44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 14, 2022 11:00AM
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Northumberland—Peterborough South. He replaced a very good friend of mine, so I liked the prior member a bit more but I know he is doing the best job he can to represent his constituents. I congratulate him.
I will say this. Obviously, I do not know the expiry dates of the rapid test kits. My understanding is that they are quite lengthy. What is important is that, once they are received by the provinces, much like in the province of Ontario, they are distributed very quickly to the population and, most importantly, to vulnerable populations.
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Madam Speaker, on a point of order, I am enjoying this trip down memory lane. In fact, the member is correct that we did call for rapid tests two years ago, but I do not see the relevance here.
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Madam Speaker, if you review Hansard, I am sure you will find that I am one of the few people who is talking about rapid tests during today's debate. I do appreciate the points of order though, because it gives me an opportunity to collect my thoughts.
On January 5, the member for Thornhill, the Conservative Party transport critic, sent a letter to the Minister of Transport asking that he consider rapid tests as an alternative to the new requirement for cross-border truckers to be vaccinated. Here we have time after time Conservatives calling on the government to get more rapid tests and to do it as quickly as possible, yet today they seem to be in a position where they want to push back against that, delay it and slow it down as much as they can. The member for Calgary Nose Hill is quoted as saying, “We need immediate action to deploy widespread rapid testing for all Canadians”.
Conservative after Conservative, at some point in the last month or two, have been calling on this government to do this and to do it as expeditiously as possible. However, now we get to the point where we have a piece of legislation before us to authorize the government to make those purchases and in turn supply the rapid tests to provinces and territories, yet there is opposition from the Conservatives about doing this. I cannot help but wonder why. We have heard so many times about not politicizing things and not politicizing the debate on this. The Conservatives have said that repeatedly today, but they seem to be doing exactly that, which I find very confusing.
I want to address a point that has been brought up by a couple of Conservatives. The member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon brought this up. He asked why there are two bills and why this was not put into the budget implementation act. I find it ironic, I must admit, that the Conservatives are now asking why we did not create an omnibus bill when they usually complain that we are doing that and we should not be doing that. There is actually a really simple answer for that. The answer is that the first allocation of funding in the budget implementation act was a result of the fall economic statement. In the fall economic statement, it was determined x number of dollars was required for rapid tests.
When the statement was delivered and when the bill was introduced and tabled, we had not yet become aware of the omicron variant and what that was going to expose the world to in terms of a new higher demand for rapid tests. Once that comes along and we discover we need more tests and the demand will increase, the default is that we need a new piece of legislation to get more rapid tests into the hands of the Canadian government so they can be deployed to the provinces and territories.
There is a very simple explanation for why this has been done in two different bills. The Conservatives want to paint it as some kind of sinister attempt to fool somebody or to try to trick people by putting this into two bills for some reason. This bill is very straightforward and it is very simple. There are two clauses. It does not even consist of more than three sentences in total. There is one sentence in the introduction, one sentence in the first clause and one sentence in the second clause. The first clause authorizes the Minister of Health to make the payments necessary to secure rapid tests. The second clause allows the minister to deploy those rapid tests to provinces and territories throughout Canada so that provinces can work to make sure that the supplies are available in terms of rapid testing.
I cannot help but wonder why there is this cry from across the way about division and political opportunity when we are literally talking about the simplest bill I have ever seen before the House in the six years I have been here. It is very straightforward. It could easily pass quickly and could be moved along so we can get those resources into the hands of provinces and territories.
However, we are still hearing the rhetoric from across the way that we have not delivered. This government has delivered millions of rapid tests and put them in the hands of the provinces and the authorities that distribute them. Wherever we can, we have made sure that there were opportunities for those who needed rapid tests to have them, paid for by federal dollars, essentially being paid for by all Canadians, which is what is so critically important when it comes to anything related to our health care.
