44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 10, 2022 10:00AM
Madam Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic has dominated our daily lives, both in Canada and around the world, for the past two years. It has overloaded our health care systems, disrupted our economy and transformed the way we communicate and live with one other every day.
As pandemic waves have come and gone, all levels of government have responded with various measures, from federal border measures to municipal, provincial and territorial mask mandates to protect Canadians and the health care workers who have been caring for us for 22 months now.
These measures, based on the latest evidence, have been constantly evolving throughout the pandemic as we learn more and more about COVID-19 and how we can ensure the safety of everyone in the country.
For many of us in Canada, this is the hardest event we have lived through. We are all tired. Health care workers are exhausted. Businesses have struggled and closed down. Our mental health has declined, and there is no doubt that the most vulnerable among us, children and the elderly in particular, have suffered disproportionately. There are real consequences. That is why the decision by provinces and territories to impose restrictions has always been considered carefully and responsibly, based on scientific evidence, and has constantly been re-evaluated.
Today, we are in a very different position than we were in March 2020. We know more about COVID-19, we have safe and effective vaccines, and vaccination rates are high across the country and around the world.
As everyone knows, the vaccines in Canada are now not only effective but widely distributed across the country. They protect us from serious illness and hospitalization caused by the omicron variant. We also have testing and monitoring tools to help us detect infected individuals and monitor the trajectory of the pandemic.
In addition, in recent weeks, new treatments have become available that can help prevent certain patients from becoming seriously ill.
After two years of following individual public health measures such as getting vaccinated, wearing a mask, physical distancing and staying home when sick, everyone knows what to do to protect themselves and those they love. That has been Canadians' contribution, and we have all learned a great deal. Our efforts have paid off.
As we know, the new year ushered in a spike in COVID-19 cases with the omicron outbreak in Canada and around the world. An unprecedented number of Canadians have been infected in recent weeks.
As Dr. Tam stated in her most recent update, although the omicron variant has peaked, it is still widespread throughout the country.
Many hospitals across Canada continue to be under intense strain, even though COVID-19 hospitalizations are slightly and slowly declining in some areas of the country. Looking forward, we need to build on the measures we have used to address the omicron wave to strengthen the approach to managing COVID-19, while ensuring that we are prepared when a challenging new variant emerges like omicron. Fortunately, we now have a number of tools at our disposal that we did not have in March, 2020, to help us with this transition and to do so as safely and responsibly as possible.
Testing is a key part of our efforts to contain the pandemic and is another essential tool in our tool box for mitigating the effects of the pandemic. These tests identify who is infected, which helps us stop the transmission of the virus.
Throughout the pandemic, the Government of Canada has worked closely with its provincial and territorial partners to ensure that all of these tools, including rapid tests, are available and used to manage and mitigate outbreaks, thereby protecting the health and safety of all Canadians.
The federal government started buying rapid tests in October 2020 and supplying them for free to the provinces and territories. So far, we have bought more than 490 million rapid tests, which cost a total of nearly $3.4 billion.
In December alone, the Government of Canada delivered more than 35 million rapid antigen tests to the provinces and territories, and 140 million additional tests arrived in Canada in January.
We have also introduced Bill C-10, an act respecting certain measures related to COVID-19. This legislation would provide Health Canada with the statutory authority to purchase up to an additional $2.5-billion worth of rapid antigen tests to help significantly increase access to rapid testing across the country. This would allow schools to stay open and would protect our children, as well as their parents and grandparents in long-term care. With this funding, the Government of Canada would put in place critical contracts in a highly competitive global market to purchase efficient and sufficient quantities of rapid tests to meet the anticipated demand across the country.
On a positive note, we are also monitoring waste-water, which helps us and others understand how COVID‑19 is spreading in our communities. By sampling and testing a community's sewage, we can determine whether the virus is spreading or diminishing in that community. For example, COVID‑19 can be detected in waste-water before a large outbreak, which alerts public health authorities in advance to the presence of this virus and its variants.
Government of Canada scientists are collaborating on a community waste-water surveillance program that is operating in 65 locations across the country. Samples are sent to the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg to be analyzed, so that any instances of the virus causing COVID‑19 and its variants of concern are detected as quickly as possible.
