Debates of March 9th, 2021

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, we are definitely listening. I am so grateful to the Canadians who have participated with such enthusiasm in our pre-budget consultations. We have received more than 58,000 written submissions. We are working hard with Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

Let me just say that our priority today is to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to support Canadian workers and Canadian businesses, so let us get Bill C-14 passed so that we can do that.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the president of Pfizer said that the company does not support the Liberals' decision to move the time between the doses of their COVID-19 vaccine from three weeks to four months, and Canada's chief science officer essentially said that the Liberals' decision to do so was unethical. Today, Global News is reporting that numerous Canadian medical experts have penned an open letter to the Liberals with grave concerns about the decision to delay the dose.

Why are the Liberals advising a four-month interval between Pfizer vaccine doses when no one else is?

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, now that we have safe and effective vaccines in Canada, we need to vaccinate as many Canadians as possible. In order to maximize the number of people gaining some resistance to COVID-19, NACI, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, has recommended that second doses can safely be delayed by up to four months.

We will continue working with the provinces and territories to ensure that communities are protected, and we will still follow science and evidence.

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

Mr. Speaker, the problem is that there is actually no science or evidence to support this decision.

The parliamentary secretary's response gets to the heart of the matter. If we had more vaccine doses and if the Liberals had been on top of getting these vaccines delivered to Canadians, they would not be recommending this extreme measure that no other country in the world is taking.

Is he basically admitting that at this point, the Liberals are making vaccine decisions based on politics to cover for the fact they have put Canada in the worst position in the G7 for vaccine distribution?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by mentioning that NACI is an independent organization, and I also want to go on to say that we are receiving eight million doses of vaccine this quarter alone, 36.5 million in the next quarter and prior to the end of September, 118 million vaccines, so that all Canadians will have access to a vaccine before the end of the summer.

We have a plan. It is called a diversified portfolio vaccine plan and it is working for Canadians.

Public Services and Procurement

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

Mr. Speaker, it costs a lot of money to exclude Quebec from shipbuilding. The cost overruns on the federal contract for surface combatants exclusively awarded to Irving, in Nova Scotia, now total $51 billion. The shipyard will not deliver a single vessel before 2030.

At the same time, the Auditor General of Canada confirms, in her most recent report, that the same is happening in British Columbia, where Seaspan is years behind in all its contracts. No one is delivering, except Davie.

Why not just award Davie its fair share of the building contracts?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. I also thank the Parliamentary Budget Officer for his report.

As part of our defence policy, “Strong, Secure, Engaged”, our government undertook to build 15 surface combatants that are fully funded. We are contributing $1.54 billion a year to the economy. We will be prudent and adapt to the strategy. Davie is a fantastic partner. We are working with companies across the country, in Quebec and everywhere.

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

Mr. Speaker, the government left one partner out of shipbuilding but not out of the refurbishing.

The shipbuilding strategy is a disaster because the federal government is doing everything it can to exclude Quebec. Ottawa is set to award a contract for a polar icebreaker and it refuses to award the contract to Davie, even though Irving is decades behind and $51 billion over budget, and even though Seaspan's contract was withdrawn because the shipyard was unable to move forward. The Liberals are doing everything they can to exclude Quebec, even when it is the only remaining option.

When will the polar icebreaker contract be—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. minister.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.

All Canadian shipyards responded to the request for information that concluded on May 13, 2020. The responses received and the information gathered in the process will enable the Government of Canada to determine how best to proceed. No decisions have been made.

We are still working with all of the shipyards, including Davie.

Official Languages

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and his department, the Privy Council, could not care less about French. To date, the PMO has received nearly 8,000 pages of documents related to the urgent situation caused by the pandemic, including contracts between the government and pharmaceutical companies, but it is refusing to disclose them on the pretext that they are not available in both official languages. The Prime Minister is hiding important information from Canadians.

What is he waiting for? When will he provide us these documents in French?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, as requested in the motion, we sent the documents to the law clerk in the language in which they were written. We also gave the law clerk all of the necessary support through the Board of Internal Economy. We all knew that this would take time. The committee requested a huge amount of information. The government is responding as quickly as possible and the documents will be sent as quickly as possible.

My colleague is well aware that the two official languages are a top priority for the government.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when I order a piece of furniture from the Swedish company IKEA, I get the box and an instruction manual written in, as one might guess, French. However, official government documents about the management of the pandemic are not available in French. The Prime Minister prides himself on saying he defends francophones' rights, but he cannot even fix problems in his own department.

