Madam Speaker, Canadians are struggling to cope with the rise of COVID-19 cases, increasing lockdowns and the effects of a struggling economy. Businesses are closed, workers are losing their jobs or having their hours cut, the mental health crisis has deepened and Canadian families are worried about their children. This is all because the government did not secure enough vaccines and did not secure them in time.
We are far behind our neighbours to the south. Jake Tapper from CNN has brought this failure to the attention of our American cousins. The U.S. has already begun to vaccinate monkeys in U.S. zoos. I cannot make this stuff up. Meanwhile, here in Canada we have only vaccinated 2% of our population. The vaccination issue is such that the current government may go down in history as one of the biggest failures of any Canadian government during a crisis. Canadians and Canadian businesses are suffering because of it.
The data and tools to effectively manage this pandemic already exist. It is time for the government to begin using them.