Oral Questions
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. We know how much people's mental health has suffered, including that of health care workers who…
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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. That money will help take care of our seniors, who went through very hard times an…
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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…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for giving me one more opportunity to speak about the importance of vaccination. Just this morning, we were informed of a recent U.S. study that showed that, between June and November 2021, had there been more vaccinated Americans, they would have saved about $14 billion in the cost of hospitalization and 700,000 would not have ended up in the hospit…
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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. Living with COVID means continuing the fight against CO…
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Mr. Speaker, again, we are very grateful to the almost 30 million Canadians who got vaccinated. That is the reason we were able to avoid the closing of schools and the shutting down of businesses, restaurants, theatres and cinemas. That is the reason we will be able, on April 1, to make it easier for people to travel into Canada by changing the prearrival testing rules. This is all very good news,…
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Mr. Speaker, the reason we are able to lift restrictions is that we have a large number of people here in Canada who have been vaccinated. I just spoke a moment ago about the recent U.S. study. What I did not mention is that in that study 163,000 deaths would have been averted between June and November last year in the United States, had there been more vaccinated Americans during that period.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our dear colleague from Mississauga—Streetsville for her hard work. Last Friday we announced additional support of $2 billion to help provinces and territories reduce backlogs in surgeries and treatments and also to support our health care workers to ensure better access to a doctor or family health team, to create digital health records for all, to improve mental health and s…
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Mr. Speaker, trusting and working together is exactly what we have been doing over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, with record investments in health and safety worth $63 billion, in addition to $43 billion through the Canada health transfer. Most importantly, this exceptional collaboration has saved tens of thousands of lives in Canada. Tens of billions of dollars have been injected t…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Alfred-Pellan for his hard work and for his excellent question. On Friday we announced $2 billion in additional unconditional funding to help the provinces and territories address the delays in treatments, diagnosis and surgeries; to support health care workers, who have suffered considerably because of COVID‑19; to improve access to primary care; to create d…
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Mr. Speaker, I think the member of Parliament was very right in pointing to the difficulties many millions of Canadians have lived through in the last two years in the biggest health crisis in over a century and the biggest economic crisis since the Second World War. The reason we went through this crisis well in Canada, and better than in many other places, is that we have stuck together and we h…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very glad to answer this question. Because of our joint work together with the provinces and territories over the last two years, which involved a lot of difficult decisions and difficult actions on the part of individual Canadians, together we essentially saved tens of thousands of lives. Had we not done that and had the types of public policies and vaccination rates we saw sout…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for giving me the opportunity to say more about the important investment we announced on Friday: a $2‑billion unconditional top‑up to the Canada health transfer, in addition to the $45 billion, effective April 1, to reduce wait times for treatments, surgeries and diagnostics, which have done so much harm over the past few months. It is time to clear the ba…
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Madam Speaker, I will repeat what I said yesterday. I have a great deal of respect for my colleague from Mégantic—L'Érable and the work that he does. He does great work, not only within his Conservative caucus, but also in the House of Commons. I will always be there to help him do his job. As I said, if he wants to see other studies and work, he can contact me, and I will be pleased to continue w…
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Madam Speaker, this allows me to highlight the role, importance and benefits of a federation that has been working together for more than two years. The reason why Canada was able to emerge from the pandemic earlier and in better shape than many other countries is that we had the benefit of a federation where governments worked together to deliver 81 million doses of vaccines, 400 million rapid te…
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Madam Speaker, this is a question about Service Canada, which I like very much. I used to be the minister responsible for Service Canada and I still remember how hard the workers at Service Canada work every day. It has been very difficult for them over the last two years because of family stress and professional stress. I think we all want to thank and congratulate them for their work and for con…
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Madam Speaker, the member is absolutely right. Not only are we listening, but we have been working together for several months now. My colleague, the former health minister, did just that for several months, from the beginning of the pandemic. We talk almost every week. We are working together. That is why we now have a Canada health transfer that is going to increase from $43 billion to $45 billi…
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Mr. Speaker, we all agree and are all thankful for humanity. Humanity means thinking about others and caring for others. I will mention the fact that, on average, in the last week we have had about 50 to 60 additional deaths. Those are not just numbers: those are people whose families obviously are very much impacted. We have 4,000 people who are hospitalized. That is a large number of people. Hum…