This is a bill that specifically asks for that and we are being accused of trying to somehow sow division and a create political opportunity when this is the simplest bill and the easiest piece of legislation to understand. It really comes down, in my opinion, to whether or not Conservatives want them, yes or no. I have heard mixed messages from across the way all day long. The leader in the House for the Conservatives said, “Throughout the pandemic, the Conservative Party has consistently and persistently called for greater access to rapid tests for all Canadians.” He even went as far as to say that he supports rapid tests and this bill.
However, then I heard the member for Cumberland—Colchester question whether or not rapid tests are even effective and scientifically proven. He said, “I find it very unusual that it has now become an absolute urgency...without any consideration at all”. Let us not forget that this is from the same party that days and weeks ago called on the government to have these rapid tests yesterday. He then went on to say that this is without any consideration for “the changes in science we have seen in this dynamic situation.” He even said that there is a need “to have a look at the science”. The member for Cumberland—Colchester actually said that. One of the Conservative Party's senior representatives on the health committee said that. He is questioning the science of rapid tests.
This leaves me to wonder where the Conservatives are on this. Do they believe in rapid tests and think they effectively work or do they question the science, demanding that we look at the science of it, as though somehow the health committee of Parliament is going to better understand the science than the people who have authorized the use of these tests in Canada? I find it absolutely remarkable.
The member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon said in his speech today, “in my province”, which is British Columbia, “the public health officer is telling us that, for the majority of the population, they are not needed anymore”. We have the Conservative House leader saying we need them, want them and support them, but Conservatives just do not like the way the government is doing it. We have the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan saying the exact same thing, but he never brought up in his speech the need for them or questioned this bill whatsoever. We have the member for Cumberland—Colchester questioning the science and validity of rapid tests, and then we have the member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon saying they are not even needed anymore.
I am sorry if I am a little confused as to where the Conservative Party is coming from on this and if my default reaction, as usual, unfortunately, is to assume that its members are trying to play games, but their actions and words in the House only lead one to conclude this. I have been watching. I have been here for the entire debate and there is no absolutely no consistency. It is as though Conservatives are trying filibuster this and make it last as long as it can. That is not going to benefit Canadians, it is not going to benefit the people who need these rapid tests and it is not going to be a good partner with the provinces and territories that deliver these supplies across the country. At the end of the day, all it is going to do is slow this government down so that the opposition can say that we did not get them quick enough. I am sorry I end up at this place where I assume this, but it is based on everything that I have heard here today.
I appreciate the time to contribute to this debate today. I think these tests are absolutely critical to making sure we have the supplies in the hands of the provinces and territories, the health agencies they work with, and the various partners that will help distribute them.
As members will recall, a short six to eight weeks ago we did not know we would need this many tests. Suddenly we do, and we do not know what we are going to need six, seven or eight weeks from now. We need to make sure that we have these rapid tests in hand so if there is another variant like omicron, or something similar, we are prepared to make sure we can deploy rapid tests to the various organizations that will help us distribute them throughout the country.
I am very supportive of moving forward with the motion before us right now, which is to program the bill so that it properly gets to a vote later on this evening and so that we can pass it here, allow it to take its course and be passed by the Senate. Then we can get to a point where we can purchase these rapid tests and make sure they get into the hands of Canadians throughout the country.
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Madam Speaker, we have a long and inexplicable wait in getting access to rapid tests in this country. I am as sympathetic as anyone to the fact that there could be bureaucratic delays, but I do not understand why this bill is only coming to us now.
Does the hon. member have any light to cast on this?
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Madam Speaker, I am going to indulge my hon. colleague from the other side to keep this on point. Probably the most baffling thing to me is why we even have a programming motion on this particular bill. We raised the issue of rapid testing and having rapid tests nearly two years ago, in April of 2020.
Today we are bringing this up, and there suddenly seems to be a mad panic for rapid tests. We have been calling for rapid tests for nearly two years. Something has not significantly changed, in my mind, that suddenly today, of all days, rapid tests should be the thing we talk about in this place.
There are a host of other things going on in this place that we perhaps should be talking about, but here we are talking about a programming motion on a bill to approve rapid tests.
Could the member please explain to me what the issue is with the rapid tests that makes this so important today?
