Tony Clement

[Health, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, what Canadians care about is the availability of the vaccine. Six million doses have already been distributed throughout the country, through the provinces and territories, and that is enough vaccine for all of the priority groups. That is more per capita than any other country in the world.

But we are not resting on our laurels. We continue to distribute the vaccine as it is produced. That is our role and responsibility, along with the provinces and territories. We are working with the public health officials. That is what people expect of us and that is what we are doing.

[Health, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would only again convey to the House that Canada currently has more H1N1 vaccine per capita than any place on this planet. That is a testament to all the public health authorities working with us and working with the provinces and territories.

For the record, the province of Prince Edward Island already has 29,000 doses available.

[Health, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would only encourage the hon. member and members opposite to listen to public health authorities who had a plan for inoculation. They had a plan to ensure that priority groups were in fact distributed to first and other groups would then get the distribution of the vaccine in the weeks ahead.

That is the plan of the public health authorities. I think it is a fair and reasonable plan. I encourage the hon. members opposite to support a fair and reasonable plan.

[Health, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would encourage the hon. member and hon. members opposite to speak about the realities, like six million doses already being distributed, more than enough for priority groups, which is the focal point of public health officials over the next couple of weeks.

The hon. member could tell his constituent that in New Brunswick 129,000 doses have already been distributed.

[Health, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, again, from coast to coast to coast in Canada, 6 million doses of H1N1 vaccine have now been sent to the provinces and territories.

That is the reality on the ground. We have been working and constantly conveying our messages to the people of Canada about the importance of preparing for this second part of the outbreak. That has been the responsibility of the Minister of Health and she has been doing that, along with the Chief Public Health Officer. They have been working on behalf of Canadians. The hon. members opposite should do so as well.

[Health, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is, once again, that our government announced a new action plan in 2006 to deal with the flu and pandemics. This is our record.

We have done this in consultation with the provinces, the territories and public health officials. We did that back in 2006. We are proud of that record. However, right now we are focused on ensuring that all parts of the country get the vaccine they need.

[Health, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, once again, 6 million doses of the vaccine have now been sent to the provinces and territories for public health. That is now the reality in Canada. Canada has more doses of the vaccine per capita than any other country in the world. That is the reality.

We are proud to work with all public health officials and public health agencies across the country and with all provinces and territories to protect the health and safety of Canadians.

[Health, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should know better than most that this is week one of the largest mass immunization campaign in the country's history, week one. The hon. member knows better than most that it takes eight to twelve weeks to distribute, deliver and access that vaccine for all 33 million Canadians. Those are the facts on the ground.

We have allowed to be distributed six million doses. That is more than enough for the priority groups that are the first groups in week one and week two. The member should be applauding the public health officials rather than criticizing this program.

[Health, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member and her caucus still refuse to accept the reality on the ground that we have more vaccine per capita than the United States, than the U.K., than Japan, than anywhere else in the world.

Six million doses have been distributed to date. That is the reality on the ground. That is what Canadians care about. That is what we care about and that is what we will continue to care about.

[Health, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that Canada has more doses per capita than any other country in the world. That is the reality.

That is the reality on the ground. That is what Canadians care about. That is what they should care about. That is why we are working with public health officials, the provinces and territories to deal with this situation to the best of our ability. The hon. member is simply playing politics if he wishes to dispute that.