Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health: Although Canada is showing incredible unity in fighting COVID-19, especially when it comes to recognizing that vaccination is key to that fight, there are diverse points of view. Some people still believe that vaccination is not effective or doesn’t work. I heard some individuals say this again yesterday in the House of Commons.

That really worries me. It was said again today in the House of Commons, and it is one thing that divides us. There are still people in Canada, including some Conservative MPs, unfortunately, who say vaccination doesn’t work.

That is terrible. It is both ironic and tragic that, a year after we started administering vaccines in this country, some people still think vaccination doesn’t work and must be stopped. That really worries me. Vaccination is the most important tool we have to guard against lockdowns, social ills, and the economic and fiscal costs of the COVID-19 pandemic. People need to stop spreading this kind of idea, which is dividing Canadians.

Hon. Elizabeth Marshall: Minister, your Bill C-10 is requesting $2.5 billion for expenses for COVID tests. The bill consists of six lines. That’s it, six lines to justify $2.5 billion. Effectively, you’re asking Parliament to sign a blank cheque for $2.5 billion without providing any of the usual information on how the money will be spent.

When you were the Treasury Board minister, your bills always provided substantial financial information on how the money will be spent. Why doesn’t this bill include the usual appendices and other information detailing how the $2.5 billion will be spent?

Hon. Judith G. Seidman: Welcome, minister. I’ve been asking questions of your government for almost two years now concerning the procurement of COVID-19 rapid tests, especially for use in congregate settings such as long-term care.

Despite your announcement on January 5 that 140 million rapid tests would be delivered to the provinces and territories that month, this did not occur. Our province of Quebec did not receive almost 6 million tests they were expecting. Manitoba received less than half of their expected allotment. Ontario didn’t receive tens of millions of tests they were expecting, and today announced they are procuring their own.

Minister, what happened? I understand the tests have recently been delivered to Canada, but have the provinces received all the tests they were promised last month? If not, when will that take place? Thank you.

Hon. Jim Quinn: Thank you, minister, for being with us today. There have been changes in the rules in the administrative procedures throughout the past two years dealing with what is truly a fluid COVID situation.

Minister, my question is focused on one administrative procedure that creates perhaps unnecessary confusion for Canadians returning to Canada from the U.S. at our land border crossings.

Currently, a Canadian entering at a land crossing must fill in ArriveCAN within 72 hours before arrival to Canada. If not submitted, then that Canadian must quarantine for 10 days. But if that same Canadian, in short order, returns to the United States, they can again arrive at the border crossing and enter Canada without quarantine for that 10-day period.

Rather than creating this workaround situation, can the government not create a rule that would allow the returning Canadian to fill in the ArriveCAN at the border crossing or perhaps within a short period after entering Canada?

Hon. Kim Pate: Thank you for joining us, minister. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, the poorest in Canada are twice as likely as those more well off to die of COVID-19.

The issues at the root of the siege of this city right now are not so much about vaccine and mask mandates, but really about many people feeling disenfranchised and being drawn to populist messages that incite division and violence.

The debate around these mandates has obscured decades of evisceration of social, health and economic supports that put people collectively at risk, and most have succumbed to an emphasis on individualized responsibility for protecting one’s own health.

How will the government redress systemic health as well as social and economic inequities and marginalization, in particular given the destructive forms of populism that we are witnessing?

Hon. Mary Jane McCallum: Tansi, Minister Duclos, and welcome. During the peak of the Omicron wave, First Nations communities enacted states of emergency and protective measures that extended beyond provincial public health orders to keep their members safe. Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, or MKO, represents 30 Northern communities. MKO and other members of the Manitoba First Nations COVID-19 Pandemic Response Coordination Team have reprofiled human resources from each of their partner organizations to meet the challenges arising from the current pandemic, including the deployment of rapid response teams into First Nation communities facing rising positive case counts. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated ongoing First Nation collaboration between governments and service providers.

Will Health Canada provide ongoing funding to support First Nations in addressing systemic change in the health care system, and are you agreeable to meeting with MKO?