Business of Supply  I am not sure I got all of the question, Madam Speaker, because there is a lot of noise coming from over there. What I do discern from my hon. colleague is that the important work of committees absolutely must continue. The important work of reviewing the best practices, reviewing what the government is doing in responding to this pandemic and the procurement work that is associated with that absolutely must continue.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague always takes a leadership role when it comes to science, evidence and academic research in the House and has this government support that very effort. Members can be sure that we will continue to listen to the experts, the scientists and keep Canada in the front row when it comes to beating this disease.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, we asked Canadian companies from coast to coast to coast to step up and give us solutions for made-in-Canada domestic supplies that would protect Canadians. By the thousands, they signified their interest; by the thousands, we responded to them. We have reached arrangements with manufacturers of personal protective equipment.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to share my time with my colleague, the member for Outremont. I am pleased to have the opportunity to rise in the House to speak to the motion put forward by my hon. colleague. As we all know, this pandemic is the worst and most serious public health crisis that Canada has ever faced.

COVID-19 Emergency Response  Madam Speaker, I assure the hon. member that the national security exemption is applied in situations where officials believe it is in Canada's interest, and in the interest of our citizens, our partners in the provinces and our health care workers, that Canada have ready access to contracting for equipment that is urgently required and that the details, in some cases, represent a strategic interest of Canada.

COVID-19 Emergency Response  I want to thank my hon. friend from Red Deer—Lacombe for his intervention and his interest in this issue. I listened with interest to his comments. I can say very simply that, when the global pandemic was declared, we faced a situation where the personal protective equipment and equipment of all kinds that Canadians and health care workers would require on an urgent basis had to be sourced, in some cases from countries around the world and in some cases from Canada.

COVID-19 Emergency Response  Madam Speaker, let me just finish the thought and say that using the national security exception does not mean we do not use procurement best practices, negotiate and conclude fair and fair-market contracts with our suppliers. That is of course what we do. I am rather surprised the member believes that a global pandemic, the worst seen in 100 years, is not a matter that we would apply national security measures to.

COVID-19 Emergency Response  Madam Speaker, I want to extend a cordial good evening to my hon. friend in Manitoba. Through the miracle of technology we get to have this exchange. I know that the member is properly concerned with the efforts we have under way to ensure the safety of Canadians, to ensure we are protected through this pandemic and to ensure that Canadians, health professionals and others, such as border guards, RCMP officers and all sorts of people who look after us, have access to PPE, the very best equipment and the supply channels we are going to require as we move through the various stages of this pandemic.

Gatineau's Local Economy  Mr. Speaker, the Outaouais is fortunate to be able to count on extraordinary entrepreneurs who make our region vibrant and who contribute to its recovery and our prosperity every day. Gatineau businesses, especially those in the downtown area, were hit hard by the first wave of the pandemic.

Health  Mr. Speaker, as an integral part of our plan to safely restart our economy, we are securing the testing supplies, including as my colleague said up to approximately eight million tests from Abbott ID NOW to meet our needs now and for the long term and increase our capacity to test more Canadians.

Health  Mr. Speaker, obviously the government is focusing all of its efforts on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are co-operating with our partners at every level of government and with the private sector in order to obtain the necessary medical supplies. We are very confident, as we head into fall, that the efforts of the past six months will pay off.

Health  Mr. Speaker, of course, transparency and accountability are critically important to our government, and we are committed to releasing a full account of all our procurement efforts. We will absolutely do that for Canadians. For supplies that are in critical shortage worldwide, where we are actually competing with other jurisdictions for critical procurements, I do not know if the hon. member is suggesting that Canada should make public that critical information.

Health  Mr. Speaker, we are working on it. As we enter into fall, we are sure that our efforts over the past six months to strengthen our capacity to procure personal protective equipment and medical equipment will continue to pay off for Canadians. I do not know if the hon. member opposite is rooting for failure on this.

Health  Mr. Speaker, we are working very hard to ensure continuity of supply for health professionals and for all Canadians. We have started an additional supply chain involving various suppliers. We are calling on anyone who believes they could help us out by supplying equipment or services to the Government of Canada to get in touch.

Health  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry delivered the good news that more than 50% of our supply chain is located in Canada. We can thank Fluid Energy from Calgary for supplying us with hand sanitizer. We can thank enterprises like LuminUltra in New Brunswick for providing us with reagent.