44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 26, 2022 10:00AM
- Apr/26/22 2:16:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on April 1, about 25 people in my riding of Saskatoon West lost their jobs because of an imposed federal vaccination requirement. Their employer, Maple Leaf Foods, is federally regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and as such must follow federal rules.
On April 4, Shawn, who lost his job, wrote to me wondering how he was going to put food on the table and provide for his family. When I originally posted about this on Facebook and Twitter, the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader mocked Shawn and my other unemployed constituents: so much for Liberal sunny ways.
While countries around the world lift restrictions, here in Canada we have a government that tunes out actual science and substitutes it with its own political science. This NDP-Liberal government is creating division when it forces people out of work, making it impossible for them to provide for their families.
It is time to end the mandates, end the division and work to heal our country so Canadians such as Shawn can get back to work and support their families.
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- Apr/26/22 3:02:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister claimed the only way out of the pandemic was through vaccination. The point of vaccination is to induce an immune response. Immune response can also be measured through antibody testing, but the government will not accept those tests. Instead, the government continues to deny travel to those who have not had the shots but who have a strong immune response due to previous infection.
When will the Prime Minister end his cruel and inhumane travel bans on Canadians?
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- Apr/26/22 7:13:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am here tonight to give the government an opportunity, and I am pleased to speak directly to all of those who have recognized that this is such an important issue for them to be seized with. It is time to end the unscientific mandates. Of course, I am talking about the federal mask mandate and the federal proof-of-vaccination requirements.
As we have seen across this country, every province has signalled a plan to do just that. With dentists, we see on the commercials that “four out of five dentists agree”. In the provinces, nine out of 10 of the top doctors have agreed that it is safe to lift their vaccination and mask mandates. This is exactly what the federal top doctor and the Minister of Health need to be looking at. We know that it is safe to do this. With the impacts mandates are having on people's federally regulated employment, our public service and our RCMP, it is too important for the government to continue to delay. This is based on science the Liberals have not revealed and science that differs from that of all of the chief medical officers of health across this country. They have said it is safe.
What we have asked of the government over the last number of months is to provide us the information we are looking for and explain to us the benchmarks that, once hit, will cause the mandates to be lifted. What are those benchmarks? Would they be based on waste-water surveillance? Would they be based on hospitalization rates? Would they be based on vaccination rates?
We do not know the number that, once hit, will trigger the lifting of the mandates because they have not set a target; they have not determined what it would be. That is because what we are seeing is that this is largely a political decision: one of political science and not of medical science. If we were doing this based on the targets that could best be hoped for with vaccination, as one of the most vaccinated countries in the world we have hit that benchmark. That is what we have seen.
When case rates largely decoupled from hospitalization, the chief medical officers of health across this country said that it was time and that it was safe to gather, safe to remove mask mandates and safe to end the proof-of-vaccination requirements. That is what we are looking for the government to do. It should follow the science, tell Canadians the thresholds that need to be achieved and end the unscientific mandates.
We have given the government multiple opportunities through opposition days requesting that it sets a deadline. We are going back almost a couple months since we first asked for a plan, so tonight is another great opportunity for the government to provide us with a plan that would see the end, as I said, to what has proven to be mandates based on political science, not based on medical science.
I will ask the parliamentary secretary this. Are the Liberals ready to end the mandates?
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- Apr/26/22 7:17:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as the provinces and territories ease public health measures, we need to recognize that COVID-19 has not disappeared. COVID-19 continues to circulate in Canada, with hospitalization trends still elevated in some parts of the country.
Provincially and territorially, vaccine mandates were implemented in the summer and fall of 2021 for the federal public service, Crown corporations and federally regulated air, rail and marine transportation sectors to pursue key objectives, including to ensure the safety and security of the transportation system, passengers, transportation employees and the public, delivering immediate protection from infection and severity of illness in workplaces and for travellers; to increase uptake to provide broader societal protection, including within the federal public service; and to play a leadership role in protecting the health and safety of our workplaces, our communities and all Canadians.
Provincially, vaccine mandates were implemented across the country in the fall of 2021 to support higher levels of vaccination. At the time, uptake rates had plateaued, and a fourth wave was upon us.
Following mandatory vaccination, vaccination rates in Canada increased. This has contributed to the public health goal of minimizing serious illness and death overall.
This situation is not unique in Canada. A recent comparative study revealed that Denmark, Israel, Italy, France, Germany and Switzerland saw significant increases in vaccinations 20 days before mandates were implemented with lasting effects up to 40 days after. Eighty-five per cent of the eligible population in Canada has received two doses.
Studies have shown that vaccine effectiveness against the circulating variants omicron and BA.2 is lower than against previous variants. However, two doses continue to give good protection against severe disease, against omicron, but protection decreases after several months. Evidence indicates that a third or booster dose moderately increases protection against infection, to about 60%. It also increases protection against transmission and offers very good protection against severe disease, upward of 90%.
While the duration of protection from a booster or third dose varies and is expected to decrease over time, it is nonetheless important for Canadians to keep their vaccines up to date and get their booster shot when eligible. This will help them protect themselves and others.
When considering mandates, several factors should be considered, including the global and domestic epidemiological situation and the benefits and longer-term consequences of those measures. The Government of Canada COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the federal public service was implemented in October 2021 to help protect workers, their families and their communities. The mandate remains in place, and the government has committed to review the ongoing need for the policy based on evolving science and evidence and in the context of a multipronged approach to help protect Canadians against COVID-19.
Given the uncertainty and the ever-changing nature of the variants, as we learned from omicron and now its subvariants, an agile approach will be needed.
We continue to monitor the emerging evidence around vaccine effectiveness, and the spread and impact of COVID-19 in Canada, to inform our vaccination strategy for the coming weeks and months to ensure that we continue to protect the health and safety of Canadians. Vaccination is an important layer of protection that, when used with other measures such as masking, testing and distancing, can protect us from COVID-19.
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- Apr/26/22 7:21:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. friend for his response, but the question we are left with is whether the intent of the vaccine mandate for federal public servants was to drive up the vaccination rates. They have largely plateaued across the country, so the primary objective has been achieved and the mandates are not going to get any closer to their end goal by being maintained.
Unless the parliamentary secretary is prepared to offer to the House tonight that boosters will be mandated for federal public servants, and I would encourage him to bring that information forward if that is the case, the government needs to let us know, and let the public service and all federally regulated employees know, when it will end those mandates.
In my community, vaccine uptake is over 91.5%. It is the highest in the province of Ontario and one of the highest in the country, but it is not going to get any higher because of the vaccine mandates that are in place.
If the mandates have achieved their objective, what are the epidemiological or other factors that will need to be met before the parliamentary secretary and his minister will lift the mandates?
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- Apr/26/22 7:22:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Public Health Agency of Canada continues to examine vaccination strategies in the short and long term, including opportunities to build vaccine confidence and reduce barriers faced by individuals and communities across Canada. Canada has benefited significantly from COVID-19 vaccination efforts that include vaccine education, outreach and accessible programs with provinces, territories and indigenous partners. Vaccines, including boosters, will continue to be key to Canada's long-term recovery. They will be important to manage emerging variants, prevent severe illness and death, support our health systems and continue the path to living normal and full lives.
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