Debates of May 5th, 2021

COVID-19 in Alberta

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, we need to talk about the solutions. Let us talk about the help we can provide. We need to mobilize with an all-hands-on-deck approach. Every resource available at the federal level has to be deployed to help people. I am talking about ensuring we are providing assistance and support to get people vaccinated. We need to provide front-line health care workers—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I have to interrupt again. There seems to be a technical issue. Maybe the hon. member could unplug his mike and then re-plug it. I know when I am speaking, the interpretation is there. I see the member has the House recommended mick, so we will try again. It is working now.

The hon. member for Burnaby South.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to talk about the whole point of this debate, and I would like to thank my colleague, the member for Edmonton Strathcona, for calling for the emergency debate. New Democrats support this call, and we want to have a discussion about what we could do to help.

Knowing that health care workers on the front lines are stretched thin, knowing that there is a high rate of infection, and knowing that there is a high rate of positivity in Alberta, what are we going to do to help?

For a long time I have often seen, at the federal level, the Prime Minister using jurisdiction as an excuse to not act. When we are in a pandemic, when we are in a crisis, real leadership is not hiding behind excuses or looking for excuses. Real leadership is looking for solutions. We need the federal government to step up.

There is a difference between placing blame for the mistakes of the past and putting pressure on the government to act right now. We need the federal government to step up and provide more help to Alberta.

We know another concrete thing the government could do right now is to improve access to paid sick leave. Experts across this country, including medical health experts and public health experts, have all said better access to paid sick leave will help reduce the spread of COVID-19. That is something the federal government could do right now.

I want to be very clear. I am calling for improving the existing federal paid sick leave program that New Democrats fought for. What is the point of having a program that does not actually work? This emergency debate is an opportunity for us to talk about solutions.

One solution is to, please, fix the paid sick leave program so that it actually works, so that workers do not have to make the impossible choice between going into work sick or staying at home and not knowing if they can pay their bills. When people do not have paid sick leave and they do not have income coming in when they stay at home, they will not be able to stay at home. It is just not a choice that a worker can make. We need to provide workers with that support.

We need to make sure that people have the opportunity to take time off to get vaccinated. If someone is working and they need every single paycheque, and they are living paycheque to paycheque, they cannot take time off to get vaccinated. They simply cannot afford to. We need to put in place a paid sick leave program that works. That is a concrete step that the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table has called for and experts across Canada have called for. It is something we could do right now. That is a concrete step we could take.

We could ensure that Alberta gets additional supports when it comes to vaccines. We could ensure that Alberta gets additional supports when it comes to frontline workers. We could look at all federal resources, including considering bringing in the military to provide support. Alberta needs help. The people of Alberta need help.

That is what this emergency debate is about. That is why the member for Edmonton Strathcona called for this emergency debate, so we could talk about solutions. What could we do right now to provide help?

It is important for us to acknowledge that the pandemic has shown us that we are all connected. When there is an outbreak in another country and the numbers increase, it impacts the entire world. When there is an increased rate of infection in our province, in a neighbouring province, anywhere in Canada, it impacts all of us. We have a shared responsibility to care for each other.

This pandemic has shown us something. When we look out for one another, when we take care of one another, we are better off, we are stronger and we have a better response. Right now, the people in Alberta need our support.

Let us look at some other solutions. Something else we need to consider is how we could deploy a national support system. What we have called for in the past is looking at establishing, wherever there is a federal building, wherever there is federal resources, and deploying assistance in a tandem or parallel vaccination site, which could be set up federally to assist in the provincial efforts.

We need to start looking for solutions. I want to find solutions to help out. We know increasing vaccinations, providing better sick leave and providing better supports would help. What are the other solutions? What could the Liberal government do right now, instead of saying that it has done its part and throwing its hands up? That is not good enough. We need to see more supports.

I have spoken with some of the health care workers who are saying that if things continue to get worse, it could get to a point where they have to decide who gets access to ventilators and who does not. This is a real crisis. I have spoken to health care workers in other provinces who have seen the numbers increase, and they are burnt out. They are in shock at the numbers that are happening with increased cases and with people coming into ICU units.

As the numbers increase, we are seeing entire families get infected. Workers who have to go into work get sick and then come home, bringing the illness back. Then entire families end up in the hospital. People are on ventilators. People are struggling to get into ICU units. None of this had to happen.

