Removing the visa requirement for Ukrainians to travel to Canada is “not under review,” according to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.
Both Davies and Garnett Genius (Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.) said Canada should permit visa-free travel given the circumstance, with Davies noting more than 100 countries don’t require visas for Ukrainian citizens.
By Don Davies, MP
Published in The Hill Times
It is now a truism that while COVID-19 caused many problems, it exposed others already there. One of the latter is the dangerous erosion of capacity in our public health-care system which began long before the pandemic struck.
Decades of underfunding and neglect have impeded access to care and undermined our ability to respond to an emergency like COVID-19. This has placed tremendous strain on our health-care system, resulted in millions of delayed surgeries and diagnostic procedures, and pushed frontline workers to the edge of their capacities.
"It’s rare that you can see such a poor decision from an organizational, labour/employment and health point of view," said NDP health critic Don Davies, a Vancouver MP.
"This one is like a triple-loser."
Davies said the policy will only add to suffering and labour shortages that multiple sectors are grappling with, and he finds it ironic Gallagher was sent home instead of applauded for trying to protect his family and colleagues.
"I think it’s perverse that any employer — never mind a federal government department — would have any kind of policy to discourage that."
“Health care is delivered fundamentally on a local level by the provinces, and that’s the way it should be,” said NDP MP Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, B.C.), his party’s health critic. “But that doesn’t mean that the federal government doesn’t play a pivotal role in making sure that health-care dollars are spent wisely, that there is a bang for the buck, and that they are properly funding our overall system.”
NDP MP Don Davies and Conservative MP Ryan Williams both asked about the status of these reviews at Tuesday’s meeting citing interest in having made-in-Canada options as well as other offerings to potentially address vaccine hesitancy.
In an emailed statement, MP Don Davies, health critic for the NDP, said: "Instead of wedge politics, Canadians need national leadership to get through the current crisis.
“For many months, New Democrats have been calling for a federal mass vaccination strategy to accelerate rollout, remove all barriers to vaccination and improve uptake among vaccine-hesitant groups.”
NDP health critic Don Davies said on Friday it is encouraging that the federal health minister is “acknowledging reality” when it comes to health care capacity.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed chronic weakness in the public-health system, and the need to address this is real and the time is now, he said.
Mr. Davies added that there is a very strong consensus in the general public and among the provinces about the need for a “generational investment” in long-term funding that is stable and predictable, adding this can be achieved through an increase to the CHT.
Veteran NDP MP Don Davies also has championed the issue in the past — most recently with a private member's bill in March of 2020.
Davies told the House of Commons at the time that the "history of the franchise in Canada" has been one of "constant expansion" since Confederation, when voting was strictly for male British subjects who were at least 21 and owned property.
"Young Canadians are engaged, well-informed and passionate advocates for a better future, for their future," he said. "Many young people work and pay taxes, but they have no say in how those tax dollars are spent. This disenfranchisement is unjustified and must change."