44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 24, 2022 10:00AM
- Mar/24/22 2:26:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am here and I know what is happening.
Science has not been the NDP-Liberal government's main concern for a long time. It used the pandemic for political gain, and Canadians are not fools. They realize it and even the member for Louis-Hébert has condemned it.
Will the Minister of Health finally stop playing political games and immediately lift the federal restrictions?
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- Mar/24/22 2:26:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is not about politics. It is about responsibility. When one is in government, one must be responsible. I believe that everyone in the House of Commons, not just the government members, must be responsible. I look around and see that members of the Conservative Party are suddenly declaring that COVID-19 is over and that masks are no longer necessary. COVID-19 is still with us. We will soon see the BA.2 subvariant in many provinces. The numbers are already high in Quebec. We must continue to protect ourselves and those around us.
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- Mar/24/22 2:27:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, three weeks ago, the Liberals and the NDP voted in favour of a Bloc motion stating that the Quebec nation must not lose any political weight in terms of the number of members in Ottawa. Today, they introduced Bill C‑14, which ensures that we will not lose any seats, but they are adding so many more seats elsewhere that we will end up losing some our political weight anyway. They may not be holding us under water, but they are letting the water rise very slowly. That is what they are doing.
Why does the government want to reduce Quebec's political weight?
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- Mar/24/22 2:27:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this morning, we introduced a realistic and practical bill that will protect Quebec's seats. Quebec would retain 78 seats instead of dropping to 77. The Bloc Québécois wants to reopen the Constitution, because their bill will require support from seven provinces representing 50% of the population. They want to enter into constitutional discussions, but we want to address the problem now, right away, to guarantee Quebec's political weight.
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- Mar/24/22 2:28:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, clearly the government does not know how to count. What matters to Quebec is not the number of seats but our nation's weight relative to the total number of seats. If we keep 78 seats but the total number of seats goes up to 343, 350 or 400, that does not work. One does not need an honorary degree to understand that. They are not taking away one of our seats, which would be an overt act of aggression against Quebec, but neither are they protecting our political weight, which is a roundabout way of breaking their promise.
The Liberals and the NDP voted to recognize the Quebec nation. Why diminish its political weight here?
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- Mar/24/22 2:29:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have 35 Liberal members for Quebec who are proud to be Quebeckers and who are here to stand up for Quebec. Today we introduced a bill that guarantees Quebec's 78 seats, but all the Bloc Québécois wants is to open up the Constitution and start a fight.
The only people that is good for are those who hope to win points by raising a hue and cry, but we, on the other hand, are here for all Quebeckers.
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- Mar/24/22 2:29:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today marks 30 days of the war in Ukraine, and President Zelenskyy has asked the world to reflect on what that means. When he spoke here in the House of Commons, he asked us to imagine what the war means and what it would mean to Canadians, and he asked for help.
One of the most important ways that we can help, and are helping, is by welcoming people from Ukraine, but recent reports are showing that people who come here from Ukraine are not getting the help that they need. What is the government going to do to ensure that Ukrainians fleeing a humanitarian crisis get refuge in Canada and the support and help that they need?
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- Mar/24/22 2:30:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, certainly, Canada will provide a safe haven for those fleeing Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since January, Canada has welcomed more than 10,000 Ukrainians. Last week, as members know, we launched our new Canada-Ukraine emergency travel authorization, which will make it easier, faster and safer for Ukrainians to come to Canada.
We are working with our partners, including provinces and territories, the business community, the Ukrainian Canadian community and settlement organizations on how best to support people arriving from Ukraine. We will continue—
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- Mar/24/22 2:31:02 p.m.
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The hon. member for Burnaby South.
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- Mar/24/22 2:31:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have spoken with people. There are reports that Ukrainians coming to Canada are not getting the support they need. We are asking the government to recognize that this is the 30th day of war. Ukrainians still need help, and one important way we can help them is to welcome them here and make sure they are supported.
