Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Erin O’Toole, Leader of Canada’s Conservatives and the Official Opposition, issued the following statement on the Conservative Opposition Day motion calling on Justin Trudeau to ensure Canadians have vaccines by the May long weekend:

“Today, Canada’s Conservatives are calling on the Trudeau government to ensure every Canadian adult has access to a vaccine by the May long weekend. There also needs to be a consistent and reliable testing system from coast-to-coast.

“Justin Trudeau’s failure to secure sufficient vaccine supply led the government to ignore the direction of the vaccine manufacturers by ordering a four-month wait between doses, longer than any other country in the world.

“Canada also has no national system of screening and rapid testing that is critical for a safe reopening. This is perhaps Justin Trudeau’s greatest failure. 

“According to modelling released by the federal government, Canadians cannot expect to begin to reopen until at least 20 per cent of Canadians are fully vaccinated, and 75 per cent have received at least one dose.

“The current supply of vaccines we are receiving are insufficient to reach this goal before many provinces are scheduled to begin lifting their restrictions.

“Canadians are frustrated. They want to get back to work, school, and see their loved ones again – and they want to know they are safe while doing so. We need vaccines to make that happen.”