Right now this is what is going on, so we need to look at solutions. That is what we are calling for. New Democrats are saying we should provide that support and help right now.

What I have noted, and have been troubled by, is that we do not see a response in proportion to how serious things are. When things are serious, when things are really bad, we need to have an immediate response that is proportional to the gravity of the problem we are up against. This is serious. This is really bad. What is the serious response that will address the needs right now? That is what we are calling for.

I can outline what New Democrats think should happen. We have said this from the beginning. We need better paid sick leave, we need better access to vaccines, we need better supports for workers and we need to make sure there is an all-hands-on-deck approach to getting everyone vaccinated. In particular, in Alberta where people are struggling right now, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach. The federal government needs to do everything possible and deploy every resource possible to support the people. That is what we are calling for and that is what this discussion should be about.

I want to thank the member for Edmonton Strathcona for calling for this emergency debate, I want to thank the House of Commons and the Speaker for agreeing to it and I want to thank all members for participating, but let us focus on solutions. Let us focus on what the federal government can do in terms of supports right now to help people right now.

I want to reiterate that the time has come to help our brothers and sisters, our neighbours in Alberta. They need the federal government's help to deal with this crisis.

This is a serious crisis and a critical time. We have to give them the help they need, improve access to a paid sick leave program, and do everything we can to get everyone vaccinated. New Democrats will continue to apply pressure in exactly those areas. We must act immediately.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have two quick comments.

First, a highly successful pilot project regarding rapid testing in Alberta was cancelled a number of months ago by the Liberal government. Does the member agree with that?

Second, we have all talked about how important vaccines are, but I was interested to note, as I checked a few minutes ago, that the member voted against the Conservative motion last week to have a plan to get vaccines to all Canadians as soon as possible.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, the plan was that everyone should be vaccinated by tomorrow. Of course New Democrats think that should happen, but it is a little cynical to say that when it is not the reality. That is not happening. That is not the case. Canadians have felt that politics have become cynical because people say things that are just not achievable.

I want folks who are listening to pay attention to the comments from Conservatives. They are talking about things in the past and mistakes that were made. Those are legitimate things to talk about, but not when there is an emergency. When a person's house is on fire, does the individual want to talk about whether the wiring, the plumbing or the connections were bad? No, that person wants to get people out of the house to safety and security. They want to get family and loved ones out of the fire. Afterward, people can figure out what happened, but right now we are in an emergency. Why are members talking about what happened in the past when we should be talking about helping people right now?

I do not know if people understand how serious this is. I do not know if they have listened to the stories or have spoken to people on the ground. Things are bad. People are getting sick and they need help. They do not need people to talk about a decision on rapid testing from four weeks ago or a month ago. They need to talk about what we are doing right now. We know the evidence is clear: paid sick leave, an all-hands-on-deck approach, giving all resources possible to provide support and help to Alberta, deploying health care workers as we saw were deployed—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I have to allow for other questions.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Madam Speaker, the member is talking about what to do right now. It is an excellent point. What can we do right now?

In order to get more health care professionals into Ontario, there had to be co-operation with the Province of Ontario. A lot of the things that we do have to be done with co-operation. We cannot start walking all over provinces. We have to do things with them.

If provinces are not asking for or wanting the help, how does the member recommend we impose upon provinces that we still need to do something, even if they might be against it?

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, in a crisis we do everything possible to help. That means lining up the support, saying here is our plan and here is how we can help, and getting on the phone to tell the provinces what we are providing. What we can do immediately, and the member knows this because the experts have said this, is improve access to paid sick leave. There is a federal program. The government has already admitted that there is no jurisdictional issue because there is already a program. Let us make it better so workers do not go to work sick.

These are two concrete steps I have just laid out that could happen right now.

[Paul Manly, Green, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Madam Speaker, I agree that we need to focus on the things that need to be done right now. Paid sick leave is one of those things that we should do, and it seems like the federal government needs to step up on this because the governments of B.C., Ontario and Alberta have not stepped up as they should. They are the ones in charge of the Labour Code.

