44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 10, 2022 10:00AM
- Feb/10/22 5:48:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Calgary Forest Lawn.
Should we tolerate them? Let us think about that for a moment. That is not a statement that was made by some extremist. This is a statement that was made by the Prime Minister of this country. Should we tolerate them? Who is he speaking about? He is speaking about fellow Canadian citizens, some of our neighbours, some of our friends, people who chose not to get a vaccine. We do not know why they made that decision, but the Prime Minister of this country is asking us, should we tolerate them? I think that is deplorable.
What this has done, along with other comments he has made, is fanned the flames of division in this country. Imagine a person is at home. They have chosen not to get a vaccine and then they hear their Prime Minister asking if they should be tolerated. This is the division and the nasty politics that the Prime Minister of this country has brought to Canada.
It is pitting Canadians against each other. Why did he do it? That is a great question. The member for Louis-Hébert shed some light on that. It was for partisan advantage. We should all think about that for a second. We should think about how the Prime Minister of this country would say something like that because he thought it would give him a political advantage.
Let us talk about some of the people that the Prime Minister questions whether he and other Canadians should tolerate. I received an email from a constituent in my riding. Her son is in his twenties and he is a construction worker. He had to make a choice: get a vaccine or lose his job. He had a young family to support, so he made the decision to get a vaccine. Unfortunately, he had terrible side effects from the vaccine. We know these side effects are rare, but they do happen. All of the people in his friend group were then scared and did not want to get a vaccine. The Prime Minister is asking if we should tolerate them.
I had someone in my office who has a complicated medical history. Her doctor told her she should not get a vaccine. She does not qualify for the exemptions that have been put in place. They are extraordinarily narrow if one wants to work in this place. That is fine. The government gets to make that choice. She was terrified to get a vaccine. She was worried about what would happen to her based on the advice from her doctor.
We often get lectured by members on that side of the House to follow the science. I can tell members that she was following the science. Fortunately for her, she can work remotely. We were able to do that for her, but like the member for Louis-Hébert said, not all of us can work from a laptop at a cottage. Again, those who cannot are losing their jobs.
When I rose in this place to speak about this earlier this week, giving a member's statement, and I said there are people who are losing their jobs because they did not get vaccinated, members on that side of the House shouted “good”. I am not surprised by that considering the divisive rhetoric that comes from them and the demonization of people without knowing their circumstances. Why would they be so emboldened to act like that? I have a great reason. Their leader, the Prime Minister, asked if we should tolerate them. I think it is despicable.
Where are we now as a country? There was a recent poll that came out that said 25% of Canadians would support putting unvaccinated people in jail and 37% of Canadians would say it is okay that they do not get public health if they are sick. They feel that way because words matter, and words from the most powerful position in this country matter even more.
Canadians have been told by the Prime Minister that if they do not get vaccinated, they are racist or misogynist, and he asks if we should tolerate them. That is where we have ended up in this country: divided, angry, pitting neighbour against neighbour. This is not how this country should be run. It is not how this country should be led. It is not how we are in it together in this pandemic.
When we talk about this motion, what we are asking for is a plan to give people hope that there is an end in sight. We are not asking for something radical. We are asking for a plan to lift restrictions. If nobody else was doing it or no other country in the world was doing it, perhaps there could be some questions. However, that is not the case.
Countries around the world are doing this, because they are recognizing this is now an endemic and we are going to have to live with the virus. Medical officers all across the country have said this. This is not some radical Conservative idea, as much as that is how Liberals will try to paint it. Countries like Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the Czech Republic, the U.K., Spain and Israel are all putting forward plans to lift restrictions, or they have lifted restrictions.
Why are we not doing it? Why are we not planning? I have heard the speeches from the members opposite today. They say it is impossible to make a plan because things change and that we should talk to the experts. Yes, do that. Talk to the experts who are saying that we now have to make the decision to live with this, and let us plan for that. Is it so hard for the Liberals to say? They have made plans before and provincial governments have made plans and had to change them, but their answer is that it is really hard to make the plans so they are not going to do it.
Canadians deserve better than that. Canadians deserve leadership. Leadership starts with the Prime Minister, and not the kind of leadership he has displayed over the last several months with vilification, demonization and pitting Canadians against each other.
What I say to my friends on that side of the House is this: They have an opportunity now to actually lead, to show some leadership and come up with a plan, to let Canadians know there is actually hope at the end of the tunnel and be a unifying factor for us. I ask Liberal members to please support this motion and come up with a plan so that Canadians know, at some point, they can get back to their lives.
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- Feb/10/22 5:58:56 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we have been very clear today and our leader was clear: We should not be blockading international crossings and travel. Those things need to stop. We agree with that. However, today in the chamber we saw something extraordinary. We saw all members of the opposition parties and all their leaders stand up to say they want a meeting with the Prime Minister so we can try to come together and solve this. The response from the Prime Minister was effectively no.
Will the member speak to the Prime Minister and say, “Let's collaborate; let's find a solution”?
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- Feb/10/22 6:00:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, yes, we are asking for a plan, and I do not think it is an unreasonable request. We have heard from members opposite today, in their speeches and questions, that it is really hard to make plans as things can change, and therefore they really cannot make a plan. Imagine if that had been the discussion around the table in May and June 1944 and we had said it was really difficult to plan an invasion of occupied Europe as things can change all the time. I guess we would not have made a plan, because we did not know for certain exactly what was going to happen at exactly every stage. Thank goodness the Liberals were not in government then.
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- Feb/10/22 6:02:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, one of the first things the Liberal government did in the late 1990s when the deficit was at horrific levels was slash transfer payments to the provinces, including the health transfer. The underfunding of health care is a direct result of what a previous Liberal government did.
Yes, we need to increase health care spending. That is an absolute must. I support that call and hope the Liberals will do it.
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