44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 24, 2022 10:00AM
- Mar/24/22 10:38:21 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we agree with some of the things that were just said, including the politicization of the crisis by the Liberal government. We also agree that we are all fed up with the restrictions and this crisis in general.
As our official opposition colleagues know, when they moved a motion on February 10 to force the government to present a timeline for lifting restrictions and a plan for reopening, we voted in favour.
However, presenting a plan and a timeline means setting out specific dates for the different stages, including which restrictions will be lifted when.
What happened in a few short weeks for the official opposition to go from a progressive reopening timeline, with dates determined in a rational manner like the provinces are doing, to an immediate lifting of all restrictions?
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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 11:49:06 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.
Is it unreasonable to want to protect people who use certain means of transportation? I do not think so. This is about trying to protect people. I think what is unreasonable is calling for the removal of measures without taking the science into account, especially when case numbers are going up and people expect the government to keep things predictable.
We agree with the Conservative Party on that, but just tossing all the restrictions with no real plan in place is unthinkable.
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- Mar/24/22 12:03:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would just like to correct some of the facts for my colleague, the member for Edmonton Strathcona.
Could the member deny how happy Albertans are now, since some, or even most, of the restrictions have been lifted, and how relieved families are at all levels that life is going back to normal? I am sure the member is receiving as many emails as I am about how happy people are about their lives going back to normal.
I am not sure if the member's speech reflects the reality of Edmontonians and Albertans with respect to this situation and the lifting of restrictions. I hope the member will take this opportunity to correct the fact that Albertans and Edmontonians are happy, and everybody wants out of the pandemic.
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- Mar/24/22 12:07:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her excellent speech.
In debates about the pandemic, it has often been said that the challenge for public health policy has been to ensure that people are willing to comply throughout the pandemic.
Does my colleague not think that if the government came up with a plan to ease these restrictions, this would provide some degree of predictability and encourage compliance?
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- Mar/24/22 12:25:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is good to see you in that chair. I am going to split my time with the member for St. Albert—Edmonton.
For two years, Canadians have been living with COVID-19 restrictions. That is two years of lockdowns, of not being able to visit loved ones and of not being able to travel. It is two years of isolation. While Canadians understood the need for various restrictions applied during the pandemic, despite the lack of consistency, despite the mixed messaging and despite the confusion, Canadians have done what was asked of them.
However, today what they can no longer be expected to live with is the indefinite nature of these restrictions and timelines and the lack of data. They are noticing that leaders across the country, 10 provinces, are following the evidence and advice from public health officials, evidence that supports ending the mandates.
Provincial leaders have lifted or have plans to lift mandates in their provinces. The only government in Canada that has no plan to lift restrictions is this one. I am sure that members opposite will argue that their compulsion for continued mandates is somehow justified by public health officials, but Canada's own top doctor says that the omicron variant is a game-changer and that it has forced us to rethink vaccine mandates.
Dr. Tam said that we are at a “very important juncture” and that COVID-19 policies need to shift from “an emphasis on requirements to recommendations.” That is the government's own adviser. The government's own adviser says that federal vaccine mandates are under review now, because the science tells us the COVID-19 vaccine, or at least the first two doses, offers very little protection against the transmission of the variant.
Advice once valued by the government is now suddenly ignored in an attempt to drive division and dehumanize those who do not agree, doubling down on a tactic that some members of their own caucus have called out.
The travel vaccination mandate has prevented approximately six million Canadians from travel within Canada and it prevents them from flying out of Canada. They cannot travel. They cannot visit family and friends. They cannot take international vacations or even fly across the country. They cannot live ordinary lives.
Canada is the only country in the developed world that bans citizens from air travel. If we couple that with Dr. Tam's statements of re-evaluating mandates, one can deduct that the rationale for a ban on air travel is no longer justified. However, the government seems to have a different view, one that suits its political narrative. It may see travel as a luxury, but what about work across federally regulated industries?
