Omar Alghabra

[Health, April 26th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues for reminding Canadians of how many countries have put together a mandate to protect the health and safety of travellers and those who work in the travel sector. Everything we have done so far is intended to protect the health of Canadians, and we have always been guided by the advice we receive from our experts. I am not going to take advice from the Conservatives; I am going to take advice from our scientists and from our doctors, and we will constantly review our policies and do the right thing for Canadians.

[Airline Industry, April 25th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague needs to be honest with Canadians. Is she against subsidies for Canadian workers? Was she against providing support during the height of COVID to Canadian workers? She needs to tell Canadians where she stands on this issue.

[Airline Industry, April 25th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the situation that my hon. colleague is talking about. I know Flair has made an application to Transport Canada and that application is being reviewed. However, I have a question for my colleague. Why is she against providing support to Canadian workers? Why is she against providing support to Canadian passengers—

[Official Languages, April 25th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, we must protect our official languages. This situation is unacceptable.

CN Rail is well aware that we find the situation unacceptable and has assured us that the matter will be resolved in the coming months, during the next round of board appointments.

We are working on strengthening the Official Languages Act.

We expect CN's leaders, including its board of directors, to lead by example.

[Transportation, April 7th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I share my hon. colleague's concern about several communities in rural parts of our country that have been lacking access to intercity bus service. Our government is very much concerned with this reality. As I shared with my colleague, the issue is a provincial responsibility. We continue to work with our provincial partners to identify ideas of how we can move forward. I met with several bus operators. We are looking for ways to support them, ensuring that residents in rural areas have access to affordable, reliable and safe intercity bus service.

[Rail Transportation, March 31st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, our thoughts continue to be with the families and friends of those who lost their lives in that tragic accident. We thank the Transportation Safety Board of Canada for completing a thorough investigation. Its investigation report was released today. We are going to examine it, we are going to act upon it and we are going to build on the interim measures that we put in place immediately after the accident.

I want to assure my colleague, every member of this House and every Canadian that safety is our top priority, and we will continue to do everything we can to maintain the highest level of safety here in Canada.

[Health, March 28th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, as I stated earlier, for every policy we take, we keep in mind that we want to protect the health and safety of Canadians, including travellers, those who work in the travel industry and those who work in the tourism sector. We are regularly consulting our experts, and we have been adjusting our policies to respond to the changing circumstances.

I ask my colleagues to encourage Canadians to follow the science, to do whatever they can to protect themselves and to protect those whom they love.

[Health, March 28th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, from the beginning of the pandemic, we made a commitment to Canadians and Canadian businesses that we will do whatever it takes to protect their health and safety. We have put in place a system of measures to ensure that we protect travellers, protect workers and protect our economy.

The good news is that as circumstances are changing, we are adjusting these measures. We have always followed the advice that we have been receiving from our public health experts. Right now we continue to encourage people to get vaccinated because it is the best thing to do to protect themselves and those around them.

[Health, March 24th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, COVID-19 has undoubtedly had a devastating impact on the industry. I want to stand here to thank all those who work in the aviation sector, and all those who work in the tourism sector, who stepped up, cared for each other and did the right thing, which was to get vaccinated and follow public health advice.

Everybody knows that COVID-19 has been unpredictable. We are working together with our scientists to do the right thing, protect Canadians and protect those who work in the aviation sector.

[Health, March 24th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I really want to ask my colleague to remind Canadians that vaccination is not a punishment. Vaccines have saved lives, communities, our economy and jobs.

I understand there are questions about when these mandates will be lifted. We will continue to follow science and advice, and I ask the hon. member to avoid partisanship in the face of vaccination and science.