Waste-water testing is conducted in collaboration with communities and local health authorities to inform public health action and decision-making. Waste-water surveillance alerts public health officials regarding where and how COVID‑19 and new variants of concern may be spreading on a community-wide scale. Waste-water testing provides a real-time COVID‑19 community health picture, especially in situations where clinical testing resources may be limited.
These screening tests and monitoring tools help shape our public health measures, which, at the national level, include border measures.
The Government of Canada continues and will continue to evaluate the latest evidence. It is constantly monitoring the situation to determine how to relax and adjust border measures according to that data.
Like all other elements of the Government of Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, border measures are based on existing data, scientific observations, and the results of our monitoring of the epidemiological situation across the country.
In conclusion, vaccination is the best tool we have to protect us and our loved ones against the serious consequences of COVID-19. Vaccines are safe, effective and free for all Canadians who have stepped up to protect themselves by getting vaccinated.
More than 88% of eligible people in Canada have already received at least one dose of a COVID‑19 vaccine, and at least 83% are now fully vaccinated. More than 50% of eligible people have received an additional booster dose. Also, just over 55% of children aged five to 11 have now received at least one dose.
It is because of all those who have rolled up their sleeves and complied with public health measures that Canada has been able to manage the omicron variant wave and will be able to manage the next waves when they come.
While vaccination continues to be the best protection against severe outcomes, we also know that treatments that can help prevent a severe illness for those infected with COVID‑19 will be important.
For example, just last month Health Canada authorized Pfizer's antiviral treatment called Paxlovid, paving the way for the distribution of this potentially life-saving medication.
This treatment will help adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms at high risk of developing a serious form of the disease.
Now that Paxlovid has been authorized, we are making every effort to supply the provinces and territories as soon as possible. The first shipment of 30,000 treatment courses went out a few weeks ago and was allocated based on the number of inhabitants of each province and territory. These treatment courses are now being administered across the country.
I will point out that each treatment course is designed for one person. More of the one million treatment courses we have procured will arrive this month.
Despite the high vaccination rates and robust and responsible monitoring of new, innovative treatments, the actions of every Canadian still count.
Vaccination, treatments and border measures are just a few layers of protection. Well-fitted masks, physical distancing, proper ventilation, rapid testing and staying home when sick are just as important. It is because of these responsible actions by Canadians and their governments that we are now moving forward on the transition to sustainable and responsible management of COVID-19.
We are at this point because of our collective actions, including the difficult decisions made by all provinces and territories, the federal government, communities, businesses and all Canadians. Most importantly, we have arrived at this point because of the tireless work of health care workers and the support and actions of individual Canadians.
I would like to be clear, however: We are still in the middle of a pandemic. As we have seen in the past two years, COVID-19 can still surprise us. There will be ups and downs, as well as new variants. We need to be prepared and responsible.
In the short term, that means getting our shots, including the booster. Around six million eligible Canadians still have not received their first or second dose of a primary series of vaccine, and many others are eligible for the booster, which considerably reduces the risk of contracting a severe form of COVID-19.
We must continue to increase our individual and collective protection against the variants and against COVID-19. Canada must be prepared to face future waves of infection that might be weaker or more severe than the current outbreak of the omicron variant.
COVID-19 will continue to be a threat to many of our family members, friends and neighbours. We must continue to act responsibly and to co-operate in order to protect the vulnerable, including children under the age of five who cannot receive the vaccine and people who are immunocompromised.
Over the past two years, people have shown their concern for the health of their loved ones and their community, as well as for the health and safety of their businesses and their society. These people know that it was not easy, but together we did what we had to do to protect ourselves during this difficult period.
The provinces and territories are making their own assessments of how and when they will lift their health restrictions. The Government of Canada is there and will continue to be there to support them in the coming weeks and months.
Our approach has been, and will continue to be, based on the best scientific evidence available and the lessons we have learned over the past two years. Everyone in Canada has sacrificed so much to protect each other during this exceptionally difficult time. They should expect nothing less from us than a thoughtful, responsible and evidence-based approach moving forward that continues to protect everyone as we prepare for the next phases of the pandemic, and we will deliver on those expectations.
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- Feb/10/22 10:58:04 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased and proud to receive this question. The member is correct when she speaks about working collaboratively and looking forward. That is why we need to be both collaborative and responsible in our actions.
