44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 24, 2022 10:00AM
- Mar/24/22 10:23:00 a.m.
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- Mar/24/22 10:24:02 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise in the House on this important issue.
I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable, who will also speak to the importance of today's motion.
The Conservatives have brought forward this motion calling on the government to end all federal vaccine mandates now. After two years of Canadians doing all that was asked of them, including following the rules and being in lockdown, unable to visit their family or travel, the effects of these restrictions exacerbated the mental health challenges of many Canadians and was incredibly difficult for those who are on the margins of our society. These restrictions also caused delays and the postponement or cancellation of diagnostic screening appointments and treatments, leaving patients lacking for care. Canadians did everything that was asked of them, even boasting some of the highest vaccination rates in the world, but we cannot live under these restrictions indefinitely.
When we look to countries around the world, our allies, and provinces across this federation, they are ending the mandates. Every province in this country, following the advice of their chief medical officer of health, has either lifted the mandates or has publicly released their plan to lift the mandates. However, Ottawa, which is governed by this NDP-Liberal coalition, is not following medical science; rather, it is looking to the political science it has used to divide Canadians and communities at a time when we have needed real leadership.
I want to take members back to the beginning of this pandemic, when members on this side of the House, without wavering and without hesitation, were prepared to support reasonable efforts to make sure we could get Canada in a position to manage the great unknown at the time, which we now know to have been COVID‑19. Co-operation and collaboration were the name of the game.
However, as we moved through the pandemic, we saw many examples of the Prime Minister taking every opportunity as a political opportunity. Even in those early days, when we looked to offer unwavering support to Canadians, the Prime Minister looked to undertake a historic power grab that would have given the government the ability to tax and spend without parliamentary oversight for two years.
We then heard unbelievable language from the Prime Minister in the intervening period, calling people misogynists or racists if they did not agree with his policies on COVID‑19. Recently, we heard condemnation, not just from across Canada, but from around the world, for this type of divisive language. In all of these examples, he was not making decisions based on science. Therefore, when we are having this discussion today, I encourage all hon. members to ask the government which federal agencies and which doctors called for these mandates, these lockdowns, and the vaccine and mask mandates that the federal government is responsible for.
Now, we know that 10 out of 10 doctors in the provinces agree, and all provincial chief medical officers of health agree, on the medical science that says it is safe to lift these requirements.
Canadians are rightly confused. People can go into a sporting venue in this country and sit shoulder to shoulder with neighbours and members of their community, people who they have been hoping to see for two years, wearing the same jerseys and cheering on a sports team without proof of vaccination or a mask required, because the top doctors in all of the provinces have said it is safe to do that.
The Prime Minister is saying that while people can sit together in a theatre with their families, neighbours and members of the community to enjoy an experience they have not had in a long time, and watch a movie together without proof of vaccination and without wearing a mask because it is safe to do, they cannot get on a VIA train or a plane for 30 minutes or 10 minutes unless they show both of those things.
Today, I hope members in this place ask members of the government what the federal government knows. What science is the federal government withholding from the chief medical officers of health for all of the provinces? What science does the federal government have access to that it is not sharing with our international allies that shows that it is unsafe? We know that the government will not give an answer. It may reply and it may try to scare Canadians, but that is more of that fear and division that it is trying to sow on this issue.
Again, we are one of the most vaccinated countries in the world. Canadians did their part. They did what was asked of them, but that was not enough. Instead, the government looks to turn the screws on members of the federal public service, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and federally regulated employees.
Even today, in every provincial jurisdiction where they all work, the chief medical officers of health, following the science, have said that it is safe to gather and work without those vax mandates and mask mandates. The government has not said it is going to offer those folks their jobs back. It has not given them a path to re-entry, and to what end? What is the benefit to Canadian society when these people are unable to provide for their families? After offering themselves in service to this country in the federal public service, and members of the Canadian Armed Forces and members of our Royal Canadian Mounted Police putting on a uniform, they were unceremoniously booted from their jobs and told they did not have a right to provide for their families anymore because the Prime Minister saw a great political opportunity.
Let us take a new opportunity today to follow the medical science, to listen to those chief medical officers of health across the country, including in the province where this place is located. People can gather at an arena with friends and family unmasked and without that vax passport. Why is the government saying that it knows better than the experts and the physicians: the top physicians in our province?
