Coronavirus: Trudeau, Canadian officials update on COVID-19 vaccination rollout | FULL

In this article, I would like to share with you Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada had reached an agreement with Pfizer to buy an additional 20 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine.

I want to start today with news about changes to our liberal cabinet team this morning navdeep baines announced that he'll be stepping down as minister of innovation science and industry to spend more time with his family. He will continue to serve as a member of parliament for Mississauga malton and will of course remain a key member of our liberal team. Over the past five years, nav has worked

tirelessly to build a better Canada for everyone look no further than the program he worked on this spring to help businesses retool to make life-saving personal protective equipment before the

pandemic Canada produced about one percent of our of the domestic ppe we used by the fall almost half of the ppe Canada was buying

was from domestic companies nav's work helped create thousands of jobs and support promising small businesses he led the way with investments in cutting edge Canadian science and in local economic growth with the innovation superclusters he did all this while being a strong advocate for his community so a few days ago now called me up uh to ask to go for a walk in the snow and I think we all know what that means in politics so I was a little uh trepidatious about it and I was busy coming up with all sorts of arguments as to uh why

uh you know we uh we should continue to work together.

we have been uh and as we uh walked around the grounds of rideau hall physically distanced with masks on it became very clear that this was the right decision for him for his family he's been in this

a long time uh he was already well into politics when I got my start

way back in 2006 2007 and was a great friend to me uh throughout the entire time uh he's continuing his mp he's not going anywhere

uh but uh we will miss him around the cabinet table for all the

insight all the wisdom and all the strength he brings I also of course uh want to thank brahmnanki and kirpa for having shared him

with us uh for all these years uh his service has been extraordinary uh and uh I know uh we're gonna miss him uh but uh you're gonna miss him less the three of you is on so many levels champagne has been a leader nationally and internationally thanks to Mr champagne we have strengthened our relationships representing a rural writing minister champagne will continue to represent Canada's regions

important positions minister Garnier working with the international community after the flight 752 tragedy will be an asset to him in his new position moved the dial on a range of important issues including

the safer skies initiative and the ocean's protection plan these files and others will be in very good hands as Omar alhabra takes over as minister of transport I've known Omar for a very long time from

my very beginnings in politics and from his recent work as parliamentary secretary to the prime minister I know he'll do an outstanding job minister alhabra brings to the table training as an engineer and in the business history of advocacy for public transit in the GTA and experience with everything from NGOs to the energy sector this is in addition to his leadership on files like public service renewal and diversity finally today we also announced that minister carr will be rejoining the cabinet table in his role as my special representative for the prairies while he's been focusing on his health

over the past many months Jim has remained a very active voice for

Winnipeg for Manitoba and for the prairies having served as both minister of natural resources and minister of international

trade diversification as well as being a business leader in Winnipeg Jim knows what communities and businesses need to succeed he will continue to be an outstanding advocate for people across the prairies

as a member of the cabinet once again right from day one it's been all hands on deck to keep people safe support Canadians and get our economy ready for a recovery starting today I will be holding a virtual cabinet retreat so that our team can meet and map out our plan to continue this work at the top of the agenda will be the vaccine rollout and on that front today I have some important news to share I can announce that we have reached an agreement with pfizer to buy an additional 20 million doses of their covet 19 vaccines from our agreements with Moderna and pfizer alone we will now have 80 million doses of covid19 vaccines arriving this year we're on track to have every Canadian who wants a vaccine receive one by September we've let all provinces and territories know exactly how many vaccines they'll be receiving every week between now and the end of February this will make sure that they have the vaccines and the information they need to keep rolling out doses as quickly as

smoothly and as efficiently as possible on top of that we will of course continue to work to get even more vaccines delivered as soon

as we can see i'm we will have doses our government will continue to collaborate and work very very hard with provinces and territories to ensure that vaccination continues as effectively and as quickly and safely as possible our government is and must benefit all Canadians that's why we have a plan so that all Canadians can succeed we have a plan to invest in job creation and to create a million jobs we

yesterday i participated in the one planet summit with other world leaders we discussed protecting biodiversity around the world

and the world of tomorrow can be healthy and prosperous for all the start of this pandemic has been protecting you and your family

whether by procuring vaccines or by bringing in strict travel and border measures our priority is your safety this morning I can confirm that Canada will extend by another 30 days until February 21st the border measures that are currently in place with the united

