Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise tonight to speak to the urgent matter of COVID-19 as we experience a third wave of the pandemic with new variants worsening the crisis.
I stand here tonight with the weight of the frustrations, anxiety, anger, depression, grief and hopelessness my constituents and Canadians across our nation are suffering during this daunting hour in history. It has been 13 months since the pandemic lockdowns began, and hospitalizations and ICU admissions are soaring.
The nature of a crisis is that it takes us by surprise. The initial shock can cause us to panic or become numb, but we must inevitably face the reality of the loss, damage and change and begin coping with a long-term vision of not only survival, but sustainability. While we cannot fully control the unpredictable, life-threatening nature of COVID-19, we can certainly have control over how we respond. Surely, with knowledge, foresight and proper planning, and with the synergy of many strong minds and good hearts coming together, we can limit the damage of the pandemic on our lives and our institutions. If we can navigate the pandemic, united with humility, honesty and introspection, and commit to making things right and doing what is right, we can establish the foundation of a stronger future for Canada.
We are living at a pivotal moment of Canada's history, when patriotism must govern our actions and selfish motives be snuffed out. More than ever, we must set aside all agendas and set the best interests of the people and our future as our priority.
I would like to thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for calling us to this debate. In fact, we must move together intelligently and humbly to outwit this microscopic organism. Before we can move together, accountability and integrity must be established, and the government must take note of where it has fallen short with honest self-assessment. It must change its trajectory where there are electorally driven agendas and step up to the call for wise leadership to save our nation, but that is a decision it has to make.
It has been over a year since the pandemic caused lockdowns across our country, and we have now defaulted to a third-wave lockdown. People are traumatized, exhausted and short on hope from this roller coaster ride. There is a rise in domestic violence and opioid overdose, and suicide attempts are spiking. Drastic lockdown measures have pulverized businesses and industries, and stir unrest as civil rights continue to be challenged. Families cannot gather for holidays. Faith communities, which offer solace and comfort, cannot gather. College students are missing out on the joy of campus life experiences. The live performance industry has forfeited sharing its skills and enriching audiences with its talents. Audiovisual technicians I have spoken with say that the skills and techniques they have developed over decades like fine wine are becoming dull because they have no shows to work. The pandemic lockdowns have created serious implications for culture, psychology and human excellence for the sake of saving lives.
The root of the devastation is not the lockdowns themselves, but the lack of foresight and planning on the part of the government, which has prolonged the lockdowns and their severity. The collateral damage from severe lockdowns could have been lessened had the government been more pre-emptive along the way with better procurement of rapid testing and vaccines to protect Canadians and safely work our way to reopening Canada.
During the time I have been serving as a member of the 43rd Parliament, I have come to see how the current government operates. Rather than working collaboratively with the opposition parties, it has been busy proroguing Parliament to shut down investigations into its WE scandal and delaying procurement of PPE, rapid testing and vaccines, while putting together an election budget that does not address the need for adequate health care funding support to the provinces, but gives a tremendous amount of spending with no viable plan for job creation and economic growth. These are things that give us hope.
The member for Cariboo—Prince George introduced a three-digit national suicide prevention hotline, but the government has not moved on it despite the spike in suicide numbers.
South of the border, our neighbours are vaccinated and that is why cases and hospitalizations are dropping. Their businesses are opening and their patios are busy as fans gather to watch in-person sports and games.
If Canadians had been vaccinated in January and February, we could have prevented a third wave, but by the end of February, only 4% of Canadians had received their first shot, and to date only 2% of Canadians are fully vaccinated.
Our current situation was avoidable. Could this third wave have been avoided had the government done things differently? The health minister allowed our pandemic early warning system to be shut down just months before COVID-19 hit. The Prime Minister sent hundreds of thousands of masks, gloves and gowns from the government's own reserves to China, and a month later our own health care professionals were lacking and told to economize on their PPE. The borders were not shut early enough, and the virus spread. The Prime Minister could not decide whether Canadians should wear masks, and the health minister purported that the risk was low.
COVID-19 response benefits rolled out slowly and took months to fix, after Conservatives and other opposition parties raised concerns and offered productive solutions to help Canadians. Now we are behind our allies in securing future COVID-19 vaccines. We should not be turning to plans that were made for poorer countries to access our vaccines. When the House of Commons summons the contracts that were ordered to be released on procurement and it is not done, then accountability is questioned.
Tonight I do not say these things to condemn the government or stir up more scrutiny, because I believe we are in a time when there is a great opportunity to change the trajectory if we can only be honest and humble enough to assess our shortcomings.
If there is anything this season is teaching us, it is to have better care for our fellow humans. With the exposure of injustices and vulnerabilities in our society, from gender-based violence like domestic violence, to racist hate crimes with the recent spike in anti-Asian hate crimes, to sexual misconduct in the military that we are looking into right now, we have an opportunity to drain the swamp. There is no time like now to get to the root of our culture and make things better.
I hope accountability will lead the way, because without it, everything else is merely optics and lip service. Canadians deserve better. Our democratic institutions, which our veterans and fallen heroes have fought for, deserve better. I hope that we can focus more on legislating things that will give Canadians more hope, and that as politicians we will break the curse and the cycle of the long-standing history of “corrupt politician” and actually give thought to caring for the people. I did not struggle through my life to be here to do things for electoral reasons. I came here to serve the people of Canada and my constituents.
That was the heart of many people who came here originally, but somehow politics has led them astray, in the wrong directions for different reasons, and I want to encourage the government and all colleagues across all aisles to let this moment be a turning point for Canada's Parliament, that in this moment of crisis when Canadians need us the most, we will do the right thing, even if it costs us a few inconveniences.
