Debates of Feb. 1st, 2022

Health

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague and tell him that I look forward to working with him at committee.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to talk about Canada's border measures to protect Canadians from COVID-19. Border measures continue to be an important part of Canada's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and serve to protect the health and safety of all Canadians.

Testing at our borders is a crucial aspect of Canada's COVID-19 monitoring strategy. It helps detect variants of concern and variants that escape vaccination. Even if fully vaccinated, travellers can still be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.

That is why it is important to continue taking precautions. Each positive case identified reduces the risk of further community transmission in Canada. All travellers entering Canada by land or by air are subject to the same rigorous pre-entry testing requirements.

The Government of Canada continues to require that all travellers, unless specifically exempted, have a valid negative pre-departure COVID-19 molecular test result taken no more than 72 hours before a scheduled flight to Canada or arrival at the land border, or a previous positive molecular test result taken between 10 and 180 days before departure to Canada.

Foreign nationals with symptoms or who provide a positive pre-entry COVID-19 molecular test result from less than 10 full days earlier will be denied entry. A traveller with right of entry, such as a Canadian citizen, a person registered under the Indian Act or a permanent resident, with a positive pre-entry COVID-19 molecular test result from less than 10 full days earlier or more than 180 days earlier, will be allowed entry but may be subject to a fine of $5,000 plus additional surcharges or face criminal prosecution. They will also be required to isolate for 10 days from the date they enter Canada.

The Government of Canada continues to assess the latest available evidence and monitor the situation to determine when to ease or adjust border measures accordingly. Canada's border testing is intended to mitigate the risk of further importation and help slow the spread of COVID-19 and its variants in Canada.

I will conclude by expressing my gratitude, as my colleague did, to the millions of Canadians who continue to do their part in the fight against COVID-19. It is thanks to their solidarity that Canada is now among the countries with the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary, my colleague from Milton. We will have the opportunity to work together on the standing committee on health and have some great discussions.

At the standing committee on health we recently spoke with the Minister of Health. I asked him whether he thought the response to the pandemic should be guided by science, policy or personal intuition. He replied that it must be guided by science. Allow me to share an excerpt from an article about testing travellers arriving in Canada:

With one of the highest infection rates in the world, it doesn't make sense, especially when it comes to requiring tests to allow vaccinated people on a plane, said David Juncker, the chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at McGill University.

That comes from a scientist. The government is supposedly listening to the science, but many people are speaking up, including Dr. Mona Nemer, who has also come out in support of testing fewer people at the border. Why does the government not listen to its own experts?

I hope we will have the opportunity to debate this in committee.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Madam Speaker, I would like to reiterate that the Government of Canada's top priority is the health and safety of Canadians. To protect Canadians, the government has implemented some of the strictest travel and border measures in the world. The party opposite did urge the government to do so, as the member mentioned in his speech.

The Government of Canada is well aware that these changes to border procedures can pose challenges for people and families, but these measures are intended to limit the number of new cases of omicron entering Canada. The measures also prevent new chains of transmission in Canadian communities and protect vulnerable Canadians and the capacity of our health care system.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Regina—Lewvan is not present to raise the matter for which adjournment notice has been given. Accordingly, the notice is deemed withdrawn.

The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 2 p.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 7:35 p.m.)