The member speaks about timing. I am rarely political and I try to resist the temptation from time to time, but I would point out that if there is an issue on which we should be speaking more clearly about timelines, it is about when we are all going to get vaccinated. The member forCalgary Nose Hill said last year that we would have to wait until 2030 before we had enough vaccines to vaccinate all Canadians. We are in 2022. It is time for all members of Parliament to be vaccinated.
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- Feb/10/22 10:59:52 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot for his question. He represents a lovely riding I know well, since I have friends who live there.
He is right. For us to be done with this pandemic one day—and that is not today—it will have to be over everywhere. That involves vaccinating and protecting everyone in the world. The good news is that the Canadian government was one of the first countries to support and help establish COVAX and it is still today one of its largest contributors, sixth in the world, in terms of getting everyone vaccinated.
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- Feb/10/22 11:01:45 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member is correct. Canada should always and will always need to be open to talking and working with international partners on precisely that topic of TRIPS and the patent-related agenda.
However, in relation to the previous question, I am going to add that Canada committed 200 million doses of vaccines in 2020, and half of those vaccines have already been delivered.
In addition, we committed to $2.5 billion in additional assistance, because it is not only the vaccine product itself that is needed, but also the technology, the infrastructure, the health care resources and the communication campaign where there is vaccine hesitancy. Therefore, it is a combination of being strong on the products, being strong on the international agenda and being strong on the supports that are needed to make sure that everyone in the world gets vaccinated and is protected against this serious disease.
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- Feb/10/22 11:03:18 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, there are three things.
The first is that health care workers have been burdened and stressed over the last 22 months. When we discuss these things, we should always have them in mind. We need to look after them because they care for us.
The second thing is that we need to understand that the only sustainable way to end restrictions and lockdowns that are decided upon by provinces and territories is through vaccination.
The third thing, therefore, is again inviting the new Leader of the Opposition to ask all members of her caucus to get vaccinated.
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- Feb/10/22 11:05:11 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague demonstrated a sense of leadership that the Conservative leader also showed earlier. Asking for the blockades to be taken down is the right thing to do now and was the right thing to do since they started.
The second thing the member mentioned is mental health. About half of Canadians report that their mental health has deteriorated over the last months. He is right that it is a sign of the tension and fatigue that comes with moving through COVID-19.
The third thing I would mention is that as we work together, we need to recognize that no politician is able to declare that COVID-19 will end at a particular point. That is not possible. Science will tell us that. Until science tells us that, we need to keep being responsible and protect ourselves from future waves and variants in the pandemic.
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- Feb/10/22 11:07:28 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, one thing is certain, and one is totally uncertain. The uncertainty is what COVID-19 will surprise us with next. COVID-19 has had a huge number of nasty surprises for us in the past 22 months, and there are undoubtedly more to come.
What is certain, on the other hand, is that of all the tools we have, vaccination is the safest and surest way to prepare for future waves and the almost certain prospect of future variants.
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- Feb/10/22 11:17:21 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be honest. I was a little touched by the member for Jonquière's comments about moderation, accountability, nuance and combatting extremism and populism. I completely agree with him.
I think he chose the right words to express the idea that, because we going through this crisis together, it is important for us to stick together, listen to each other and respect one another, while we also listen to scientists and respect what they are saying.
I am also a fan of Albert Camus, and I am not looking for a quote here, but I would like to ask my colleague what Albert Camus would have to say if he were here in the House today.
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- Feb/10/22 2:32:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased to answer this question about vaccination. The Prime Minister mentioned just a moment ago that 80% of Canadians of all ages had received their full doses. Every day, about 10,000 more Canadians are getting their first vaccine, and 55% have received a booster dose. Every day, 180,000 people in Canada receive a booster dose. We have approximately 50% of children between five and 11 being vaccinated. About 6,000 of them every day receive their first dose.
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- Feb/10/22 2:34:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member is quite right to congratulate the 99% of public servants who have been vaccinated.
Vaccination is not a punishment. It is a protection. When we get vaccinated, we protect ourselves, our colleagues, our family, our children, our community and our friends.
It is not a punishment. In fact, it is the only means to get through the current wave and all the other waves and variants that will emerge in the coming months and years.
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