Randeep Sarai

[Business of Supply, December 8th, 2021]

Madam Chair, over the last few weeks, we have seen the emergence of the omicron variant. Could the Minister of Health please tell this House what actions we have implemented to stop the spread of this variant in Canada?

[Business of Supply, December 8th, 2021]

Madam Chair, could the Minister of Health tell this House how our government has supported vaccinations throughout the country and what we are doing to increase vaccination rates?

[Business of Supply, December 8th, 2021]

Madam Chair, I am pleased to rise in committee of the whole. This evening, I will speak to Global Affairs' international assistance and the estimates as they relate to the international development portfolio before asking questions.

The international development landscape has evolved significantly in the last two years. The pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated inequalities and reversed decades of development gains. Meanwhile, the global community also faces serious conflicts and humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Haiti and elsewhere. These crises demand our immediate attention.

At the same time, climate change is having alarming impacts on the least developed countries and small island developing states. We are seeing increases in drought, flooding, heat waves, crop failure and biodiversity loss. As we near the pandemic's two-year mark, we must keep these challenges in mind and look ahead to shaping a more sustainable, green and prosperous recovery.

Globally, there have now been more than 260 million cases of COVID-19 and five million deaths. New and worrying variants continue to emerge. The pandemic has had many wide-ranging socio-economic impacts, greater social inequality, disproportionate economic vulnerabilities and burdens, and strained health systems. Many of these impacts are expected to be long-lasting worldwide, but especially in developing countries.

While 76% of Canadians are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, vaccination rates in lower-income countries are severely lagging. Across the African continent, only 7.5% of the population is fully vaccinated. We are already seeing how vaccine inequality increases overall inequalities. It is reversing development gains, particularly for women, girls and marginalized populations.

After five million deaths worldwide, there is growing recognition that a stronger preparedness and response is critical to countering future pandemics. This calls for the highest level of political engagement, with a strong focus on accountability, transparency and equity. Canada is acting on the findings and recommendations of COVID-19 review bodies. We are part of multisectoral and multistakeholder discussions on how to strengthen the global health ecosystem.

Even before the pandemic, humanitarian needs had been increasing. Driven by protracted conflict and the effects of climate change, the number of forcibly displaced people had reached over 82 million worldwide by the end of 2020. It is a number that has not been seen since World War II.

The world also saw the single largest increase in global hunger ever recorded, with an estimated 41 million people on the brink of famine. In recent years, we have since a widespread rollback in respect for human rights and democratic freedoms. This poses a serious obstacle to sustainable development. The pandemic has laid bare long-standing governance challenges in all regions of the world, but particularly in developing countries that lack the public sector capacity to deliver services sustainably and equitably.

Canada is committed to improving the effectiveness of its international assistance to address these challenges. We will work with a diverse range of partners to take a whole-of-society approach that leaves no one behind.

Since February 2020, Canada has committed more than $2.6 billion in international assistance in response to COVID-19. More than $1.3 billion of these funds went to the access to COVID-19 tools accelerator, more commonly known as the ACT accelerator, to facilitate equitable access to COVID-19 medical countermeasures. We are strongly committed to the ACT accelerator and its pillars, including the COVAX facility and its advanced market commitment. Canada will donate the equivalent of at least 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the COVAX facility by the end of 2022.

Canada supports global efforts to stabilize developing economies and to bring about pandemic recovery. Through the Prime Minister's collaboration with the Prime Minister of Jamaica and the Secretary General of the United Nations, Canada is working with the international community to develop practical responses to the pandemic's socio-economic and financial impacts. This work builds on Canadian leadership in financing the sustainable development goals over the last decade.

Canada has also committed to doubling its global climate finance contribution to $5.3 billion over the next five years. We will continue to explore ways to use these funds to mobilize additional financial resources to tackle the climate crisis.

Canada recognizes the pandemic's disproportionate impact on women. We are leading the call for greater attention to the matter of paid and unpaid case work. Canada recently announced $100 million to develop programs to address this issue in low- and middle-income countries. Throughout the pandemic, Canada's feminist international assistance policy has proven to be a robust strategic framework focused on supporting the poorest and the most vulnerable populations.

In parallel to our COVID response, we have continued to implement our pre-COVID core international assistance commitments to achieve results and impacts. For example, our women's voice and leadership initiative supports more than 400 women's rights organizations in over 30 countries and regions. Many of these organizations received fast responsive funding to help them adjust to the pandemic's impacts. We will continue to support this important work, including by doubling funding to women's rights organizations. We are also funding Canadian organizations that work in partnership with local organizations through the small and medium organizations for impact and innovation initiative.

These and other initiatives are reinforcing the resilience of local communities and supporting our wider sustainable development efforts. We are committed to implementing the feminist international assistance policy and to increasing our international assistance annually toward 2030.

Before I conclude, I would like to turn to the supplementary estimates.