Where we see pandemic outbreaks right now are at large construction projects, such as Site C and LNG Canada, and in the oil sands. What does the hon. member think should be done with these construction projects? Are they urgent? Should they be shut down while there are outbreaks going on, or how do we deal with outbreaks at these large construction projects for energy extraction?

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, we need to follow the advice of the public health experts when it comes to where we need to be protecting people and the measures we need. We need paid sick leave at the federal level. The program is there, it just needs to be improved. That would significantly help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in workplaces.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, it is an honour for me to be able to speak about Alberta, the province I grew up in, live in, represent and love so much.

This is an important debate. I will say it has also at times been an odd debate, odd I think because the federal New Democrats, especially my hon. friend from Edmonton Strathcona, are using the federal House of Commons to offer a highly partisan critique of the UCP government in Alberta. I am not here to praise or critique the UCP government. I think I have enough to do seeking to hold the federal government accountable in the federal House of Commons, to push it to adopt policies that are in the national interest and protect Canadians by getting us out of this pandemic.

The NDP members have declared that Canadians do not care about jurisdiction, they want politicians to act. To this, I would observe that jurisdictional details are actually extremely important to how we resolve this crisis. The federal government cannot impose gathering restrictions and provincial governments cannot control borders. Everyone needs to do their job in their own area of jurisdiction. It is silly to pretend that jurisdictional responsibility does not matter. Jurisdictional responsibility is crucial. Politicians need to understand where their responsibilities lie. Then they need to act in those areas of responsibility to do their part to get the outcomes that we are all looking for.

What we have seen during too much of this crisis is an obscuring of responsibility. It is not just the NDP; many federal Liberals have also taken every opportunity to slam the actions of various provincial governments. That might be understandable if the federal government had carried off its own responsibilities flawlessly, but that is far from the case, so now instead of acting effectively it is often shifting responsibility.

I want to pose what I think is the fundamental question for this conversation, the question Canadians have been asking for a long time. Let us end the finger-pointing between different levels of government and let us establish who is responsible for solving the problem of COVID-19 in Canada. Who is responsible for getting us out of this crisis, for charting a course to something different, for building a plan to get us beyond the current pandemic? Who is responsible?

Too often we hear from the provinces that the feds should do certain things, we hear from the feds about what the provinces should do, meanwhile both are saying they are deferring to experts. The public health experts in different jurisdictions do not always agree with each other and do not actually have the ability to publicly contradict the politicians they report to.

Further, when it comes to expertise, it is, by its nature, specialized. One expert may be well placed to tell us about the spread of a disease, but less able to explain the social factors that contribute to whether or not people follow guidelines in certain situations. A different expert still may be required to explain the impacts on life and well-being that are associated with large-scale unemployment caused by certain kinds of policies. The point is that generally we expect politicians to gather the feedback of different experts and make a decision that synthesizes that feedback and applies collective values as dictated by the electorate. That is the point of having a democracy instead of an aristocracy of expertise.

Today, the politicians say they are deferring to the experts when in reality the experts still report in private to politicians and politicians are the ones actually taking decisions, so again there is a lack of clarity about who is actually responsible. When I say “who” is responsible, I am not intending to refer to the World Health Organization, although it is evident that many people in this government would like to defer responsibility for their decisions to the WHO, even though it has been clear from the beginning there have been serious flaws in its approach and recommendations. The WHO is ultimately constrained by its member states. As we have seen, that has limited its action in particular, for instance, in response to identifying issues coming out of China at the beginning. There has been a lot of just passing back and forth the—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to interrupt the member for a second. I do not know if I was sidetracked, but I do not remember him saying he was sharing his time, so I was wondering if he is or if he is taking the full 20 minutes, just so I can pace myself.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, I was of course intending to say that I was splitting my time. I was saving that for the ninth minute, just to make sure Sean and Sebastien are still awake.

There has been much passing back and forth of responsibility throughout this. It goes without saying that there have been mistakes made at lots of levels, but what we need now is to stop this extended process of finger pointing, and for someone to finally stand up and say, “I am responsible and I have a plan to get us out of this.” That person, the person we need to show national leadership, take responsibility and give us a plan for getting us out of this pandemic is the Prime Minister. He has the opportunity, better late than never, to step up and work to unite this country and work to build a safe recovery by leading from those critical areas of federal responsibility.

