SoVote

Mrs. Alexandra Mendès (Brossard—Saint-Lambert, Lib.)

Nov/25/21 4:28:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I extend to you my warmest congratulations on your re-election as Speaker. I would also take this opportunity, my first time rising in the 44th Parliament, to thank my constituents in Brossard—Saint‑Lambert for sending me back here for the fourth time, with an overwhelming majority. I am honoured and deeply touched. I am honoured to participate in today's debate on the motion moved by the government leader to implement hybrid sittings for the beginning of the 44th Parliament. I have heard a lot of arguments for and against this motion, as well as a controversy that was blown out of proportion for reasons that sometimes escape me. I would be the first to say that I would prefer to sit here full time. I love being in the House of Commons. I love meeting with my constituents, not all, but most, and I am very happy when I am in the House. I came here as often as I could when we were operating virtually. I do not think the purpose of this motion is to send us all home. The goal is to make sure we all have a safe option if we need it, such as if physical distancing measures had to be reinstated. Again, the idea is not to find ourselves in a situation where there is just one person in the House. It is to establish a limit on the number of people who can be here. The point is to give ourselves a degree of flexibility we do not have right now, and that includes the flexibility to vote and participate in debates without necessarily being here in person. Any one of us could get sick, maybe even with COVID-19, and need that flexibility. What the hon. member for Saint-Jean said earlier is absolutely true. Before the hybrid Parliament option was available, many of us stayed home when we got sick and could not participate in debates here. Progress being what it is, we can now have a hybrid version of Parliament. I think the point of this motion is to show that we are still in a very delicate situation. The pandemic is far from being fully under control, we have not yet reached herd immunity as we would have liked, and children five to 11 years old are only just beginning to be vaccinated. It is with this in mind that the government is proposing the option of a virtual Parliament, that is, for those who could not come to the House of Commons. This is not at all about sending us home. On the contrary, we want to be here as much as possible and with as many colleagues as possible. I also think the terms of the motion aim to bring some predictability to the way we will be working in the coming months, considering we are still in a public health emergency. During the long months of 2020 and 2021 when we were in hybrid mode, we got to learn how it works. We also saw that it came with some pretty real challenges, from both a technical and human standpoint. I agree with my colleagues who say just how hard it has been for our interpreters. It may have led to work-related illness for those who sometimes had to grapple with a virtual presence less disciplined than it was in person in the House. We have to admit that, because every day we see the cacophony in our debates, especially during question period. On Zoom or in the House, the cacophony is part and parcel of our debates. Though it may seem harder with Zoom, I think it has the same effect on the interpreters in the House. It also caused problems for committee interpreting. I am not sure why, but it seemed to have something to do with the fact that a lot of members were not wearing their headsets. This made it difficult for the interpreters to do their job. If that is the problem, I totally agree: It is a matter of respect for the interpreters and for our other colleagues. The fact remains that, before the pandemic, I believe there were usually about a thousand employees in the parliamentary precinct, including MPs, parliamentarians, staffers and all of the personnel who support us in our work in the House. That includes the security staff, pages, food services staff, clerks and the whole structure that enables us to do our work. We are talking about over a thousand people in the House every day. That is a lot of people, and we want to make sure that they are all double-vaccinated. I assume that is the case for all of us. We also know that the vast majority of us will need a third dose. Quebec just announced today that those who received two doses of AstraZeneca can now go and get their third dose, because they are not yet fully vaccinated. There is still a lot of uncertainty regarding the pandemic. There is still a good chance that things will go downhill again. We are already seeing an increase in the number of cases every day in Quebec and across Canada. Furthermore, an increase in cases can cause more complications, which is why we need the flexibility this option affords us. We do not want to suddenly force everyone into virtual sittings, but we want that option to be available. I think that is the objective of the government's motion. That is why I think we are here. In closing, I want to say that I am very happy to be back in the House, being around and seeing my colleagues. I was looking forward to this and I am happy to be here among them all. I hope that we will be able to do so safely until June 2023.

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Context: House Hansard - 4 - Nov/25/21

Mrs. Alexandra Mendès

Nov/25/21 4:38:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am sorry, but I do not quite understand what the question is. I did say that, yes, we are elected to be here and that I very much am looking forward to being here. There is nothing much else that I can add to that.

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Context: House Hansard - 4 - Nov/25/21

Mrs. Alexandra Mendès

Nov/25/21 4:39:24 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Mirabel for his question. It is warranted by the situation right now because we have colleagues who are impacted by COVID‑19 and cannot be present at this time. Even if they do not have serious symptoms, they cannot come to the House. Therefore, the health situation remains precarious. There are still a lot of unknowns and we do not know how we will proceed. Thus, offering parliamentarians the opportunity to continue to participate virtually is one way to continue. The Leader of the Government in the House of Commons did actually confirm today that ministers are supposed to be here every day, and we are supposed to be here every day. If we are healthy and vaccinated, why would we not be here every day? Proposing a solution does not mean that we will decide to proceed in that manner and have a government to go, as the member called it.

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Context: House Hansard - 4 - Nov/25/21

Mrs. Alexandra Mendès

Nov/25/21 4:41:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I absolutely agree with my colleague. This is preventative. This is just an alternative that we are offering parliamentarians, and it is at the moment the best way we see to go forward to ensure that all parliamentarians can participate.

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