Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, another question that is repeatedly asked of the government and that it utterly refuses to answer is why is it refusing to release a single line from any of the seven contracts it has negotiated on behalf of Canadians, and why will it not tell us why? We all understand that there may be commercially sensitive information. There may be some technology secrets in the documents. There ma…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, it is really quite a privilege to work with my hon. colleague at the health committee. Given that the current disruption in supply will further delay vaccinations of Canada's highest-risk populations, does the member opposite agree with me and my New Democrat colleagues that additional public health measures such as paid sick days, national standards for long-term care, frequent rapid…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the leader of the official opposition for moving this motion for an emergency debate. As he knows, I did as well, and it is, I think, a very timely and important debate. The hon. member speaks about a plan. One of the biggest deficiencies Canada is facing right now is that we do not have the ability to manufacture a single vaccine. The Liberal government failed t…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, the minister has repeatedly and explicitly talked about her commitment to transparency, yet to this day, she has not released one word of any of the seven contracts that the government has signed with vaccine manufacturers, unlike other countries. In the interests of transparency, will the minister release to Canadians portions of the contracts that at least tell Canadians how many do…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I think I can safely speak for all parliamentarians when I say that none of us could have possibly envisioned how profound this colossal economic and health shock has been to our country. I do not think any of us ever anticipated having to deal with a global pandemic that would have such tectonic impacts on our society, families and communities across this country. It is equally fair …
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Mr. Speaker, I began by saying that I think I speak for all parliamentarians when I say how surprised perhaps we were at having to deal with this completely unique situation, which has faced not only our country but also our globe. I think that none of us envisioned that we would be dealing in 2021 with the colossal dislocation in our communities, our economy, our families and our health care syst…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the federal tobacco control strategy for fiscal year 2019-20: (a) what was the budget for the strategy; (b) how much of that budget was spent within the fiscal year; (c) how much was spent on each component of the strategy, specifically, (i) mass media, (ii) policy and regulatory development, (iii) research, (iv) surveillance, (v) enforcement, (vi) grants and contributions, (vii) pr…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, a scathing internal audit has exposed disarray and chaos at the Public Health Agency of Canada. The audit notes limited public health expertise at senior levels and a lack of emergency response capacity, and it even revealed that incorrect information was being fed to Canada's chief public health officer. Today, as Canada's vaccine deliveries shift from week to week, it appears that m…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my fellow New Democrats, I also rise to propose an emergency debate regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine distribution. New Democrats and Conservatives do not often agree, but we agree fundamentally on this issue, and I think it is telling that when we have the official opposition and the New Democrats, who make up a very high percentage of members of this House, ag…
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