House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2021, with 44% of the vote.
Mr. Speaker, I would say that primarily what we heard in the health committee were various versions of: “Do not worry, be happy. There is enough dosage for everyone. Everybody will get it”.
What we are seeing now is a great deal of concern. There is a great deal of chaos and misinformation in the meantime. I cannot say that we have had clear information about how things will actually be delivered, either in the preventative vaccination or in the post-illness treatment.
Mr. Speaker, I see a public health system under strain.
I see health authorities in British Columbia and other provinces that are already maxed out with their public health obligations now being asked to deliver mass vaccination programs without a dime of assistance from the federal government.
I see people working overtime. I see a shortage of resources to actually deliver this in Vancouver. I would encourage the member to think about the results we want. We have heard many reasons why things have gone off the rails. We might hear a lot of reasons why we have a disaster.
What we actually need are results. That means taking responsibility where there are errors, putting corrections in place, and being willing to listen when there are errors.
Mr. Speaker, as I take the privilege of speaking to this emergency debate, I am going to begin by adding to what the hon. member for Toronto Centre was saying about the government's low key approach to the issue of H1N1.
I am dismayed at how the government is not taking responsibility for the mistakes that it has made over the course of the last few months. Of course there will be mistakes. Without taking responsibility, the government is just defending itself. It is not learning from those mistakes. That is a disheartening condition that I have observed as a member of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Health.
I would like to put on the record the fact that all members on the Standing Committee on Health were determined to treat this as a non-partisan issue. Our job was to try to identify any gaps and put ideas forward, so the government could actually do a better job and be successful. The whole committee was dedicated to that.
The committee was not made up of a set of armchair quarterbacks as one member mentioned. The committee actually had some leading experts on pandemic preparedness. The committee had an ex-minister of state for public health, who herself had set up, in response to what was learned from SARS, the Public Health Agency of Canada with its budget to deal with pandemic preparedness.
There was a set of civil servants who had been working for members of the opposition and now working for government members. They were using a framework that had been set up by Liberal opposition members. Everyone was on the same page.
What started to become very clear was the fact that there were gaps. Opposition members on the committee pointed out that we needed to have updates in the summer because things were going wrong.
Committee members heard that aboriginal communities were not being listened to and were not being served. They heard from representatives of front line caregivers who said there was no coordination. We also heard that the front line people who had to deliver the vaccination and the preparedness plan were disconnected from the structure of the leadership.
In hearing those things, committee members took some clear steps toward ensuring that there were summer briefings. They had to drag agreements out of Conservative members in order for the committee to play an oversight role so that parliamentarians could know what was happening and to focus the committee meetings on H1N1 rather than have them be scattershot over the fall on important issues but not yet emergency issues.
Members of the health committee played a constructive role and pointed out things that needed to be done in a constructive way. However, the government has had the pathological inability to take responsibility.
At the risk of sounding political, the government is very good at taking credit, whether it is for the way the public's dollars are spent, or in any number of other ways. Government members have been so obsessed with taking credit, they have forgotten how to take responsibility.
The theme of “Everything is okay. Don't worry there will be vaccinations for everyone. Don't worry, be happy. It's all under control” is a theme that we have been hearing at committee for months, meeting after meeting, despite the fact that we had been hearing from representatives of public health, chief medical officers and many other experts that “All is not well”.
Yes, we have learned from SARS and there have been improvements, but all is not well. We need to do better. Now we are seeing some of that begin to crystallize. We are not doing a good enough job. Unfortunately, people are suffering as a result of the vaccines being ordered late. As a result of the confusing messages from the government, the supply of vaccines is drying up.
Not taking responsibility is a key theme with the minister and the government unfortunately and we heard it here tonight. The government has been blaming the provinces and territories, blaming medical experts for the government's own decisions, blaming drug companies, and now blaming the opposition as opposed to taking responsibility. Where is the leadership on this issue? It is completely missing in action.
Coming from Vancouver, I have another concern around the mismanagement of this issue that has led to the lineups and the panic, the shortages of vaccine, the lack of availability in the coming weeks, and the lack of information. I am going to take a moment to read some very worrisome news that the government needs to be aware of and perhaps is:
Quarantine was imposed in [Ukraine's] nine western regions due to the epidemic of the H1N1 influenza, commonly known as swine flu. It was also decided to declare a three-week ban on all mass events and introduce a three-week holiday period at all educational institutions.
In other words, schools are shut down. Public events are cancelled. A huge disruption to society in the Ukraine. According to the president:
We will introduce a special system to stop unnecessary travel from one region to another. We will cancel all mass meetings...for three weeks...We are considering (imposing) a quarantine not only in the west but also across the country, because the virus is spreading very fast.
I cannot comment on whether this is a proportionate response to a crisis in Ukraine, but it is incumbent on me to point out to the government that in less than 100 days now we will have half a million visitors coming to Vancouver in British Columbia for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Should we be in a situation such as the Ukraine, it would be a huge disappointment and a huge disturbance of the Olympics that Canadians are so excited about and so proud of.
