John Baird

[Health, October 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we are working to ensure that the vaccine is both safe and effective for Canadians. We have six million doses out in every corner of the country. That is more per capita than any other country.

I thought one of our colleagues in the House said it very well this morning in the Ottawa Sun when he said:

This is a very large undertaking here. We've never tried anything quite this size on such a rapid timeline. I'm not sure that it would have been necessarily feasible to have got it out sooner.

That was our colleague, the member for Toronto—Danforth, the leader of the New Democratic Party.

[Government Advertising, October 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the House what we have done. When I tour the country, I am working with the NDP Premier of Nova Scotia, Darrel Dexter. We are making important investments in his own hometown.

I was recently with the NDP Premier of Nova Scotia and we made an $18 million investment in Halifax for a new library, something that has been fought for, for many, many years.

We are making significant investments that we announced with the NDP Government of Nova Scotia in Cape Breton Island. We are very proud of that. We are helping to build regional roads around rural Nova Scotia. We are very proud of that.

We have put politics aside. We are working with NDP, Liberal and Conservative governments, and we are getting the job done.

[Government Advertising, October 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our government has worked tremendously hard with our economic action plan. We are seeing an unprecedented global economic downturn. We are beginning to see some positive signs of an economic recovery. We have an important responsibility to report back to Canadians on our economic action plan.

He talks about the many tax benefits which they are eligible for. We have an opportunity to inform them of the status of our infrastructure investments in every corner of the province. We have an important responsibility to let them know that the government is responding to this unprecedented economic challenge and working for them.

[Government Contracts, October 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we must be very clear. It was our government that took action to put an end to the influence of big spenders on federal political parties. It was our government that put an end to the influence of huge donations from corporations and unions. It was our government that carried out the greatest reform of the electoral system in the history of Canada. We are very proud of that. If the Bloc member has specific allegations, she must make them outside this House. In the meantime, we have not seen any of that in recent weeks.

[Government Contracts, October 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say to my Bloc colleague that if she has allegations to make she should submit them to the appropriate authorities and not to this House. Does she have details, specific allegations or facts that she could lay before the House? What we have seen is a partisan campaign. It is not a good thing for Canadians. Senator Housakos promptly asked for the ethics commissioner's opinion on this matter. We will wait for the independent opinion of the commissioner.

[Health, October 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, this is the largest mass inoculation campaign in Canadian history. There is more vaccine in the hands of public health nurses in provinces and territories in Canada than there is in any other country in the world.

Under the leadership of Dr. Butler-Jones, the government has worked to ensure that the vaccine is both safe and effective.

We will continue to work in co-operation with the provinces and territories to get the job done.

[Health, October 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our government has been working with international organizations to make sure we have an effective, safe vaccine for families in all regions of the country. In Canada today, six million doses have already been made available for Canadian families. That is more per capita than any other country in the world.

Our government will continue to work with the provinces and territories to achieve real results, but the work is not done. We must continue to work diligently with our doctors and nurses.

[Health, October 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we are seeing the biggest mass immunization in Canadian history. We obviously need thousands of public health nurses, the provinces and territories, and the Chief Public Health Officer. We cannot inoculate every single person in a matter of two or three days. Public health nurses are working literally around the clock on the inoculations. Our government is working to ensure that the vaccine is safe, effective and available.

I am pleased to report to the House that there are more doses of vaccine available today per capita in Canada than there are in any other country in the world.

[Health, October 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the priority has been to ensure that we have a vaccine that is safe for Canadian families.

The priority has been that the vaccine be effective in combatting what is a significant public health issue. We have more than six million doses from coast to coast to coast which have already been released to our partners, the provinces and territories. Public health nurses in every corner of the province and country are working hard to ensure that they begin what is deemed to be the biggest mass inoculation in Canadian history.

We have put the politics aside and are working constructively with the provinces and territories. I think what Canadians expect is that all parties in the House will do the same.

[Infrastructure, October 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, when an infrastructure investment is made with the provinces and territories or with municipalities, it is immediately put on the Web, with its location, a description of the project, and detailed financial information and what the contribution of each level of government is.

We have worked constructively with provincial NDP governments. In particular in the territories, we have worked with Conservative and Liberal governments.

What I think Canadians do not want to see is members of Parliament pulling cheap pranks outside the House of Commons.