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Madam Speaker, my colleagues across the floor are such great proponents of these rapid tests, and it is interesting because they are important for the country. If the Liberals really feel comfortable with the science, I wonder if the member opposite could clearly communicate the sensitivity and specificity in asymptomatic individuals who get a rapid test. What is that and what does it mean to people?
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Madam Speaker, my colleagues across the aisle seem to think tests are of great import. They talk a lot about the science. My question is this: What is the danger with a rapid test that has a very, very poor sensitivity rate?
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Madam Speaker, the question around rapid tests has been a significant one.
In the province of Alberta, it actually took the provincial government taking their own initiative and requiring, I believe and I could be corrected, an exception from Health Canada in order for them to even procure these rapid tests. I find it interesting that we are debating this. It is an important tool to fight COVID, yet it seems like it is maybe a little late when these have been called for, for a very long time.
I wonder if the member would have further comments on that.
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Madam Speaker, I somewhat agree with what I am hearing today. Yes, we must act quickly, but the government should have been more forward-thinking when it announced certain budgetary measures. I think the technology of rapid tests was already known, and we should have known that we would need more of them quickly.
Does my colleague agree that the government should have acted more quickly, but without imposing closure, as it is so apt to do to skip over the normal legislative stages of a debate?
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Actually, I think the parliamentary secretary and I do not have the same concept of what urgent means.
It is not urgent to fund rapid tests. What is really urgent is—
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Madam Speaker, I would like to say again to my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, that we do not have the same concept of what urgent means. Of course it is urgent to support the purchase of rapid tests, since public health authorities have assured us that they are necessary and effective and that we must use them.
However, what is urgent for us in the Bloc Québécois are health transfers and the need for a robust health care system. It is urgent because our health care system is broken. We cannot wait any longer. This is even more urgent than funding the purchase of rapid tests to buy time, which is what the government is doing on a regular basis these days.
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Mr. Speaker, I forgot to mention that I will be splitting my time with the member for Winnipeg North.
Testing, as we all know, plays a key role in our efforts to contain and mitigate the pandemic. Identifying infected individuals helps to prevent further person-to-person transmission of the virus.
As everyone knows, health care services are struggling to meet the demand for polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests, because the omicron variant has a very high infection rate. Provinces and territories across the country are now relying on rapid tests to help fill this significant gap.
Rapid tests are a screening method that can more easily and quickly detect COVID-19 in a variety of settings such as schools, workplaces and other high-risk environments including long-term care facilities and hospitals, to name a few.
Using rapid tests in new settings can help detect the spread of COVID-19 and support measures to break the chain of transmission.
Not everyone who has COVID-19 will show symptoms. In fact, the prevalence of asymptomatic infection is probably a significant factor in the high rate of transmission of omicron. Rapid testing allows a person to detect the virus in as little as 15 minutes, which makes it a powerful tool that Canadians can use to help curb the spread of the omicron variant.
Since the introduction of Bill C-8, which provided additional funding for the purchase and distribution of rapid tests, Canada experienced an exponential increase in the number of cases and hospitalizations. The spread of omicron also led to an abrupt increase in demand for rapid tests. This is putting pressure on global supply, where supply chains are very tight, so clearly we need to get more of these tests, and we need to do it now.
Bill C-10 will allow Health Canada to purchase and distribute hundreds of millions of rapid tests across the country and help ensure equitable access in all jurisdictions. It also builds on commitments made in last December's economic and fiscal update, which included an additional $1.7 billion in funding for the procurement and distribution of rapid tests across the country.
Bill C-10 would also allow Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada to continue supporting provinces and territories by securing the rapid tests that they need to keep Canadians safe and healthy, including through expanded schoolplace and workplace testing programs.
Finally, Bill C-10 would allow us to continue supporting businesses of all sizes by providing rapid tests for workplace screening programs through direct delivery and partners such as chambers of commerce and pharmacies.
Throughout the pandemic, the Canadian government has worked closely with its provincial and territorial partners to ensure they have the tools they need to manage outbreaks and ensure the safety and health of everyone.
