44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 7, 2022 11:00AM
- Feb/7/22 2:26:18 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Dr. Tam said that it is now time to reassess vaccine mandates. Dr. Tam is a scientist. We are asking the government to listen to what scientists are saying.
When the Minister of Health was asked if there is scientific evidence backing up these vaccine mandates, he said nothing because there is no scientific evidence behind the vaccine mandate for truckers.
The question is simple. When will the Liberals listen to the science and lift the current restrictions that have been imposed on Canadians?
88 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/7/22 2:27:32 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's stubbornness is incomprehensible. He is hiding rather than dealing with the real problems facing our health care system.
Canada is one of the worst OECD countries when it comes to the number of hospital beds and doctors per capita. Last week, at the Council of the Federation, Premier Legault spoke on behalf of all the premiers when he said, “We made a unanimous request to the federal government. We quickly, urgently need better funding for our health care systems”. We need an unconditional increase in transfers to the provinces to put an end to the crisis.
Will the Prime Minister come out of hiding and talk to the provinces about health transfers, yes or no?
124 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/7/22 7:49:27 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on her excellent speech.
This evening, for the Prime Minister's first official public appearance since the protest currently happening on Parliament Hill began, I would have expected him to announce something. I would have expected the Prime Minister to tell us what he plans to do to find a peaceful solution to this situation that has been going on for far too long already, that has been here far too long for the people of the Ottawa region, and that has been here for far too long for all Canadians. I would have expected the Prime Minister to tell us his plan.
I figured that once the Prime Minister came out of hiding, he would tell Canadians the next steps for dealing with this pandemic and tell us how we will safely, slowly and objectively lift the health measures that have been imposed on Canadians for two years now. I am not talking about all Canadians. I am only talking about those who fall under federal jurisdiction, under his responsibility. I was not even asking him to go further, but I would have expected him to point out that 86% of Canadians are vaccinated, 80% of Canadians have received one dose, and the most vulnerable Canadians are getting a third dose. We are in an enviable position compared to the rest of the world, so I would have expected Prime Minister to tell us what we are going to do now, in the coming weeks and months, to finally get back to normal.
The provinces did it. They are doing it. Other countries are in the process of doing it. They are announcing that restrictions are being lifted because the illness we are currently facing is very different than the one we dealt with at the outset. Above all, the tools we currently have are much better than what we had at the start of the pandemic. At the start, we did not know what the virus was, we did not have a vaccine and we were not testing for the virus. The only option was to shut down while waiting for the scientists to tell us what we could do. That is what we did, Canadians did it and we were proud to support measures to ensure that Canadians could stay at home.
Two years later, the vaccination rate is 86%. That is what was asked of us. We were asked to get vaccinated, and we did it. Two years later, we have been vaccinated, but the Prime Minister, who must be the only first minister in the whole country to say so, is telling us to keep getting vaccinated because there is no plan to lift the health measures.
I will say one thing. Yes, people need to continue getting vaccinated. We have been in favour of vaccination from the beginning. The Conservatives were the first to stand up in the House to demand that the government make agreements with pharmaceutical companies so that we would have enough vaccines for everyone. I remember that very clearly because I was there. The government was very slow to take action. It was also slow to close the borders and to recognize that there was a pandemic. However, it was quick to shut down the disease intelligence task force. It seems this government has always been one step behind from the start. Unfortunately, right now, Canadians need to hear something different, a more positive message.
How does the Prime Minister plan to recover from the crisis? That is what we want to know, and that is what we would have liked to hear from the Prime Minister this evening. That is what I would like to hear from my Liberal colleagues instead of hearing them repeat, in the media and everywhere, all kinds of falsehoods about the position of the people on this side of the House. That is the reality.
It is easy. The Liberals are not fulfilling their responsibilities. They have been in hiding all this time, waiting in the hopes that perhaps someone else will resolve the problem. Meanwhile, the problem is not getting solved.
I heard the mayor of Ottawa cry for help and ask someone to intervene. I saw police services ask for help, ask someone somewhere to do something to end the situation. People are in dire need of leadership.
Mayor Watson cannot change what is happening across Canada. He is doing his best to look after his municipality. He has too much on his plate. He is asking the Prime Minister to help, but the Prime Minister is not doing anything, saying anything or announcing anything. He is sitting this one out, hiding somewhere. He popped out this evening to deliver a totally meaningless speech. That is the fact of the matter, and Canadians are done with it.
