Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to the hon. member's speech, and with not just a little puzzlement. He quoted rather fondly former prime minister Martin, yet he was part of the government that took what was record debt reimbursement and turned it into new, and structural, deficits over the life of the government he was a part of. He quotes NATO spending. NATO spending, as a percentage of G…
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Mr. Speaker, I am always proud and honoured to rise in the House as the representative of the people of Gatineau, who once again did me the honour of electing me to this chamber. I am deeply touched. When we talk about Gatineau, we are talking about a city in the Outaouais region that is proud to be part of Canada's national capital; proud of having contributed to the building of our great and bea…
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Mr. Speaker, the bill explicitly mentions a coordinating role. With respect to the question about how to make sure that the Treasury Board does its job, I will answer that that job will be enshrined in an act, that there will also be regulations, and that the Treasury Board will obviously have the resources it needs to carry out the legal mandate that Parliament is, I hope, preparing to bestow upo…
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Mr. Speaker, I am confused by the question. For the first time in the history of official languages, we are including concrete measures to promote and protect the French language in Quebec. I do not need a lesson from the Bloc Québécois on how to protect linguistic minorities in Canada. These are communities that the Bloc does not even know and that it is ignoring. The Bloc thinks that these commu…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for her question. I was involved in French education and in education in minority communities for almost all of my career, and I am truly thrilled that the Government of Canada is taking responsibility in this area and providing considerable funding for post-secondary education in French across Canada. I myself went to one of those institutions, t…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, on February 20, a pillar of the student community at Polyvalente Le Carrefour passed away. Éric Noël-de-Tilly was a devoted history teacher who treated his students with unwavering respect and love. Over the years, he passed on his passion for civic engagement to his students in order to teach them the meaning of democracy. Because of him, several hundred students participated in th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am going to push my luck. I believe that, if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the result from the previous vote to this vote with Liberal members voting yes.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will try my luck one last time. I believe you will find unanimous consent for the results of the previous vote to apply to this vote with Liberal members voting yes.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, once again I believe you will find unanimous consent to apply the results from the previous vote to this vote with Liberal members voting yes.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, once again, I believe that if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the results from the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting yes.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, this week is Quebec Intellectual Disability Week, and I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the work that dedicated organizations are doing in the Outaouais. For example, this year, the Association pour l'intégration communautaire de l'Outaouais is celebrating its 65th year of serving our community. The association provides services to people with intellectual disabilitie…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, this being the start of spring, I think you will find unanimous consent to apply the results from the previous vote to this vote with Liberal members voting yes.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I believe that if you seek it, you will find once again that there is unanimous consent for the result of the previous vote to apply to this vote, with the Liberals voting yes.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it has been brought to my attention that the hon. member for Humber River—Black Creek inadvertently voted yesterday and should not have done so under paragraph (i) of section (q) of the motion adopted by the House on November 25, 2021. I therefore ask that her vote be withdrawn.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, this is not a point of order.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the hon. member seems very concerned about inflation. I just want to ask him this very simply. He ran on a platform that purported to spend far in excess of what the Liberal Party, in fact, committed to spend in the last campaign. Why?
