Debates of April 13th, 2021

The Economy

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Economic Development had the audacity to release an editorial criticizing the Conservatives of playing political games. The arrogance of the minister and the entire Liberal cabinet is out of control. Between their stalling tactics and refusal to show up to committee meetings, they clearly have no respect for the parliamentary process. It is pretty rich for the minister to state that we are holding up legislation when the Liberals actually shut down Parliament, which resulted in wiping out pre-pandemic pieces of legislation.

Even when the opposition brings up reasonable improvements to flawed Liberal legislation, it is treated as a political game. We agree that there has to be help for businesses and individuals across Canada. Where we disagree is on how to achieve that mandate. We need a safe plan to reopen the economy, a plan to open the borders and a plan to get Canadians back to work. Only the Conservative recovery plan will secure the future for all Canadians, not just Liberal insiders like the Minister of Economic Development's boyfriend.

Marine Atlantic Ferry Services

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, last week, after widespread protests from towns and communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Marine Atlantic ferry services rolled back fare increases that had been implemented on April 1. People are worried about the cost of living, and the tourism industry is holding out hope that it will be able to rebuild as the pandemic eases. While it is a welcome break from relentless fare increases under a cost-recovery model that even the Prime Minister called unreasonable in 2015, this does nothing to fix the underlying problem.

This vital service was constitutionally mandated when Newfoundland and Labrador joined as a province with Canada over 70 years ago, but the cost-recovery model discourages travellers and visitors, increases food prices and the cost of living and hurts businesses. We need an affordable ferry service between Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, despite the promise by the Prime Minister and then six of seven Liberal MPs from the province. Six years later, nothing has changed. This needs to be fixed.

François Grisé

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a man who was a true pillar of the Saint-Hyacinthe community.

François Grisé, who passed away four days ago, was so much more than a businessman. He was a mentor to the entrepreneurs of Saint-Hyacinthe, especially those with businesses downtown.

Of course, many will remember him for his years running the popular microbrewery Le Bilboquet, at a time when Quebec was hardly a mecca for that sort of thing. He also co-founded the excellent restaurant L'Espiègle. He chaired the Société de développement commercial centre-ville Saint-Hyacinthe, our local BIA, and he was a big supporter of Mareiwa Café when it was starting up. He was a dedicated volunteer with many organizations. More than anything, he will be remembered as a man of boundless generosity who was always there for others. He will be sadly missed by the entire community, but his presence is still felt on the streets of downtown Saint-Hyacinthe.

On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I offer my sincere condolences to Mr. Grisé's family and loved ones.

Thank you, François Grisé.

The Economy

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives stand firmly with Canadian women who have been let down by the Prime Minister and the Liberal government.

There are 1.5 million women who lost their jobs in the first two months of the COVID crisis, and all economic gains made by women over my lifetime have been completely lost during the tenure of the Prime Minister. We know that 500,000 women are still out of work and that young women have suffered three times as many job losses as young men, yet the Liberal government has yet to deliver a plan to Canadians to get our country safely back to work.

The Conservative leader is the first and only leader to date to put forward a plan to get Canada back on track. We will secure jobs, secure accountability to prevent future Liberal scandals, secure mental health to improve Canadians’ well-being, secure Canada with a domestic supply of vaccines and PPE, and secure our economy by responsibly balancing the books over a 10-year period. Women, mothers and families deserve no less.

Dental Hygienists

[Neil Ellis, Liberal, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Mr. Speaker, April is Oral Health Month in Canada. As we all continue to do our part to keep our communities healthy throughout the pandemic, we must also remember that maintaining our well-being includes protecting our oral health and hygiene. This is why I am pleased to recognize the dental hygienists community in my riding and beyond.

Last week, from April 4 to April 10, was National Dental Hygienists Week. Our dental hygienists know best that taking care of our mouths, teeth and gums benefits our overall well-being. This year, they were creative in taking the celebrations online to spread their oral health and total health message far and wide.

For the dental hygienists community in my riding of Bay of Quinte, and for all its members across the country, we celebrate the professionals who help us smile brightly every day.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister made CNN last night. The headline was “Canada's vaccine shortage.” Jake Tapper told viewers around the world that the Canadian government had failed.

Will the Prime Minister admit that his failure to secure sufficient vaccines is leading to a catastrophic third wave?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is important that we stay grounded in the facts in these conversations.

Canada is actually third in the G20 in terms of vaccines delivered to people. We are going to continue to work even harder to get more vaccines into Canada and into arms as quickly as possible. That is what this government's focus is.

At the same time, we are supporting the provinces, families and business owners so that we can do the restrictions necessary to get through this third wave. We need to get people vaccinated and we need to get the caseloads down before we are going to start easing restrictions. That is what we are focused on.

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

Mr. Speaker, it looks like the Prime Minister needs to sit down with Jake Tapper.

For months, the Liberal government's answer to questions about its slow pandemic response has been to compare Canada to the United States. Canada has now passed the United States in per capita numbers of new COVID cases every day.

How many Canadians are now being infected with COVID-19 variants because of the government's slow and confused rollout of vaccines?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I think it is really important that we work from facts and an understanding of the science around things.

We know, for example, that the U.K. is ahead of just about everybody else on vaccinations, and yet it maintains very strong restrictions and is facing a very serious third wave.

Vaccinations on their own are not enough to keep us safe. We need to engage in the right kinds of behaviours and do things that the Conservatives are not always good at, like wearing masks, keeping distance and obeying public health rules.

