Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2020-04-29 14:01
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It’s good to see the faces of friends, and not just on our laptop screens.
I want to start by positing that in this pandemic, it looks as though the greater the degree of collaboration within a country, the more effective its response to COVID. Contrast, unfortunately, the United States versus New Zealand.
Within Canada, we see that New Brunswick has done very well. New Brunswick is the only province that has put together an all-party cabinet committee to confront COVID-19. I’m wondering if the equivalent of a war cabinet is under consideration by this government.
Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Papineau)
2020-04-29 14:02
Mr. Chair, like the honourable member, I do want to underline the degree to which Canadians have worked together. Across the provinces and territories, with the federal government, we’ve been able to move forward on significant measures that have worked.
As the member herself has highlighted, the regular calls that public servants give to opposition members have contributed significantly in improving the legislation that we have put forward in this House in response to COVID-19. We will continue to collaborate, but we are not at this time looking at a war-style cabinet.