44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 24, 2022 10:00AM
- Mar/24/22 10:40:35 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are things that the NDP members believe are true. We need to reconnect people. We need to get people connected. I am really disappointed to see the way that the Liberals and Conservatives are speaking today. There are many women at home right now who are caring for seniors who are ill, caring for their families and caring for children who have not been able to go to school. It is time to really get serious about how this is impacting people outside of the House and not have these political games being played.
I support the idea of not having games played. I would ask that the Conservatives consider the NDP motion, which is to look at the most recent data. Many vulnerable communities and many children are being harmed. This is growing in Alberta.
Will the Conservatives consider the NDP amendment that we look at the current science and data based on what is happening in the real world, not in the House right now?
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- Mar/24/22 12:04:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for the question. We often see eye to eye as neighbours and members of Parliament for the wonderful city of Edmonton, but I have to say that my perception of where my constituents are on this is very different from what the member brought forward.
I am getting many emails from people who are deeply worried about those who cannot receive a vaccination, such as children. I am hearing from teachers who are absolutely terrified to be back in classrooms that have not dealt with the ventilation problems that we have had so far and that have not dealt with overcrowding. I am talking to health care workers who are exhausted. They are on their last straw, and hearing that the Government of Alberta does not care enough about them to maintain some of these restrictions that will keep them safe is heartbreaking. I am hearing about seniors who are worried about their own care.
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- Mar/24/22 3:01:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in Canada and around the world, governments have ended their vaccine mandates and restrictions. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia have all ended their vaccine passport systems. However this government is doubling down and spending $30 million for domestic travel vaccine passports in the next two years.
Since the provinces have already dropped these passports, will the Minister of Health return this $30 million to the taxpayers?
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- Mar/24/22 3:43:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, setting a date to lift mandates and restrictions, as we have seen in the past, is very irresponsible. We saw the premier of Alberta say we were going to have a summer free of COVID, and then, during the past federal election, have to shut everything down because COVID exploded.
What I have been saying and what I say to my residents is very clear: We will follow the science. We will do things on a prudent and safe basis. We are removing the requirement on testing for people coming back into this country. We will continue to follow the science.
As the Minister of Health stated, I too will be happy when all mandates and restrictions are lifted in a safe manner throughout this country.
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- Mar/24/22 5:02:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to be participating in this debate and also to be speaking after the member for Fort McMurray—Cold Lake. As Quebeckers and other francophones just heard, the member from Alberta, who represents one of the most oil rich ridings in the country, speaks impeccable French.
It is late in the day, and we are gathered here to ask the Government of Canada to do what all the other Canadian governments have done and that is to lift the COVID-19 mandates for Canadians. When I say all the other Canadian governments, I am not referring to previous governments, but to the current governments of the 10 Canadian provinces. Ours is a big and beautiful country. We have British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. Ten out of ten provinces have decided to lift COVID-19 mandates.
Some provinces, like Saskatchewan, lifted them some time ago. Others, such as Quebec, are moving in that direction and will lift all measures by April 15. It is coming. Other provinces also have plans. Thus, all 10 provinces are on the same page. It is now time to lift vaccine mandates. All governments agree except for the central, federal NDP-Liberal government. That is unfortunate.
These people keep saying that we need to listen to and follow the science. I would say that they were following the political science when they called an election at the beginning of the fourth wave of the pandemic. They ignored everything that Dr. Tam had said on the Wednesday and then called an election on the Sunday. What happened to those people who were crowing about the principle of science? Why did they then call an election? What principle was behind that idea? They were operating on the principle that public servants absolutely had to be vaccinated. There was not a single scientific study proving that this was necessary. The same thing happened after the election, when the mandate was extended to truckers. There was no scientific evidence for this.
However, 10 public health officials in the 10 provinces have each decided that the restrictions could be lifted in their province. All 10 of them did. Not nine, not eight, not six out of 10, but every single one of them, from coast to coast. The NDP‑Liberal government refuses to recognize what the provinces are doing and, most importantly, refuses to do what all of the provinces have done. It is unfortunate.
I want to be clear. Canadians have suffered a lot over the past two years. We have all suffered as a result of COVID‑19. Some people lost family members or loved ones, and our thoughts are with them. Others have faced serious mental health challenges. We all know someone who experienced setbacks, challenges and upheaval when confronted with isolation.
Other people missed out on some of the best experiences life has to offer. I will not go into detail, but suffice it to say I experienced the joy of becoming a grandparent during COVID‑19 not once but twice. I got to see my granddaughters, but my parents did not get to see them as much as they would have liked. My parents are 97 and 98 years old, and they did not get to see their great-granddaughters, who will soon be 23 months old and seven weeks old, respectively, as much as they wanted. COVID‑19 caused all Canadian families to suffer, some a lot and some less so, but we have all had to live with COVID‑19.
