In the News

Feds must allow poor countries access to vaccine info: NDP critic

Ottawa must reverse its policy to protect vaccine patents, so more countries can produce their own vaccines and prevent variants of COVID-19 from developing, says the NDP’s health critic.

G7 health ministers, including Canada’s Jean-Yves Duclos, attended an urgent meeting on Monday to discuss the emergence of the highly mutated COVID variant, Omicron.

Because Ottawa isn’t supporting the TRIPS waiver proposal, which would give poorer countries access to information on how to make the vaccines, NDP MP Don Davies said significant parts of the world will remain unvaccinated, and the likelihood that a variant of concern develops will increase.

Opposition parties demand Trudeau government release secret documents on fired Winnipeg scientists

NDP deputy foreign affairs critic Don Davies said the foundational principles of the House include democracy, the rule of law and the supremacy of Parliament.

“No government of any stripe is entitled to ignore these fundamental principles. … To do so is an act of autocracy and a repudiation of the basic tenets of our nation for which so many fought and died.”

Federal health critic calls out Ottawa for lack of help during N.L. cyberattack

Don Davies, a British Columbia member of parliament and the health critic for the New Democratic Party, called the federal response to the cyberattack "totally deficient," saying more should be done to assure Canadians that medical systems are safe.

"We've had radio silence from the Trudeau government and from Liberal MPs, and that's extremely concerning given that this is a serious breach of Canadians' personal data," Davies told CBC News Friday.

Bolivia calls on Canada to waive patent and export COVID-19 vaccines

"We're talking about a responsible, judicious, sensible, targeted relaxation of patent rules for the purpose of facilitating the production of life-saving vaccines," Davies said. "I think that's not only a responsible position, I think it's the only ethical and, frankly, is the only pragmatic decision."

The Early Edition with Stephen Quinn - Nov. 2, 2021: Decriminalization is now in the hand of the federal government

It’s time we treat drug use/addiction as a health issue, rather than a criminal one. The BC NDP government's call for decriminalization is an important step in that direction. This morning I joined CBC’s Early Edition to discuss the way forward for Canada.

Only 484 marijuana pardons have been granted since program started in 2019

NDP MP Don Davies said that the cumbersome nature of the process to apply for a record suspension is daunting the people who need it most.

"The people who need pardons, particularly from pot charges, are typically the least able to access that process. They are the most marginalized Canadians — young people, Indigenous people and people of colour," Davies told CBC News

How a failed deal with China to produce a made-in-Canada COVID-19 vaccine wasted months and millions

"One would hope that when the prime minister speaks, he knows what he's talking about and it's accurate," NDP MP and health critic Don Davies said in an interview with The Fifth Estate.

"So he either was mistaken or he was misleading, and I think it's incumbent on him to explain which of those it is. What we do know is that we didn't produce 250,000 doses in Canada in November in Montreal."

NDP Urges Canadian Government to Support COVID Vaccine Patent Waiver at the WTO

VANCOUVER, BC  – As talks continue at the WTO in Geneva to consider temporarily waiving COVID-19 patents, NDP MP Don Davies urged the Canadian government to strongly support this measure.

Online offers of fake documents show it's time for a national vaccination passport: NDP critic

NDP MP Don Davies is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government to act quickly to introduce a single, secure, national proof of vaccination after CBC News reported that cybercriminals are offering to sell fake Canadian provincial vaccination certificates online.

"If the federal government hurried up with a national vaccine passport, it would cut down on the opportunity for forgeries and alternatives as well as provide an effective and efficient standardized and convenient passport for all Canadians," said Davies, the NDP's health critic in the last Parliament.

Letter to the Minister Re: Pork Insulin Manufacture

Regulatory fee changes mean that pork insulin availability in Canada could cease. Some diabetics are unable to use other insulin products at all. 

Today, I wrote the Health Minister seeking a letter of exemption to ensure the supply of these life-saving drugs.