The federal government starting buying and providing rapid tests free of charge to the provinces and territories in October 2020. The Government of Canada delivered more than 35 million rapid tests to provinces and territories in December 2021, and 140 million additional tests were delivered to Canada in January alone.
The Government of Canada also supports the Canadian Red Cross in its delivery efforts.
Companies with 200 employees or more, including federally regulated companies, can receive rapid tests free of charge directly from the Government of Canada. Small and medium-sized businesses and other organizations can also receive and have access to rapid tests through one of the Canadian government's delivery partners.
The Canadian government has spent the past two years enhancing its ability to respond quickly and efficiently to the many challenges associated with the pandemic.
Working with the provinces, territories and other partners, we are delivering the tools we need to protect Canadians in our health care system from the most serious outcomes of COVID-19.
As my colleagues know, this year started out with a marked increase in the number of COVID-19 cases when there was a surge in the omicron variant in Canada and around the world.
Recent modelling has shown that the increase in omicron infections has probably peaked. However, the number of daily admissions to hospitals and intensive care units is still high and many hospitals in Canada are under intense pressure.
Therefore, we must continue to do everything we can to limit the spread of COVID-19 and its variants.
In the short term, that means vaccines, boosters and strong adherence to public health guidelines.
Because nearly three million eligible Canadians have yet to get a first or second dose of the primary series and many other Canadians are also eligible for a booster, we want to improve our individual and collective protection with the COVID‑19 vaccines. This will help us keep fighting the omicron wave and any potential new waves and variants.
Looking ahead, Canada will need to continue to tackle future waves, which may or may not be smaller than the omicron surge depending on how the virus evolves.
Screening tests, combined with individual public health measures and vaccination, play an important role in protecting Canadians and reducing the risk of outbreaks, swiftly identifying and isolating cases, and limiting the spread of COVID‑19 and its variants of concern.
We are all tired after living with the COVID‑19 pandemic for the past two years and the most recent omicron wave. We all want to know when the pandemic will be over, but we cannot simply snap our fingers and decide that COVID‑19 is over.
We are at a critical juncture in the pandemic. We must do the right thing and act responsibly, and we need to do it now. We know that rapid tests will help us slow the spread of omicron. They will also help manage outbreaks and, ultimately, they will help keep Canadians safe and healthy.
That is why I urge all members of the House to support Bill C‑10.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague, the member for Fort McMurray—Cold Lake.
I rise this evening to speak to Bill C-10, an act respecting certain measures related to COVID-19. Specifically, what Bill C-10 does is allocate $2.5 billion toward rapid testing.
Since the outset of the COVID‑19 pandemic, Conservatives have consistently and repeatedly called on the government to make rapid testing a priority. It has now been more than two years since COVID arrived and throughout that time the government's record when it comes to rapid testing has been precisely the opposite of that. For more than two years, the government has repeatedly and consistently dropped the ball when it comes to rapid testing.
The numbers speak for themselves with respect to the government's failure when it comes to rapid testing. The government very recently made a commitment to deliver tens of millions of rapid tests to the provinces in January. It has failed regarding the promises it made to the provinces.
Take the province of Ontario, for example. The government promised the Province of Ontario 53.3 million rapid tests. It has delivered 17.6 million rapid tests. In other words, it has delivered less than a third of the commitment it made to the Province of Ontario for January.
In my home province of Alberta, the government promised 16 million rapid tests for January. It turns out it has delivered less than five million rapid tests, barely 30% of what it committed to for January.
Similarly, the Province of Manitoba has stated it has received only 2.5 million rapid tests, less than half of what the government committed to for January.
Those are the numbers. Talk about a failure.
Early on in the pandemic, business, small business owners and leaders of key sectors of the Canadian economy, including tourism and hospitality, urged the government to come forward with a comprehensive, robust rapid testing strategy to acquire and distribute rapid tests so their doors could remain open safely and they could avoid the kinds of lockdowns and restrictions that have shut down businesses and cost Canadians hundreds of thousands of jobs. What was the government's response to those calls? Very simply, the government ignored them.
