SoVote

Mr. Luc Berthold (Mégantic—L'Érable, CPC)

Feb/1/22 2:33:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been battling a global pandemic for almost two years now. It has taken a toll on our health, our day-to-day lives and our wallets. The cost of living is skyrocketing. Everything has been costing more for the past year, and prices continue to climb, especially the price of food. Mothers and fathers are thinking hard about what they put in their carts so their credit cards do not get declined at the register. This is unacceptable. Exactly how impoverished do Canadians need to become before the Liberals will finally do something?

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Context: House Hansard - 21 - Feb/1/22

Mr. Luc Berthold (Mégantic—L'Érable, CPC)

Feb/1/22 2:34:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a single mother with two children who earns $40,000 a year at a time when the annual inflation rate is 4.8% will pay about $200 a week for groceries. That is $10 more every week, which totals $520 at the end of the year. If we look at what she earns in a year, we see that she loses an entire paycheque to cover this additional cost. Comparing our situation to that of any other countries does not give a single cent more to this mother, who is struggling to feed her children. When will they stop making Canadians poorer?

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Context: House Hansard - 21 - Feb/1/22

Mr. Luc Berthold (Mégantic—L'Érable, CPC)

Feb/1/22 2:36:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, how can they honestly rise in the House and ignore the problems currently facing mothers and fathers, who are seeing a 30% increase in the price of gas, a 4.8% inflation rate and an 8% increase in the cost of groceries? I was being generous earlier. I cut parents' bills in half. In real life, they have to pay 8% more for groceries every week. In the meantime, what are we hearing from the Liberals? We hear them making comparisons with other countries. We hear them talking about measures that were implemented but are no longer working for parents. When will they stop making Canadians poorer?

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Context: House Hansard - 21 - Feb/1/22

Mr. Luc Berthold (Mégantic—L'Érable, CPC)

Feb/1/22 7:25:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on December 3, I asked the Minister of Health why the government was slow to act in the entire Canadian response to COVID‑19. I tried, with a great many arguments based on documents that I could not table at the time, to show that everyone felt that the Liberal government had been slow in dealing with the pandemic, slow to act in the beginning, particularly when it came to borders and vaccines, and slow to provide rapid testing. The government always seemed to be one step behind. At that time, we also saw that the government was having trouble coordinating its decisions with the various jurisdictions involved. The government did act quickly on one occasion by calling for border testing at airports on the same day that the omicron variant was discovered, or not long after that, and by responding to the official opposition's call for action at the borders. The minister quickly announced that yes, the government would take action. Unfortunately, it took days, weeks, and months before we even knew who would be responsible for administering these tests at the border. Those measures were supposed to prevent a new variant from sweeping through Canada, but unfortunately, they did not work, and Canada was ravaged by a fifth wave, as we saw. The government said all the right things but did not follow through. It seems that the government has not learned its lesson since the beginning of the pandemic. It used to be that we all knew someone who knew someone who had COVID-19. I remember that at the start of the pandemic, we were all worried about this illness, this virus, but it did not really affect us directly. Today, however, the reality has changed. It is not happening to someone else anymore. Now we are the ones contracting COVID-19. A close family member of mine has had COVID-19. I have had COVID-19. The Prime Minister currently has COVID-19. COVID-19 has spread exponentially, and the situation continues to evolve quickly. Unfortunately, this government still seems to be one step behind this rapidly spreading virus. The government only moves quickly to announce that it is going to do something, but it is ultimately unable to deliver the goods. I understand that Canadians are tired of the restrictions imposed by every level of government. However, I would like to point out that despite how slow this government was to act to protect them, Canadians stepped up and got vaccinated. We are one of the most vaccinated countries in the world. I thank the Conservatives, who insisted from day one of the pandemic, at every question period, that the government focus more and more on securing vaccines and signing contracts with pharmaceutical companies. I want to take a moment this evening to commend Canadians for their resilience nearly two years into this pandemic. I sincerely hope that the government learns from past mistakes so that we can deal with any new waves caused by new variants.

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Context: House Hansard - 21 - Feb/1/22

Mr. Luc Berthold

Feb/1/22 7:33:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary, my colleague from Milton. We will have the opportunity to work together on the standing committee on health and have some great discussions. At the standing committee on health we recently spoke with the Minister of Health. I asked him whether he thought the response to the pandemic should be guided by science, policy or personal intuition. He replied that it must be guided by science. Allow me to share an excerpt from an article about testing travellers arriving in Canada: With one of the highest infection rates in the world, it doesn't make sense, especially when it comes to requiring tests to allow vaccinated people on a plane, said David Juncker, the chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at McGill University. That comes from a scientist. The government is supposedly listening to the science, but many people are speaking up, including Dr. Mona Nemer, who has also come out in support of testing fewer people at the border. Why does the government not listen to its own experts? I hope we will have the opportunity to debate this in committee.

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