Mr. Speaker, ensuring that vaccines are available for all vulnerable people around the world is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. I do not want to be an alarmist or want this to be seen as a partisan attack. Rather, I am speaking from my heart in the most urgent way I can to say that we, as human beings, are facing an existential, ethical, moral and intellectual threat. I am deeply afraid that the Liberal government is making the wrong choice to protect Canadians and the world.
As we all know, we are in the midst of the third wave of the COVID-19 global health pandemic. COVID-19 has killed close to three million people so far worldwide. Countries have had their economies crippled and their health care systems demolished. Of course, we have spent countless hours in the House debating the impacts on our economy and the measures we need to take to address those impacts.
What we have not addressed, and what the government refuses to address, is Canada's critical role in combatting COVID-19 around the world. This is a global pandemic that will require a global solution. It will require that wealthy countries do what they can to protect the health and well-being of citizens and the economy. Perhaps more importantly, it will require that wealthy countries such as Canada recognize this and work to help citizens in every country to ensure we can all recover from COVID-19. That is simply not happening in Canada with the current government.
Instead, we know the government is refusing to support a proposal to the World Trade Organization that would waive certain intellectual property rights and allow low-income countries to manufacture their own vaccines and medicines to combat COVID-19. While millions suffer and die, variants develop and the global economy crashes, the government delays and deflects. It has been over six months since the intellectual property waiver proposal was first made to the World Trade Organization by NDN South Africa. Over those six months, the government has delayed providing a concrete response, instead asking questions for which it already has the answers and tiptoeing around its refusal to support the measures.
We do not have the luxury of time. While the government is delaying and taking the side of big pharma, ensuring record multibillion-dollar profits for these companies, the virus is evolving. It does not care whether one lives in a low-income or high-income country. It does not care about big pharma's profits. It will continue to spread around the world and continue to evolve as long as we fail to recognize that this is a global crisis that requires a global response.
This is the proverbial tip of the iceberg. We are in a global race between vaccines and variants right now, and the variants are winning. The intellectual property waiver is not just about giving poor countries the tools they need to combat COVID-19 for their own citizens. It is also about protecting Canadians. Our health, well-being and economy depend on defeating COVID-19.
Canadians are not asking the government to protect big pharma. Canadians are asking the government to protect them. When will the government sign on in support of the intellectual property waiver at the WTO?