House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2021, with 47% of the vote.
COVID-19 in Alberta May 5th, 2021
Madam Speaker, my colleague spoke about measures on domestic flights, which I hope she knows the premier could actually implement at any time as it is within his jurisdiction.
My question is in regard to international flights. Does she support the mandatory quarantining of international flights landing in Canada? Does she also support lockdown measures that will help people get through this third wave in her home province?
COVID-19 in Alberta May 5th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, I know that was not a question, but I would say I agree. It is hard. Even in my position as parliamentary secretary to health, the focus is wanting to provide solutions in this time. I know it is idealistic to hope that we can put partisanship aside all the time, but my ask and my main point from that speech is to say that we need to come together with solutions moving forward. We will have lots of time to point blame and take partisan swipes, but the crisis in Alberta right now needs to be at the forefront, and finding the solution to protect Canadians.
COVID-19 in Alberta May 5th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, yes, we are absolutely committed. I give the member my word as well that I will advocate for the supports that are needed. Whatever we need to do, we absolutely need to do to support the people of Alberta and every Canadian across this country.
I agree it can be partisan. I am guilty of that too, because I get really frustrated at some of the misinformation. It really frustrates me to see my own constituents being misled by misinformation, so I get the partisanship, but I do not think this should be a partisan issue. I think we have to get the supports to Alberta, in this case, that are needed. We can go back and point those political fingers and get back to regular business in the House of Commons, but not until this crisis is over. We need to be working together in this moment, if not now, when—
COVID-19 in Alberta May 5th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, I am so disappointed that after my speech the member opposite completely missed the point. Perhaps he does not understand. I cannot assume what he is capable of understanding, but what I just said, my entire speech, was about the importance of vaccines in conjunction with strong public health measures. I challenge him to show me a jurisdiction in the world that got through this COVID pandemic on vaccines alone, without a single lockdown or a single public health measure. If he can show me that jurisdiction, I will come back and apologize. The member did not listen to the speech and is not listening to public health experts. There is no jurisdiction that got through this pandemic with vaccines alone; it has to be both.
COVID-19 in Alberta May 5th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to follow my colleague, the member for Kingston and the Islands. I could have listened to a 20-minute speech by him. The member for Saanich—Gulf Islands also gave a speech that I really appreciated this evening. I will pick up on her speech, as well as the speech just given by the member for Kingston and the Islands. The point of this debate is truly important and they both touched on the theme. I am sure others have, but I am calling these two members out in particular.
Where the member for Kingston and the Islands finished off is where I would like to begin. He spoke about how we can look back at where we could have done things better, where things were done well, where we were a success story or where we need to be better prepared. He and I both came from municipal politics, where there were all these plans in place and after years and years of a pandemic or an emergency not coming, unfortunately, sometimes plans sit on the shelf. I am not saying that is the right approach, but the lessons we are learning are incredibly important and a constant reminder to never take our eye off emergency preparedness.
The member for Kingston and the Islands said that we can look back and do that work, but what has been frustrating in listening, in particular, to Conservative members is all they are doing is looking back. I made note of some of them. One pointed out where we were 52 days ago. My God, how the people of Alberta must feel hearing that tonight. What are we going to do today, tomorrow and the days and weeks after that to support and help the people in this country? We can look back on vaccines, we can look back on whatever else the Conservatives want to look back at, but are we not going to focus our collective energy to support the people in this country now?
I am listening to this debate as a member from Ontario and people in my home province are living it now. I think about the anxiety people felt when these spikes first happened, the confusion, the lockdowns, no lockdowns and the pointing of fingers. I think of my friends, neighbours and family who just want to know how we are going to get through this. That is what our government has been focusing on.
Many members have spoken about no country being perfect, but that does not mean we stop acting. It means we continue to move forward, to provide the supports the provinces and territories need. It means getting vaccines faster, getting the Red Cross out to support the vaccination efforts, if need be. It is seeing health care providers in Newfoundland and Labrador coming to Ontario to help support health care workers. It is seeing people step up in unimaginable ways during this time. It is what else the federal government can do.
As the member for Kingston and the Islands just said, we will work with provinces and territories and provide whatever they need, particularly in Alberta, providing mobile health units, contact tracing, rapid tests, funds for the safe restart agreement to help protect and insulate between the second and third waves, even between the first and second waves. The government has provided whatever each province and territory has needed. Every province and territory in this country is different, has different needs and requires different resources. We have been there. We have heard Quebec members talking about the supports needed in long-term care. We were there for that. We were there for PPE.
We should not be talking about all the things that we have done; we should talk about all the things we are going to continue to do until we are through this. That is what Canadians expect of us. That is what this debate should be about and why I noted the speech of the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands. This is the debate we should be having.
