Red Deer MP Earl Dreeshen is pushing the Liberal government for answers, regarding what he calls a failure to deliver vaccines to Canadians — and specifically central Albertans.
Dreeshen and his Conservative colleagues questioned Liberal government Health Minister Patty Hajdu about the Liberal government’s lack of transparency and its “complete failure” to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to Red Deer – Mountain View and to communities across Canada.
According to the most recent data, Canada now ranks 35th globally in terms of vaccines distributed per capita (the numbers are changing daily).
Dreeshen said we’re well behind Poland, Serbia, Bahrain, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.
Since Canada ranks 61st out of 98 countries in its performance on fighting COVID, according to a think tank from Australia, Dreeshen said this country is even behind El Salvador, Namibia, Paraguay, Italy and Belarus.
He made the following statement after the meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology on Tuesday: “It is quite clear that the Liberal government has absolutely no details in place to either combat the pandemic nor to vaccinate Canadians.”
Dreeshen believes one of the most disturbing consequences of the Liberal government’s “confused, chaotic, and disorganized” approach to the pandemic and vaccine distribution has been the impact on people’s lives.
“Measures like the new quarantine rules and monetary penalties for those returning to Canada may not have been necessary if we had an effective plan in place to ensure that Canadians are vaccinated,” said the local MP.
“The prime minister’s talking points really amount to this: We have secured the biggest portfolio of vaccines in the world, and to not worry. The truth is that Canadians are not interested in how many vaccines we could get. They are interested in how many vaccines we will get,” Mr. Dreeshen added.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has continued to express confidence in Canada getting adequate doses of vaccine, despite supply disruptions and a protectionist push by the European Union to keep vaccines for its own citizens and to limit exports.
On Wednesday, Trudeau announced that vaccine production by U.S. company Novavax Inc. will begin in Canada — but the earliest production start would be the end of 2021 — months past the fall timetable when Trudeau had initially promised the general population would be vaccinated.
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