House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2019, with 38% of the vote.
Ebola Outbreak September 15th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, there have been many interventions in the House tonight that have talked about Canada striking out on its own and sending things or people.
Could my colleague talk from his life experience about the need to have a health agency like the WHO to be the lead agency on this and to coordinate all of the efforts from our international partners?
Ebola Outbreak September 15th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to the comments of my colleague on the opposite side. I think that one of the things Canadians need to know is that the World Health Organization is the lead agency on this issue. At the request of the WHO, Canada has sent the Public Health Agency of Canada and has deployed a team of scientists and a mobile lab to Sierra Leone to contribute to the ongoing efforts to stop this Ebola crisis.
Canada has been long involved with Africa. About 80% of our foreign aid goes to Africa. We need to strengthen health care systems so that these kinds of things do not happen in the future. We have untied our aid. We have put money toward the Muskoka initiative to help with maternal, newborn, and child health. The Prime Minister announced more money in May that Canada would contribute for the post-2015 to 2020 development goals. We need to strengthen the health capacities of these countries.
Right now the World Health Organization is the lead agency on this. Rather than saying that Canada should deploy, would it not be better to work in conjunction with the agency that has the lead on this and work with our partners together to ensure that we beat this disease?
Ebola Outbreak September 15th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health made an announcement tonight at 7 o'clock. I wonder if the member could inform the House what that was.
Ebola Outbreak September 15th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague, and I am sorry that she was not here while I was giving my speech. I would like to outline for her a little bit about what Canada is doing.
We have given $2.95 million to WHO to strengthen the field response to the outbreak and mitigate associated threats. We have given $1.7 million to support humanitarian interventions led by Doctors Without Borders. We have given $160,000 to the International Federation of the Red Cross. We have given $200,000 to the WHO through the international health grants program. Tonight, not three hours ago, the Minister of Health announced $2.5 million in protective equipment, which was asked for.
I wonder if my colleague would like me to send that information across the aisle to her.
Ebola Outbreak September 15th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague for raising the question about research and development.
I wonder if he would like to stand and congratulate the people who developed the vaccine in Winnipeg and did trials on the vaccine that is currently being used in the Ebola crisis. There was some deliberation over whether it was ethical to use a vaccine that had not been properly clinically tested, but would he like to congratulate our Canadian scientists on the work that they have done to help find a control for this terrible disease?
Ebola Outbreak September 15th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I again respond by saying that this is lead by the WHO.
The World Health Organization is doing the assessments. It is putting out calls for assistance. Tonight Canada announced its contribution. As soon as the WHO called for the masks and the proper equipment, Canada stepped up to the plate.
We are working very closely with the WHO. We will continue to make those assessments as it makes the call. Canada stands ready to help.
Ebola Outbreak September 15th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the first thing I would like to do is take this opportunity to thank all of those health care workers who are on the ground in the affected areas, people who have taken the risk and put their lives in significant danger to assist people who are in such desperate need.
As I said earlier, Canada has been a major contributor to this effort. It is a World Health Organization lead. We are going to continue to work with all of our partners in this. We will continue to assess on a go-forward basis.
As the Minister of Health announced tonight, there was a call for some additional assistance from the WHO, and Canada immediately announced our assistance. At seven o'clock this evening, the Minister of Health made that announcement.
We will continue to assess. Canada is there. Canada stands ready to help.
Ebola Outbreak September 15th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to join the debate tonight on the Ebola virus disease. I will be focusing my comments on the actions Canada is taking to support international efforts to control its spread.
This is the largest Ebola outbreak in history, eclipsing all the Ebola outbreaks together since 1976, when the virus was discovered. It is the first for West Africa. It is also the first time that Ebola has become widely transmitted in urban areas.
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 4,300 people in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone have contracted the virus since March and over half of those have died of this disease. As one would expect, the global community is on high alert, particularly since the WHO declared in early August that this is a public health emergency of international concern, and rightly so. According to the organization, cases could rise to 20,000 within six to nine months, a development that would be catastrophic.