In my view, the most critical actions required for a long-term solution to this pandemic are all in federal jurisdiction. Therefore, I want to give the Prime Minister some suggestions about what a path would look like to get us out of this in federal jurisdictions.

Making vaccines available to Canadians is critically important. Much has been said, I think very well, by my colleagues about the government's failure to do that. However, as we have also discussed, vaccines are not the whole picture.

We live in an increasingly interconnected world where pandemics are going to become more and more common. Locking ourselves down and bringing our nation to the precipice of a debt crisis every time there is a novel virus outbreak or a vaccine-resistant variant, and then waiting for vaccine development is likely not going to be a viable strategy in the 21st century.

We need to learn how and act to build a system that allows us to stay safe and stay open during pandemics like this. Some countries have done that. Some countries beat COVID-19 long before there was a vaccine. I spoke about that in a question that I addressed to the health minister on March 25, 2020, well over a year ago. Here is what I said at the time:

Madam Chair, Canada must look at international comparisons and copy strategies used by countries that have been successful in controlling COVID-19. South Korea provides one such example. Its approach emphasizes widely available testing and tracking of the spread of the virus, making people aware of specific places where they might have been exposed and providing them with the test results as quickly as possible. This targeted testing and tracking approach has helped South Korea turn the corner. Taiwan's approach has been similar and similarly effective.

Has the government studied, and is the government preparing to adopt, the very successful containment model used by Asian democracies which also have more experience at pandemic control?

I asked the health minister that on March 25, 2020, more than a year ago, and the health minister replied that yes, they were looking at these models and different experiences around the world, and yet, we still have not seen the plan to implement some of those successful measures.

Earlier than that, on March 11 of the same year, I tabled a petition in the House calling on the government to strengthen border screening, including having effective temperature testing at the border. Because the federal government has responsibility for developing and approving new testing technology, for coordinating national systems of tracing, for securing our borders and, yes, for providing clear and accurate advice on masking, something else that the government unfortunately failed to do, it has failed to act and has, in many cases yet to act, in terms of putting in place the systems and charting the path that is going to get us out of this. That points to why we are still really in the midst of a third wave that has not hit many other countries around the world, a third wave that is in Canada and it is hitting every province at different magnitudes in different provinces. We have a third wave hitting this country because of a failure of the federal government to act in areas of its jurisdictions.

I agree strongly with my colleagues about the vital necessity of making vaccines available. The Province of Alberta has been rapidly deploying vaccines as they have been made available, but we also must develop systems of effective border control, testing and tracing, things that the federal government must lead on.

On the issue of responsibility, it is important to say that it is not just about government. All of us are responsible. For our collective response to COVID-19 to work, citizens must choose to be engaged and there has to be a level of social trust.

People have to listen to health directives and follow them. It goes without saying that the spread of COVID-19 is determined by the practical actions of people on the ground, and it is only affected by the regulations that are in place insofar as those regulations are followed. However, trust also has to be earned. When we have a national government that has been inconsistent in the advice it has given, and that is routinely attacking the Province of Alberta and other provinces, it unfortunately undermines trust. The government, in addition to the policy measures, needs to work to rebuild trust with people on the ground, especially people in my province.

With that, I look forward to responding to questions.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague especially for the conversation around building trust. We saw that the Government of Alberta failed to listen to health officials when it came to very critical measures that would have saved lives. That is where the Government of Alberta is losing trust. We are seeing that even in Edmonton, where the government is cutting really important harm reduction measures that are going to cost people's lives. It is not just the opioid crisis and the COVID crisis. The government is failing to protect its citizens.

I know the member and the Conservatives do not want to talk about the provincial government. They want to talk about federal issues. One of the key measures that has been recommended by health officials right across this country is paid sick leave, yet the Conservative members of Parliament have stonewalled and not answered whether they support it. The paid sick leave the federal government is offering right now is weak at best and needs to be improved to save lives.

Why are the Conservatives not doing their job, protecting lives of citizens and standing with the NDP in calling—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I have to allow for other questions.

The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, I have articulated what I think are the critical aspects of a response that is required under federal jurisdiction and the member, again, is bringing it back to aspects of provincial policies on a number of fronts. I think we need to focus on those critical areas of federal response and federal jurisdiction.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Speaker, I really appreciated looking back to questions asked a year ago, such as the point the hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith raised first about Taiwan and the approach it was taking with masks. At that point the Canadian public health advice was that we were not going to go the way of masks. There have been a lot of moments here when members of the opposition like the hon member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan have raised important questions, and at this point we are talking about his home province.