When will he stop talking, take action, and do what needs to be done to ensure that all documents are available in both official languages, French and English?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, if they cared so much about respect for official languages, they would have called for that in their motion, which the government opposed. In their motion, they asked for all documents to be sent directly to the law clerk. They made the law clerk responsible for translation. Nowhere in the motion does it say anything about official languages. That was what they asked for, thus proving that, unlike the government, respect for official languages does not matter to them.

National Defence

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, when speaking last week at the defence committee on the 2018 allegations of sexual misconduct by General Vance, former ombudsman Gary Walbourne said, “The only thing I ever wanted the minister to do was his job”. However, rather than doing his job, the minister hid from the evidence.

It is clear that the minister misled the defence committee since he knew about this three years ago, and now official government memos confirm Mr. Walbourne's story. How can the brave women and men in uniform trust a minister who turned his back on them?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I completely disagree with the member's assertions, and I disagree with the testimony that Mr. Walbourne provided at committee. I look forward to testifying at committee again. In fact, I welcome it.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence refused the evidence of sexual misconduct offered by the former military ombudsman. Then he hid behind the non-existent investigation by PCO. Instead of doing his duty and convening a board of inquiry into General Vance, he did absolutely nothing. Yesterday, the minister said he used his police skills to tackle the problem. What kind of police officer and what kind of defence minister runs and hides from evidence of sexual misconduct?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, maybe the member himself, as a politician, wants to conduct an investigation, but I want to make a really big assertion here. No politician should ever be part of conducting any type of investigation. The immediate allegations were reported to the appropriate authorities. In this case, it was the Privy Council Office, which was in charge of Governor in Council appointments, and it followed up with Mr. Walbourne immediately.

Health

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the throne speech said that one of the greatest tragedies of this pandemic is the lives lost in long-term care homes, lives like the brother of my constituent, Louise.

Last May, he died alone in a facility owned by Revera. Before his death, his meals were served in styrofoam containers and he was denied contact with Revera caregivers. This terrible treatment of a dying man cost $5,000 a month, and if that were not outrageous enough, Revera demanded rent for the two months after his death.

Revera is part of a Crown corporation. When will the Liberals take the profit out of long-term care?

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the very important question. It is so important that we protect those living and working in long-term care. We provided $740 million to provinces and territories to bring in measures to control and prevent infections, including in long-term care. On November 30, we announced an additional $1 billion in the fall economic statement to create the safe long-term care fund.

We are working closely, and will continue to work closely, with the provinces and territories to protect those in care by providing guidance to prevent and address outbreaks, and work with them to set new national standards.

Correctional Service Canada

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, this past month, two men from Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba died while in custody at Stony Mountain federal penitentiary.

My condolences go out to the loved ones of Dwayne Simard and William Ahmo. We need immediate action to ensure that no more lives will be taken at the hands of this colonial justice system.

With the support of Chief Henderson, the families and the community are demanding answers. When will the minister provide answers for the families of Dwayne Simard and William Ahmo who died at the hands of this system?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, the care and health and safety of all persons who are in the custody of Correctional Service Canada is a top priority for us. We share in the concern of the community with respect to all who have lost their life in a custodial setting.

I want to assure the member that Correctional Service Canada works very closely with the local health authorities, and we take every step to keep inmates in correctional facilities safe. Particularly during the pandemic, extraordinary efforts have been successfully made to limit and control outbreaks in our prisons. We have prioritized, on the recommendations of NACI, inmates and corrections workers for priority—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Newmarket—Aurora.

Public Services and Procurement

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have had an exciting few weeks in terms of vaccines being authorized for use and those arriving in Canada.

Could the Minister of Public Services and Procurement please update the House and Canadians on the total number of doses we can expect by the end of this month and the overall success of our vaccine procurement program?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Newmarket—Aurora for his hard work over the past year.

For nearly a year, our government's top priority has been to assemble the most comprehensive and diverse vaccine portfolio possible, with a goal of 6 million doses of vaccine to be delivered to Canadians by the end of this month.

Canadians will be pleased to know that we are going to beat that target. By the end of this month, Canadians can expect to see 8 million doses of vaccine delivered throughout Canada, 36.5 million by the end of June and 117 million by the end of September.

We have a plan. We are following our plan. It is delivering for Canadians.