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Interview with Anita Anand - 2021 budget and vaccines

The Honourable Dr. Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and MP for Oakville, in conversation with Oakville News
Anita Anand, Oakville MP, Minister of Public Service and Procurement | Anita Anand
Anita Anand, Oakville MP, Minister of Public Service and Procurement | Anita Anand

Oakville News:  For Canadians, and in particular Oakvilleans, what excites you in the budget:  how will it help them?

Dr. Anand:  The important thing to note is that the government has not simply focused on supporting people until vaccines make it possible for the economy to recover on its own.  We have also taken big steps to help those most affected by the pandemic during the recovery and are making significant investments to create jobs and grow the middle class in the long term.

ON:  How is that?

AA:  Of course, we are committed to securing more vaccines as priority one.  We will have between 48 and 50 million doses in the country by the end of June.  In spite of the competition for vaccines from countries around the globe, we are top three in the G20, with only the US and the UK, both with domestic production, ahead of us. 

ON:  Canadians should be very proud of that, particularly given the early delays as manufacturers hit production challenges. It’s quite a turnaround. You mentioned continuing support for individuals and businesses whose incomes have been affected by the lockdowns necessitated by the pandemic. What does that look like?

AA:  We are committed to maintaining supports through to the fall when there will have been enough vaccine delivery for every Canadian who wants it to be fully vaccinated.

ON:  What are the initiatives that will help those most affected prosper once the recovery really takes hold?

AA:  The key disproportionately affected groups are women, lower-income earners, racialized Canadians, and young people. 

You’ve probably heard the term “she-cession”. For women, we are committing to invest $30 billion over five years in early learning and child care.  The goal is to have 50% of pre-school children in regulated childcare by 2022 and to bring the cost of child care down to $10 per day by 2026.   The goal is to create the circumstances for greater participation of women in the workforce.   In this, we have been inspired by the example of Quebec, which already has such a childcare program.  One of the other impacts is that less of the family budget goes to childcare, which can help young families facing financial pressure and liberate more money to drive economic growth.

I am particularly excited by this because, as a professional who is a mother of four children myself, I understand the challenges of childcare.  I see this as both a morally and an economically praiseworthy initiative, and it is not always you can have both. 

ON:  That has been a longstanding issue, so it’s really something to see such a substantial financial commitment to it.  What about the other disproportionately affected groups?

AA:  We are committed to creating 1,000,000 new jobs by year-end and are investing in retraining for 500,000 people and for 215,000 young Canadians.  Support for small businesses and for individuals will, as I mentioned, continue until the fall. We are going to provide the means for people to prepare themselves for the jobs of the future and for youth to be ready for employment or to return to school.  This will be especially helpful to lower-income and racialized Canadians.

For youth, in particular, this is about creating opportunities and helping them be ready to seize them.  We are investing in digital transformation that is helping established businesses develop web stores or automate processes, and this will draw heavily on the talent pool of young Canadians.  The particularly hard-hit industries, such as tourism and hospitality, will also be a focus.

ON:  During the pandemic so far, what has stood out for you?

AA:  My focus has been on procurement. This has been all-consuming. In the past months, we have had to acquire 2.7 billion items, including PPE and 43.5 million rapid test kits, for the provinces. And, of course, vaccines. We will have brought in between 48 and 50 million doses by the end of June, enough for every Canadian to be vaccinated at least once and many to have their second dose. Being third in doses administered per capita in the G20, when we have no domestic manufacturing, has been a huge challenge. Our approach, which was based on aggressively pursuing multiple manufacturers for a diversified portfolio of vaccines, is bearing fruit and helping us make Canadians safe.


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