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Mr. Speaker, the member asked two questions, one I cannot answer and the other I will. When will the COVID‑19 pandemic end? Unfortunately, I do not think we can answer that today. However, if my colleague wants access to more information in addition to what I have already provided, I would be happy to provide it in the most appropriate way possible. I tried to be as clear as possible, but maybe I …
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Mr. Speaker, I apologize if I disrespected my colleague. That was not my intention. I respectfully offer the assistance and support he needs and deserves as a member of Parliament. He has a very important role in the House. I think he is entitled to ask for all of the information whenever he wants if he is to continue doing his job properly, as he is already doing within the Conservative caucus.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to see and hear my colleague speak about science. If he would like to see the studies I mentioned, I can have people from my department brief him. They would be very happy to show him the statistics, methods, data, the various techniques used, the standard deviations, the confidence intervals and everything that goes with this type of study. The 1,600 deaths were pre…
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Mr. Speaker, I mentioned earlier the amount of $4 billion. That is a lot of money, which the federal government and other governments have saved because of high vaccination rates, in part due to vaccination mandates, but most importantly, that is a lot of household income, family income, income to look after children, to care for seniors, to look after those who may not often find it easy to make …
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to receive this question because it enables me to add one more piece of information, this time from the United States. One million is the number of deaths that were avoided because of Americans were vaccinated. It was mentioned earlier that they could have avoided many more deaths with more vaccinations, as we did in Canada. When we speak to people who may be either …
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Mr. Speaker, we are going to do exactly as my colleague suggests on April 1. On April 1, pre-entry testing requirements will go away. That will simplify everyone's life and encourage more people to come see my colleagues and me in wonderful Quebec City and the beautiful surrounding area.
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Mr. Speaker, there are two things I assume my hon. colleague already knows. The first is that I am indeed the member for Quebec, which is probably the most beautiful city in the country and I am very proud of it. I represent this area along with other distinguished members of the House. The second thing he probably knows is that on April 1, so in a just a few days, pre-arrival tests will no longer…
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Mr. Speaker, compassion is the key word. We need to have each other's backs. We need to protect each other's health. That is best done by following public health measures, as most of us are doing today, but not all of us. It is also done by being vaccinated, which protects our health and that of those we love. It also protects against long COVID. By the way, long COVID affects all vital organs wit…
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Mr. Speaker, I will speak to something I think is extremely important for us to understand, which is long COVID. Among all those infected by COVID, whether it be severe or mild, the estimate is that between 10% and 30% will suffer from long COVID. This has dramatic impacts on their lives in the short and longer term. Thirty percent of them will need to consult more than 10 times after that. Thirty…
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Mr. Speaker, Conservatives have to choose between vaccination, which is not punishment but protection, and lockdown. We cannot have no vaccination and no lockdown. The fact that the Conservatives do not seem to believe in vaccination, in March 2022, is very serious. If we did not have vaccination, and if we did not keep insisting on vaccination, we would be closing schools, shops, stores and facto…
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Mr. Speaker, that question gives me the opportunity to continue speaking about the hardships and stress many Canadians feel, including health care workers and obviously patients. We have seen, over the last two years, a backlog of surgeries approximately equal to 700,000 patients. Their families, friends and communities are affected by that backlog. Today, we still have about 4,000 people hospital…
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Mr. Speaker, hardship is the right word. I was speaking yesterday with the Canadian Pharmacists Association, which represents another group of health care workers who have been at the front line and living very difficult times. Their personal mental stress has been heightened by COVID, as has the stress of their families when they go home after a day at work, the stress of their staff and the stre…
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Mr. Speaker, we spoke about being responsible and being kind to each other. I will try to make it even more simple. Instead of 135,000, I will use three, which is a simple number. Three times is how many more deaths we would have had in Canada if we had followed the example of the United States when it came to public health measures and vaccination rates. Three times more people dying would be 60,…
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Mr. Speaker, let me try again to make it very simple. I will use one number this time, instead of two, which is 135,000. That is the number of Americans whose deaths were avoidable. If the U.S. had been vaccinated to the extent we have in Canada, in part due to vaccination mandates, they would not have died. Those lives had a value. How much it is in dollars very few people would know I suppose, b…
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Mr. Speaker, this is not about politics. It is about responsibility. When one is in government, one must be responsible. I believe that everyone in the House of Commons, not just the government members, must be responsible. I look around and see that members of the Conservative Party are suddenly declaring that COVID-19 is over and that masks are no longer necessary. COVID-19 is still with us. We …
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Mr. Speaker, I am trying to be non-partisan, but the hon. member was not here before the last election, so she may not know that, roughly 13 months ago, her party said that Canadians would be the last in the world to be vaccinated, that they would not be vaccinated until 2030. Canadians have been vaccinated in large numbers and, in most cases, before other countries. It is a gift that we received …