What does the government plan to do to ensure that Ukrainians who come to Canada get the help and support they need to have a good life here in Canada?
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- Mar/24/22 2:31:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question.
We completely agree that we need to help. That is why we launched the new Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel last week, which will allow Ukrainians to come in.
We are working with our partners, including the provinces and territories, the business community, the Ukrainian Canadian community and settlement agencies, on how best to support those arriving from Ukraine.
We continue to closely monitor travel volumes and needs, and we will take appropriate action.
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- Mar/24/22 2:32:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all 10 provinces and most G7 countries around the world are lifting the mandates. Despite this, federal mandates around vaccines for employment and travel persist. At the health committee, we already heard the Minister of Health talk specifically about the plan to end federal mandates, but he did not quite make it. He talked about this complicated science and did not elaborate further.
We, on this side of the House, would like to know. What is this complicated science the NDP-Liberal government is not sharing and when will the minister make it available to all Canadians?
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- Mar/24/22 2:33:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me try again to make it very simple. I will use one number this time, instead of two, which is 135,000. That is the number of Americans whose deaths were avoidable. If the U.S. had been vaccinated to the extent we have in Canada, in part due to vaccination mandates, they would not have died. Those lives had a value. How much it is in dollars very few people would know I suppose, but they had personal, health, human, social and family values.
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- Mar/24/22 2:33:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for his non-answer reply to that question.
We know there are countless federal employees who are off work who sadly perhaps have not been immunized. What about Douglas, who is a federal scientist? He has a unique story. He has had COVID twice and is also in an antibody study at the Ottawa Health Research Institute. Interestingly enough, and shockingly, he works from home and is still not allowed to go to work. How can this happen?
When will the current federal government stop politicizing this and discriminating against hard-working Canadians and provide a date they can go back to work?
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- Mar/24/22 2:34:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we spoke about being responsible and being kind to each other. I will try to make it even more simple. Instead of 135,000, I will use three, which is a simple number. Three times is how many more deaths we would have had in Canada if we had followed the example of the United States when it came to public health measures and vaccination rates. Three times more people dying would be 60,000 more people in Canada who would have died.
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- Mar/24/22 2:35:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, many Canadians cannot travel. They cannot leave this country. Many have been terminated and have been othered by the current government for long enough. Its top doctor stated that vaccine mandates are not effective anymore, yet the health minister will not discuss any timelines, benchmarks or plans for ending them. He is not taking hints from provinces. He is not taking cues from our international allies. He is not listening to his own experts.
On what day, in what year, will the health minister end the federal mandates that nobody is telling him to keep?
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- Mar/24/22 2:35:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we would all like to be able to declare the date when COVID‑19 will disappear from the earth. That would be marvellous. I would certainly be the happiest man on earth, and in this Parliament, to be able to tell the House on what day COVID‑19 will disappear. Unfortunately, I do not know.
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- Mar/24/22 2:36:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, things would be better if the minister cared about workers even half as much as he does about optics. Employers in air transportation are experiencing worker shortages. They are terminating experienced workers because of the federal mandates. The very workers who were mandated to work through the pandemic are the same workers who are now on the verge of losing their livelihoods for good. The transportation minister can end the interim order on mandates before he strips workers of their pensions, their benefits and their years of service. That is before April 16.
Why is the Minister of Health saying no?
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- Mar/24/22 2:36:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I really want to ask my colleague to remind Canadians that vaccination is not a punishment. Vaccines have saved lives, communities, our economy and jobs.
I understand there are questions about when these mandates will be lifted. We will continue to follow science and advice, and I ask the hon. member to avoid partisanship in the face of vaccination and science.
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- Mar/24/22 2:37:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the health minister talks a lot about numbers.
I am wondering if he can tell us whether mental health, particularly the mental health of Canadians who still today cannot work or travel to see loved ones because of the mandates, is one of the metrics being considered in regard to lifting the mandates.
If so, what specifically are those mental health metrics?
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