Hon. Rosemary Moodie: Honourable senators, a few months ago, our country was in the grip of an urgent pediatric crisis. It can be easy to forget now how bad things were then. Respiratory infections ran rampant, causing children, including infants, to be intubated at staggering rates. Parents waited for hours with sick children in waiting rooms, and some had to go home only to return to hospital much sicker. Kids who had to wait months for important surgeries saw these surgeries delayed even more as major hospitals recommitted resources to overburdened ICUs. We were scared. We were angry. We were in a reality that should not be in this country of ours.

In the middle of it all, our health care workers kept us afloat. They demonstrated leadership, sacrifice and courage. They worked around the clock in extremely difficult circumstances, and because of their perseverance, we made it through the crisis. Today, I rise to say thank you to the thousands of Canadians who stepped up to take care of our children in a moment of desperate need. There is no doubt you saved many, many lives. Kids cannot be an afterthought. They cannot be a lesser priority. We saw this past fall and winter what happens when they are second-class citizens.

As legislators, we can’t allow this trend to continue. The incoming injection of funds towards the pediatric system is a welcome step, but what we need is a sustained investment to grow the sector to the size it needs to be to take care of our kids. They deserve nothing less.

Thank you once more to our pediatric health care workers. I hope you find in Parliament the support that you have earned.

Senator Moodie: In a recent statement, Senator Gold, Children’s Healthcare Canada, the Canadian Association of Paediatric Nurses and the Canadian Paediatric Society called on governments of all jurisdictions to work together to address the crisis in children’s health.

Children require specific and focused attention at this time, and emergency warrants special collaboration across all governments. Immediate investments are needed to increase capacity, support clinicians and, ultimately, help children.

Senator Gold, is the Government of Canada willing to sit down with the provinces to find solutions to the crisis in pediatric health care as a separate negotiation from an ongoing discussion on health transfers?

Hon. Rosemary Moodie: The question I have today is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, the crisis in pediatric hospitals has reached a new and worrying height. Earlier this week, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, CHEO, had to call in the Canadian Red Cross to support patient care during this extraordinarily difficult respiratory infection season.

An important underlying contributor to this acute crisis is the fact that our pediatric health care system is undersized and is unable to support our children and their complex and diverse health needs. Speaking to pediatric health care leaders, they’re worried about the backlog of children awaiting surgeries.

Today, of the children waiting for surgeries, 50% are waiting longer than is medically recommended — that compares to a pre‑pandemic number of 35%. One leader told me that this is probably one of the worst in the industrial world and called it embarrassing.

Senator Gold, what is the Government of Canada doing to work with provinces to increase the capacity of critical services for our children and families? After all, these are not issues that are going to go away after the flu season is over.

Hon. Rosemary Moodie: This question is for the Government Representative.

Senator Gold, as you know, there is a crisis in pediatric health centres across the country. Last Friday at the Hospital for Sick Children, half of the children were in ICU on ventilators, and this spike of respiratory illnesses has prevented surgeries, cancelled emergency room access and flooded intensive care wards. Halifax’s IWK Health Centre set a record a week ago with the highest number of seriously ill patients. CHEO — the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario — opened a second ICU with unprecedented demand.

Senator Gold, I understand and I agree with the federal government’s position that money is not the only solution and there needs to be a systemic change. Nevertheless, we are in a crisis.

Despite the failure to make progress on health funding at the recent Federal-Provincial-Territorial Health Ministers’ meeting, has the Minister of Health re-engaged with his provincial and territorial colleagues to seek pathways for meaningful collaboration to address this pediatric health crisis?

Senator Moodie: The crisis in pediatric health care, Senator Gold, is not limited to the hospital but to the drugstore, where Canadian parents have struggled to find basic medications for their children for a number of weeks now. For added context, a recent article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal argued that Canada has very little pharmaceutical security — that is, the ability to ensure our supply of drugs is not disrupted by supply chains.

Senator Gold, the government announced yesterday that it has secured a shipment of drugs in severe shortage right now. This is obviously welcome. Is there a plan coming to ensure Canadians can be confident that they will have access to basic pharmaceuticals when they or their loved ones need it?