Justin Trudeau

[Health, November 25th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, over the past months, experts have worked with this government to put Canadians in the very best possible position on vaccines.

We now have the best, most diverse portfolio of vaccines anywhere in the world, including agreements with all of the leading vaccine candidates for more doses per capita than just about any other country.

We are continuing to work with experts on a rollout plan. We have faith in our top scientists and doctors as we take a whole-of-government approach to delivering vaccines for Canadians as soon as possible.

[Health, November 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite well knows, Canada has successfully signed contracts to have the best portfolio of potential vaccines of any of our peer countries around the world. We have done this to ensure that Canadians have access to a vaccine regardless of which vaccine companies land first or which vaccine companies have the best vaccine. We needed to make sure that Canadians would have access to these vaccines. That is exactly what we have done.

We are working with partners, including the provinces and territories, to ensure that vaccine distribution will be rapid and seamless, and as I have said a number of times before, the vaccine will be entirely free.

[Health, November 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we have secured access to more vaccines than any other country.

We have the best portfolio of vaccines and we have purchased up to millions and hundreds of millions of doses of potential vaccines. We need to do everything we can to flatten the curve and reduce the number of cases in order to protect Canadians.

That is why we are also working to ensure that the provinces have rapid tests, that we have PPE and that Canadians and Canadian businesses everywhere have the support they need.

[Health, November 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, we are not here to lecture the provinces. We are here to work with the provinces. That is why we delivered record amounts of PPE and a record number of tests. That is also why we transferred $25 billion to the provinces to help get kids back to school and ensure a safe reopening.

We will be there to work closely with the provinces and to help businesses and people as we go through this process. We have a plan and an approach. We have promised to always be there for Canadians.

[Health, November 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, we knew from the beginning that we would have challenges because, unlike the Germans, the Americans and the Brits, we do not have the capacity for mass vaccine production in Canada.

We therefore had to secure larger quantities of vaccines than those other countries, and that is exactly what we did. We were even criticized by the international media for the quantity of vaccines we managed to secure. We have the best portfolio of vaccines of many countries around the world.

We have done our job to ensure that Canadians receive vaccines quickly and with certainty, even in these extremely uncertain times—

[Health, November 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I completely understand why Canadians want to know when the vaccines will arrive.

It is because we are all very eager to turn the page on this pandemic. That is why it is so important to keep distancing. That is why the federal government is working with the provinces so that they can impose restrictions that will help flatten the curve, and that is why Canada made sure to secure more vaccines per capita than any other country. It is because our government has demonstrated that we are able to manage this pandemic and help Canadians.

[Health, November 24th, 2020]

The opposite is true, Mr. Speaker.

Since the beginning, we have been negotiating and signing contracts with a record number of companies that could produce a vaccine, because we know that we need to make sure Canadians have access to millions of doses of the vaccine and we do not know exactly which company will produce which vaccine quickly and most efficiently. That is why we created one of the best portfolios of potential vaccines in the world. As I said, we will be able to deliver vaccines to Canadians in early 2021.

[Health, November 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. Leader of the Opposition might not have been following this too closely, but Canada is actually being lauded as one of the countries that has achieved the best and largest portfolio of potential vaccines for its citizens. We are not certain yet which vaccines from which companies are going to be most effective or are going to arrive first, so Canada stepped up and has secured millions of doses of vaccines for Canadians that will be arriving in the coming months.

We are going to continue to ensure that Canadians get the protection they need so we can get through this pandemic together.

[Foreign Affairs, November 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, as a government we have consistently stood up in support of Israel, in defence of our friend and ally, and we will continue to. We have stood up consistently against the illegitimate singling-out of Israel through one-sided votes at the United Nations. We have continued to do that, but we also recognize the right of Palestinian self-determination, which is something we recognized in that recent vote, while at the same time oppose the broad efforts to single out and delegitimize Israel.

[Foreign Affairs, November 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is a strong ally and a close friend of Israel. We are committed to the goal of a lasting peace in the Middle East, including the creation of a Palestinian state peacefully side by side with Israel. We are consistent with the Canadian position long held by governments of all political stripes. Canada's vote was a reflection of our long-standing commitment to the right of self-determination for both the Palestinian people and for Israelis.