states this is an important decision and one that will keep people on both sides of the border safe things are really tough right now and we all want this pandemic to be behind us there's been a lot of things you've missed out on or given up but what will define this pandemic isn't what we couldn't do it's what we could do and what we did do your parents and grandparents need you to help keep them safe our

frontline workers and hospital staff need you to do your part so ICU's

don't get overwhelmed even small actions can make a huge difference like wearing a mask or downloading and using coved alert Canada has now hit over 6 million downloads of the app that's great so let's keep going of course not everything you can do to help will be easy it won't be easy when you say no to a friend who wants to get together when you cancel a vacation south but it'll be worth it

we can all make choices to protect the people do our in imposing local restrictions or even province-wide curfews our government is here to support Quebecers to support Quebec and all governments

who are making difficult but necessary decisions to like testing kits and personal protective equipment it is essential that these tests or in long-term care homes this is essential in limiting the spread of covert 19.

As we wrap up our government will continue to support the provinces and territories with rapid tests and other tools needed to keep Canadians safe already we've sent over 14 million rapid test kits to the provinces and territories with more on the way it's by working together that we will get through this crisis this is the time to have each other's backs and to support the leadership communities need today I can announce the appointment of Eva aryak as the new commissioner of nunavut mrs aryak has been a lifelong champion for

the territory as well as for inuit languages and culture as nunavut's first woman premier and as an advocate for everything from housing

to food security, I know ms aryak will continue doing great work

in this new role this pandemic is a challenge like no other now more than ever we need to be there for each other a little while ago najma and Kareem from Toronto sent me a letter about what the last year had been like for them as small business owners and as parents things have been tough but they talked about how the wage subsidy helped keep their business open and how the Canada child benefit made a

huge difference for their family well on Friday I gave them a call

to see how things were going they're staying positive but our conversation reminded me that when we look out for the people around us there's no challenge we cannot overcome this will be a tough winter but it will end spring will come and summer will follow

but until then let's have each other's backs because together we can get through this thank you prime minister we'll be starting with the phone today with one question one follow-up in question we'll start with the questions on the phone line operator is.

we are continuing to aim for September either on time or sooner we are doing absolutely everything we can sparing no effort to ensure that we get vaccine doses here as soon as possible the sooner we vaccinate most of the population the sooner we can have a more normal life to accelerate delivery of vaccines and vaccine vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible we are very confident in being

able to meet uh the September deadline we've laid out in terms of getting everyone who wants a vaccine vaccinated in Canada but obviously if we can do it even quicker than that would be great news the quicker everyone gets vaccinated the quicker we're going to be able to get back to a semblance of normality also guest sorry that this is a clear signal that elections are coming in this way serving Canadians throughout this crisis and I'm thrilled that Jim carr is joining us in the cabinet again now that he hasn't gotten healthier we're also happy to welcome omar al-gabra Canadians we have promised to do so we will continue to do so thank you. 

Next question :

hello,do you commit to not dissolve parliament between now and you know prime minister Trudeau my priority is to be there for Canadians to help them get through this unprecedented crisis Canadians with economic measures with health measures that is what we are just focusing on focusing all of our attention on we will continue to work in collaboration with other political parties

we have done so many of our measures legislation have been have received the unanimous support of all parties in the house to support canadians throughout every step of this crisis are you saying that you prefer not to call an election but that if opposition parties are not supporting that is what we are doing that is what we that is exactly what we are doing and we are on track thank you may i'll see next question ryan cummington national post line open yeah good morning sir with the fines or doses the additional doses you're announcing today can you give us a timeline of when you expect those to be delivered by as i said uh we are looking at uh seeing those doses arrive in in april may i believe minister anand who will be up later we'll have perhaps more information on that we're continuing to work with various vaccine companies to accelerate to move forward to get more doses for canadians as quickly as possible right now we've been able to give a very clear direction and information to con to the provinces on how many vaccine doses they'll be receiving every week between now and the end of february which allows them to plan and manage their rollout processes but

at the same time, we're going to continue working to see if we can't get a few more doses because all Canadians want this to move forward as quickly as possible following up ryan, yeah and on minister Deba bane's departure he's been uh an architect of innovation in the Canadian economy the superclusters initiative changing uh some of the structures of the Canadian economy and modernizing it do you see that work continuing under minister champaign or do you think there's time for a new approach as well oh no I think minister shangpang is going to be exceptional at continuing the great work that minister baines uh has laid out over the past five years innovation and science is more important than uh