Having been recently in Olympia where the Olympic flame was lit and in Victoria where it was received from Greece, the beginning of the relays across the country, I know how important the Olympics are after so many years of work from an economic perspective, the human perspective, the inspiration to youth and to sports, and the hundreds of thousands of visitors that will come to Canada. We have to do an absolutely impeccable job of preparing for this with the vaccinations, preparing and preventing Vancouver and British Columbia from continuing to be a hot spot and having to consider the Ukraine-type response.
The government has been letting British Columbia down. I heard from the provincial medical health officer a number of weeks ago when I asked whether there are adequate resources from the federal government. I heard, “No, we have not received any cost-sharing for actually implementing vaccinations”.
At the committee I asked the head of the public health agency if there is a shortage of resources for the provinces and I was told, “No, there will be adequate resources”. But going back to the Vancouver chief medical officer I was told there is no funding for the delivery of a mass vaccination program. That will cost between $8 and $10 per person. That is $25 million to $30 million in British Columbia and not a dollar from the federal government. That is historic, the first time in history that there has been a mass vaccination with no resources from the government.
I call on the government, as are the Liberal MPs, to put back the $400 million set aside for pandemic response by the Liberals in budget 2006 for this time period, support emergency planning to help local health authorities cope with this issue, and divert the $60 million from the Conservatives' self-advertising of their economic plan and partisan misuse of funds into the pandemic so that people can properly understand what they need to do and respond to that.
I call on the government to take responsibility and stop taking credit.
Health November 2nd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, there are not enough H1N1 vaccines available to complete B.C.'s inoculations even though B.C. will welcome half a million Olympic visitors in just 100 days. Vancouver's health authority has a strong H1N1 preparedness plan, but not a single federal dollar to help it deliver it.
Will the government provide resources to ensure that B.C.'s preparation measures are delivered in time, or can Canadians just expect more platitudes from the minister as the Olympic games approach?
Jack Poole October 27th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, it was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of a truly great Canadian, Jack Poole.
Much of the credit for successful leadership of the bid and preparation for Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games rests with Jack, who died last week following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
On the very day of Jack's passing, the Olympic torch, a symbol for global peace, had just been lit in Greece to mark the beginning of the torch relays for the Vancouver Games.
Although saddened by his death, I am encouraged that so many Canadians will carry forward Jack's dream of seeing the Olympics in Vancouver and Canada.
An Officer of the Order of Canada, Jack was a humanitarian who lived his life with integrity and generosity. He will be remembered by his friends and colleagues as a passionate and driven leader and philanthropist who was dedicated to the public good.
Liberal caucus members join me in offering condolences to Jacks' wife, Darlene, and their many friends and family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.
Salmon Fishery October 19th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, 9 million Fraser River sockeye vanished. That is a tenfold decline. It is a disaster for people, fish-based jobs and biodiversity.
Respected salmon biologists believe that this disappearance illustrates the impacts of climate change on water temperature and flows affecting salmon. Add in stresses from habitat loss, disease and lice, overfishing, pollution, predators and, alas, we have a crisis. Where is the minister?
This emergency deserves a response. First, fund a scientific inquiry by recognized experts, have them report back by next spring proposing immediate measures and then commit to act on their advice.
Second, create a partnership of government agencies, universities and private groups to track fish migration so that we know where they go, where they die and why.
Last, reverse the decline in resources for DFO research assessment and enforcement.
Climate change is an ongoing ecological challenge for salmon but there are actions that must be taken now.
Health October 6th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, B.C. is at the centre of the second wave of H1N1, but the Conservatives have failed to have vaccines ready in time.
We know that front line doctors and nurses have little confidence in the Conservatives' pandemic plan. Their plan does not even provide for protective masks for nurses, who are rightly worried that their safety will be at risk.
If our nurses, who are our first line of defence for sick Canadians, fall ill, how can Canadians expect to be safe from H1N1?
Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act September 29th, 2009
Perhaps we were in different meetings, Mr. Speaker, but as I said, there were groups that had advice for us and ideas about how to improve a free trade agreement. When the question was posed, “Are you better off with this trade agreement or without it”, the answer invariably was that it is better to have more trade and have rules-based trade through a free trade agreement. That was my experience.
Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act September 29th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, the debate has been providing some guidance as to what areas the committee can look at in order to make some recommendations, if it has any, for modifying this agreement.
Really, the key question is this. In a country that is having such a difficult time and humanitarian tragedy as Colombia, is this going to be helpful? It is very important to listen to the voices of people in Colombia.
With respect to the previous member's question around environment, witnesses who came to committee to talk about the environment and their concerns in Colombia also answered that yes, a free trade agreement would be a benefit to Colombia. Even as environmentalists, that was their view. Can we strengthen our environmental side agreement? Absolutely.
As for the member's question about committee, I would like to see a stronger compliance mechanism in terms of a complaint process that has teeth in our side agreement and I encourage the committee to put that idea forward.
Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act September 29th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, one of the challenges with the environment right now is an absence of financial ability by the Colombian government to carry out compliance and enforcement, just as in Canada. According to our Auditor General, the Conservative government has not adequately invested in compliance and enforcement in some areas of its responsibility.
A free trade agreement brings an additional flow of funds to the government, allowing it to implement that compliance and enforcement. The scrutiny of the international community and the Canadian government combined with mechanisms for complaints to be filed would help with environmental protection.