Let me tell members about one of those industries that is pleading for fairness, common sense and conditions in line with anywhere else in the world today, even with its competitors in our own airports: the air travel industry. The Minister of Transport's mandate for vaccinations, enforced through interim orders, was implemented swiftly across the industry. Despite this being a matter of health and safety, employers developed and implemented mandatory vaccination policies without consultation.
The majority of airline workers complied with their employer's policies, while other workers were placed on unpaid leave without benefits or access to medical benefits. The industry fully supported efforts to ensure the safety of workplaces, workers and the public, as did all members of the House.
It is important to point out that unvaccinated people are being disproportionately penalized. These workers were required to work during the pandemic. In many cases, they kept going to work during the pandemic, unlike other workers whose workplaces were closed but who were able to continue working from home. These workers flew personal protective equipment to other parts of the world, ensured the supply of basic necessities and even worked under conditions where their health and safety were not protected.
In the travel sector, vaccinations ended up being the only tool employers relied on in the fight against COVID‑19, yet there are many tools to achieve the same goal. We know that. We have used them in other industries.
We kept each other safe. Most were unimpeded by severe outbreaks, and at a time when employers were experiencing worker shortages, particularly in this industry, they were terminating experienced and seasoned workers. Employers and workers have the equal responsibility to keep workplaces safe, yet the failure to do so results in uneven and disproportionate consequences.
For workers, the consequences of the loss of employment of well-paying, unionized jobs, those with benefits and pensions, will impact not just the individual but the entire family. It is unlikely these workers will find other employment that is unionized and stable, which will inevitably impact their family's standard of living. No one should lose their livelihood because of personal beliefs, particularly when alternatives to reach the same goal exist. The government knows that.
We think workers who kept the industry flying during the most challenging times of the pandemic deserve better. By creating an end timeline, an end to this interim order, and a path forward, the government can eliminate the need for these employers to terminate the frontline workers we depended upon and celebrated during the height of this pandemic. It could do that today. Cases of the variant are receding in most parts of the country, and advocates for continued mandates are claiming the mantle of science to justify political positions instead of evaluating the scientific findings that have turned up in each one of our provinces and across the globe.
Just this week, a member of the House stood and offered masking advice to other members in a contrived attempt to virtue signal superiority, despite the clear rules of this place. These are based, of course, on expert evidence, presumably science, the same science the government is relying on, and which are, it is also worth noting, completely in line with what happens outside the door of this place. That exchange not only suggests a disdain for those who follow the rules the member does not like, it creates an arbitrary standard of opinion masquerading as science. That is exactly what we are hearing today. It is gross. It is purposeful, and in some respects, it speaks to a continued deliberate attack on those who do not share the views of the government. We have seen that.
When Canadians see behaviour like that, they lose their confidence in those who are responsible for public health decisions. The trust erodes. It suggests to them that the same disdain displayed for members may extend to people outside of the House. Perhaps it does because, in the absence of any data, benchmarks, timelines and plans to end these mandates, there really is nothing to suggest that continued mandates are not just an opinion of the government. If they are, that is troubling. If they are not not, they require an explanation that has not been shared, other than talking points about science.
The intention of the mandates were predicated on increased vaccination rates. We have among the highest in the world. When that narrative is no longer supported because of those high rates, the goal posts move. This week it became about surgical backlogs, which is tragic and most certainly a capacity issue, but is still inexplicable in relation to the continued federal mandate. Then it was simply a shoulder shrug from the Minister of Health, while he stated that COVID is still here. Of course, it is still here. It will always likely be here, but I hope that has not become the benchmark by which to determine when to lift these mandates or drop these restrictions. I hope that is not the case. I hope we are not hearing about COVID zero from the government.
It is time to end these unjustified mandates. I hope members of the House realize that public experts, their own public experts, the government's own public experts, have said that it is safe. The provinces have said that it is safe. Public health officials have said it is safe. I hope they agree with the Conservatives and lift the mandates so Canadians can get back to work and get their lives back.
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- Mar/24/22 1:51:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on February 4, Dr. Tam said that Canada's public health restrictions should be re-evaluated. Later that month, the Conservatives brought a motion to the House for the government to table a plan. New Democrats voted against that motion at the time because there was an illegal occupation in the nation's capital, and we did not think it was appropriate to signal that public health restrictions were to be re-evaluated at that time. That is not a secret to the Conservatives. They knew that at the time because we said it at the time.
