In the News

Gay Blood Donation Ban Is Ineffective, Health Canada Documents Show

The New Democratic Party first began raising problems with the blood ban in 2008, and have consistently campaigned against it. In October, their health critic Don Davies put the question to Rob Oliphant, a Liberal MP who is, himself, gay and therefore banned from donating.

The ban, “is not based on science but on stereotype,” Davies argued. “We allow a sexually promiscuous heterosexual man who engages in dangerous activities to donate blood, but two gay men in a loving, stable, monogamous relationship are not allowed.” He called that the “most base stigmatization.”

 

Canada needs to upgrade vaccine tracking, Ottawa says

“It’s Dec. 12 and we don’t have the data management system,” NDP health critic Don Davies said over the weekend. He said that situation is “concerning, maybe even alarming.”

Mr. Davies said it should not have been news to the Trudeau government that Canada would need an extensive information technology solution to manage the vaccine rollout – everything from its delivery into Canada, to its distribution to points across the country, monitoring of its storage and shelf life, and analyzing the immunity of the population at large.

David Staples: Trudeau needs to deliver on his promise for Canadians to be 'first in line' for vaccines

The U.S. government appointed a military general last May to head up distribution, Davies said. The Liberals didn’t do so until last week. The U.S. has also taken possession of Pfizer vaccine even though it’s not yet been approved so it will be ready to go the moment approval might come. “Canada has not done that,” Davies said. “Shouldn’t it be receiving the Pfizer vaccine pending Health Canada approval?”

In the rough world of partisan politics, it’s best for his NDP if the Liberals prove incompetent, Davies said, but this is one issue where he hopes they do not fail.

“Canadians do want them to succeed. We all want them to.”

CTV Power Play - Vaccines - December 2

Canadians are looking forward to a safe, effective COVID vaccine.

It's time to provide basic information to prepare and build confidence.

It’s also time to create a public drug manufacturer so Canada can produce our own life-saving vaccines and medications.

Don discusses Canada's COVID-19 vaccine timeline

The US is ready to vaccinate 30 percent of its citizens by April; the Trudeau government hopes to vaccinate 8 percent of ours.

Australia is producing 30 million doses and released a detailed vaccination plan; the Trudeau government says we have no capacity and refuses to give details.

Canadians want to know why we've fallen behind our closest allies.

TRUDEAU’S REVERSAL ON CANADIAN VACCINE CAPACITY NEEDS EXPLANATION, SAYS NDP HEALTH CRITIC

A day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians will receive vaccine protection from COVID-19 after other industrialized nations, the NDP’s health critic says the Prime Minister needs to explain what happened to earlier promises that large amounts of COVID-19 vaccine would soon be produced in Canada.

NDP health critic Don Davies said he wants to know why, in August, the Prime Minister was promising to get the National Research Council’s Montreal facility to 250,000 doses per month by November and two million by next year but has now said Canada doesn’t have necessary capacity.

New West-Burnaby MP launches national push for pharmacare

NDP Health Critic Don Davies noted that Bill C-213 follows the recommendations set out in the government's own Hoskins' Report and has laid out the necessary criteria for provinces to receive funding under the program. 

"According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, this plan would make pharmacare available to all Canadians, create many efficiencies and save more than $4.2 billion in prescription costs every year,” said Davies.

Letter to the Minister Re: CEBA Loan Eligibility Issue

Too many businesses are being excluded from the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) because contracts after March 01, 2020 are not included in the $40,000 expenses required to access the loan.

 

As one constituent has pointed out to me, businesses did not begin feeling the effects of COVID-19 until well after March 01, 2020. In fact, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government did not create a committee to begin studying the possible effects of COVID-19 until March 04, 2020. The WHO did not officially declare COVID-19 a pandemic until March 11, 2020, and the Prime Minister did not close Canada’s borders until March 16, 2020.

 

Business owners in my constituency, and across Canada, have sacrificed much during COVID-19, and they should be supported by their government. It is a certainty that there are others in similar situations to my constituent, and it is for this reason that I am requesting a change in the CEBA eligibility to allow for expenses beyond the current March 01, 2020 deadline.

 

Read my letter to Minister Freeland here:

NDP Critic says Tories aren't solely to blame for problems at Public Health Agency

Ottawa’s math is being challenged after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested this week that problems at the Public Health Agency of Canada are due largely to a lack of support by the previous government, not his own.

Few to use new sickness benefit for COVID-19 diagnosis

Parliament’s spending watchdog says relatively little of the government’s new sickness benefit will go to people who have tested positive for COVID-19.

In a report Wednesday morning, the parliamentary budget officer estimated only $50 million out of the estimated $655 million of the new sickness benefit will go to workers who have COVID-19.