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

Mr. Speaker, with regard to facts and science, here is a quote for the Prime Minister: “Because of the current situation in Canada even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk”. The risk that the Centers for Disease Control is referring to is the massive spread of COVID-19 variants in Canada, because of the slow vaccination rates guaranteed by the Prime Minister. “Avoid all travel” is a warning usually reserved for dictatorships. It is now being applied to Canada.

Since the Prime Minister cannot point to the U.S. for bad comparisons anymore, whom is he going to blame for his vaccine failures?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we see, consistently, that the Conservatives never let the facts get in the way of a political attack.

The reality is that this CDC recommendation dates from March, last March, a year ago, recommending that people not travel to Canada or just about any other country outside the United States.

This is what we have had to work with as a world, limiting travel, protecting our citizens and getting them vaccinated. Every step of the way, this government has grounded itself in facts and science, as opposed to the Conservatives, who prefer political arguments and making stuff up.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister appeared on CNN last night. The story was the vaccine shortage in Canada. The journalist told the whole world that it was a real failure by the Canadian government.

Will the Prime Minister admit that his failure with the vaccines has resulted in a devastating third wave?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives should stick to the facts and reality. We promised to deliver six million vaccine doses before the end of March and we exceeded that amount. More than 11 million doses have been delivered to Canadians just a few weeks later. We are working day and night to get more vaccines for Canadians. At the same time, we must protect ourselves and follow public health guidelines to decrease the number of cases and protect ourselves.

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

Mr. Speaker, Quebec is vaccinating a lot of people, but it needs more doses if it is to keep up this pace. Yesterday I asked the Prime Minister whether there would be more delays with vaccines, and he assured me that there would not. Today he announced that there will be a delay with the Moderna vaccines.

What happened in the past 24 hours to make the Prime Minister flip-flop?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite troubling that the Leader of the Opposition is not telling the truth about a conversation he and I had.

I explained to him that we would receive 44 million doses by the end of June, that we would be getting regular deliveries from Pfizer and that we were still seeing minor delays of one or two days with the Moderna vaccine.

We are working very hard, but the Leader of the Opposition would rather make baseless personal and political attacks. That is disappointing.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be in the House to congratulate Maxime Laporte, who defended Quebec democracy, and Joseph Facal, who introduced Bill 99 in the Quebec National Assembly. The Quebec Court of Appeal just upheld Bill 99 and, despite the pandemic, there are things that we need to recognize and highlight.

Will the Prime Minister accept the Quebec Court of Appeal's ruling, or will he appeal it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of the pandemic and since we took office, we have always worked hand in hand with our provincial partners. We have always respected the processes in place and provincial jurisdictions.

We will continue to work hand in hand with Quebec to deliver for Quebeckers and to protect Quebeckers and all Canadians. That is what we will always do.

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

Mr. Speaker, I did not understand a word he said, but I am sure it was good.

I think that the Minister of Justice said that the federal government was not planning to challenge the the court of appeal's ruling. The thing is, Bill 99 and the so-called Clarity Act on federal referendums are profoundly incompatible. It is either-or. There can only be one.

If the government is not challenging this decision, will the Prime Minister repeal the so-called Clarity Act?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are in the middle of a third wave that is extremely worrisome.

While we are all working together to try to help Canadians and address their concerns, the Bloc Québécois cannot resist starting a debate on sovereignty. Our priority right now and for the coming months is to deliver for Canadians and be there for Quebeckers to address their priorities, not the Bloc's political priority, which is to stir up trouble.

Health

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the number of people in ICUs in Quebec and across the country is growing. The COVID-19 variants are causing an urgent crisis, and we are losing the race against them. My question for the Prime Minister is this: What is his plan to vaccinate the entire population as soon as possible?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have been working on that plan since last summer.

The plan included negotiating and signing contracts with more vaccine manufacturers than other countries and securing more doses for Canadians than other countries so we could speed up vaccinations.

Everyone can see that it is working. More and more Canadians are being vaccinated. We have received 11 million vaccine doses so far, including five million in the last few weeks alone. We will keep working with the provinces and territories to step up our vaccination efforts.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we are in the middle of a third wave of COVID-19 that is hitting us hard. We are seeing a record number of cases in Ontario, and we are losing the race against the variants.

When I raised this issue yesterday, the Minister of Health said with pride that it was the federal government sending the tents to the field hospitals in Ontario. That is not a mark of pride; that is a sign of failure. It should never have gotten to this point.

My question is clear. When will the Prime Minister start real action, starting with immediately improving paid sick leave, and stop making excuses?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we approved paid sick leave many, many months ago, and it would be excellent for the leader of the NDP to acknowledge that. Of course, there is more that can be done. We look forward to working with the provinces and territories as they move forward on boosts to paid sick leave.

We will continue to be there for Canadians. We made a simple promise from the very beginning that we would have people's backs, as much as it took and as long as it took, and that is exactly what we are doing. We are continuing to be there to support the provinces and territories and to support families, workers and small businesses, and we will continue to do so.

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

Mr. Speaker, moments ago, the Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed that an individual living in Canada experienced rare blood clotting following immunization with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Yesterday, Australia announced that it is suspending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine following new guidance from European regulators.

Will the advice on AstraZeneca usage be changed in Canada? Why or why not?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. minister is currently having connection issues. She will get back to you on this as soon as possible.