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, on January 15, the Espoir Rosalie centre, an organization in Gatineau, celebrated 30 years of serving our community. Espoir Rosalie helps single mothers and their children develop parental autonomy. Participants have access to respite services and can take various workshops to learn how to build their own support network. I want to acknowledge the important work this organization does…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I simply want to draw to the Chair's attention that when calling for unanimous consent moments ago, I do not know if you had the opportunity to hear everyone in the House.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding our occasional differences in the House, I believe if you seek it you will find agreement, this time, to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting yes.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as we gather for the last time in this way on this fine December evening, I believe if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the results from the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting yes.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the results from the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting yes.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I respectfully want to point out it is not a grey area. It is black and white that a member logged in virtually or a member present in the House is a member in full, is a member with all the rights and privileges afforded a member of Parliament. I humbly submit, sir, it is not a grey area at all. Whether members are logged in or whether they are in person, they are in fact participati…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would first like to let you know that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your new position. By the way, it is nice to see an Acadian in the chair. Since this is the first time I am speaking in the House in this 44th Parliament, I would like to begin by thanking the citizens of Gatine…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, apparently my hon. colleague did not listen to the very last part of my speech, where I said not to make this into more than what it is. We are living in an extreme and unique pandemic. The last one happened over 100 years ago, and I think part of the problem of the debate we have had today is to try to impute grand principle into what is basically a simple calculation: ensuring the p…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her intervention. Again, I think that we need to move away from these arguments and come back to the motion we are debating today, which seeks to bring in a temporary measure to adapt to our reality. The member is talking about health conditions that can change at any time. I invite her to look at how the number of cases is soaring right now in Europe and arou…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we have always sought to be guided by the science. What do we know? We know this is a spreadable disease. We know that this is a highly contagious disease. We know that it is an incredibly dangerous threat to our public health and, indeed, I do not think anyone is served by obscuring any of those essential facts with more extraneous facts. We have tried to be guided by that science. W…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, PSPC cannot disclose details of specific vaccine agreements unilaterally. This includes the confidentiality clauses since they are part of the agreements themselves. We continue to have discussions with suppliers about opportunities to share information publicly.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, PSPC cannot disclose details of specific vaccine agreements unilaterally. This includes the confidentiality clauses, since they are part of the agreements themselves. We continue to have discussions with suppliers about opportunities to share information publicly.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, Canada’s vaccine planning began in April 2020, when the government created the COVID-19 task force. These experts were asked to provide advice based on a review of the emerging science and technology from the companies developing vaccines to combat COVID-19. The task force began identifying the most promising vaccine candidates in June 2020. It advised that the best approach was to di…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, Canada’s vaccine planning began in April 2020, when the government created the COVID-19 vaccine task force. This team of experts was asked to provide advice based on a review of the emerging science and technology from the companies racing to develop vaccines to combat COVID-19. Based on the task force’s recommendations, the Public Health Agency of Canada, PHAC, decided which vaccines…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, Public Services and Procurement Canada, PSPC, is delivering on government commitments to modernize and simplify procurement. A broad range of initiatives have been identified in the government’s response to the report presented on October 18, 2018. The government continues to work on implementing the recommendations made by the committee, and is pleased to further outline progress to …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, this week, the Canadian Roofing Contractors Association and its 400 corporate members are celebrating National Roofing Week. The objective of this national week is to increase awareness across Canada about the significance of roofs to every home and business. Let us remind ourselves that the roof is one of the most important components of every structure and is also the first line of …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a) to date, the Government of Canada has signed nine agreements with vaccine suppliers, which include the following: i) an advance purchase agreement, APA, with Pfizer-BioNTech, which will supply up to 76 million doses of its mRNA-based vaccine, BNY162. The agreement in principle was signed on August 1, 2020; ii) an APA with AstraZeneca, which will supply 20 milli…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I want to give a shout-out to and thank my colleague for Surrey Centre for his support for frontline health care workers and for highlighting the collaboration with provincial and territorial partners, which has been key to our vaccine rollouts. Canadians are already being scheduled for and receiving their second doses, and every Canadian who wants to will be fully vaccinated by Sep…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague well knows that the Conservatives left us with a brutal mess