Steven MacKinnon

[Public Services and Procurement, June 4th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I want to give a shout-out to and thank my colleague for Surrey Centre for his support for frontline health care workers and for highlighting the collaboration with provincial and territorial partners, which has been key to our vaccine rollouts.

Canadians are already being scheduled for and receiving their second doses, and every Canadian who wants to will be fully vaccinated by September. In fact, my hon. colleague will know that 3.85 million doses have been delivered to his home province. Over two-thirds of British Columbians have received at least one dose. At least two million doses are arriving in Canada every week in June and July.

[Public Services and Procurement, May 13th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I am sure my hon. colleague knows our decisions have been based on the best available science and, of course, the urgent need to get vaccines into Canadian arms, so we can get ahead of these very troubling variants that are circulating worldwide. We are providing that first immunization to as many Canadians as we can, as quickly as we can.

The member also knows that the number of vaccines doses will be well in excess of the total Canadian population by the end of June, and then far more than enough to vaccinate all Canadians with two doses by the end of September. I know we all look forward to that day.

I know we are following events in other countries, and I would merely point out to my hon. friend that Canada is third in the G20 in vaccine doses administered. Every day we watch very closely to see how—

[Public Services and Procurement, May 13th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I know that my hon. friend from Bow River's comments are heartfelt. Let me try and take them in order.

As he had given notice of a question that had to do with vaccinations and vaccine contracts, I would be happy to return to him on that subject as well, but let me answer as best I can, without due notice, the issues he has posed.

The first is on weekly newspapers. I have no doubt there is a lively, colourful bunch of weekly newspapers in Bow River, just like there is right across the country. Heaven knows that many communities rely on them for the things the member posited, such as coverage of local government, local events, retail and the economic sectors in all those communities. I share the member's earnest desire for us to maintain that vitality. That is why the government has, through a variety of means that we could go on at length about tonight, supported our media sector. We have done so at arm's length to ensure not only its continued independence, but also its continued vitality.

The member asks about government advertising. The Department of Public Services and Procurement does in fact contract with the central media buying organization for the Government of Canada and various departments access that service. I would point out for the member that our department really has no operational view or direction it applies to these. It is up to individual departments to devise their campaigns, plan them and, of course, purchase the media that goes with them. I know any one of my colleagues would be happy to look into any specific advertising buy in which he may be interested.

I know we want to continue to support a lively and vital local media sector in Canada to the extent it is possible, all the while watching carefully how tax dollars are invested.

On the issue of travel agents, we of course, by definition, all have travel agents in our riding, and I have heard from those in my riding who I suppose have really no difference in views from those of my hon. friend. Travel agents have been considered in our support for the airline industry. They have been given various dispositions that I am sure my colleague from Transport Canada would be happy to expand on with the hon. member should that interest him.

We are extremely sympathetic to the travel sector writ large, and travel agents in particular, who I know have suffered from what is frankly a collapse of that industry. We will continue to keep them front of mind, just like we do the restaurant sector and the other service and hospitality industries as we go through this pandemic.

[Public Services and Procurement, May 6th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, we are very pleased that we have continued to advance the supply of vaccines into this country. In fact, over 28 million vaccines have been moved earlier than was initially planned, and we have vaccinated over 14 million Canadians to date. We will have enough vaccines to supply 48 million to 50 million doses between now and the end of June, and that is putting us at the very top of the G20.

We are going to continue our work to get vaccines into this country and to vaccinate Canadians as quickly as possible.

[Public Services and Procurement, May 6th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, throughout the pandemic we have provided billions of pieces of PPE, with billions supplied by Canadian manufacturers and suppliers. We thank them. We will continue to ensure we have the supplies we need to protect all Canadians throughout the pandemic.

[Business of Supply, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I am very glad to hear that the hon. member will be getting her jab. I know she will feel, as millions of Canadians have, the relief that comes with it. I certainly wish her good luck, and hope, of course, that she continues to be cautious when it comes to looking after her health.

