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.