Canada's Conservatives are going to stand up for Canadians. We are going to stand up for the science. We are going to stand up for what is right. It is time to end the mandates.
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- Mar/24/22 10:35:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 100% of Conservatives are following the science that the chief medical officers of health in their provinces prescribed. I hear the member opposite saying it is a joke. The member for Kingston and the Islands is saying that Dr. Kieran Moore is a joke, but we follow the science that he has offered.
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- Mar/24/22 10:35:49 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member does not want to stand behind his heckles and wants to rise, but that is exactly what he said. The member for Kingston and the Islands saying that Dr. Kieran Moore is a joke is something that we do not agree with.
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- Mar/24/22 10:36:48 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on that same point of order, the member for Kingston and the Islands has just said he could do that all day. While you were ruling and advising members of the House to return to order, the member for Kingston and the Islands said he would do it all day. The chair had pronounced on the matter and called members to order and this member effectively challenged the chair in doing that.
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- Mar/24/22 10:37:40 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 100% of members of the Conservative caucus support the advice of Dr. Kieran Moore and their provincial medical officers of health. That is 100% of them. We are not hearing any disagreement. Where is the evidence that the Liberals are offering? They were gesturing to doctors in their caucus. I would like those doctors to stand up and say that they disagree with the science that says it is safe to end the mandates.
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- Mar/24/22 10:39:24 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when we proposed that motion at the beginning of February calling for a timeline, we gave the government ample opportunity. Of course, seeing the reasonableness of the proposal, we are happy to see that the member's party supported it. Now, we are nearing two months since that time. It has been a month and a half since then, and the provinces continue to accelerate the lifting of their mandates.
We have parliamentary secretaries and the Minister of Seniors who could not even handle that I was calling for the federal government to follow the science and reduce the harm that their divisiveness is causing Canadians. Now we are asking the federal government to simply apply the provincial standards that have been adopted, which saw the end to masking and vax mandates.
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- Mar/24/22 10:41:32 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, at the health committee this week and last, Conservatives have asked the government what its plan is. The Liberals failed to provide that plan to Canadians. We continue to ask for their plan. We asked for them to show us what benchmarks they are using that will see the restrictions lifted and reduce the harm on the very vulnerable people that the member opposite mentioned. Of course, we want the government to show us the data, show us its plan and end the mandates.
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- Mar/24/22 11:12:01 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for taking the time to speak to our motion today. In his remarks, he talked about transparency and about the different surveillance tools and the monitoring that happens. I am wondering if the minister take the opportunity today to be transparent with Canadians and share with us what the benchmarks are.
He mentioned the lifting of one of the testing requirements on April 1 at the border. If we use that as an example, what were the specific metrics that were used, whether it was hospital capacity, numbers in wastewater surveillance or case positivity rates? As well, will the government commit to releasing the metrics it would use to reimpose COVID restrictions once they are lifted?
We are calling on the government today to follow the science that the provinces have used to lift the restrictions that the federal government has put in place. Will the minister commit in this place today to release the metrics that were used previously to lift some measures and could potentially be used to reimpose measures in the future? What are those metrics?
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- Mar/24/22 12:19:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we reject the amendment from the government member.
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- Mar/24/22 2:21:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, according to the Minister of Health, there are many different factors to consider before lifting mandates. He said, “It's quite complicated.”
Health officers across Canada have worked through these complications and have ended their mandates. If it is not complicated for the provinces, why is it complicated for the minister?
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- Mar/24/22 2:22:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on Monday I asked the health minister what the national vaccination target would need to be and for Canada to achieve before the government lifted the mandates. His response was that the booster uptake was too low. Next week it could be that case counts are off, or the following week it could be that waste-water surveillance numbers are askew. The goalposts will keep on moving.
What numbers do Canadians have to hit before the minister agrees to lift the mandates?
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- Mar/24/22 2:23:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the vaccine mandates that the government imposed at the time have served their purpose according to the top experts in every province across this country. Ten out of 10 chief medical officers of health have said it is time to end the mandates and lift the mask mandates.
What are the metrics that this federal health minister is going to follow so that he will catch up to all of the provinces and our allies who have accepted the science and ended the mandates?
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- Mar/24/22 5:16:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I request a recorded division, please.
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