Indeed, we want to follow the most up-to-date science in making sure that Canadians protect themselves against all possible permutations of this virus. We want to make sure that Canadians continue to follow all of the public health prescriptions for masks, distancing and washing hands, and do that right through to when we achieve herd immunity. I know we are all looking forward to that day.

We will continue, on our part, bringing in vaccines as quickly as possible so that Canadians can get the two doses that are needed in most cases, except with the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The two-dose regime will bring a lot of relief, and it will bring a lot of hope to Canadians that the pandemic will soon be behind us.

[Business of Supply, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague will have to respect the fact that vaccines are literally flooding into this country, so the numbers contained in speeches may fluctuate a bit from day to day.

We are approaching 15 million vaccines, which have been distributed to the provinces and territories, and that number will rise to close to 50 million vaccines by the end of June. I know the member can do the math as easily as I can, but that covers the entire population of Canada, every man, woman and child. That obviously goes significantly deep into the second dosing regime as well, and I know the member will be able to calculate that. At a rate of two million Pfizer doses alone being received in May and 2.5 million a week being received in June, that number will go up very, very rapidly.

We are very proud of the progress that is being made in vaccinating Canadians.

[Business of Supply, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, my thoughts are with the people in the member's riding and everywhere in Manitoba who are coping, as we all are, with the effects of the pandemic.

No country in the world has shared the entire details of vaccination contracts. That is precisely because all countries in the world are in a race to vaccinate their citizens.

Canada has been very successful in its procurement strategy precisely because we have good relationships with pharmaceutical companies and vaccine suppliers and precisely because we honour the stipulations of our contracts with them to the letter. We will continue to do so, and that is in the interest of securing vaccines quickly, safely and efficiently for all Canadians, including those who live in Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa.

[Business of Supply, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to this debate sponsored by the member for Calgary Nose Hill.

I would like to take a moment to consider the effects of this motion, which calls on the government to ensure that every Canadian adult has access to a vaccine by the May long weekend.

The member for Calgary Nose Hill has been politicizing the vaccine rollout since day one, which has only created concern and fear at a time when we should be working together. Last November, November 25 to be precise, when the Prime Minister stood in this chamber and explained our government's approach to procuring a diverse portfolio of vaccines, the member for Calgary Nose Hill was of the opinion that Canada was not going to receive any vaccines until 2030. The member was wrong then, and the motion that stands in her name today shows that she is wrong now. This disregard for evidence and science that has guided and continues to guide the Conservative opposition with respect to one of the largest, if not the largest, inoculation campaigns in Canadian history is disturbing indeed, and it has dashed our hopes that we could have a non-partisan approach to such a massive undertaking.

I will talk about the government's vaccine diversification strategy, but first I want to address Canadian citizens who have endured pain and suffering because of this awful virus.

This has been a very difficult period in our lives. Canadians have been torn apart, living in isolation and uncertainty for over a year now. I know that here in Gatineau my constituents have expressed their frustration. They are fed up at not being able to visit their family or friends, or leave their house after curfew. We have all done our part and we cannot wait for this pandemic to be over.

I want to express my sincere gratitude for our health care workers, especially in the Outaouais, where the system is stretched thin, but also in the rest of Canada. These workers are our heroes on the front line of this battle and they have been since day one.

We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Our vaccination strategy is ramping up week after week, month after month, thanks to the hard work of the minister and the public servants at Public Services and Procurement, whom I have the honour to work with.

While on this side of the House we are working to protect Canadians at every turn, the Conservatives and the member opposite continue to spread misinformation. This motion is not based on fact. It seeks to discredit the hard-working public servants and the massive infrastructure of inoculation and vaccination across the country. They are working together to ensure that Canadians receive vaccines as early as possible.

