Hélène Laverdière

[Ebola Outbreak, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his kind words.

I would also like to thank him for his approach, when he said that today we should be having less of a debate and more of a discussion in order to come to an agreement on the need to take immediate action. As he so aptly said, time is of the essence.

Everyone appreciates what the government has done to date. However, as my colleague so clearly demonstrated, the health care systems in the countries in question are simply not up to the task and neither is the aid being given to those countries. The needs are enormous.

Does my colleague think it would be appropriate for Canada to send specialized personnel and our Disaster Assistance Response Team? We send it in when natural disasters occur. For example, we sent this team to the Philippines because it is accustomed to deploying quickly in crisis situations.

[Ebola Outbreak, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech.

She asked a question that had not yet been raised in this evening's debate, namely the number of Canadians currently living in the hardest hit areas. I think that is a very interesting question.

We know that the WHO and the UN have launched an appeal for $600 million and that the U.S. has already given $100 million. We expect President Obama to announce other measures tomorrow.

If we compare this amount to Canada's contribution of a little more than $7 million at this point, that is interesting.

However, does my colleague believe that we could do more, specifically by sending medical specialists and our Disaster Assistance Response Team?

[Ebola Outbreak, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his very interesting and learned speech, particularly about how diseases can travel. I like to say a virus does not need a visa to travel. Nowadays communications and travel are more and more frequent and this is a big issue. Canada and western countries outside of Africa are not affected right now in this current crisis, but I would like my colleague to expand a bit on the issue that we have to tackle in West Africa before running the risk that it touches other regions, be it Europe, Asia, North America or Latin America.

[Ebola Outbreak, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech and her general understanding of the gravity and seriousness of the situation. It is a situation that is so serious that the UN Security Council is going to meet on Thursday to discuss it.

My colleague said that Canada is one of the largest donors to this crisis, having contributed more than $5 million. However, the United States, for example, has already announced funding of $100 million in response to the WHO and UN requests, which is a significant contribution. We know that President Obama will travel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tomorrow and announce an even more ambitious plan to deal with the crisis raging in those countries.

I would like to know whether Canada is ready to follow the Americans' lead. That is my first question.

I have a short second question. My colleague also mentioned the shortage of health care workers on the ground to deal with the crisis and the transportation issues. I know that we have a small team on the ground, but I would like to know whether the government is considering sending more medical specialists. Will it provide help with transportation? Will it also deploy our Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART?

[Ebola Outbreak, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his, as usual, very interesting speech. I would like to ask him if he is in agreement with many experts who say that given that quite a number of the cases we have seen are new cases that have appeared in the last few weeks, it is as if this epidemic is gaining speed and that if we do not act now, the challenge in a few months will be even worse, which is why we absolutely need to act now.

[Ebola Outbreak, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I have two questions for him.

First of all, does he agree with most experts, who have said that we are losing this battle and that we need to invest more resources now if we want to avoid facing a much bigger problem in the future?

My colleague also said that countries are providing responses to the crisis. However, to take just one example, the UN and WHO have asked for $600 million on an urgent basis to face the crisis, but they have received less than one-third of what is needed. Does the member think it is the right level of response from the international community?

[Ebola Outbreak, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her comments. I completely agree with her that the world is about to lose this battle. However, I think there is also a way to turn things around and win. As she pointed out, the situation is very serious in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. I would say Nigeria as well, even though there are not a lot of cases reported there, because the cases identified in that country are in highly populated urban areas and therefore the risk of the disease spreading is very high.

I would also like to point out that I agree with my colleague that Canada can and should do more. I would now like to know whether she has specific suggestions on what more Canada should do.

[Ebola Outbreak, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear that additional supplies will be sent to the region. That is important. However, the crisis is so severe that it will take drastic measures to combat this virus and prevent it from getting worse.

As the minister knows, we have military personnel with the medical expertise to deal with this type of situation. We have DART, of course, which is known all over the world. I am wondering whether the Canadian government would consider sending these resources to the region.

[Ebola Outbreak, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her comments.

She reminded us how fortunate we are to have a public health care system here in Canada. However, at the same time, we need to be concerned about the cuts being made to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

As the member said, we are obviously all concerned about these issues. As they say, a virus does not need a visa to travel. We are all concerned, and we are obviously all concerned on a human level.

I was interested in my colleague's comments on thinking long term about these countries' health care services. As I pointed out in my own speech, this Ebola epidemic will have a significant negative impact on the development of these countries, which means that it will also have a negative impact on the countries' ability to develop adequate public health care systems. This is a sort of vicious circle.

Could my colleague speak to that?

[Ebola Outbreak, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I can understand that people with family and friends in that part of the world would be absolutely devastated.

In Sierra Leone, bodies are lying in the streets and women are giving birth without medical care. The situation is tragic and its impact reaches far beyond Ebola sufferers. Entire systems have disintegrated.

Just as an aside, I lived in West Africa for three years. I have friends there too. When I found out that Senegal was affected, I thought of all of the friends and former colleagues I left behind. As a Canadian, I am affected by this issue, but I am also personally affected.

This is a perfect opportunity for Canada, which has always had a strong relationship with West Africa, to show leadership. We have to send DART, money, mobile labs and support for transportation because transportation assistance is a big issue in West Africa. We also have to share our expertise in responding to biological disasters. There are many things we can do.

Many organizations on the ground have asked us to deploy DART to respond to the crisis.