When the time comes to lift restrictions, obviously that has to be informed by science. That is why the provinces did it. That is why I do not understand why this federal Liberal-NDP government is refusing to do what scientists in 10 out of 10 provinces agreed to do on the basis of science.
Let me be clear. I am a Conservative and a Canadian, and I am proud of that. My party was the first to raise the issue of COVID in January 2020. I remember the hon. member for Edmonton Riverbend was the first to raise the issue here in the House, in January two years ago. Ours was the first party to raise the issue of restricting the border to address this. We were the first. We were the first to ask for a vaccination system and to provide vaccines to Canadians. We were the first to talk about rapid tests.
As a Conservative, I am very proud to fight for that. As a Conservative, I am very proud to have followed all the rules.
I am a Conservative, and I got not one, not two but three doses. As a Canadian, I am proud to have my vaccine passport with me at all times. Did I enjoy having to show it every time? Of course not, but we got through it.
I was also very proud to wear a mask, which I still wear today, by the way. There is nothing to be ashamed of; on the contrary. I am very proud to wash my hands 25 times a day. I was already doing that anyway, but that is another story. Finally, I am very proud, in a way, to respect social distancing.
We all learned these words during the pandemic. However, the time has come to move on. That is where we are right now.
I mentioned earlier that the current government has made several big mistakes, such as calling an election in the middle of a pandemic, forcing public servants to be vaccinated without scientific evidence and other things like that.
However, what this government has lacked the most is respect. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine to correct this government's lack of respect, especially the lack of respect shown by the head of state.
The Prime Minister is our Prime Minister especially when we have to address a crisis like the one we have had in the last two years. The first responsibility of our Prime Minister is to let people work together, to unite us and to face and address the situation. However, what did the Prime Minister do? He fought Canadians, he divided Canadians and he wedged Canadians. That is exactly what the Prime Minister should never do, but that is exactly what he has done in the last two years.
That is why we are quite saddened to see that, two years into the pandemic, while leaders around the world and in our 10 provinces have decided to set aside the health measures, the federal government is alone in refusing to follow the science and the recommendations.
It was sad today to see our party put more than 20 question to the Minister of Health, a man for whom I have a great deal of respect and esteem. He is the member for Québec, which makes him one of my neighbours, as is the member for Louis-Hébert.
I have to say that over the past few months, I have appreciated the observations and comments of my colleague from Louis-Hébert. Unfortunately, it does not seem to be having much influence on his neighbour, the member for Québec. He should have paid more attention to the comments of the member for Louis-Hébert, who said that the Prime Minister had unfortunately decided to divide Canadians and call an election on the principle of mandatory vaccination.
What was the response we got today from the Minister of Health, whom I respect and hold in high regard?
The minister came out with all sorts of numbers, as the deputy leader of the official opposition and member for Mégantic—L'Érable said. The minister cited an unending slew of numbers.
Speaking of numbers, let us talk about the number 10. In Canada, 10 out of 10 provinces believe the same thing: It is time to lift the health measures. Why is the Minister of Health not listening? Why does he not realize what is happening?
People are saying that the situation is not the same in Europe and they are quite right. Every country has its own reality and its own challenges. Every country is faced with the fact that people can travel from one country to another and spread COVID-19 to some extent.
However, Canada has 10 provinces, 10 health ministers and 10 public health officers. Ten governments have decided to lift restrictions and mandates. We hope that the current federal government will follow the lead of the 10 Canadian provinces, do the right thing and let Canadians lead a better life in the current situation.
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- Mar/24/22 7:58:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as always, it is an honour to be able to stand in this place to address the important issues facing my constituents, Albertans and all Canadians.
I stand today to talk about the Senate, and specifically the question that I asked back in December related to the Senate election that the Province of Alberta held last October. This is something that is unique to Alberta admittedly, but I appreciate the opportunity to talk a bit more about it here today.
On October 18, Albertans made a choice. They elected three, what we consider, senators in waiting. They are, by name, Pam Davidson, Erika Barootes and Mykhailo Martyniouk. Significant precedent suggests that Albertans are able to make that choice. However, in the response given by the minister who responded this past December, I was once again incredibly disappointed by the ignorance, arrogance and how out of touch the Liberals are when it comes to the issues that western Canada faces.
The response basically said that the Liberals do it better, that they have all the answers, that they blame Stephen Harper for all the problems our country faces and, therefore, it is actually the Conservatives' fault. That is not acceptable. My constituents share often how frustrated they are with the status of the federation. They share often how they feel like Canada has failed Albertans. They share often how they feel there is little our country can offer them and that it may not even be worth our federation sticking together.
