QUESTION PERIOD — Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
COVID-19 Vaccine Access
June 16, 2021
My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, our colleague Senator Omidvar just reminded us that June 20 is World Refugee Day. In my town of Antigonish, many of us are walking extra distances daily to raise funding for SAFE, one of our amazing refugee sponsorship organizations. While walking, we’re conscious of the 8,072 kilometres between our community and Syria, where many of our refugee families have come from.
As we know, Canada has been a leader in welcoming refugees. In 2019, we welcomed over 30,000 people. While this is a wonderful thing, we also know there are currently at least 26.3 million refugees worldwide looking for shelter from conflict, violence, human rights abuses and persecution.
Senator Omidvar mentioned the vulnerability to COVID-19 of the 900,000 Rohingya refugees living in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, especially given the prevalence of the Delta variant in the region. Senator Gold, could you tell us what Canada is doing to ensure these vulnerable people in Cox’s Bazar, and other refugees, are vaccinated very soon? Thank you.
Thank you, colleague, for your question. The virus has proven what we all know — and the government certainly knows — that no one is safe in this world until everyone is safe. In that regard, I’ve been advised that Canada has been supporting partners such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, who in fact has reported on the situation of Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar. Voluntary contributions from Canada and other countries support the UNHCR’s work in developing countries to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for refugees and other forcibly displaced persons, both within refugee camps and those living within host communities. I’ve been advised, in fact, that thanks to UNHCR’s advocacy and the support of UN member states, at least 153 countries have adopted national vaccination strategies that include refugees.
Thank you, Senator Gold. Last week at our Foreign Affairs Committee meeting, we were fortunate to hear from Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae. I asked the ambassador about concrete actions that would be required to get the world back on track toward meeting the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. He said the first priority was to get the world vaccinated and that we needed to help in both the production and distribution of vaccines.
Senator Gold, could you tell us what Canada is doing to help get the world vaccinated and, in particular, what we are doing to expand the production and distribution of vaccines?
Thank you. That’s an important question. With regard to distribution and expanding access, there are a number of things that one can say.
First, as we know, Canada is a strong supporter of the COVAX Facility, which works with all countries to ensure that at-risk populations — and they include those in refugee camps — have equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. In that regard, to make sure that nobody gets left behind, the COVAX Facility has both created and operationalized what they call the humanitarian buffer. This is a reserve of vaccine doses set aside — as a measure of last resort — to which countries can seek access in order to vaccinate at-risk populations.
With regard to the larger question of expanding access to doses, as I’ve reported in this chamber before, Canada continues to be in discussions with other countries with regard to issues surrounding this, including but not limited to the question of patents or temporary waiving of patents. Canada has also, as we know, made commitments to distribute doses of vaccines to other countries as they become available.