In the 2021-22 supplementary estimates (B), Global Affairs Canada is seeking an increase of $683 million, bringing our total authorities to $7.6 billion. This includes investments announced in budget 2021, such as $375 million to continue supporting Canada's international COVID-19 responses, $165 million for international humanitarian assistance and $68.8 million for Canada's response to the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Also included in the supplementary estimates is $75 million for the strategic priorities fund, which has enabled investments for unpaid and paid care work of $10 million; $50 million for the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust; and $15 million allocated to the COVAX Manufacturing Task Force to support the establishment of the South Africa technology transfer hub. With the recent spread of new variants of concern, these strategic initiatives will help build capacity to enable development and production of mRNA vaccines and technologies in the region.

In addition to the investments already mentioned, Global Affairs Canada has allocated $59.9 million in support for the Venezuela migrant crisis and pledged $300 million for the Global Partnership for Education. Through these efforts, we are achieving results and generating positive impacts, helping to build a more peaceful, inclusive and prosperous world for all.

NACI has recently released some guidance on booster COVID-19 vaccine doses in Canada. Could the Minister of Health please tell us more about these new recommendations?

[Community Service, December 1st, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians living in coastal regions from east to west have been hit hard by extreme weather in the last few days, from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, all the way to British Columbia. I send my sincere condolences to everyone from coast to coast who has been impacted by the flooding, who has had damage to homes, farms, livestock, business and infrastructure, and who has had to leave their homes.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank just a few of the many local organizations in Surrey that leapt into action as water levels rose in British Columbia last week: the Akal Sewa Foundation, Guru Nanak's Free Kitchen, the Guru Nanak Food Bank, the Gurdwara Dukh Nivaran Sahib, the Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar, the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, Khalsa Aid, Maskeen Farms and the members of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

I thank everyone who stepped up to support their neighbours in need, and I am thinking of all those who are hoping to get back to their homes and communities.

[An Act to Provide Further Support in Response to COVID-19, November 29th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my member of Parliament who is representing me in my riding and my neighbouring riding, which I represent.

The faster we vaccinate and the quicker we encourage others to get vaccinated, the country will be a much safer place, and leadership starts right here in the chamber. Those who are still trying to decide whether they should be vaccinated should show leadership so the residents of their ridings also participate in that. Some on the benches opposite are having a challenging time convincing their own colleagues to get vaccinated.

Those who are vaccinated should encourage those who are not vaccinated to get vaccinated so our country can get back on its feet and we can become more resilient, control the spread and help those health care workers who are really struggling. They are working overtime and non-stop in the ICU, which they would not be doing if people were participating in the vaccination program.

[An Act to Provide Further Support in Response to COVID-19, November 29th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, our government has created over one million new jobs well ahead of schedule. In fact, the economy is turning on so many cylinders that we have a vacancy of almost 750,000 to one million jobs. That is a good and healthy sign, but we must resolve that a lot of that is because many of the immigrants that we would bring to the country have been unable to come due to travel restrictions. We are a resilient country. We will work very hard to ensure that they come.

If the member opposite is alluding to the fact that people do not want to work, that is a false perception of Canadians. Canadians want to work, Canadians are working and they are working their butts off.

[An Act to Provide Further Support in Response to COVID-19, November 29th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, that was a great question from my colleague across the aisle.

Bill C-2 covers all of the industries that are hard hit. It is based on the economic hit that the industry has had and whether it has reached the threshold. Those that are hard hit will receive the wage subsidy, as required, and we know that the tourism and hospitality sector have been the hardest hit currently and the slowest to recover, due to the travel restrictions. I think that those industries and those pilots will benefit from it. The larger industry, as a whole, has been provided assistance and those in smaller industries will also get the assistance they need.

[An Act to Provide Further Support in Response to COVID-19, November 29th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to be here today to speak to Bill C-2, an act to provide further support in response to COVID-19. Our government is moving into the next phase of the recovery, with more targeted support for Canadians, as our economy continues to reopen. The benefits outlined in this bill are and will continue to be essential for Canadians who will be impacted by the pandemic in the months to come.

I do not think any of us in this room could have imagined the immense cost that the COVID-19 virus was going to take on the world when we left the Hill for the weekend and headed home to our constituencies on March 13, 2020. However, here we are about 20 months later continuing to find new ways to respond to the individual and collective toll that the virus has taken on us all.

In the midst of all this hardship and heartbreak, we have also seen incredible resilience and innovation. We have seen health care workers, first responders, service providers and government employees work through continually evolving situations for months to take care of patients, provide essential services and ensure that our country was able to continue to function. We saw the creation, clinical trials, approval and distribution of multiple vaccines for COVID-19.

I heard from many Surrey Centre constituents who expressed how important the previous round of pandemic benefits were for them. I would like to extend my extreme gratitude to all those constituents and stakeholders who have provided very important feedback to us throughout the last year and a half, as well as to the government officials, who have listened to that feedback to make our pandemic supports stronger to support more individuals and businesses.

