. Today, the Prime Minister has the humiliating job of meeting with the U.S. President while Canada's unemployment is a third higher than in the United States and higher than in Germany, Japan, the U.K. and all of the G7 countries combined.
What are the 800,000 Canadians without paycheques going to do to pay the bills, while they watch workers around the world get back to their jobs?
Sean Fraser LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, it is ironic that the hon. member would cite Stephen Harper's economic record as a measure of success when he had the worst economic growth rate since the Great Depression and was the only government in the G7 to actually re-enter a recession in advance of the 2015 election.
I point the hon. member to the fact that 71% of job losses from the peak of the pandemic have recovered in Canada, compared with 56% in the United States. Under any objective measure, Canada's economic recovery is well ahead of that of our American counterparts.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, under any objective measure, we had lower unemployment than the Americans did during the Harper era and we have a third higher unemployment right now. This is if we line up the measurements of unemployment, apples to apples, between the two countries.
There are 800,000 Canadians who have lost their jobs and not regained them and our unemployment is significantly higher than that of the Americans, which means either we have not recovered as many jobs or we went in with a much higher jobless rate to begin with. Either way, the parliamentary secretary should stop making excuses and tell these Canadians when they will get their paycheques back.
Sean Fraser LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to inform the hon. member that labour force participation in Canada is 64.3%, compared with only 61.3% in the United States. However, what is most important in this conversation is the fact that the recent job losses we have seen in Canada are tied to the restriction of economic activities that would spread COVID-19 and cause further economic consequences for the economy.
If the hon. member and the Conservative Party's approach would have businesses continue to be open to enable a further spread of the virus, I invite them to say so and take that to the polls.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, that is a great segue.
While countries around the world are projecting a drop of COVID cases even with the variants, the Liberals are projecting a spike and calling for deeper lockdowns. This is because the Liberals' failure to get vaccines over the last three months has left Canadians vulnerable. Officials have admitted that the Liberals do not have contracts secured for boosters that are under development to better protect against the variants. The Liberals' first vaccine failure has made Canada one of the most vulnerable countries in the developed world against the spread of variants, and now we have found out that they do not have contracts for boosters.
Have the Liberals learned nothing from their failures, which have cost Canadians their lives and jobs?
Anita Anand LiberalMinister of Public Services and Procurement
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question. However, it is riddled with inaccuracies.
To begin, Canada was one of the first countries to sign with Moderna and Pfizer, one of the first countries to get vaccines into the country and one of the first countries to secure the largest number of doses per capita in the world. In terms of contracts for boosters, we have been in direct contact with suppliers on this issue and are engaged with them at the current time.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, just to correct the minister, Canada is one of the last countries in the developed world to have our population vaccinated. That is what matters.
This week, Dr. Anthony Fauci was saying that COVID might be moving from pandemic to endemic status and that we need to be managing it from a chronic perspective. Boosters for variants are going to be a key part of this over time to make sure that Canadians can live normal lives free of restrictions while being healthy. The Liberals have put us three months behind the rest of the world in vaccinations and have no plan to safely reopen the economy. We need hope.
When will the Liberals have a contract for boosters?
Anita Anand LiberalMinister of Public Services and Procurement
Mr. Speaker, as I just mentioned, we are engaged with suppliers on this issue, and many of the suppliers we spoke with said that the science is not there yet in terms of their production of boosters. We are, therefore, engaged with them to ensure that Canada is prioritized when that science is ready and when they are offering boosters in terms of contractual negotiations. As usual, we are placing Canadian interests at the very forefront of vaccine production.
Did I mention that we have had 600,000-plus vaccines delivered into this country to date this week? Our largest shipment—
Public Services and ProcurementOral Questions
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the media reported on a couple who had spent 14 hours waiting on hold trying to reserve a hotel room. They could not reach anyone.
Another person stated that they had called repeatedly over three days.
Another couple moving from Bangladesh to Regina was forced to cancel their flight because they could not book a hotel room.
What are the government and the Prime Minister doing to fix the chaos they have created?
Pablo Rodriguez LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, we established one of the strictest systems in the world. When people return to Canada, they must undergo an assessment, then be tested here and quarantine in a hotel by making reservations in advance. There were about 45,000 calls in three days. The situation is getting better on its own, in part because people are getting the information but also because we have added more staff to answer questions and take reservations.