then it's ever been in this pandemic and in the recovery, we're looking at on top of that the way we work with businesses large and small

right across the country in terms of empowering them to bring the economy roaring back as quickly as possible as we get through this pandemic is something that I know francois Philip will be extremely good at and is looking forward to doing

we'll all miss minister Baines of course but we have a great team

of amazing Canadians uh ready to continue stepping up for Canadians every single day and Glenn McGregor CTV news uh prime the minister previously we were expecting six million doses of moderna and pfizer combined by the end of march now you're saying as early as a month later it could actually be 40 million doses that are a massive increase and I'm wondering what changed above and beyond this additional 20 million dollar order from pfizer did you agree to pay a premium uh in order to fast-track the deliveries uh or was there some other kind of agreement that accelerated it so quickly in that time period again minister anand will be up later and be able to go into more detail on this but suffice it to say we have uh those guaranteed six million doses by the end of q1in the first three months of 2020 as we've always laid out but at the same time we're doing everything we can to bring forward more doses to accelerate the process because we know the sooner we get as many Canadians as possible vaccinated uh the sooner

we get through this pandemic vaccine we're of course as yes other political parties uh say or do but we will continue to focus on getting Canadians through this pandemic which yes means vaccinating as many people as possible as quickly as possible but it also means making sure our economy can come roaring back with continued business supports with investments in innovation and science and technology with support uh for the fight against climate change and supports for uh Canadians who've been marginalized and fallen through cracks for far too

many years before this pandemic exposed them we have an awful lot of work to do and our government is focused on doing that work

prime minister mike locator from global national uh at the end of last year in several interviews and you're asked about the possible possibility of an election you said you didn't want an election today it looks like you're preparing for one so I just wanted to ask you between that walk with Mr Baines and today 

did you or your office specifically ask cabinet ministers if they were ready to continue on with the team and run in the next election so that you could make this shuffle today

no uh from the very beginning of any minority parliament uh every political party understands that elections can happen but as i've been consistently saying we don't want an election uh we need to continue to work hard and focus on canadians on delivering supports on keeping canadians safe on creating and continuing to deliver our strong plan that is going to bring the economy roaring back and

make sure the canadians get through this the right way that's our focus and i certainly hope to be able to work uh constructively in parliament this spring uh this uh winter and spring uh to be able to deliver those things for canadians hi prime minister trudeau labia stefanovic cbc news independent of what the opposition might do will you commit to holding off an election until every canadian who wants to get a vaccine gets one obviously that is our preference we want to continue to deliver vaccines to canadians we want to continue to deliver supports to canadians to small businesses to families the priority that all canadians have right now is getting through this pandemic and that is what we are focused on we've seen over the past year a tremendous degree of support for our plan to support canadians unanimous consent on many of the measures that we've put forward that support Canadians and i certainly hope that continues in the house that we're able to constructively deliver for Canadians that's what people expect so here that's your preference but you're not making a clear commitment can you make a clear

commitment today that you will refrain from triggering an election

until the majority of Canadians are vaccinated my commitment is to do whatever is necessary to support Canadians through this pandemic we will continue to deliver supports for families we will continue to be there for businesses we will continue to be there for communities across the country struggling to get through I made a promise standing here months and months ago that we would have Canadians backs and that's what we're focused on and that's what we will continue to do Chris Reynolds Canadian press uh the federal information watchdog is recommending calling for the prime minister's office and the offices of cabinet ministers to be included under the access to information act i'm wondering if you will honor your promise to bring your office and those of your cabinet ministers

uh under that legislation in 2017 uh we put forward uh the most significant renewal of the access to information act since it was created in the 1980s we strengthened it we expanded it right now there is a review process ongoing that the information commissioner has contributed to and we're going gonna allow that review process to continue and make recommendations about how best to move forward thanks everyone has a great day good

Summary:

Trudeau also announced that the Canada-U.S. border will remain closed until at least Feb. 21 in an effort to curb rising cases of the virus, stating “This is an important decision, and one that will keep people on both sides of the border safe."

Federal ministers held a COVID-19 update following Trudeau's briefing, where Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand said Canadians could expect to see a “dramatic acceleration” in the pace of scheduled COVID-19 vaccine deliveries once the country enters the second and third quarter of the year.

Canada added 6,847 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, pushing the total number of infections to 667,672. Health officials also reported 119 new fatalities associated with COVID-19, meaning 17,086 people have died in the country to date.