Michael Ignatieff asked some very good questions regarding H1N1 and the federal government’s response and he did it in a way that his Liberal party should emulate. During the debate Ignatieff did speak about the proper role of government, as he sees it, when it comes to pandemic preparedness, and he did say that the government had failed in its duty to Canadians yet he did not break out into scare tactics regarding this very serious public health issue.
After Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq gave her speech during the emergency debate, Ignatieff rose to ask three pointed questions.
1. Why did the government wait until August 6th to order the vaccine?
2. Given the current shortfall in vaccine supply, what guarantee is there that vaccine supply will not be interrupted again?
3. Can the minister begin to accept any responsibility for the situation?
The government’s response on the first question is that the Chief Medical Officer for Canada, in consultation with the provincial medical officers, agreed that production of the seasonal flu vaccine should be completed before moving on production of H1N1. This decision is why the Liberals insist there was a delay in ordering and in Canada getting the vaccine, the government, and the Chief Medical Officer, insist this is why Canada will have adequate supply of both seasonal and H1N1 vaccine why the United States and the European Union struggle to find enough of either vaccine. Switching from seasonal to H1N1 and back again has apparently caused production delays in the U.S. where there is far less vaccine available. The government may not like the Liberals questioning this and the Liberals may not like the government answer but at least it pertains to the question at hand.
Ignatieff’s second question is less comfortable for the government. The Conservatives may shoot back, as they do behind the scenes, that the decision to have one plant owned by Glaxo Smith Kline produce all the vaccine for Canada out of a single plant in Quebec City was taken by a Liberal government several years ago but it is they that have been in power for near 4 years, this could have been changed and should be changed in planning for future pandemics. As for the third question, Aglukkaq ignored, just as any minister asked a similar question would, Ignatieff’s last query.
Now compare Ignatieff’s way of handling this to Bob Rae who blamed the government for the deaths of Canadians from this flu in the days after 13 year-old Evan Frustaglio’s death shocked the country. Anyone who doesn’t think that was playing on public fear needs to think again. Each year seasonal flu kills 4,000 to 8,000 Canadians depending on how severe the season is, there is a flu shot available each year yet I have never heard an opposition MP, never mind on of such high standing, ask a similar question.
Or consider Alf Apps, president of the Liberal Party who not only compared Canada’s H1N1 response to the Bush Administration’s handling of Hurricane Katrina but also added this tidbit in his letter to Liberals, “Canadians are entitled to wonder if they are being victimized by some clinical cost-benefit analysis premised on the theory that expense could be avoided if demand for the vaccine were suppressed and access to immunization for most was made well nigh impossible.” Yes that’s right, the president of the Liberal Party of Canada is saying that the government is trying to keep costs for a deadly flu down by keeping the vaccine away from you.
Prior to Rae and Apps, Dr. Carolyn Bennett, the former Minister of Public Health said publicly that she didn’t know whether pregnant women should get the currently available vaccine or hide under the bed for three weeks until other was available. That comment was made despite recommendations from Public Health and the World Health Organization that both vaccines are safe, Dr. Bennett’s valid question about how well the government is communicating to the public about this virus and the vaccine was lost in her hyperbole.
On Monday night Michael Ignatieff showed leadership in holding the government to account without descending into cheap partisan shots. I suggest the Liberal Party may want to follow their leader.
Brian Lilley is the Ottawa Bureau Chief for radio stations Newstalk 1010 in Toronto and CJAD 800 in Montreal. Follow Brian on Twitter to get the latest as it happens.
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Comments
I'll give you that this ONCE Ignatieff has made a better example than the other Liberals, but don't think for a moment that makes him a leader worth following.
Besides, they've probably engineered it so that the Leader speaks the "level-headed" stuff while their real party messaging comes out through Bennett and Rae.
Nothing wrong with his questions, and the answers appear to hold water (can you imagine the attacks if the Health Minister had ignored the advise of the Canadian and Provincial Health Officials and went of on her own?). But, where is the leadership - why has he allowed Rae, Apps, and Bennett ramp up the fear and over the top comments? Since the Liberals and media love to blame and hold Harper responsible for every word uttered by his party people, then I expect Ignatieff to be fully responsible and accountable for the comments of his party people. He asked some good questions but shows no leadership in controlling the fear mongering and misinformation spewing of his collegues.
Very good article, thanks
I'm glad somebody in the media has pointed out something I've noticed ever since Ignatieff became the leader - the things that Ignatieff says in public are almost always diametrically opposed from what every other Liberal says in public. There have been many instances where Ignatieff speaks about the need for civility and common purpose, and on the very same day other Liberals throw mud, stage media stunts, perpetrate hoaxes and invent stories. It says to me that Ignatieff is not truly the leader of the Liberal Party. Every Liberal other than Ignatieff seems to be singing from a different songbook.
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