Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2021-01-26 19:27

Mr. Speaker, I want it said from an opposition bench tonight that I know that the minister has been working extremely hard. I do not know how it is so easy to Monday morning quarterback these vaccines. I think it is extraordinary that we have vaccines. It is a remarkable achievement of modern science that vaccines exist for something we did not even know about a year ago. That is not to say mistakes have not been made, but I think we can turn the temperature down.

I am disturbed by the fact that Pfizer is trying to negotiate in the media with the government to get better tax treatment at the same time as it is withholding vaccines because of difficulties with its Belgian manufacturing operations.

Has the minister detected any link between Pfizer’s requests for better tax treatments and Canadians’ access to vaccines?

Hon. Anita Anand (Oakville)
2021-01-26 19:28

Mr. Speaker, I would like to state very firmly that the only thing I have discussed with Pfizer is the delivery schedule for the vaccines, the contractual obligations for the vaccines and the dates of arrival of vaccines in this country. It is something I do every single day with our vaccine suppliers, and I will not personally rest until all Canadians have access to a vaccine, which we expect to be by September 30, 2021, if not before.

I want to reiterate that I have not discussed any other matters with vaccine suppliers at all.

The post The government should be wary of Pfizer trying to negotiate tax cuts appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2020-05-12 13:30

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, colleagues. It’s lovely to see all of you.

My first question is directed to the Prime Minister. It’s a higher-level abstraction.

As we all know, we’re being told we need a vaccine, and the quest for a vaccine is all-consuming globally. However, people who think about this issue and the question of the power structure and profit motive, particularly Dr. Matthew Herder of the Health Law Institute at Dalhousie University, are questioning this model.

We know that Jonas Salk never sought a patent on his polio vaccine. Can we ensure that public dollars for finding a vaccine will result in a product that is shared globally, openly, and is not for profit?

Hon. Navdeep Bains (Mississauga—Malton)
2020-05-12 13:31

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the member for her question.

Our approach has been very clear when it comes to science. We have an open science model, and we’re working with different partners and different jurisdictions to help develop vaccines and look at countermeasures and other therapeutics. Our goal is to make sure that we do so in a collaborative fashion, because this is a global pandemic, but make no mistake: If it’s Canadian ingenuity and Canadian IP that’s driving it, we want to support them as well.

The post Will Canada stay away from a for-profit COVID-19 vaccine? appeared first on Elizabeth May.

They are looking for a national public safety officer compensation benefit, for access to vaccines and anti-virals in the case of a flu pandemic and for changes to national building codes to make it safer for them when they do their job.

Will government members commit that we can get this done for our firefighters?

Hon. Vic Toews: Mr. Speaker, we work very closely with the firefighters on a number of issues and we continue to look forward to working with them.

I might point out the specific example that our government brought in with respect to hazardous materials and the moneys we paid in that respect to help train the trainers. We also brought forward the tax credit for volunteer firefighters, which the opposition parties voted against, which was very unfortunate.

The post Public Safety – Firefighters appeared first on Elizabeth May.