SoVote

Ms. Raquel Dancho (Kildonan—St. Paul, CPC)

Jun/1/22 2:22:53 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I recently travelled to Israel on a parliamentary mission to learn about the conflict, but something else that really stood out to me was how the country has moved on from COVID. It was immediately noticeable when we got off the plane: no masks, no public health warnings and no distancing or divisive vaccine mandates. In Israel, people are living joyously in a post-COVID world. As soon as we boarded the flight home to Canada, all COVID restrictions and mandates returned, and I felt the anxiety and stress of the past two years. I realized the terrible impact Canadian restrictions continue to have on our psyches and how desperately people need a return to normal. The current Liberal government will not allow it. The Liberals voted against our motions on travel restrictions and mandates, even though other highly advanced vaccinated countries, with leading scientific and medical experts, have done so. It does not have to be this way. All Canadians can live freely once again. I have seen it with my own eyes. It is time for Canada to move on too.

185 words

Context: House Hansard - 79 - Jun/1/22

Mr. Arnold Viersen (Peace River—Westlock, CPC)

Jun/1/22 10:30:56 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, back in April, I asked the Minister of Transport when he would allow Canadians to fly again and end the mandates. I pointed out that Canada is virtually alone in the world with these anti-flying mandates. Iceland, Sweden, Ireland, France, the U.K., Argentina, Costa Rica, Denmark, Hungary, Jamaica, Thailand, Mexico, Norway and Poland are just a few of the countries that have made it possible for their citizens to fly, and they have ended the vaccine mandates. Even Cuba, a country that the Prime Minister has an interesting relationship with, has more freedom to fly than Canada. I know that the parliamentary secretary will talk about how everything is done to protect Canadians, and the Liberals say that it is all based on science, even though their obsession on the vaccine mandate for travel is a clear opposition to the science, and that stopped long ago. I find it appalling that this Liberal government seems to be intent on preventing over seven million law-abiding Canadians from travelling just because they do not have a vaccine passport. However, it is quite content to allow Canadians who are convicted of child sex offences to travel abroad. Under the government, convicted child predators have more freedom to travel than Canadians who have chosen not to be vaccinated. In 2015, the Conservative government amended the Passport Act to give the minister of foreign affairs the tools to refuse or cancel passports in order to prevent the commission of sexual offences against a child in Canada or abroad. Basically, it stops Canadian sex predators from travelling and exploiting youth, especially in underdeveloped countries. I have been keeping track of how many passports the Liberals have revoked or denied. From 2015 to 2018, in the first two years, there were only 13 cancellations or revocations and five refusals of passports to prevent sexual abuse of children abroad. Many of these were initiated, likely, under the Conservative government. Between 2018 and 2021, the government revoked zero passports to prevent child exploitation and refused only three passports. Canada has 60,000 registered sex offenders, and 72% of them are child sexual predators. That is over 42,000 convicted child sex offenders. This government has only cancelled 13 passports and zero in the last three years, and it has refused only eight passports. Based on the organizations I work with, we are aware of convicted child sex offenders who had been convicted of the horrific offences against children and who received passports in the past few years from this government. They have been travelling abroad. I ask members to think about that. The government is spending $30 million to implement a vaccine passport in this country to prevent law-abiding citizens from getting on planes solely because they do not have a vaccine, but if a person is a convicted sex offender, as long as they get a vaccine, they are given a passport and off they go. For example, Donald Bakker, one of Canada's most notorious sex offenders, after serving his jail time, travelled to southeast Asia to abuse young children as young as seven years old. Under this government, he got his passport back and was travelling abroad to impoverished countries over the past few years. This is unconscionable. With 42,000 convicted sex offenders over the past seven years, and only 13 passports cancelled or refused, my question to the parliamentary secretary is this: Why is the government so focused on keeping law-abiding Canadians grounded and prohibited from travelling while convicted sex offenders can get a passport and travel? Would the $30 million not be better spend on ensuring that the passports are not being given to these sexual offenders?

621 words

Context: House Hansard - 79 - Jun/1/22

Mr. Gary Anandasangaree (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.)

Jun/1/22 10:34:35 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to talk about our government's response to the pandemic. Vaccination is one of the most effective tools we have to combat the pandemic and keep Canadians safe. While the provinces and territories are responsible for establishing vaccination requirements within their jurisdictions, vaccine requirements and restrictions were introduced in the summer and fall of 2021 across a number of areas of federal jurisdiction, namely at the border, among federal public servants and within the federally regulated transportation sector. Vaccine-related policies, along with public health measures, have helped keep Canadians safe. They have supported safe working conditions and spaces for federal public service workers and travellers on federally regulated transport and have reduced the risk and impacts of absenteeism for businesses. At the time that federal vaccine-related requirements and restrictions were introduced, overall vaccination rates were significantly lower. There was strong scientific evidence from international and domestic sources demonstrating that vaccines were effective at preventing infection against specific COVID-19 variants such as alpha and delta. There was also evidence that showed vaccines protected against severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. The benefits of vaccination continue to outweigh the risks. It is also important for us to take stock of where we are, and have a more flexible and responsive approach in managing COVID-19. Vaccines and therapeutics continue to be important cornerstones of our responses. We are fortunate that vaccination coverage rates in Canada are among the highest in the world, resulting in more lives saved in comparison with other countries, but there are still more opportunities to enhance our protection. As of May 22, 2022, over 84% of the total population had received at least one dose, 81% had received two doses and more than 18 million Canadians had received a third dose. We know that vaccination does not give us full immunity from infection, but it does prevent us from getting very sick and reduces the potential need for hospitalization. Our goal of minimizing serious illness and death is still the same; so too is our goal of minimizing societal disruption. We need to recognize that COVID-19 is not going to disappear. We have learned a great deal over the course of the pandemic, but there is still a great deal of uncertainty. Thanks to Canadians' adherence to public health measures and high rates of vaccination, including booster doses, our outlook continues to improve. Individual public health measures, along with vaccines and therapeutics, will remain key in protecting individuals should a virulent or highly transmissible variant of concern emerge.

434 words