The illegal occupation is now over. Today, the member for Vancouver Kingsway proposed an amendment to this motion that would call on the chief public health officer of Canada to conduct that review in a timely way and for that to be concluded within four weeks. Unfortunately, the Conservatives, despite knowing that is something that would lead to greater agreement in the House, declined to have that amendment considered. Can I ask the member why?
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- Mar/24/22 2:24:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Canadian provinces and our international allies have eliminated many of their restrictions.
The NDP-Liberal government is faster at signing secret agreements than at lifting restrictions on domestic flights. It does not realize that Canadians have had enough.
When will the NDP-Liberal government look at what is happening in other G7 countries and eliminate the federal restrictions?
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- Mar/24/22 2:45:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately that was a complete non-answer. The risks have changed as this pandemic has evolved. Canada has the most restrictive domestic travel mandates in the world. This is having a very real impact on families. I have been contacted by families in my riding who want to visit relatives who are in palliative care and who want to attend funerals. Vaccine mandates on travel have limited the ability of families to gather.
When will the health minister show some humanity and finally allow the transportation minister to remove domestic travel restrictions?
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- Mar/24/22 3:29:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. I always like having the opportunity to answer questions, especially in French.
As the Minister of Health explained today, we have no control over what is happening. We can only make decisions based on the results we are receiving. There is no doubt that this situation is complicated, but we are already seeing that the government is in the process of lifting restrictions.
The situation is progressing and will continue to do so as we become comfortable with the numbers. However, let us not forget that hospital capacity also leads to more difficult situations in the provinces.
This is complex, but our government has repeatedly shown, through straightforward processes, that it is lifting restrictions. It will continue to do so.
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- Mar/24/22 3:31:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think this is the first time I have gotten in on today's opposition day debate on mask mandates, so I will ask my hon colleague from Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook a question.
He and I are from coastal ridings with a lot of tourism, which we love, and I have heard a number of members opposite say that mask mandates in the federal civil service are blocking tourism. I wonder if the hon. member would agree with me that it would have been much more fruitful today to spend a whole day talking about what the tourism sector really needs. It needs financial support now. It needs to know that as we move out of the COVID restrictions, we will give help to businesses that are going under. I do not think a mask mandate debate for an entire day is what the tourism sector would have wanted.
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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 3:44:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the provinces have plans in place to lift the health restrictions. However, the Conservatives' motion calls on the government to do so “immediately”.
To me, that is not necessarily reasonable, and I think this is worth discussing. I would like to know if my colleague agrees with us. What is causing anger and anxiety among the public is the lack of predictability.
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- Mar/24/22 4:59:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am not a scientist. I am not a doctor, but I do follow the advice of doctors and I think that the countries around the world that have been dropping their mandates and restrictions when it comes to travel cannot all be wrong. I asked the Minister of Health today if he thought that all the chief medical officers of health across the country were wrong, as they have been ending mandates and restrictions.
A month ago we asked simply for a plan to end the mandates and restrictions, and the members opposite voted against it. Today, we ask for the mandates to simply end, and I am sure they are probably going to vote against it, but I would implore them not to.
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- Mar/24/22 5:02:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think my colleague raised some important points. We do not know everything about the pandemic and do not know what will happen tomorrow. That is true of life in general.
I do not think that there is any real justification for federal restrictions and mandates right now. These mandates should be lifted today.
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- Mar/24/22 5:14:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, these health restrictions exist in large part because the health care system is in shambles and cannot keep up with demand.
I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge those who work in health care, and, in particular, my best friend Stéphanie, who is a special education instructor. By day, she works with people who have lost their independence, such as seniors and people with cognitive problems. She does a good job and has very difficult, busy days. By night, she puts on her personal support worker hat and works another full shift for the health care system because it is in shambles and there is not enough staff. I truly admire her.
We would not be in this position if the health care system had had proper funding, and I would like to hear—
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