Debates of April 21st, 2021

Justice

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are of course aware of the ruling. We will let the legal process take its course and will continue to monitor this situation closely.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, I cannot get over this. The Prime Minister is standing in question period today while millions of Ontarians are under lockdown again. The third wave is raging and he is speculating about his own international travel. It is not the time for international travel unless it is FOMO for the Prime Minister missing out on a cocktail party or some sort of photo op.

The reality is that by the end of February, only 5% of Canadians had received even their first shot. That is unconscionable. Will the Prime Minister admit that if he had—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is 25% of Canadians have received at least their first shot of the vaccine. In the coming weeks we are going to start getting more than two million vaccines every single week and those numbers are going to keep going up. We know how important this is.

On the issue of international travel, it is amazing to see the lengths to which the Conservative Party will go to make attacks. I highlighted that I was hoping to attend the G7 heads of government meeting in June in Cornwall to work on the global recovery, but the Conservatives certainly cannot have any of that.

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

Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of Canadians who want to travel to go to funerals, to visit ailing loved ones, but they are not having any of that, and that is because the Prime Minister only delivered enough for 5% of Canadians to get their first dose of vaccine within the first two months of the year, that critical time when we could have stopped the third wave. He spent last summer covering up the WE scandal and shutting down Parliament instead of negotiating contracts that could have gotten us those vaccines.

Will he admit that his failure to procure vaccines in January and February led to the third wave?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again, we have now passed the threshold of having vaccinated 25% of Canadians. We need to continue to do more, and that is something we are going to continue to do.

In terms of opportunities for the global community to come together, particularly the leaders of the seven largest economies, as I said, it is not certain, but I am hopeful to be able to sit with them in person. I would do it wherever it was. Whether it was in Cornwall, whether it was held in Oklahoma, I would be there for the G7.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister can mock his international travel against people who need to travel to see ailing loved ones who are separated from their families, but that is not going to cut it. He cites statistics, but one statistic is fact: only 2% of Canadians have been fully vaccinated. That is abysmal. That is not going to stop the third wave. There is not enough supply. We are having to administer first shots of vaccines off-label for four months because he did not produce enough vaccines.

We could have stopped the first wave if he had gotten us vaccines in January and February, but he did not. Why?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again the Conservatives demonstrate that they will never let the facts get in the way of a good political partisan attack.

The reality is that we have been working diligently. Indeed, experts on the National Advisory Council on Immunization made a recommendation that Canada follow a one-dose strategy with a larger stretch point between the two doses so that we could ensure more Canadians are protected. Those decisions are grounded in science and even the Conservative health critic has to recognize that rather than make partisan attacks.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is just ridiculous. It is off-label. No other country is separating doses by four months, only Canada because he did not get us enough vaccines. Fact, only 2% of Canadians are fully vaccinated. Fact, only 5% were fully vaccinated by the end of January. That is his partisan fault. Enough with the partisan games. He did not get us these vaccines and now we are in the third wave. Now ICUs are overflowing and it is because he did not negotiate these contracts.

Why did we not have enough vaccines in January and February? For shame.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again I do not want to tell the health critic for the Conservative Party how to do her job, but if she looked around, the U.K. was actually the first country to expand that four-month spread strategy. It is a way of getting more people protected as quickly as possible. That is the strategy that Canadian scientists and experts have recommended and that is what we are continuing to do.

We have now passed the threshold of 25% of Canadians vaccinated, we have millions more vaccines coming in the coming weeks and months and we look forward to getting through this pandemic by working together.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, sadly, people are still faced with the impossible choice of going into work sick or staying at home and not getting paid because the Prime Minister refuses to fix the paid sick leave.

The Ontario Science Table agrees paid sick leave saves lives, yet the Prime Minister continues to refuse to improve access to paid sick leave. He is not listening to the scientists, he is not listening to workers and he is not listening to families who have lost loved ones.

What will it take for the Prime Minister to improve access to paid sick leave and save workers?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, from the beginning of this pandemic, we have had Canadians' backs with unprecedented supports for workers, for families, for small businesses, for seniors and for young people, and we have continued to do that.

In discussions with the provinces and territories at the end of last summer, we moved forward with two weeks of paid sick leave, knowing it would make a big difference across the country and we continue to work on that. We expanded it to four weeks.

We also recognize the provinces themselves have a role to play, and I hope a number of them will continue to step up on paid sick leave. There is work for all of us to do, but eight dollars out of every 10 dollars to support Canadians came from the federal government.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has finally tabled a budget that responds to the NDP's concerns and signature demands. I congratulate him, but the Prime Minister forgot to address an urgent demand from the provinces and territories to increase health transfers.

We are in the middle of a health crisis, and our health care system has to meet the needs of the people. Will the Prime Minister promise to increase health transfers, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, yes, I promised that last December during conversations and meetings with the provincial and territorial premiers.

I also acknowledged that our health care system has urgent needs in the short term. That is why we transferred billions of dollars more to the provinces and territories to get through this pandemic.

Once this crisis is behind us, we will sit down together and figure out how we will continue to increase health transfers for the long term. That is what we will do.