I am a proud Canadian. I am also a proud Albertan. I find it a travesty that there are those, and a growing number under the leadership of the current Liberal government and Prime Minister, now an NDP-Liberal coalition, who have made it so that more Albertans all the time are deciding that they would be more willing to give up on our country than fight for it.
These are serious issues that, unfortunately, the Liberals seem to dismiss, not only issues like appointing democratically elected senators to Canada's upper chamber in our bicameral legislature known as the Senate, but issues each and every day, whether it be the energy industry, the Ottawa knows best mentality or the imposition of the carbon tax on Albertans when Albertans made it very clear they did not want it. The list goes on and on. There is such a host of challenges that the province of Alberta faces, there are even more people today. In fact, since the announcement Monday evening where the NDP-Liberal socialist eco-left coalition was announced, I have heard from many more constituents who are asking, “What is the point in fighting?”
When it comes to the specific question I asked back in December, Albertans deserve this, Albertans need this and, for the sake of our country, Alberta needs to be respected. I would simply ask the minister this. Will he take a moment and recommend to the Liberal Prime Minister to put his partisanship aside and understand that Alberta has a unique status within our federation and appoint to the vacant seat for Alberta in the Senate one of Canada's democratically elected senators?
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- Mar/24/22 8:03:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak tonight on the matter of Senate appointments from the province of Alberta.
Let me start by saying that this government strives to appoint outstanding people who represent the diversity of this country. We are committed to vibrant and inclusive representation in the Senate. The Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, established in 2016, plays an important role in ensuring representation by providing the Prime Minister with non-binding, non-partisan, merit-based recommendations for Senate appointments that meet a high standard of integrity and collaboration.
As members know, under Canada's Constitution, senators are appointed by the Governor General. By convention, the Governor General's power is exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister. One of the Senate's fundamental roles is to serve as a chamber for the representation of regional interests. This government believes that a less partisan Senate would be able to fulfill this role and other roles more effectively.
That is why, in 2016, the government introduced the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments to provide non-partisan, merit-based recommendations for Senate appointments for the Prime Minister's consideration. Moreover, in recognition of the important role the Senate plays in regional representation, the advisory board provides unprecedented and equal opportunity for all provinces and territories to participate by recommending individuals from their jurisdictions to serve. In fact, two of the five advisory board members are selected from the province or territory in which a vacancy arises. The provinces and territories are given an opportunity to engage in the process by providing a list of individuals for consideration as provincial or territorial members of the advisory board.
The advisory board for Alberta may consider the Senate election nominees against the established criteria for current or future vacancies. However, these individuals, the ones the hon. member spoke about tonight, like all others, would still need to formally apply through the online application process to be considered by the board as a potential candidate for an appointment to the Senate.
Canadians may also nominate an individual for a Senate appointment, though nominees would still need to submit their own application to be considered. This process is the same for everyone and everywhere across Canada, including Alberta. All applications are reviewed using the same assessment criteria, which are publicly available online. These include constitutional eligibility requirements, a range of merit-based criteria established by the government and additional considerations, such as gender, indigenous and minority representation and bilingualism, to ensure the Senate increasingly reflects Canada's diversity.
The government remains committed to the non-partisan and merit-based Senate appointment process in place, and we are confident this process will continue to result in a less partisan and more effective institution to serve Canadians. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments for its continued work in the service of parliamentary democracy on behalf of all Canadians.
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- Mar/24/22 8:06:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are a couple of things I suggest the member takes seriously.
First, there is very little that is equal about our Senate. She is right in the sense that it was meant to be a regional balance in the country, as intended when the Fathers of Confederation and those involved with the foundations of our country created a structure to ensure there was regional representation. It does not exist today.
Second, as the member referred to an independent advisory committee, I note there was a very clear process, called a democratic election, that selected those individuals who deserved to be in the Senate representing Alberta, and they have applied through the Prime Minister's process. It is absolutely essential for the sake of the unity of our country that they be appointed to our Senate to make clear that Albertans' voices matter.
When it comes to the issues that our country faces, the government talks big but unfortunately has failed to deliver each and every time, and it is tearing our country apart.
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- Mar/24/22 8:14:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are many parts of what I heard from the parliamentary secretary that I absolutely agree with. It is a tremendous force, and the negotiations for the settlement needed to happen. It was deserved, absolutely.
The part that I would disagree with was the piece about communication with partners. When I talked to municipality leaders, mayors and reeves in my area, they said they not a part of it. The organizations that represent the municipalities in Alberta, which I used to be the vice president of, were not involved in the process or in communication with the federal government. Municipalities were saying they were not part of this organization in the sense of communication. If the federal government was communicating, it was not to the organizations in the province of Alberta and other provinces. It was not the municipalities themselves. We look to the federal government to deal with this retroactive pay and pay for it.
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