House of Commons Hansard #85 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was vaccines.

Topics

HealthOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Durham Ontario

Conservative

Erin O'Toole ConservativeLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, the provinces need a leader, not a father.

Last year, the Prime Minister failed to close the border because he had no plan to slow the spread of the virus. Yesterday, the United States introduced new measures for our border because this government is slow to take action to stop the variants.

We are in the third wave, and the Prime Minister is still slow to take action in the hot spots.

When will he take action?

HealthOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, today, the Leader of the Opposition asked five questions and invented facts for each one. I understand that parliamentarians have a responsibility to debate in this place, but when he says, for instance, that the United States has just changed their position on Canada, that is simply not true. The United States has expressed concerns about many countries, including Canada, since November and continues to do so.

The Conservatives feel the need to spout falsehoods to play politics. That is not the way it should be.

HealthOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC

Mr. Speaker, according to The Globe and Mail, Canada's Prime Minister promised to approve long-term provincial health transfer increases. That is all well and good, but the budget is here and now. That does not show up in any of the next few years in this budget. How strange.

My question is very simple: Are these health transfer increases happening now? Will they cover 35% of costs?

HealthOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois appears to have forgotten that, in December, we met with all the provincial and territorial premiers. I stated very clearly at that time that, yes, we will be there to increase health transfers for the long term, but not until we have gotten through the pandemic. I also said that we will continue to be there throughout the pandemic with billions of dollars in support for the provinces. We are allocating $19 billion for the recovery, $4 billion of it now, in this budget, for health transfers and all the help the provinces need now.

HealthOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC

Mr. Speaker, I realize that, in the Prime Minister's mind, the pandemic is going to last even longer than five years.

I would like to repeat something we heard earlier today. The Quebec National Assembly unanimously adopted the following:

That it reiterate its resolution of 2 December 2020 that denounced Ottawa's desire to impose Canadian standards in Québec CHSLDs and long-term care facilities for the elderly, and that requested that health transfer payments be increased to the equivalent of 35% of healthcare network costs;

That it deplore the fact that this issue was not addressed in the Canadian budget;

I am not the only one who missed it. Quebec has voted unanimously against the Prime Minister.

HealthOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, all Quebeckers and all Canadians are concerned about what happens to seniors across the country. They recognize that all seniors across the country must be able to retire with dignity and security. That is precisely why we are working with the provinces and territories to ensure that our seniors have a secure retirement and are properly protected in long-term care homes.

We recognize and respect provincial jurisdictions, but we will provide funding to help the provinces ensure that all seniors are protected.

HealthOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

Mr. Speaker, a doctor in Ontario wrote to the Prime Minister, urging the Prime Minister to invoke the Emergencies Act and to step in and help. She writes of how the situation in Ontario is so bad that not only COVID-19 patients, but all patients seeking health care, are limited in the health care they can receive.

Specifically, she wrote, “How angry would you be, if your loved one had a heart attack and there was no hospital or ICU bed for them?”

Will the Prime Minister declare a public welfare emergency and immediately get the help that people need to get vaccines to those who need it most?

HealthOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the federal government is here to help all Canadians. We have their backs. That is why we have indicated to the Government of Ontario that we are there to provide more supports. Whether it is through Red Cross, more vaccine doses or investments in health care, we will continue to be there to support Canadians right across the country.

I find it interesting, however, that the NDP is now calling on us to invoke the Emergencies Act, when Tommy Douglas famously criticized my father for doing the same thing. We believe in working with the provinces and delivering concretely. That is what we will continue to do.

HealthOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister knows that is a completely different act. The Prime Minister also knows that having someone's back means actually stepping in and helping, not standing back and watching. Radhika, from the greater Toronto area, lost her father to COVID-19. Her father worked for 26 years in the same factory in the greater Toronto area before getting COVID-19, getting sick and then dying. She says that the way forward is to make sure people have paid sick leave.

Will the Prime Minister, if he believes he can have people's backs, improve access to paid sick leave and protect workers?

HealthOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the tragedies faced by far too many Canadian families over these past many months have been heartbreaking.

Every step of the way, governments have been there to support people. We have been working hand in glove with provincial and territorial governments. We have been delivering direct supports to families, and we know that there continues to be more to do.

We moved forward with paid sick leave to make sure that people did not have to face the impossible choice between going to work and putting food on the table, and we will continue to work to do more. We know that people need us to continue to have their backs, and we will.

HealthOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

Mr. Speaker, there was a 10-day period in January and February when Canada did not receive any vaccines and we are seeing the results of that now.

As a result of that gap created by the Prime Minister, the third wave is much worse in Canada than anywhere else, resulting in very strict lockdown measures being imposed on Canadians. They are being told not to travel. Not so long ago, however, the Prime Minister said he was getting ready to travel to Great Britain this summer.

Why does the Prime Minister say one thing and do another?

HealthOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, it is amazing to see the lengths to which the Conservative Party will go to make political comments and attacks.

I was hoping to attend the heads of government meeting, the G7, in person in June. Obviously that will very much depend on the situation when the time comes. That is exactly what I said.

We will be responsible and we will continue to work with our counterparts around the world to get through this global crisis and work on the vitally important global economic recovery.

HealthOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

Mr. Speaker, I certainly do not need to go to great lengths to find examples. In fact, let us look to another country and talk about CNN.

Not long ago, CNN said that this was a real failure by the Prime Minister's government and that Canadians deserve better.

That is what other countries think about the Prime Minister's management.

