OTTAWA, ON – The Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner, Shadow Minister for Health, issued the following statement calling on the Trudeau Liberals to provide Canadians with information about the new genetic variant of COVID-19 identified in the United Kingdom:
“Canadians are looking for accurate information about the new variant of COVID-19 that has been identified in the United Kingdom. The ties between our two countries are extremely close, with many Canadians’ families overseas.
“I am pleased that the Prime Minister is convening a meeting of the Incident Response Group this afternoon. It is imperative that the Trudeau government provide Canadians with information and proactively respond to the following questions:
- Has Canada requested more information from the United Kingdom regarding this new variant? If so, what information has been provided?
- Are current testing procedures effective at identifying the new strain?
- Has the Canadian government started testing for this variant here? If so, how many cases have been identified?
- Is action needed to address this new strain, and if so, what are the federal government’s plans in this regard?
- Is the federal government confident that the vaccine is still effective against this new variant?
- Has the federal government been in contact with the provinces in this regard?
“Other countries, including Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, and Ireland have temporarily stopped travel from the United Kingdom. If the Trudeau government is considering a similar travel ban, they need to clearly communicate this to Canadians and their rationale for doing so as soon as possible.
“Canadians deserve certainty and clarity from the Trudeau government.”
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For more information:
Office of Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner, P.C., M.P.
Calgary Nose Hill
Michelle.Rempel.A1@parl.gc.ca
613-219-3452
