Candice Bergen

[COVID-19 Emergency Response, November 23rd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister alone is responsible for our border and what happens there. Today, we learned that over five million people have come into Canada and not isolated. If we had rapid testing these people, many of whom are essential workers, could have been tested and cleared or tested, isolated and treated. We are 11 months in and rapid testing is uncommon in Canada and at-home testing is non-existent.

When will the Prime Minister step up, do his job and ensure that rapid and at-home testing are available to Canadians?

[COVID-19 Emergency Response, November 23rd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister does not hesitate to involve himself in areas of provincial jurisdiction when it suits his political purposes, but on issues regarding the health of Canadians and the response to COVID he is in hiding. The Prime Minister alone is responsible for the border. He failed. The Prime Minister alone is responsible for vaccines and rapid testing. He is failing. It is easier for the Prime Minister to blame the provinces for the shutdowns and increased cases than to do something. That is cowardly.

Why has the Prime Minister's big talk never been matched by real solutions?

[Health, November 20th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, the Liberals' plan is not working. The cases are going up, jobs are being lost and Canadians are at risk. We know South Korea was one of the first countries impacted by COVID-19. On Monday, it reported 230 new cases for a population of 51 million people. They knew for certain that 202 cases were community spread and 28 cases were imported. Countries like Taiwan had early access to rapid testing and that has helped them reduce their COVID numbers.

Why has the government not learned a thing from other countries like South Korea or Taiwan, which are doing things right, and instead is continuing to have Canadians fly blind on COVID-19?

[Health, November 20th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, Canadians are being kept in the dark by the Prime Minister. He is throwing numbers at them without any context. Too often, the government cannot tell us what activities are driving up COVID-19 numbers. One day, it is restaurants. The next day, it is weddings. Then it is schools, and then it is not. Our lack of detailed data prevents us from tracking outbreaks and knowing the highest-risk settings. One year after the first COVID case was flagged in China, Canadians still do not have answers.

When will the government release the data it is using to make decisions on this pandemic?

[Health, November 20th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, this country is in a worse crisis than we ever could have imagined. Eleven months after COVID has hit, thousands of lives, millions of jobs and Canadians' freedom have been lost. Canadians were told in March, if they just followed the rules, we would flatten the curve and things would get better. Things are not better. The Prime Minister has failed in managing this crisis. Yesterday's report is proof of that. Canadians deserve some answers and the truth.

When will the Prime Minister realize that getting rapid, at-home testing, having reliable tracing and getting Canadians all the data is his job and he is failing miserably at it?

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 19th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, she read it last night is basically what she is telling us.

Commercial fishermen were calling for the minister's resignation weeks ago, and now Chief Sack is also calling on her to resign. Why? She has not met with the Mi'kmaq fishers in a month. The fisheries minister does not have the time or interest to read the important legal decisions on her file, and now she cannot be bothered to meet with commercial or Mi'kmaq fishers.

Just exactly what is the fisheries minister doing to fix the crisis that is literally threatening the backbone of Nova Scotia's economy?

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 19th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, with the crisis that is happening in Nova Scotia with the lobster fishery, if there is one file and decision that the Minister of Fisheries should have read by now, it is the Marshall decision. Shockingly, yesterday at the fisheries committee, the minister admitted she has never read it.

How is it that the Minister of Fisheries does not have the time or the interest to sit down, read and know the law on the most important file that she is dealing with?

[Natural Resources, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the problem is the Prime Minister has said so many negative things about Canadian oil and gas, and done so many things to kill jobs in the Canadian energy sector, that nobody believes him or trusts him to do anything to stand up for these jobs in Canada. Conservatives do not trust him, and I promise members, Canadian families and energy workers do not trust the Prime Minister.

Will the Prime Minister stand up today and guarantee that he is as committed to Keystone XL pipeline getting built as he was to his vanity UN seat?

[Natural Resources, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, we all know the lengths the Prime Minister went to in his attempt to get a seat at the UN Security Council, including the money he spent, the political capital he used and the tenacity he showed. The Prime Minister, his ministers and even civil servants were relentless in the campaign for the Prime Minister's vanity seat. It did not work, but the entire world knew the Prime Minister wanted this.

Will the Prime Minister use that same focus, determination and zeal in his fight to ensure that Keystone XL, a project that will create thousands of real jobs for Canadians, gets built?

[Natural Resources, November 16th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, recently, when asked if a Biden victory would mean the end of Keystone XL, the Prime Minister abdicated, saying, “That's a question for Mr. Biden.” This defeatist tone is unacceptable and provides no reassurances that the Prime Minister will actually fight on behalf of energy workers for this project to move forward.

The success of Keystone XL would create 2,800 Canadian jobs and indirectly support 15,000 additional jobs. With the current COVID crisis, these jobs are more important than ever.

Again, what is the Prime Minister's plan to ensure that KXL is not cancelled?