The spokesperson for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the same thing. He chided the Prime Minister for saying that Great Britain was having serious problems, which was not true. Canada is the one having serious problems, because the Prime Minister did not do a good job with the vaccines in January and February.

Can he at least recognize that?

HealthOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party health critic told Canadians that they might not get vaccinated until 2030.

We got people vaccinated in 2020, even before the new year. At the same time, we recognize that there is still work to be done. We have now passed the threshold of having vaccinated 25% of Canadians, but we know that we need to do more. That is why, in a week and a half, in May, we are going to to start getting more than two million vaccines per week, and those numbers are going to keep going up. We are working hard on this every day.

HealthOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

Mr. Speaker, Canadians remember that we received vaccines in December 2020.

The Prime Minister put on a dog and pony show, but Canadians also remember that there were no vaccines for 10 days in January and February. Today, the consequence is that the third wave is hitting harder in Canada than elsewhere because the Prime Minister created unfavourable conditions for this third wave, which has caused Canadians to suffer.

Can the Prime Minister acknowledge his failure to deliver vaccines in January and February?

HealthOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, it is important to stick to the facts.

We promised Canadians that we would receive six million doses of vaccines in the first three months of 2020. We exceeded that by 50% and received nine million doses. We are exceeding our projections, but we do acknowledge that there is much more work to be done. We will continue to work day and night to deliver more and more vaccines so we can get through this pandemic.

HealthOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Mr. Speaker, 4,000 Manitoba essential workers will be fully vaccinated months earlier than the Prime Minister planned, thanks to the kindness and generosity of the North Dakota people. While transporting goods within the United States, Manitoba truckers will receive both recommended doses, two doses, within a short six-week period. Full credit goes to Manitoba's premier for his visionary leadership on this.

Will the Prime Minister admit that it is in fact his vaccine shortages that caused the third wave of the pandemic and encouraged multiple premiers to go cap in hand to the governor of North Dakota?

HealthOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives would do well to pay a little more attention to science rather than grounding everything in their partisan attacks.

I would like to remind the hon. member that we have worked every step of the way with the provinces and territories throughout this pandemic, including on procuring and supplying them with vaccines. Provinces are free to make their own decisions on who should be prioritized for vaccination. We are happy to see the Province of Manitoba making essential workers such as truckers a priority.

As I have said many times, every Canadian who wants to be will be fully vaccinated by September.

HealthOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister would do well to remember that the third wave is raging in Canada, and Canadians are tired of waiting for vaccines. We are seeing dual citizens in Ontario crossing the U.S. border to get vaccinated. Many Canadians know snowbirds who have done the same. Everyone but the Prime Minister can see that success in the U.S. and the U.K. has allowed them to begin reopening, yet Canada has resorted to taking vaccines from developing nations, which is an international embarrassment.

Canadians deserve far better than the Prime Minister's mediocrity. Will he admit that his failure to deliver enough vaccines in January and February led to the third wave of the pandemic in Canada?

HealthOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, instead of talking down the hard-working Canadians across the country, in the provinces, the territories and the federal government, who have been working unbelievably hard to get people vaccinated, they should respect and reflect on the fact that Canada is now third in the G20, in terms of people who have been vaccinated. In terms of the G7, we are also third, behind the U.S. and the U.K., indeed, but ahead of many of our European counterparts.

We will continue to do even better. We will continue to bring in even more vaccines because we know that vaccination and science is the way through this pandemic.

HealthOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Mr. Speaker, this is serious. People are getting sicker, and they are dying. Provinces are heading back into the third wave of the pandemic with lockdowns. ICUs are overwhelmed, and field hospitals are being built in Ontario. A Vancouver nurse is asking for prayers because the situation is worse than she has ever seen. She is seeing people as young as 20 years old in her ICU. Canadians are frustrated, and they are tired. It is costing more Canadian lives and livelihoods.

This is the COVID-19 legacy of the Prime Minister. Will he show humility for once and acknowledge that his failure to get vaccines to Canada adequately in January and February led to the third wave of the pandemic and is costing Canadian lives?

HealthOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, on this we can agree. Canadians are tired of this COVID pandemic. People are frustrated about the restrictions that continue, but we need to get through this as quickly and as best as possible. That is why we are working day and night to bring in even more vaccine doses, so we can end this pandemic. In the meantime, we are going to need to continue to follow local public health guidelines.

We actually, as a federal government, brought in measures so that premiers across the country could make tough decisions around closing down various sectors of the economy, knowing that the federal government would be there to support workers and small businesses, and to have Canadians' backs.

JusticeOral Questions

April 21st, 2021 / 2:40 p.m.

Bloc

Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC

Mr. Speaker, a ruling on Bill 21 has finally been handed down.

The justice recognized that the Quebec National Assembly has viable and legitimate authority over such matters, but ruled that the National Assembly does not have authority over one aspect. Quebec will obviously be appealing.

Does the Prime Minister recognize Quebec's jurisdiction over such matters? Will he commit to not funding its opponents?

JusticeOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime 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.

JusticeOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Bloc

Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC

Mr. Speaker, I want to read something out, to get some more details from the Prime Minister.

That the National Assembly recall that the Québec nation has never consented to the constitutional order imposed in 1982 by the Government of Canada;

That it affirm that the Québec nation can legitimately establish its own rules for living together, in accordance with its own history, culture and institutions;

That it reiterate that all Québécois are equal before the law and that the law applies to all;

That it recall that the laws passed by the National Assembly apply across the entire territory of Québec.

This was a motion unanimously adopted by every single member of the Quebec National Assembly. Will the Prime Minister respect Quebeckers?