Mr. Speaker, Alberta is facing a public health emergency unparalleled in Canada. Today Alberta has the highest rate of COVID-19 infection in the entire country. In fact, Alberta has the highest rate of infection in North America. Alberta's infection rate is double that of Ontario's and is one of the highest rates in the world. In some hot spots, such as Calgary and Fort McMurray, the rate of infection is higher than in India. The situation is so bad that last week physicians in Alberta were given instructions on a special COVID-19 protocol. It was a way to decide which patients would receive life-saving treatment and which would not. This is the first time in history that Alberta's doctors have been given emergency instructions like this. It is the first time they have been put into the situation of determining who lives and who is left to die.
The reason is quite clear. Alberta's acute care health care system is on the very edge of collapse. This is a public health emergency, but it is not just Alberta's public health emergency: With a positivity rate of 13% and infection hot spots such as Wood Buffalo, where oil sands workers fly in and out from all over Canada, Alberta's COVID crisis will soon become Canada's COVID crisis if nothing is done.
On Monday, Alberta Health stopped testing for variants of concern, because variants have taken over. Virtually every case of COVID in Alberta is a variant of concern now. The goal must be to stop the exponential growth of infections in Alberta to save lives and not put doctors, nurses and other health care workers through the trauma of saying no to patients who desperately need help.
We have an obligation as parliamentarians to address this public health crisis in Alberta. It is a public health crisis that simply cannot be contained within Alberta's borders. We have an obligation to debate the federal role in combatting it.
We have heard the Prime Minister state again and again that he has our backs and that every Canadian will get the support they need. We cannot shrug our shoulders and say this is Alberta's problem. We owe it to Albertans and all Canadians to acknowledge that what is happening in Alberta is an emergency that demands an emergency debate in the House.