Health  Madam Speaker, the evidence is not secret. Everyone knows that vaccines save lives. In the United States, 165,000 lives would have been saved just during the omicron crisis if they had had a better vaccination uptake. One hundred and sixty-five thousand lives in the omicron crisis: that is 50% more people than in any one of our ridings in the House.

Health  Mr. Speaker, everyone in the House obviously agrees on the importance of being responsible and prudent. We have done what Canadians have expected of us in the past two years. Canadians have done what we expected of them in the past two years, which was to follow public health measures and to get vaccinated.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I am very glad to receive a question from an MP from Newfoundland, with which we have a great relationship. We are very grateful for their hard work through the last two years. We are also very grateful for the important work that they do every day to provide people in Newfoundland with primary care providers in health: family physicians.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate very much the key word, which is “freedom”. The reason we have the freedom to relax those measures in Canada is that many Canadians, in fact, the vast majority of Canadians, have received their first, their second and, in many cases, their third dose.

Health  Mr. Speaker, 135,000 is the number of lives lost in the United States because it had a lower vaccination rate than we had in Canada, and 135,000 people is about the size of any one of the ridings in our country. There were 135,000 lives lost because the other country had a lower vaccination rate.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased to be able to hear our colleagues speak about this great day we are having today in removing discrimination in this particular matter. As our colleague said, we are so grateful to the activists, as well as the scientists, for having worked so hard over the last few years to get to that outcome.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from London West for her excellent work in support of the LGBTQ+ community. Today is a great day for anti-discrimination, justice and equity. Canadians have been waiting for this day for many years. Health Canada has approved Canadian Blood Services' request to eliminate the deferral period for men who have sex with men and to replace this policy with a single universal questionnaire that is non-discriminatory and is not based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  moved: That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, (a) on the day of the adoption of this order, the ordinary hour of daily adjournment shall be 12 a.m., that until Thursday, June 23, 2022, a minister of the Crown may, with the agreement of the House leader of another recognized party, rise from his or her seat at any time during a sitting, but no later than 6:30 p.m., and request that the ordinary hour of daily adjournment for the current sitting or a subsequent sitting be 12 a.m., provided that it be 10 p.m. on a day when a debate pursuant to Standing Order 52 or 53.1 is to take place, and that such a request shall be deemed adopted; (b) on a sitting day extended pursuant to paragraph (a), (i) proceedings on any opposition motion pursuant to Standing Order 81(16) shall conclude no later than 5:30 p.m.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I am so glad to get this question because it points to our great collaboration with the Government of Newfoundland and the great minister of health in Newfoundland. We have worked extremely well together over the last few months. I want to congratulate Newfoundlanders, in particular, for having some of the highest vaccination rates in Canada for children and adults, including boosters.

Health  Mr. Speaker, once again, I thank my colleagues for giving me a chance to talk about the $3-billion investment in mental health that is already allocated in our budgets. We look forward to being able to transfer that investment to the provinces and territories to help look after Canadians' mental health.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to our colleague for generously giving me the opportunity to add further information to the previous question. Exactly 10 days ago, we announced $2 billion. That is an extra $2 billion, no strings attached, to help the provinces and territories clear the terrible backlog in surgery, treatment and diagnosis, because we know just how important this is to the provinces, the territories and all the patients who have been waiting for these surgeries for so long.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I once again sincerely thank my colleague. I will be able to add more information to the list. One billion dollars is the sum we agreed to transfer to the provinces and territories just a few days ago. We are really looking forward to making an official announcement to all the provinces and territories.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I would like to join the member in thanking and congratulating all health care workers in Quebec, who have worked so hard over the past two years to protect us against COVID-19. Thanks to the extraordinary co-operation of all levels of government, we collectively saved tens of thousands of lives and tens of billions of dollars in revenue for families and small businesses.

Health  Mr. Speaker, the Canadian government has invested a total of $63 billion over the past two years to support all of the amazing work that my dear colleague just spoke about. This $63 billion was invested to protect the health and safety of workers and residents, and the outcomes we have seen have been extraordinary, especially compared to what might have happened under another government or in another country.

Health  Mr. Speaker, “cruel” is indeed the right word when we speak about the impacts of COVID-19 on our families, our children, our seniors, our economy, our workers and our businesses over the last two years. It has been extremely harsh and cruel. The reason we are able to make life more normal now is that we are continuing the fight against COVID.