Conservatives consistently stand up and say there is confusion and mixed messaging. Nothing has frustrated me more because the confusion and mixed messaging is coming from the Conservatives themselves. They can go back to early March of this year when their own health critic was saying to remove border restrictions, ease the border restrictions, that all they need is a pre-boarding test and then a test when they land and people should just go on their way. If we had listened to them, we would not have caught those people who had tested positive after being tested when they landed. They would not have been in isolation and they would have been out in the community. Again, there are additional measures we can continue to take and we will happily be here to support Canadians to do that.
They are Conservatives who constantly stand in this place and say, “we do not need restrictions, we need freedom”. The member for Carleton posts pictures when he is sitting outside, eating on a patio and goes, “freedom”. Then, they have the nerve to come in this place and say that vaccines would have solved everything when they refused to listen to the public health experts, and not even Canadian public health experts if they do not want to trust Canadians. Globally, we know that vaccines are an important tool, but they will only work if the public health measures are also in place.
The Conservatives love to quote the U.S. or Israel or the U.K. for their programs, but the U.K. and Israel both saw, during their vaccination campaigns, that as they lifted restrictions too quickly they saw spikes. We heard testimony from experts at the health committee. Governments there quickly realized that vaccinations are not the only tool, they have to be done in conjunction with strong public health measures to give vaccinations the time to work, the time to be distributed across the communities and to become effective.
It is this ignorance of listening to the public health advice, which is not governments' opinions but public health advice, that is frustrating to watch because I see people suffering, I see small businesses close and I see people being sick. To send out a message saying that if only we had done this nobody would have suffered is simply unfair to Canadians. We need to be honest with Canadians that as our vaccine campaign is rolling out and everybody needs to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated, we also need to listen to the public health advice. Those mixed messages coming from the Conservatives, saying lockdowns are not needed and looser border measures would be okay are just not truthful, are not helpful and are certainly not going to help the people of Alberta or those in my home province of Ontario or anywhere else across this country as we battle this third wave.
I hope we get to the point where we are having conversations about what more we can do to support Alberta, what more we can do to support any jurisdiction in this country to get through this third wave, and actually acknowledge and admit that the public health measures are there to work in conjunction with vaccines and that we are only going to get through this if we listen to the experts and medical health professionals who know what they are talking about. We have seen it work in other countries, so we do not even need to imagine it; we know it is real. I truly hope that the Conservative members will come and work with us on helping to support our fellow Canadians during this difficult time.
Business of Supply May 4th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the intervention on some level. I, too, am angry about misogyny and sexism although I find the member's comments incredibly hypocritical given her party's position on a woman's right to choose.
My question does not involve former prime minister Harper, it is about the member's leader now. She talks about people getting a promotion who knew. What about her own leader? He got a promotion to become leader and he knew about these rumours and allegations.
Why is it always women who have to shoulder the responsibility for the actions and accusations of men? The member is advocating for firing a woman for what she supposedly knew, or did not know, yet she is not calling for her own leader's resignation for what he knew.
Why is it always women shouldering the consequences for the actions of men and the perpetrators of this violence?
Health April 30th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, let me acknowledge and thank the member for raising the work that his constituent has done.
When it comes to quarantine hotels, we expect the hotel providers to provide an adequate level of service. I take the comments that have been raised back. We will continue to work with these providers to ensure they provide this level of service.
Again, the reasons for the mandatory quarantine are to ensure that Canadians are safe, we stop the spread of this virus and we save lives. However, I will raise these concerns and ensure—
Health April 30th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, of course, we understand that there are some compassionate needs for travel. However, let me clarify that it is crucially important that during this time, Canadians do not travel. In the event that they do have to, there are supports available to clarify the rules, but it is very important that we follow public health guidelines, ensure strict measures at the border and stop the spread of this virus. Ultimately, our goal is to save lives.
We will continue to put in place communications and supports to make sure that all Canadians understand the rules, but our fundamental goal is to ensure that Canadians are safe and that we stop the spread of this virus.
Health April 30th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite does not take yes for an answer.
We agree that service levels are expected. We attempted to work with Switch Health to rectify these issues. However, we decided to move forward with a new provider in Quebec. We want to ensure effective, fast testing in both official languages. That is precisely why we moved forward with making a change.
We are going to continue to make sure that all Canadians have access to safe and effective testing in the official language of their choice.
Health April 30th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, we agree that delays or not being able to provide service in both official languages is unacceptable. That is precisely why Health Canada and the Public Health Agency have moved forward with a new provider.
We are going to continue to work with Switch Health to address any additional concerns, but make no mistake. We will not hesitate to act, and we are constantly looking for additional providers to provide this service in a timely and effective manner.