In the early days, here is how we learned about the virus: We knew someone who knew someone who had had COVID‑19. There were degrees of separation, but we were afraid because we did not know anything about it.
Now, though, I can say that I had COVID‑19 over the holidays. My children, my wife and my neighbour also had COVID‑19. The thing is, we are still living with the same rules we had at the start of the pandemic. Actually, it is worse, because the government wants to make more rules for truckers and interprovincial transportation. I can think of no way to describe the government's current response but to say that it is adding fuel to the fire.
Today, the leader of the Conservative Party, the official opposition, asked the Prime Minister to commit to a process that could lead to a peaceful resolution of the dispute. She wrote a letter and sent a copy to the leaders of the two other opposition parties.
In her letter, the leader asks for a meeting of the leaders of these four parties to find solutions to de-escalate the protests, calm the situation and allow the people of Ottawa to get back to their lives and their normal activities. To those watching, the proposal sent to the party leaders today came from the Conservative leader.
In her letter, the leader states that Canadians want and need a peaceful resolution to this impasse. I feel that people back home, and indeed people everywhere, are fed up. They are exhausted and cannot take it anymore. They need a real leader to stand up and give them hope and a plan to get through this crisis. I am not talking about a light at the end of the tunnel because that turn of phrase did not work for the Premier of Quebec, François Legault.
The letter suggests that it is time to de-politicize the response to the pandemic. Canadians across the country have come together, made sacrifices and done what is necessary to keep their families and communities safe. They were even encouraged to hear Dr. Tam say that we need to find a more sustainable way of dealing with the pandemic and recommending that that all existing public health policies be re-examined with the provinces and territories so that we can back to some normalcy.
Dr. Tam is saying that we have to lay out a plan for moving back to normality and begin living with the variant, the virus, COVID-19. Canadians' health comprises mental health as well as physical health. At some point, we must start balancing the two, and I believe that we are at that point now.
The leader of the official opposition believes, and this is very important, that the leaders of the federal parties have a responsibility to help our country and our frustrated citizens. She sincerely hopes that the leaders of the four main parties can show leadership by coming together to talk about solutions and to follow the science rather than the politics when it comes to mandates.
This appeal was made to the Liberal Party, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP. We hope that the leaders of the four parties will meet to discuss and find a solution to this crisis and put a peaceful end to the protests in Ottawa, as well as those in Quebec City, Toronto, Alberta and across the country.
It is possible to listen to and talk with one another, but, above all, it is possible to give Canadians hope. Let us do so by asking our four party leaders to meet and try to find a solution together.
1440 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/7/22 8:00:02 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am not trying; I am saying it. The Leader of the Opposition is trying to do something good for Canadians, and I will support her 100% with that.
It is true that the Prime Minister has a responsibility to deal with what we are facing right now. I stand with that, because he was hiding for more than a week instead of addressing this urgent and very disastrous matter.
72 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/7/22 8:02:08 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am an opposition member. On Friday, I asked the House a clear question. I said that it was time to put an end to the protest. I also said that it was time to put an end to the restrictions that sparked the protest.
I did not get any answer from the government. That is the problem. The government is trying to make this crisis someone else's, anyone else's, responsibility, even though it is the one that started it by choosing to divide Canadians. It chose to call an election after imposing the vaccine mandate. That is the reality. The one who is playing politics with COVID-19 is the one who has been hiding for the past 10 days.
126 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/7/22 8:04:16 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I will try to keep it to 30 seconds, so I will focus on one very important aspect.
The acts of hate and racism are abhorrent and we denounce them wholeheartedly. These types of actions have no place in a democracy, no matter what is being protested.
However, the right to protest is entrenched in Canada. I have often seen my colleague protesting in Montreal for all kinds of causes, in all sorts of protests that have sometimes ended in violence. That does not mean that the protesters' original cause was not worthwhile. It means that some individuals hijacked the cause.
I am saying that we must denounce the acts of racism and hate, but we must allow people to express themselves. People have dealt with too much over the past two years and need to be able to express themselves. If it does not happen on Parliament Hill, it will happen everywhere across Canada.
157 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
