OTTAWA, ON – The Hon. Erin O’Toole, Leader of Canada’s Conservatives and the Official Opposition, released the following statement regarding the Liberal government’s announcement today on new travel restrictions:

“Conservatives have always encouraged Canadians to follow federal and provincial public health guidelines. We were the first to call upon the government to secure the border at the start of the pandemic – the Liberals were too slow to act. We’re now a year into the pandemic and we aren’t using what we’ve learned from the first wave. 

“Lockdowns and restrictions were put in place to buy governments time to get permanent solutions like vaccines, rapid testing, variant testing capacity, and therapeutics – these tools now exist. The problem is, Justin Trudeau hasn’t succeeded in bringing them to widespread use in Canada. We need to be using these tools to reduce quarantine times, like our allies around the world are doing.

“We’re here today because they’ve failed to secure and use these tools. The Liberal government needs to tell Canadians when and how new COVID-19 restrictions can be eased – what percentage of Canadians need to be vaccinated?

“Canadian airline jobs are in jeopardy. We continue to see more airline workers lose their jobs and regional routes close – they have no idea when support from the Liberal government is coming, if at all.

“By now, Canadians should know when things are going to get better. The Liberals can’t keep asking Canadians to sacrifice more without being clear when restrictions can be eased. Today, Conservatives are calling on the Liberals to give Canadians a clear plan and the information they deserve.”
 

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For more information:

Chelsea Tucker
chelsea.tucker@parl.gc.ca
(613) 219-3790

Axel Rioux
axel.rioux@parl.gc.ca
(613) 291-7125