Taking the partisanship out of the debate, what is the best way for us to help Alberta?

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, it is to make vaccines available, develop an effective system at the border that is based on science and evidence for controlling the flow of COVID cases into the country, and engage constructively with the provincial government to support the delivery of services that are required. I think that constructive engagement, as well as taking care of those areas of federal responsibility, is precisely what the federal government and national politicians need to be doing.

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer—Mountain View, AB]

Madam Speaker, the moment the Alberta government says things are serious and they have to act so things do not get out of control, we hear from the NDP member from Alberta that things are really serious and we have to be really concerned. I am not sure whether the rest of Canada understands that at this point in time if we had the vaccines, anybody over 30 would be able to have one. Anybody over 12 would be able to get one, if we had them, as far as next Monday is concerned. We will be able to manage the health care capacity. That is the reason these actions have been taken. The same thing goes for ICU beds, and so on.

Could the member comment on some of the amazing things that have been done, and the rhetoric that has gotten completely out of hand in this evening's discussion?

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, I know that the provincial government has been working very hard on this from the beginning. I know, frankly, provincially in Alberta, the NDP opposition there have been attacking from day one. There is a lot of partisan rancour in the tone there as well. I am not going to say that any provincial government is not doing its best. Every provincial government has probably made some mistakes.

However, we are here in the national Parliament. Some of us are in Ottawa, some of us are zooming in from home, but we are together talking about federal issues and the federal response. My contention is that the primary leadership we have lacked on this has been from the federal government addressing those key determinants of success that myself and other members were calling for over a year ago.

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Madam Speaker, I wish I could say that I am pleased to rise tonight to discuss the current COVID-19 situation in my home province of Alberta and in Canada, but I am actually sad that there is a third wave in my home province of Alberta and in Canada.

We have seen a record number of COVID cases. We have seen new lockdown measures in an effort to flatten the curve, yet our hospitalization numbers continue to rise and our ICU admissions continue to soar. I am also disappointed that we are here tonight because this Liberal government failed to protect Canadians and Albertans, both their physical and mental well-being.

We are in the middle of this third wave of the COVID pandemic. Many Canadians across Canada are struggling to cope with the rise of cases, harsh lockdowns and mental health struggles. This is very worrisome.

While our neighbours to the south are seeing their hospitalization numbers go down, businesses reopening, restaurant patios opening again just in time for summer and fans returning to in-person sporting games, Albertans are facing yet another summer of restrictive lockdowns. I cannot help but know that, if our Prime Minister and his Minister of Health took different actions at the beginning, we would now be getting ready to attend in-person sporting events and having brunch with family and friends on patios.

Make no mistake, this third wave and the damage it is doing to our mental health and the economy rests solely with the Prime Minister. Under this Prime Minister's leadership, the Minister of Health allowed our early pandemic warning system to be shut down just months before COVID-19 hit.

This Prime Minister sent hundreds of thousands of masks, gloves and gowns from the government's own reserve to China. A month later, health care professionals and first responders here at home were being asked to ration the use of personal protective equipment, recycle masks and limit their use of hand sanitizer, and in some cases they were using garbage bags as PPE.

The government refused to close our borders at the onset, letting the virus spread across the country. It flip-flopped on whether or not Canadians should wear masks. The Minister of Health repeatedly told Canadians that the risk of getting COVID was low. The Prime Minister was slow to roll out federal aid programs and wrong not to fix them when Conservatives raised concerns and offered productive solutions to help Canadians.

Protecting Canadians is one of the most important responsibilities of the government. We cannot continue with lockdowns and social distancing. Canadians are getting fed up. They want to be able to do what our neighbours to the south are able to do. Therefore, here are some of the things that the government can do to put Canadians first.

The government can develop a clear set of parameters for identifying risks presented by emerging variants and present this to the public in an easy-to-understand format. Canadians should have information on where the virus is spreading, emerging variants and vaccination levels.

The government can provide real-time warnings to the Canadian public when new variants are detected around the world as well as when hot spots for this spread are revealed. This applies to locations here in Canada as well as abroad.

