Madam Speaker, I also enjoyed serving with my hon. colleague on the health committee. However, I must, with respect, disagree with many of the premises of her question.
The Conservatives did not call for rapid tests a year ago. They started calling for rapid tests a year ago and continued month after month. As I remember, right up until November of this year they wanted rapid tests for themselves in this chamber so that anyone who was not vaccinated could prove they were safe by coming up with a negative test through a rapid test. What I do not understand is that after months of pushing for rapid tests, today they stand up and argue against it, and worse, they are questioning the science and value of rapid tests. The previous speaker, who serves on the health committee, very shockingly said that we needed this issue to go to the health committee to determine if rapid testing works. Of course it works, and it is going to be key to getting out of this pandemic. Canadians have to have some method of showing that they are COVID positive or negative, and that is a key component. I challenge the Conservatives to come up with a single reputable expert in this country who has said that we do not need testing as a core piece of moving forward to get out of this pandemic.