44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 10, 2022 10:00AM
- May/10/22 2:44:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to answer this question.
There is no secret and no secret evidence. Everyone knows that vaccinations save lives. About 163,000 lives would have been saved in the United States just from omicron if they had had a higher vaccination rate. In Canada, we have been vaccinated to a large extent, and that is why we have been successful, with one of the lowest rates of death in the world from COVID-19.
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- May/10/22 2:47:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me say what everyone knows, which is that vaccination is not punishment. Vaccination is protection. When we vaccinate ourselves not only do we protect ourselves against a disease that can be very serious, but we also protect those around us whom we like and we love. Therefore, we protect them and their community. With respect to vaccination, just in the past few months, the rate of boosters in Britain has avoided about 130,000 hospitalizations just during omicron.
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- May/10/22 2:48:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has always said that Canada's response to the pandemic is based on science.
While countries around the world have already abandoned mandatory proof of vaccination, the Prime Minister continues to require it at Canadian airports.
If we are talking about science, how does he explain the fact that we can have 28,000 people in a sports stadium without proof of vaccination, but we cannot travel within our own country?
Can the Prime Minister share his science with us and explain why he insists on maintaining these restrictions at airports?
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- May/10/22 2:48:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the reason we can relax public health measures is that Canada has high vaccination rates.
Without vaccination in the last six months of 2021, without strong public health measures, by some estimates, we would have had 400,000 deaths in Canada during that period.
We cannot choose to relax public health measures without having the right vaccination rates.
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- May/10/22 7:11:48 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, before I start, I would like to thank my friend and colleague for his ongoing engagement and collaboration on the health committee. I would also like to thank him for the opportunity to talk about what the government is doing to protect Canadians' transportation systems, their employees and their users.
Throughout the pandemic, the Government of Canada has taken clear and decisive actions to ensure the safety and security of Canada's transportation system, its employees and its users.
The Public Health Agency of Canada continues to examine short- and long-term vaccination strategies, including opportunities to promote confidence in vaccines and reduce barriers.
The agency needs to take several factors into consideration when considering vaccine mandates. It considers global and domestic epidemiological situations, vaccine effectiveness against circulating variants and the benefits and longer-term consequences of these measures.
In the fall of 2021, vaccine mandates were implemented for federally regulated air, rail and marine transportation sectors to pursue key objectives. The first was to ensure the safety and security of the transportation system, passengers and transportation employees and the public, delivering protection from infection and severity of illnesses in workplaces and for travellers. The second was to increase uptake to provide broader societal protection, and to play a leadership role in protecting the health and safety of our workplaces, our communities and all Canadians.
Vaccination is one of the most effective tools we have to protect our transportation system and to combat the pandemic. Vaccination is also an important layer of protection. Even though it does not give us full immunity from infection, it can prevent us from getting very sick and having unfortunate outcomes. In addition to that, it can reduce the potential need for hospitalization.
The incentive for vaccines is evident, as data from recent weeks shows. Across the country, the most recent data indicates that unvaccinated individuals are still four times more likely to be hospitalized than individuals who have been vaccinated with the primary series. Also, unvaccinated individuals are six times more likely to be hospitalized than those who have received a third or a booster dose. We will continue to monitor the spread and impact of COVID-19 in Canada, and will continue to take the emerging evidence around the vaccine effectiveness into account and to inform our vaccine strategy.
In the meantime, we know that multiple layers of protection, including vaccination, protect against severe health outcomes from COVID-19. Getting as many Canadians as possible vaccinated and boosted and continuing to adhere to individual public health measures is expected to help us get through this phase of uncertainty and support Canada in managing COVID-19.
I would also add that I was recently looking at some numbers with respect to deaths in this country. In 2020, approximately 15,000 Canadians died from COVID-19. In 2021, it was 15,000 and up until now, in 2022, a little more than three months into the year, it is almost 10,000. This looks like it is going to be the worst year yet for deaths from COVID-19. It is not time to lift all of the mandates, unfortunately. It is time to look for new ways to protect each other, and the lives of Canadians, from COVID-19. I hope that Conservative members start offering some specific ways that we can continue to support each other.
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- May/10/22 7:15:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, Canadians are looking for some certainty. I appreciate that there was uncertainty two years ago, when we did not know, but now we know an awful lot. We also know, and the parliamentary secretary knows, that I come from a community that has a higher vaccination rate than nearly any other place in the country. The people in my community are looking for some certainty from the government.
Is it reading the tea leaves or is it reading the numbers? Is one of the factors that it is using to keep these measures in place the number of fatalities that it is attributing to COVID-19? If that is the case, it should be transparent and tell Canadians. Is there a set number of booster doses that needs to be administered before it is going to lift the mandates? It needs to tell Canadians that. In the absence of that, it looks like it is just throwing darts at a dartboard and guessing at what it is going to do next, or worse, making decisions based on political factors instead of on scientific factors.
Again, I will ask the parliamentary secretary, and I am genuinely looking for an answer here: When does he think that they are going to lift the mandates?
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- May/10/22 7:16:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his ongoing advocacy and also congratulate him on the high vaccination rate in his riding. That is excellent. I have to presume that he is advocating for a very small number of individuals in his riding, then, because no federal mandates apply to people who are vaccinated, even with just two doses. I have three doses, and I know some members of the House have received a fourth. They are incrementally safer from COVID-19. It is worth pointing out that none of these mandates applies to those who have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
I have also heard from members of my community who cannot receive a vaccine, or who are allergic. It is important that we take them into consideration. It is important for Canadians to stay up to date on all the vaccination requirements for which they are eligible: This means a COVID-19 booster for all adults over 18. Doing this will help protect them and others against severe infection.
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