Conservatives table motion demanding timeline for when COVID-19 restrictions could be lifted
Posted March 23, 2021 11:30 am.
The Federal Conservatives and leader Erin O’Toole are using their opposition day in the House of Commons to push the Trudeau government for a national plan out of COVID-19 lockdowns.
A motion has been put forward by O’Toole that demands a blueprint and timeline from the federal government for when COVID-19 restrictions will end.
In a news conference on Tuesday, O’Toole says the U.S and UK have produced their own plans.
“Mr. [Justin] Trudeau refuses to give Canadians clarity on whether and when regular and social life will be able to resume and under what circumstances and conditions,” said the Conservative leader.
While O’Toole is demanding a national lockdown plan, it is actually the provincial governments that decide to increase or decrease imposed restrictions.
O’Toole says rapid testing should be key to that plan, to lift lockdowns and to re-open the Canada-U.S border.
“We are talking about a safe, data-driven, and effective plan to reopening,” said O’Toole. “That will include the border. That will include airports, ports, all areas of federal jurisdiction where there should be a national, rapid-screening and testing process.”
A new poll suggests Canadians remain deeply wary about the prospect of allowing visitors from the United States.
The online Leger poll, conducted last week for the Association for Canadian Studies, found 70 percent of 2,200 Canadian respondents were either very or somewhat worried about allowing cross-border travel.
Only 26 percent said they were either not very worried or not worried at all.
“That’s why today, Canada’s Conservatives are calling on the Liberals to table, within 20 days, a clear, data-driven plan to support gradually, safely, and permanently lifting COVID-19 restrictions,” added O’Toole.
Later today, federal health officials will hold a COVID-19 update, where the AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to be the focus.
The U.S. data and safety monitoring board is concerned that results from an American trial of the shot may have used outdated information.
The drugmaker says it is looking into it.
The company said yesterday its vaccine is 79 percent effective and 100 percent effective at protecting against severe illness and death.
With files from The Canadian Press