The double variant first detected in India was detected in October 2020. The government could require anyone who has been in the variant hot spot to undergo enhanced screening, quarantine measures or a combination of both depending on the risk evaluated by public health officials. It could require immediate rapid tests at airports for all domestic airline travel.

We have lost so much during this third wave, but how long this third wave lasts is completely dependent on how quickly this Liberal government responds and acts to protect Albertans and Canadians. Albertans can take some assurance that it was the Conservatives who stood up and called for a real plan to protect Canadians from this pandemic.

In October 2020, the House passed a sweeping opposition motion to direct the health committee to study the COVID-19 pandemic and ordered the government to produce needed documents for the committee. This included information on the government's vaccine rollout and key related documents.

In November 2020, the member for Calgary Nose Hill penned an op-ed in the National Post calling for a better COVID-19 strategy from the government entitled “It's time for a better COVID strategy”. This included discussion of the government's inaction on vaccines.

Additionally, members were able to question the Minister of Health in a four-hour session in the House of Commons committee of the whole regarding the government's failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In December 2020, the House passed a motion calling on the government to be transparent on key information related to the COVID vaccine rollout.

In January 2021, we were able to secure an emergency debate in the House of Commons on the vaccine shortage in Canada.

In February 2021, we demanded that the chair of the health committee call an emergency meeting to discuss the COVID-19 variants and called on the Liberal MPs to stop the filibuster and to finally pass the motion to release the government's vaccine contracts.

The Conservatives' motion ended up passing, meaning the government will need to come clean on the details of the contract that it tried to hide. In March 2021, my colleagues at the health committee were able to hear from experts of the government ignoring the National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommendations to not administer AstraZeneca to the 65-plus age group.

It has never ended. Every proper and correct thing the government could have done to address this pandemic and help Canadians get back to some sort of normalcy, it did not do. Instead, the Liberals did the complete opposite. It is shameful that the Prime Minister has allowed Canada to fall so far behind our allies. We need the Prime Minister to do better. We need vaccines to be delivered, not the ones that our allies are sending us, but the ones under our own contracts.

Canadians want to return to normal life. They want to have barbeques with their friends and neighbours. They want to be able to go to the movies and watch the latest blockbusters. Most importantly, they want to be able to see their family members who they have not seen in over a year, give them a big hug and socialize with them.

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, my colleague spoke about measures on domestic flights, which I hope she knows the premier could actually implement at any time as it is within his jurisdiction.

My question is in regard to international flights. Does she support the mandatory quarantining of international flights landing in Canada? Does she also support lockdown measures that will help people get through this third wave in her home province?

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Madam Speaker, I watched the member make her speech earlier today. She talked about the frustration she is feeling because the Conservatives' message has not been consistent when it was actually the Liberals whose message has not been consistent.

It was the committee that said we need to wait for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines while the Prime Minister made the decision to announce that any vaccine that is available is good. That is where the message is wrong.

In terms of the quarantining, it has been a disaster. We have heard from women who were sexually assaulted at the quarantine hotels. Whatever the Liberal government has done so far regarding the measures at the airports has not worked.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Speaker, I want to begin by expressing my solidarity with Albertans facing this crisis. I have family and friends there. I am thinking of them and I am very concerned here tonight to hear the way in which Conservatives are distorting the reality of what people are facing. We know that the Conservative government in Alberta has abandoned Albertans in so many ways during this COVID crisis.

I want to share a particular concern around what workers have been facing. Many workers have paid the price of this pandemic with their lives. We know of workers in meat packing plants, in work camps, many essential workers who have died or have passed COVID on to their family members. We know that Conservatives have not supported measures around paid sick days and other public health measures that are critical in saving lives. Why are Conservatives failing to stand up for working people in Alberta?

[Jag Sahota, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Madam Speaker, I have been listening to the debate since it started, and I am kind of sad that a lot of MPs have basically been playing the blame game. In taking part in it, they are pointing fingers at the Conservatives. We are here to come up with solutions and to point out that there is a problem. Let us start discussing the solutions to it.

Also, tonight I have heard the Liberal government acknowledge that there is a problem. However, this is just a start. Now we need to start coming up with solutions, one of which is to bring vaccines to Canadians.