The motion states there were not enough vaccines being delivered in January and February, when in the first quarter of this year, from January to March, we managed to surpass our goal of six million doses delivered by a full 3.5 million doses, for a total of close to 10 million doses. Admittedly, production delays disturbed our work for a couple of weeks early in the quarter, but we recovered extremely well and in fact surpassed our objectives. When we take into account that those doses were delivered not even a year from the start of the pandemic, this is a miracle of modern science.

In fact, our government initiated negotiations with vaccine manufacturers last spring. When we learned that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines would be approved in Canada, we made sure we would receive doses from them starting in December.

That is proof that the government is working hard for Canadians and acting with urgency. As soon as we were able to, we made sure that we would get vaccines. That is the support Canadians expect at this time. They do not need partisan rhetoric that only seeks to spread misinformation.

Our effective strategy on behalf of Canadians ensured that our government had access to more than 400 million doses of potential vaccines from seven different manufacturers.

As we know, manufacturers have encountered challenges scaling up their production to meet the unprecedented demand all around the world for their safe and effective vaccines. In this reality, it is not surprising that vaccine supply chains have been volatile and unstable. However, this is precisely why we pursued a diversified strategy, and we are now reaping the benefits of that strategy.

To date, more than 15 million doses of the approved vaccines have been delivered to the provinces and territories, with more than 12 million doses administered. This is significant progress. We are now among the top three in the G20 for vaccines administered, and are usually at or close to the top for daily vaccinations in the world. However, we will not stop there.

I know that the minister and public officials continued to work day in and day out with suppliers to ensure they met their contractual obligations and also to find ways to expedite deliveries to Canada.

These efforts bore fruit. By June, Canada will receive 18 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine rather than the eight million originally expected. Pfizer will ship two million doses per week by the end of May and 2.5 million doses per week in June. What is more, doses of the Moderna vaccine continue to arrive in the country and we are working with the manufacturer on an ongoing basis to fine-tune the delivery schedule. Good news. Yesterday we received more than 300,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses.

All together, we have accelerated 22 million doses to earlier quarters, which is 22 million doses earlier than what was otherwise targeted. This means that by the end of June, Canada will receive between 48 million and 50 million doses of vaccines, as compared with our previous target of 29 million doses. It is a considerable achievement by any measure. It also means that the government will have more than enough doses by the end of September to fully vaccinate every eligible person in Canada.

With that in mind, I wonder what the Conservatives hope to accomplish with this motion. We are already accelerating doses as soon as we are able, and our negotiations with the suppliers are not solely focused on vaccines coming in this year to protect Canadians. We are also looking forward to what comes next. That is why the government has recently entered into an agreement with Pfizer to secure 65 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines of various formulations in 2022 and 2023, with options of up to 120 million more in 2024, if all options are exercised.

The agreement with Pfizer will give us the necessary flexibility to obtain boosters, new formulations of the vaccine to protect against the variants of concern and vaccines tailored for younger populations. The government's efforts continue to be guided by science and the advice of experts.

Getting back to today's debate, I am simply disappointed by this motion. Establishing an arbitrary deadline for the vaccination of Canadians without any justification is, at best, imprudent. Instead, I invite members to work together so we can emerge from this pandemic as quickly as possible.

[Community Organization for Single Mothers, April 28th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, this year, the Carrefour de la Miséricorde in Gatineau, which helps single mothers and their children, is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

This organization, which was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1980, helps more than 60 mothers and their children every year. It is an open, welcoming place that is accessible to everyone. Whether through individual support or group activities, the organization provides mothers with parenting support and helps them to develop the mother-child bond.

I have twice had the opportunity to be the honorary president at the organization's annual lobster supper fundraiser. This year, the lobster supper will be a box lunch event that will take place on May 28 and 29. Box lunches are still available at the cost of $70 each.

I greatly admire the important work that the Carrefour does, and I want to take this opportunity to thank the volunteers and staff who do such an incredible job.

Thank you and good luck.