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Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to the member for his work and for admitting, and I think he knew that already, many weeks ago, that vaccination mandates did work. They not only saved lives. I spoke about the 1,600 Canadians who are currently alive because of those vaccination mandates, having not been infected, sent to a hospital and then dying because of not being vaccinated. Also there is the large …
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Mr. Speaker, let me again thank not only my colleague, whose company and work I enjoy, but also all Canadians. Let me say the vaccination mandates that opposition Conservative MPs opposed during the campaign have saved not only hundreds of lives but thousands of lives. Estimates are about 1,600 people in the last few months have had their lives saved by vaccination mandates. Obviously, had we not …
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Mr. Speaker, I know this might sound a bit complicated, so let me make this very simple. It is 8,000 and 25,000. Eight thousand is the number of people who will be receiving either their first or second dose today, and 25,000 is the number of people who will be receiving their booster dose today. We are very grateful to them, not only for protecting their health but for protecting the health of th…
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Mr. Speaker, I have these brief reactions. The member is correct in speaking to the impact of COVID-19 on mental health. About half of Canadians report that their mental health has suffered because of COVID-19. Eighty per cent of health care workers also say that their mental health has fallen. I was speaking to a representative of the Canadian Pharmacists Association yesterday. About 90% of pharm…
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Mr. Speaker, I think we heard recently that if we had the same death rate in Canada that we saw in the United States, there would have been 60,000 more people dying in Canada than we saw over the last two years. Despite that, 7,000 Canadians did die over the last few weeks because of omicron. These are obviously individual and community tragedies. The reason we have been able to do much better in …
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Mr. Speaker, through the member for Nunavut, I would like to thank Minister John Main in Nunavut, with whom I have a very good relationship. I have a lot of esteem for him. We have been working on many different things, including providing health care support to the people of Nunavut, including providing rapid tests. We had a brief very recent exchange on that to make sure that the rapid tests and…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very good question. First, as my colleague suggests, the Canadian government and Canada will have to continue to work with the other countries to ensure that the distribution of pharmaceutical production capacity, such as for vaccines, is equitable, including in developing countries. Second, Canada committed to delivering 200 million doses of vaccine in 20…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his fair and fine question. I will answer only one piece of it, as he spoke about border measures. We have been using a set of measures to monitor the way in which those border measures should be adjusted. One of them has been on the PHAC website for more than a year now. It is the positivity rate for people entering Canada. We have had tests, PCR tests,…
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Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to rise today in the House to address this very important topic. The COVID-19 pandemic has obviously impacted everyday life across Canada and around the world for two years now. It has also put our health care systems to the test, disrupted our economy, and altered our social and economic interactions. In response to the crisis, the Government of Cana…
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Mr. Speaker, I was going to point to health care workers. Obviously, we are deeply thankful to them, but thankfulness is not enough. We need to think of them and we need to act in a way that protects them if we want them to protect us.
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Mr. Speaker, it is true the mental health of Canadians has been deeply affected the last two years. We estimate that about one Canadian out of two has seen his or her mental health deteriorate over the last few months. For health care workers, it is about three quarters. Now, health care workers have been at the front lines of this crisis—
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Mr. Speaker, we would all like to be able to declare the date when COVID‑19 will disappear from the earth. That would be marvellous. I would certainly be the happiest man on earth, and in this Parliament, to be able to tell the House on what day COVID‑19 will disappear. Unfortunately, I do not know.
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc is calling for transfers, and we are sending them. In the last budget, we announced $3 billion to support the health and dignity of our seniors in long-term care centres in Quebec, $1 billion to help the provinces and territories implement vaccination programs over the past few months, and another $300 million to help pay for the vaccine passport system that they used quite s…
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Mr. Speaker, since I like numbers and since I believe the opposition also likes science and numbers, let me quote two more: 1,600 and $4 billion. The fact that we had vaccination mandates at both federal and provincial levels in the last few months made Canadians avoid 1,600 deaths. There are 1,600 people who are now alive, living with their families, enjoying time with their friends, working and …
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Mr. Speaker, I give congratulations and thanks to Canadians. Let me point to one more number: 135,000. That is the number of avoidable deaths that we saw in the United States over the last few months. They would have been avoided if Americans had done as well as we did in Canada, which is to vaccinate everywhere. There were 135,000 people who died in the U.S. because of not being vaccinated as we …
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to thank the 30 million Canadians who got vaccinated last year, when thousands of health care workers administered 81 million doses to people who made the effort to go out and get vaccinated to protect everyone around them. We should be thanking them every day. We would love to declare that COVID‑19 is over, like some Conservative members are doing today b…
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