Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, the government has always stated with regard to the TRIPS waiver that its goal is to work constructively to find a consensus-based solution at the WTO that would be acceptable to everybody. In reality, though, this nebulous position has made it very difficult to tell what th

Foreign Affairs committee  In the third way, the Walker process, driven by the Ottawa Group, they say they're aiming to tackle issues like supply chains, export restrictions and other issues that the industry has identified as being barriers to production. Unfortunately, it contains nothing on intellectual

Foreign Affairs committee  No, they have said that they want a consensus-based solution that works for everybody. I suspect that their reasons, much like the other wealthy countries that have obstructed the TRIPS waiver, have to do with not wanting to take a position that would be contrary to the interests

Foreign Affairs committee  The government have been responsive. They've been willing to meet with us, but as I said, their position is so nebulous that it prevents us from getting into detailed discussions with them on anything. Their speaking lines continue to be that they support consensus and that they'

Foreign Affairs committee  I can speak to that. Through the ACT Accelerator, there are several arms. I'm happy to see that Canada is not focusing only on vaccines, but also through the other arms and diagnostics and treatment, etc. That being said, this TRIPS waiver compromise proposal is quite worrisome

Foreign Affairs committee  Certainly campaigns to combat misinformation are key and vaccine hesitancy is an issue everywhere. That being said, I would say two things. I would say low supply to many places has bred hesitancy. Here, it's very mainstream. Everybody gets the vaccine, everybody talks about it.

Foreign Affairs committee  I don't know the ins and outs of the Ottawa Group and everything they're doing, but I hope they can play a constructive role. I just think it's important that it not be construed as an alternative to the TRIPS waiver, because the IP barriers that developing countries have been ra

Foreign Affairs committee  You're right, Heather, about the pharmaceutical monopolies. The big four, if you will, have basically had exclusive patents on these vaccines that the entire world wants. That has basically enabled them to play God and decide what price they're going to sell the vaccines at and w

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. It's quite shocking. I think lives should be prioritized over corporate profits, when they clearly have more than enough already.

Foreign Affairs committee  Clearly, with this pandemic and all the other crises that the world is facing—climate, the economic repercussions of the pandemic, conflict, global displacement—we need the ODA to go up to be able to support the world with the long-term fallout of this pandemic. I would strongly

Foreign Affairs committee  I apologize. I can't comment on that specific situation. I don't know the details. My hope is that Canada can.... Obviously, I want to see Canada be able to donate as many vaccines that are useful to the developing world as possible, but I don't know the ins and outs and politic

Foreign Affairs committee  As I mentioned in my answer to the previous question, I'm not familiar with the details of this case, so I can't comment.

Foreign Affairs committee  It sounds like it may be, but I don't know the entire situation. For sure, we're watching the types of vaccines that Canada is donating. I know that so far there's been more AstraZeneca. That is causing some challenges. A lot of countries are having difficulty placing them, beca

Foreign Affairs committee  It's a bit complicated also, because Canada's 200-million commitment is a commitment to donate the equivalent of 200 million doses, so that includes actual doses, but it also includes money to buy doses through COVAX. In terms of its actual surplus doses, right now it's donated f

Foreign Affairs committee  I think it's starting to speed up through COVAX. December-January was a turning point. Until then, there was scarcity in the supply globally. COVAX couldn't move, because there were no vaccines for it to buy. Now the landscape is changing. I expect the money that goes to COVAX