William Amos

[Health, February 2nd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, from the very beginning, our government has had the following objectives: one, secure access to vaccines and to the best vaccine candidates in the world; two, invest in the most promising Canadian vaccines and treatments; and three, invest strategically to rebuild Canada's biomanufacturing capacity.

That is exactly what we have done, and we have known all along that we must rely on the best advice of Canadian scientists. We are supporting biomanufacturing for Canadians. It is coming.

[Health, December 11th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, our government has been led by scientists and the best expert advice that we can get from the vaccine task force at every single step during this COVID crisis. VIDO-InterVac has been a key part of that. There have been many other Canadian companies and Canadian research enterprises that have been doing that exact work: $170 million in the National Research Council and $46 million for VIDO-InterVac.

The investments are going to continue, and we are always going to make decisions on the basis of expert scientific advice. It is not going to be partisan, and it is unfortunate that the member opposite is politicizing this.

[Innovation, Science and Industry, December 11th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, our government worked hand in glove with Canadian industries all across the spectrum, whether it was for ventilators or test kits. For all of the different products that were necessary to tackle this crisis, we worked with our industry. We transformed the industry all across Canada, and so many companies have contributed to this made-in-Canada effort. We know how hard Canadians are working all together. This is just another great example.

[COVID-19 Emergency Response, December 11th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, our government is so proud of the exceptional efforts by Canadian companies all across this great country to produce all of the materials that we needed to address the COVID crisis.

In every single province, small businesses, large businesses and transformed businesses got us where we needed to go. That is exactly what we invested in all along. Yes, there was equipment that could not be purchased here, and purchases were made outside of the country. Everything was done absolutely properly, and we have made sure that our manufacturing sector has been transformed as a result.

[Broadcasting Act, December 10th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I would like to start by wishing all Canadians a very happy holidays, a merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah and a happy new year.

I would like to ask my colleague from Cumberland—Colchester the following question: What is her view of Bill C-10, in a context where we are trying to truly help the cultural community of actors and everyone in Canada's production and arts sector?

[Public Safety, December 10th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, our government continues to protect our networks. We are going to ensure Canada benefits from the latest technology and the latest innovations in telecom. A review of the 5G technology, and associated economic and security issues, is ongoing. Our experts will be advising us all the way and our allies will be advising us all the way.

Let us be clear. The security of Canadians will never be compromised.

[Health, November 27th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, the Canadian public knows full well that the Harper Conservative government was hostile to science. It made cuts to research, cuts to funding for biotech companies and no investments in the manufacturing capacity of these companies.

Our government is investing in this area. We are building that capacity, and Canadians will be protected. We have everything we need in the vaccine portfolio. We are there for Canadians.

[Health, November 27th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, when the pandemic started, Canada's production capacity was minimal. It was important to address the lack of investment in production capacity.

This has been a problem for decades, and we immediately realized that we needed to invest in the country's production capacity.

That is what we did. We have increased that capacity. We are building it. I know that Canadians have confidence in the investments we are—

[Health, November 27th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, when this pandemic began, Canadians understood that we did not have significant biomanufacturing capacity, and that was certainly not helped by the previous anti-science Conservative government. However, we have made significant investments, both prior to the pandemic and now during the pandemic, to augment our biomanufacturing capacity to enable life sciences investments at ISED.

We are continuing to do the right things and make the right investments, and our biomanufacturing capacity is increasing thanks to those investments.

[Health, November 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadians understand that before this pandemic began, Canada had no biomanufacturing capacity that was suitable for a COVID-19 vaccine.

We are not going to be taking lessons from the opposition on this, certainly not from the Conservatives, because they sold out our industry at the time. The fabled crown jewel Connaught Laboratories, in the 1980s, went bye-bye and so did so many others.

It is because of these problems, even through the 2000s, when investments in the life sciences were taken away from ISED. We have had to recover territory over time, and these investments that we are making right now are only going to help as we bring forward our vaccine portfolio to the benefit of all Canadians.