Families, Children and Social Development

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the global pandemic has been tough on all Canadians, but particularly on women, who tend to be the family caregivers, especially during a crisis. Research shows many women have had to exit the workforce, risking decades of women's hard-fought gains in the workplace. We know this often due to a lack of affordable, accessible and quality early learning and child care.

Can the Prime Minister please tell us how much we are investing in a national child care program, why it is so important for parents now and how this will support women right across Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Cumberland—Colchester for raising this important issue.

Child care should not be a luxury, it should be something everyone can afford. That is why budget 2021 commits up to $30 billion over five years to build a Canada-wide child care system. This plan aims to cut fees by 50% by the end of next year, and in five years, we aim to reach an average of $10-a-day day care right across the country.

We look forward to working with all the provinces and territories to ensure all Canadians have access to early learning and child care.

Health

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the United Kingdom, restaurants are beginning to reopen. New Zealand and Australia are accepting international passengers without a quarantine. In the United States, major sports and music venues are beginning to reopen safely.

Here in Canada, we are dealing with a huge third wave. Why is Canada faring so poorly compared to some of our international allies?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that many Canadians are going through extremely tough times because of this third wave.

We also recognize that there are places in Canada that have been spared this third wave, including the Atlantic provinces, where the federal government's work with those provinces has led to a different pandemic reality, and the far north, where the federal government's work with the territorial premiers has led to a different pandemic outcome.

We recognize that there are places that need more help, and the federal government is going to be there for Ontario and any other places needing that assistance.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what they needed is vaccines. That was the one job he had at this point in the crisis.

Now he tries to throw on a cape and say he is the hero who is going to solve the problem that he caused. The reality is, the rest of the world was being vaccinated in January and February. Vaccination rates in the U.S. and U.K. are twice what they are here in Canada. The rest of the world is reopening while we are being confined to our basements because of the wave of variants that the Prime Minister allowed.

Why did the rest of the world have access to vaccines in January and February while we did not?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again, it should come as no surprise that that particular member has a way of inventing facts.

The reality is, we did get vaccines in January and February, unlike what the member is saying. Indeed, we need to continue to increase it. Although, for January, February and March, we actually surpassed our target of six million vaccines by almost 9.5 million vaccines total.

The reality is, we will continue to deliver vaccines to Canadians as quickly as possible. We are now third in the G20 in terms of the number of citizens vaccinated with at least one dose. We will continue to accelerate our vaccination.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, inventing facts? This from the Prime Minister who has been embarrassed, again, on the international stage for stating falsehoods.

The Independent of London stated that the Canadian Prime Minister:

...has bizarrely claimed that the UK is facing a “very serious third wave” of Covid-19, despite cases in Britain currently being much lower than in Canada.

He spreads misinformation here at home and embarrasses us abroad, when he should be apologizing for his colossal failure to deliver vaccines.

Why were Canadians not vaccinated in January and February, like everyone else?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have answered that question.

It is fascinating to me that the former finance critic for the Conservative Party, the now critic for jobs and growth, has absolutely nothing to say about our federal budget. We just put forward an ambitious plan for jobs and growth. I am quite aware that the Conservatives have taken issue with it, but they are choosing to not use this opportunity for debate and for discussion in this House of Commons.

I know the member for Carleton never shies away from debate, but why is he not asking any questions about our plan to grow the economy? Is it because it is that good?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is because I looked through it, and there was no plan for jobs or for growth to debate.

All the Prime Minister has done is lock down the businesses that provide the jobs and growth. He has locked them down through his failure, and his failure alone, to deliver the vaccines that are opening up economies around the world.

The President of the United States said every single adult in America is now eligible for vaccines. Here in Canada, we have not even had 30 vaccines for 100 people. That is the contrast.

If the Prime Minister wants to know why we have 300,000 missing jobs and so many people seeing the end of their lives as a result of COVID-19, it is because of his failure. Why did we not get vaccinated in January and February, like everyone else?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I now understand why the hon. member for Carleton is not asking questions about the budget; he has not actually read the budget.

Let me inform him that in this budget, we are extending emergency supports to bridge Canadians and Canadian businesses through to recovery. We are extending employment insurance sickness benefits from 15 to 26 weeks. We are revitalizing Canada's tourism sector with a $1-billion investment. We are funding to enhance initiatives, like the Black entrepreneurship program and the women entrepreneurship strategy. We are establishing a $15 minimum wage, enriching the Canada workers benefit, and investing in our small businesses and the transformation of supports they are going to need for the future.

This is a jobs and growth budget, and we are all, apparently, very proud of it in this House.

The Budget

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, one of the Prime Minister's marquee commitments in this budget is for a universal child care system inspired by Quebec, which became a global pioneer when Pauline Marois and the Parti Québécois created early learning centres in 1997.

The Prime Minister is following Quebec's lead, so of course he would not presume to tell Quebec what to do with its share of the money. As they say, students do not correct the teacher's work.

Can the Prime Minister confirm that Quebec will get its fair share of the funding, no strings attached? Will it be unconditional?