The developing world is ill equipped to manage a health emergency of this kind. The crisis is evolving in a context of chronic fragility, in places of high poverty, and after decades of conflict and civil strife. In Liberia and Sierra Leone, health systems have simply collapsed as the virus keeps spreading through the population. People are dying of Ebola, but they are also dying of malaria, diarrhea, or of complications during childbirth because they cannot access the health system. It has become nearly impossible to keep up with the growing medical needs of populations that grow more ill by the day and that is not mentioning the strain that the virus has put on economic activities in these areas. The disease and efforts to contain it have disrupted trade and the rain-fed agricultural season, both primary livelihood sources. It is costing jobs, it is stealing incomes, and it is keeping people from supporting themselves and their families.
Traditional cross-border and inter-country supply routes have also been rendered largely impassable as entire geographic areas are cordoned off and other countries in the region close their borders and restrict access by sea, land or air. As a result, financial analysts are predicting significant GDP losses for the affected countries and for the region as a whole. Border closures and service disruptions are also keeping equipment and supplies from reaching the sick and those working to keep them alive. This situation is very serious.
Right now, this outbreak has the world's attention. The fear of the unknown can do that. However, if history has taught us anything it is that few foes can stand up to the might of a united and committed global community. In the face of unprecedented challenge, the world is capable of unprecedented action. That is where we find ourselves, at a time of action.
On August 29, the WHO launched the Ebola response road map. It is not an appeal but a framework quantifying the required response to an outbreak of 20,000 cases over the next six to nine months. It outlines the World Health Organization's requirements, as well as those of affected national governments, the World Food Programme, UNICEF, Médicins Sans Frontières, and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The single greatest need identified remains qualified medical staff, both international and national. These are proving difficult to mobilize or even deploy, due to air option restrictions and issues of medical evacuation. Tragically, already more than 300 health care workers have been infected and just under half of them have died from the disease.
However, this is not just a health crisis. It is now resulting in other humanitarian needs. The World Food Programme and UNICEF are scaling up their operations. The WFP will be augmenting its food assistance operation to help feed some 1.3 million people for an initial three-month period. Canada is an important contributor to the WFP, the third largest in the world.
For its part, UNICEF will be expanding its activities in the affected countries and countries of concern, including Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, and Senegal. UNICEF will focus on social mobilization, health and hygiene promotion, the provision of psychosocial services, the establishment of a system to identify and care for children orphaned by Ebola, and the distribution of soap and chlorine.
As a valued international partner, the Government of Canada is fully committed to supporting the international effort to combat this disease. Ours is a whole-of-government approach, which includes contributions from our embassies in affected regions; the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development; and the Public Health Agency of Canada. To date, we have been among the largest donors to the crisis response, having contributed nearly $5.4 million to support humanitarian and security interventions to help contain the spread of Ebola through West Africa.
Some of these funds are supporting the WHO, Médecins Sans Frontières, and local Red Cross organizations as they engage in their respective responsive activities. We have contributed medical expertise, an experimental vaccine, and financial assistance. We will continue to assess our contributions as the global push to bring this outbreak under control intensifies.
Canada is fortunate to be among the countries that need not fear Ebola. Our health systems are modern and strong, and medical professionals and experts have said that the epidemic is unlikely to go beyond West Africa. Indeed, the public health risk here remains low, and no Canadians have been infected to date.
Still, that does not deliver us from our responsibility to help. Canada prides itself on being there for friends and neighbours in their time of need. It is, quite simply, the Canadian way. This is one of those times when our experience and expertise can help to save lives abroad. Canadians should be very proud that their government is standing up to help.
Ebola Outbreak September 15th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I know that my colleague spoke during his speech about travel and the travel precautions that Canadians need to take. I wonder if he could restate for the Canadians who are watching this debate the urgency of contacting Foreign Affairs and how they would get in touch with the Department of Foreign Affairs when they are planning to do any travelling. Where could they get the statements on countries that they need to be cautious about visiting?
International Development September 15th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the North-South Institute is a think tank that is independent of the government.
Our government announced over three years ago that we would be moving to project-based funding and we would be winding down core funding. The North-South Institute committed three years ago to finding alternative fundraising, and the government provided two extensions to its contract to assist it in making that transition.
The International Development Research Corporation has held several calls for proposals for research projects. The North-South Institute has been selected for several research projects via these calls.