Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner and NDP MP Don Davies, who are their respective parties’ health critics and sit on the committee, both expressed displeasure with the government’s unwillingness to meet the committee’s request so far.
“In my opinion, they’re clearly, clearly delaying,” Davies told iPolitics on Thursday.
NDP Health Critic, Don Davies, issued the following statement:
“Today’s report from the Auditor General of Canada is a scathing indictment of the federal government’s emergency preparedness and pandemic response.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is specifically mandated to be our country’s lead organization for planning and coordinating a national response to infectious diseases that pose a risk to public health. This report reveals they failed in this critical responsibility, detailing a litany of errors, omissions and mismanagement.
NDP MPs used part of today's debate to push for paid sick leave for workers. Vancouver MP Don Davies attempted to amend the motion to add language calling for 10 paid sick days for all federal workers. Conservatives rejected that amendment.
NDP MP Don Davies said his party “strongly supports” building up domestic manufacturing capacity but the party believes the federal government should be investing in public facilities rather than private companies.
In an interview last December, Davies said the opioid crisis is driven by a toxic street supply provided by organized crime, and that “the foundational answer to the problem is to decriminalize and regulate access to drugs across the country.”
NDP MP Don Davies said he personally supports medical assistance in dying "but I also know a flawed bill when I see one."
He noted that disability rights groups have condemned the bill, arguing that it devalues the lives of people with disabilities who may be pressured -- either directly or indirectly through societal attitudes and a lack of support services -- into ending their lives prematurely.
Following the vote, NDP MP Don Davies said on Twitter that the motion is “great for transparency, accountability and democracy.”
“I think there’s a reason the government doesn’t want to release these contracts and it’s fighting so darn hard to not do so,” said New Democrat MP Don Davies.
“My suspicion is if we were to see these contracts, we would see they contain provisions that are much shakier. I think we’re going to see provisions that say these companies will provide doses of vaccine to Canadians ‘subject to production,’ ‘subject to availability,’ subject to all sorts of things.”