As we continue to see the evolution of the pandemic, we will continue to adapt our approach to address it. That is what our government is doing with Bill C-2. Our strategy to support Canadians is evolving with the situation, and we are now shifting our focus from blanket support measures to a more targeted approach. By taking a more targeted approach, we will reduce our spending on COVID support while continuing to support those who have been hit hardest by the health and economic impacts of the virus.

I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the proposed support and extension of support in this bill for individuals and businesses. They will be essential to Canadians as we move forward through pandemic recovery.

The bill proposes extending some existing COVID support benefits, including the Canada recovery hiring program; the Canada recovery sickness benefit, which has given income support to employed and self-employed individuals who are unable to work because they are sick or need to self-isolate because of COVID-19; and the Canada recovery caregiving benefit, which has given income support to individuals who are unable to work because they must care for a child or family member who needs supervised care. This applies if their school or care facility is closed or unavailable to them because of COVID-19, or if they are sick, self-isolating or at risk of serious health complications because of COVID-19. These three benefits will be extended until May of next year when this legislation is passed. This bill also proposes the creation of new benefits, including the Canada worker lockdown benefit, a measure that will support workers who are unable to work because of a government-imposed public health lockdown; the tourism and hospitality recovery program; and the hardest-hit business recovery program.

We all know that the tourism and hospitality industry, in particular, has been extremely hard hit by the pandemic. With most of the world shutting their doors to non-residents in the early months of the pandemic, the tourism industry faced a sharp decline. Canadian cities and towns across the country rely heavily on the tourism industry to support their local economies. According to Statistics Canada, in March 2020, Canada saw a nearly 55% decrease in international arrivals. With travel and movement restrictions across the country, hotels were at less than 20% occupancy levels. Restaurants and bars were also hard hit during this time, when real GDP dropped by 39.5%.

I met with many constituents and local stakeholders to hear about their concerns, especially restaurant, hotel and banquet hall owners and operators in Surrey. The hotels, restaurants and banquet halls in my riding were particularly hard hit by the lockdown, with local lockdown restrictions forcing many establishments to close their doors completely for a few months, which meant cancelling weddings and other events, and requiring them to switch their service operations to provide takeout and delivery options. Similarly, restaurants had to shut down dining rooms and have takeout only, therefore having to let go of the servers and staff who normally worked there.

Surrey's hotels, like the Civic Hotel, rely on business travel, most of which had come to a virtual halt. That made it very difficult for them to survive. Surrey has a large banquet and wedding industry that was also hard hit due to severe restrictions on the size of weddings. Therefore, many venues and vendors were completely shut down, leaving hundreds out of jobs.

Things have begun to look up for these industries. In the second quarter of 2021, there was an increase of employment generated by the tourism industry with 453,200 jobs added. This time also saw an increase in tourism spending in Canada by over $10.6 billion. We may not have the international travellers coming and going as we are accustomed to, but Canadians have been stepping up and increasing local travel within the country.

With winter coming, though, we know that many businesses and workers will need support as tourism winds down for the season. I am confident that the travel and tourism industry will come back after these hard times. They have shown their resilience and the support offered through these proposed benefits will help this industry through the end of the pandemic.

Our government is committed to working with our international partners to ensure that countries around the world have fair and equitable access to vaccines. As we continue to see the rates of vaccination increase, we will be able to continue to reopen our beautiful country to the world once again, with the knowledge that our families, friends and neighbours will be protected.

We know that winter will most likely bring more challenging times related to the pandemic in different regions across the country. I am very pleased to see that this bill addresses the possibility of local lockdowns, with the Canada workers lockdown benefit. Anticipating these events now will ensure that Canadians have the support they need to get through these challenging times, whether it be to support an ill relative, care for their children or ensure that they can continue to put food on the table should they become ill and need to take a few days off work.

Our health care providers have done a phenomenal job of getting Canadians vaccinated well ahead of our original schedule. We now have 76.3% of the population who have received the full dose of vaccines and the numbers continue to grow.

As vaccine manufacturers continue their clinical trials for younger children and with the approval of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages five to 11 by Health Canada, we are well on our way to ensuring that all Canadians who are able to receive the vaccine have access. As we continue to move through the changing circumstances of this pandemic, our government will continue to be there for Canadians and Canadian businesses.

[Flooding in British Columbia, November 24th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member on his election and representing the constituents of Edmonton Griesbach.

The government will do whatever it takes. This is a very essential time. As we have seen, even without natural climate disasters, due to the COVID situation globally, supply chains have been even more imperative. They have to be examined and ensured, particularly for indigenous communities, remote communities and communities in the interior, so we will do whatever it takes.

[Flooding in British Columbia, November 24th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of work to be done, absolutely. It is essential to control the growth of the temperature rising. As my colleague from Cloverdale—Langley City alluded to earlier, we must do more. Canada is warming faster than many other countries around the globe. We have a huge watershed in our Arctic that we have to preserve, which is kind of the coolant of the globe, and therefore we must do more. Otherwise, these disastrous events will happen.

We need support from across the aisle on this issue and it should be bipartisan or tripartisan with all parties in this matter.