in terms of the Phoenix pay system. We have had to clean it up and indeed extend compensation to all public servants, including retired and former public servants. We will continue to do that. Public servants have all received their general damages, and retired public servants and former public servants w…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague will know that we are not third; we are not second, but we are first in the G20, in the G7 for first doses of vaccines. Well over 60% of Canadians have received that first dose; 29 million doses have been distributed right across the country and 25 million administered. Canada is proud of its leadership position, and we see cases coming down all over the country. W…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I know that my hon. friend from Bow River's comments are heartfelt. Let me try and take them in order. As he had given notice of a question that had to do with vaccinations and vaccine contracts, I would be happy to return to him on that subject as well, but let me answer as best I can, without due notice, the issues he has posed. The first is on weekly newspapers. I have no doubt t…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am sure my hon. colleague knows our decisions have been based on the best available science and, of course, the urgent need to get vaccines into Canadian arms, so we can get ahead of these very troubling variants that are circulating worldwide. We are providing that first immunization to as many Canadians as we can, as quickly as we can. The member also knows that the number of va…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, throughout the pandemic we have provided billions of pieces of PPE, with billions supplied by Canadian manufacturers and suppliers. We thank them. We will continue to ensure we have the supplies we need to protect all Canadians throughout the pandemic.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we are very pleased that we have continued to advance the supply of vaccines into this country. In fact, over 28 million vaccines have been moved earlier than was initially planned, and we have vaccinated over 14 million Canadians to date. We will have enough vaccines to supply 48 million to 50 million doses between now and the end of June, and that is putting us at the very top of th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to this debate sponsored by the member for Calgary Nose Hill. I would like to take a moment to consider the effects of this motion, which calls on the government to ensure that every Canadian adult has access to a vaccine by the May long weekend. The member for Calgary Nose Hill has been politicizing the vaccine rollout since day one, whic…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my thoughts are with the people in the member's riding and everywhere in Manitoba who are coping, as we all are, with the effects of the pandemic. No country in the world has shared the entire details of vaccination contracts. That is precisely because all countries in the world are in a race to vaccinate their citizens. Canada has been very successful in its procurement strategy prec…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague will have to respect the fact that vaccines are literally flooding into this country, so the numbers contained in speeches may fluctuate a bit from day to day. We are approaching 15 million vaccines, which have been distributed to the provinces and territories, and that number will rise to close to 50 million vaccines by the end of June. I know the member can do the …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, first of all, I am very glad to hear that the hon. member will be getting her jab. I know she will feel, as millions of Canadians have, the relief that comes with it. I certainly wish her good luck, and hope, of course, that she continues to be cautious when it comes to looking after her health. Indeed, we want to follow the most up-to-date science in making sure that Canadians protec…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, this year, the Carrefour de la Miséricorde in Gatineau, which helps single mothers and their children, is celebrating its 40th anniversary. This organization, which was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1980, helps more than 60 mothers and their children every year. It is an open, welcoming place that is accessible to everyone. Whether through individual support or group activities, …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, we, of course, want to thank all of the provinces for their collaboration and for their mobilization. My home province of Quebec is now over 30% vaccinated, and I know Saskatchewan is approaching that number for at least one dose into the arms of our citizens. We have lots of vaccines coming in: two million Pfizer doses per week throughout the month of May and two and a half million…
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Madam Speaker, look for some news on booster shots coming later today. I will say to the hon. member that, again, close to 30% of all Canadians have received a vaccine. Over 13 million vaccine doses have already been distributed in Canada. We will have up to 50 million doses by the end of June. We will have more than enough vaccines to cover all Canadians and I join with the hon. member in encoura…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, as the member knows, all of the provinces are devising innovative distribution and all kinds of channels to get vaccines to citizens more rapidly. One thing is for sure: the vaccine supply continues and is, indeed, going to increase over the coming weeks, with over two million a week of the Pfizer vaccine alone during May and two and a half million a week during June. That will brin…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I know that the member will join me in hoping that the citizens of his riding in Yellowhead and, indeed, all Canadians have access very soon to their first dose and the evidence is their first dose will be coming very quickly. The 50 million vaccine doses that we are expecting by the end of June are, of course, more than enough to cover the first dose and, indeed, will make a signif…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, we, of course, share this sense of urgency to get all Canadians vaccinated. So far, 12.7 million vaccine doses have been administered in Canada. We have shown time and time again that we can expedite the arrival of vaccines in Canada. Although we are disappointed in Moderna's supply constraints, we will continue to show that we will expedite vaccine deliveries to Canada.
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