QUESTION PERIOD — Health
COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
May 25, 2021
Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader. According to the Toronto Star, Prime Minister Trudeau himself came up with the line “one-dose summer . . . two-dose fall.” This line is likely the closest we will get to an admission of failure from the Prime Minister. A one-dose summer, two-dose fall is the direct result of his government’s failure to secure an adequate COVID-19 vaccine supply, especially earlier this year in the months leading up to the Trudeau third wave.
Leader, how could the Prime Minister possibly think a slightly better one-dose summer and two-dose fall is a sufficient promise to give Canadians? Nobody wants that. Shouldn’t his goal be to provide two doses as quickly as possible?
Thank you for your question, senator. Since you don’t tire of asking me questions about the ostensible failures of the government, then I shall not tire of reminding this chamber that, in fact, as I reported months ago in the face of such questions, Canada is on track and indeed beating the goals it articulated for ensuring that Canadians are properly vaccinated. Indeed, the recommendation that was followed by many governments in this country to extend the time between the first and second vaccine doses is proving, on the basis of subsequent scientific research, to have been very well-founded.
The Province of Quebec, for example, has vaccinated close to two-thirds of the eligible population to date and avoided the third wave altogether. Some of the problems that some provinces are currently facing are clearly a function of having been too precipitous in relaxing the standards or not taking this seriously enough at various times.
The short answer is that this government remains on track to deliver on its promise to Canadians that they will receive the vaccines that they need, and we are doing well in that regard.
Well, Senator Gold, I am indeed tired of asking these questions and I wish we would get a proper answer and have the Prime Minister keep his promises. He moves the goalposts all the time. I watched a PGA golf tournament on the weekend, and 10,000 people followed Phil Mickelson around the golf course. I watched part of a Minnesota hockey game. I don’t know how many thousand they had in that arena. Yet, we are bragging that we are ahead of the curve here? I don’t know how you judge success, Senator Gold, but I have a different measuring stick than you.
The health care system across several provinces remains under pressure. The lack of access to vaccines is causing hospitals to focus only on COVID-19 cases. Essential services and emergency surgeries are on hold and waiting lists are growing. Leader, I was touched to hear of a woman right here in the City of Ottawa who waited for surgery for close to a year but her surgery was not considered urgent until her other organs were affected. She recently waited four days in hospital for an emergency surgery. Her doctor says his waiting list is beyond eight months now, up from four to six weeks just two years ago. This woman, leader, and her family are not alone. There are thousands of Canadians in a similar situation.
How does the Trudeau government’s failure on vaccine procurement help these families and our hospitals, and how is this deemed a success?
Thank you for your question. No one denies, and the government certainly is aware, that the pandemic and the burden on our health care system have had very serious consequences for all Canadians, so please don’t misunderstand my response. The government is of the view that its plan and its diverse portfolio of vaccines, the extraordinary efforts that Minister Anand and her team are doing to ensure a regular and growing delivery of vaccines to Canada is a successful response to the pandemic and the results — in terms of the number of vaccinations administered and the proportion of Canadians who have already received a vaccine — are a testament to that.
Leader, in a press — time has expired.
My clock is showing there is a minute left, but I bow to the table. Sorry, Senator Martin.
