OTTAWA —
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says that while he sees many problems with the Liberal government’s handling of pandemic, he won’t be pushing for an election until the COVID-19 health and economic crisis is under control. When the time comes for Canadians to cast their ballots, he says his party will be ready.
“We have to get through the health and economic crisis of COVID-19 before we go to the polls,” said O’Toole in an interview on CTV’s Question Period with host Evan Solomon.
“I think we will be a clear voice for Canadians that deserve an ethical government with a plan for the future of building Canada, but I don’t think we should have an election, until we’ve rounded that corner in this, the biggest crisis of all our lives,” he said, though the Conservatives have voted against the government on several recent confidence votes that saw the Liberals propped up by other opposition parties.
“I’ve been putting structures in place in our party to make sure we’re ready, we’re united, we’re a government waiting.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also indicated he has no desire to call a snap general election anytime soon, but this week, the minority Liberals took a step towards setting up the logistical parameters to do so.
Heeding recommendations from Canada’s chief electoral officer, the government has tabled a series of “temporary” Canada Elections Act changes that would allow weekend voting and an expanded mail-in-voting system, among other health and safety accommodations.
With the House of Commons now on hiatus until late January, there won’t be a chance to advance these election changes for over a month, meaning under the timeline in the bill, the earliest these new measures could be in place would be late April or early May.
That’s when federal officials say the beginning of Canada’s mass vaccination effort will begin in earnest, eyeing between April and June for up to 19 million people to be immunized for COVID-19.
By then, it’s likely the federal government will have tabled its 2021 federal budget, which Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has promised will include more details on their plan for a national daycare program, and how the Liberals intend to spend up to $100 billion on economic stimulus.
O’Toole said in this weekend’s interview that he’s anticipating the next election will be fought on which party has the best “plan for the future.”
“We need Canadians working, we need to build things in this country and be proud of getting people back to work. That’s, I think, what the next election will be about,” he said. “We have to send a signal that jobs and investment are welcome in our country coming out of the pandemic.”
O’Toole said that is where his ongoing opposition to the federal carbon tax is coming from.
With new details unveiled last week that include a decade of increases to the federal carbon tax as part of the plan to reduce emissions and meet Canada’s climate targets, O’Toole said that “taxation in a time of crisis is not a solution.”
O’Toole said his party will offer a “serious” approach to climate change. During his leadership campaign he took the position that it should be up to the provinces and territories to decide how they want to tackle their greenhouse gas emissions, and the federal government should go after the large emitters.
“The environment matters a lot to me. I worked on these issues in the private sector, as a dad to young kids it’s important,” said O’Toole.
CRITICAL OF COVID-19 RESPONSE
As the Official Opposition, the Conservatives have been critical of the Liberals’ pandemic response, and O’Toole said his caucus intends to keep that up in the months ahead.
While he said that the initial vaccines landing in Canada imminently—and considerably earlier than some Conservative MPs had speculated—is a “great first step,” he’s still waiting for a full plan on the vaccine rollout.
Last week in the House of Commons a Conservative motion passed unanimously that called on the government to table a detailed plan by Dec. 16, that includes the date for each vaccine to be deployed in Canada, despite the uncertainty around the timing of Health Canada approval, which is necessary before any shots can be given to Canadians.
“The fact that government was being secretive about how many will be arriving by month? Do we have the refrigeration to keep the Pfizer vaccine at -70 C? How will Indigenous communities, how will the North, some rural parts of our country, get distribution? There’s still a lot of questions,” O’Toole said.
“We see a lot of clarity now coming on some key questions but we need full details, that’s what Canadians want to go into the holidays knowing.”
He also said that the fast action to see the military play a key role, and to have initial vaccine doses delivered before the end of the year, is the result of his party pushing for more information.
“This is an example where the opposition has to challenge, push for a faster, smarter response. I think we’ve done that, not only on vaccines but on rapid tests. I want Canada to succeed so I’m happy we’re getting some vaccines a little bit early, but let’s use these small number [of doses] to test our system so that we can hit the ground running in the new year.”
At various points in the interview O’Toole referred to the initial doses of the vaccines as “samples,” however the doses arriving in Canada within hours are not samples, they are the first doses of millions that Canada has ordered of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that has been approved by Health Canada.
Asked repeatedly whether he’d be condemning those who are anti-vaccination, after one of his MPs advanced a petition questioning, without evidence, the science of COVID-19 vaccines, O’Toole didn’t directly respond, saying the questions from “grassroots Canadians” with concerns are understandable.
“I think the reason why there’s more questions than ever, people are worried, they get information on social media and other things, so we have to provide that information and clarity. And, so I’ve tried to be very clear the reason I’m asking for a public plan on vaccines is because the Conservative Party, all of us, think it’s a critical tool our country needs,” he said.
O’Toole—who experienced COVID-19 firsthand this fall— added that he trusts the authorization from Health Canada, thinks vaccines will help Canada turn a corner in the fight against the novel coronavirus, and he will be getting immunized when the time comes.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