Not only that, the government attacked the very people, including members on this side of the House, who were calling on it to prioritize rapid testing. In answer to a question posed by my former Conservative colleague, the then member for Cloverdale—Langley City, I can recall the Deputy Prime Minister, in this House in November 2020, saying that those who were promoting the use of rapid tests were selling snake oil. The Deputy Prime Minister and future leader of the Liberal Party of Canada was equating rapid tests to snake oil.
While the government was attacking those who were calling on it to come up with a plan to get rapid tests out, other countries took the opposite approach. They were procuring and distributing rapid tests. Many jurisdictions, such as Germany and such as London, England, were getting rapid testing kits out to their populations at little or no cost so that businesses could stay open. There is a long list of jurisdictions that did so successfully, but not Canada.
After more than two years of failure, now all of a sudden rapid testing is a priority for the government. All of a sudden, it has seen the light. All of a sudden, it is saying we have to ram through Bill C-10 with limited scrutiny and debate. I say, when it comes to Bill C-10, it is too little, too late. If anything, what Bill C-10 demonstrates is the complete and utter incompetence of the government and complete failure to come up with a plan with respect to rapid testing.
Speaking of incompetence and a failure to come up with a plan on the part of the government, today the Liberals, along with their NDP coalition partner, voted against a very reasonable Conservative motion simply calling on the government to come up with a plan to lift federal restrictions and mandates.
In fairness, the best that could be said of the Liberals is that they did something that they have not done in a long time, and that was to be honest. They admitted that they do not like plans, that they cannot plan, and that they have not had a plan throughout COVID. If the government did have a plan, we would not be debating Bill C-10 tonight. There would not be tens of millions of shortages with respect to rapid testing, and the $2.5 billion that the government is requesting would have been out the door a long time ago.
This is not about a government saving the day. This is about a government that is in a state of panic and scrambling to cover up its record of failure. After more than two long years, Canadians deserve a plan from the government when it comes to lifting restrictions and mandates.
With more than 90% of Canadians vaccinated, what is it going to take the government? What is the government's exit strategy? How much longer are Canadians supposed to wait? Canadians deserve to know when it is that they can expect to take back control of their lives. They deserve an answer from the government now.
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Mr. Speaker, there is a fundamental flaw that the member has in his argument. It is quite simple. The member says that we were too late with the rapid tests, yet when the federal government provided the provinces and the territories with the rapid tests, they sat on shelves for months. They only started to be utilized in any serious number in November and December of last year. There was a huge surplus nationwide of stock. It was the variant that ultimately caused the demand.
Is the member saying that the provinces messed up, and that they should have been using the rapid tests? Is he pointing a finger at the provinces for not doing their job in using the rapid tests months and months ago?
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Mr. Speaker, I acknowledge everything my colleague said. Yes, we need rapid tests. That being said, the Senate is not sitting until next week.
We are not talking about having endless debates and studies, but simply giving ourselves the rest of the week to discuss and ensure that we are able to propose amendments that would guarantee that the money goes to the tests and the right companies, not to the Liberals' friends.
Why this rush to pass this bill on a Monday instead of on Thursday or Friday, or not at all according to the studies—
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, the member has been speaking for three minutes and has not talked about rapid tests once yet. This is a debate about rapid tests. I urge the Speaker to try to get him back into the lane.
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- Feb/14/22 11:24:18 p.m.
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I thank the minister for that, but the member did mention rapid tests at least once in his speech so far. We have given lots of leeway in our debate tonight to all sides. I will make sure the member keeps to the bill at hand, and I am sure this nudging will keep him there.
The hon. member for Peace River—Westlock may continue.
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Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the member's story about rapid tests. It is too bad we did not have them two years ago. We could have managed COVID much better. That was kind of the entire thrust of my speech.
Rapid tests would have been an immense tool to help stop the entry of COVID into our country. I am frustrated. Here we are, at this late hour in the pandemic, and finally the Liberals have had their “come to Jesus” moment and are now willing to talk about rapid tests.
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Mr. Speaker, I think Bill C‑10 will help us fight COVID‑19 as a society. We clearly need rapid tests and that is the point of this bill.
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