Madam Speaker, it is unfortunate that we could not hear the last part of the response by the Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.
In the time allotted to me, I would like to start by congratulating the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands on convincing the Chair to agree to this emergency debate about the third wave of viral infection. The member challenged us to hold a debate that would enable parliamentarians to work together. That is very important. However, I have to admit that, over the course of tonight's debate, I did come to wonder what had happened.
At the start of the pandemic, there was a wonderful and admirable desire on the part of all parties to work together. We were in a crisis, and it was crucial that everyone contribute to helping Canadians.
I was looking for an example of that wonderful collaboration to share, and it is funny how we can sometimes miss what is right in front of us or even right under our noses. I actually have a really great example to share from the Parliamentary Black Caucus. For almost a year now, this caucus of members of all political parties has been meeting to promote the interests of Black Canadians and to fight anti-Black and systemic racism.
We had a meeting again this evening. Members of all parties left partisanship at the door to discuss how to promote the interests of Black Canadians. The link between this example and the current debate is that cultural communities and racialized groups are more vaccine-hesitant, as we can see when we break down the data for Canada.
Two other observations must be made. The first is that these groups are overrepresented among victims of this virus. The reason they are more likely to die of it is that they are often essential workers. They are working in long-term care centres or in hospitals, on the front lines, making sure the rest of society is protected. They are on the front lines of the fight against the coronavirus. They are the most vulnerable.
It is so important that we set partisanship aside in order to protect the people who are helping maintain the appearance of a functioning society during the pandemic.
This means that we all have a greater duty to be more accountable in our words, in the statistics we quote, in the advice and guidelines that our health authorities offer us. As members of Parliament, we have a responsibility to share this information and to give Canadians the facts. We do not want to scare them, cause panic, promote a point of view, be partisan or present facts selectively.
At this time, it is true that between 2.5% and 2.8% of Canadians have received both doses of the vaccine, so they are completely protected from the virus. This is true, and it is safe to say it. However, that is just one small part of the story. The other part, which is just as important if not more relevant, is that as of April 21, 25.9% of Canadians have received at least one dose of vaccine. We now rank third among G20 and G7 countries. That is a record. A more—