Questions and responses 44th Parliament, 1st session November 22, 2021, to January 6, 2025

With regard to COVID-19 vaccine doses procured by the government, and broken down by manufacturer (Pfizer, Moderna, etc.): (a) how many doses obtained by the government have been delivered to Canada but have yet to be administered as of June 15, 2022; (b) how many doses are set to be delivered between June 15, 2022, and the end of September 2022; (c) of the doses currently on hand in (a), how many are set to expire each month until the entire batch is expired; and (d) of the doses scheduled to be delivered in (b), when are those doses scheduled to expire?

With regard to COVID-19 vaccine doses procured by the government, broken down by manufacturer (Pfizer, Moderna, etc.): (a) how many doses obtained by the government have been delivered to Canada but have yet to be administered as of October 27, 2022; (b) how many doses are set to be delivered between October 27, 2022, and the end of January 2023; (c) of the doses currently on hand in (a), how many are set to expire each month until the entire batch is expired; and (d) of the doses scheduled to be delivered in (b), when are those doses scheduled to expire?

With regard to COVID-19 vaccines procured by the government: (a) what are the government's estimates regarding how many vaccine doses were not administered; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by reason (expired, wasted, improperly stored, etc.) and by vaccine manufacturer (Moderna, Pfizer, etc.)?

With regard to the government authorization of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines: (a) when did Health Canada (HC), the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), receive documentation from Pfizer acknowledging the presence of SV40 enhancer promoter sequence and SV40 poly(A)tail signal sequence in their vaccine BNT162b2; (b) with respect to the documentation related to (a), (i) how can the documentation be accessed, (ii) when was it received by HC, PHAC and NACI, (iii) was this documentation obtained before or after the BNT162b2 vaccine was authorized; (c) has HC asked Pfizer about the safety of the SV40 enhancer promoter sequence and SV40 poly(A)tail signal sequence in their vaccine, and, if not, why not; (d) if the answer to (c) is affirmative, what are the risk analyses that Pfizer did, if any, regarding these SV40 sequences; (e) what amount of SV40 sequences is considered safe (i) in a single Pfizer mRNA vaccine dose for distinct age groups, (ii) for repeated vaccine injections over time per each age group considered; (f) what were HC’s regulatory guidelines surrounding SV40 sequences in a vaccine prior to 2019; (g) what are the current (relevant for the period of 2019-2024) regulatory guidelines surrounding SV40 sequences in a conventional vaccine and in an mRNA vaccine; (h) how does HC know the SV40 fragments are inactive and have no functional role in mRNA vaccines; (i) has HC verified the amount of SV40 enhancer promoter sequence and SV40 poly(A)tail signal sequence in any of the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines, including the Pfizer XBB, and, if not, why not; (j) if the answer to (i) is affirmative, what was the outcome of this verification and how was this verification done; (k) what is HC’s official position with respect to the increased risk of DNA contaminants getting into human cells, including the cell nucleus, when encapsuled in liposomes, as is the case with the mRNA vaccines; (l) how has HC confirmed with certitude there is no genetic integration (i.e. in vivo transfection into the nucleus of human cells) of DNA plasmid fragments, which may or may not contain SV40 sequences, as found in either mRNA vaccine; (m) does the publicly undisclosed presence of SV40 sequences or any other adulteration (e.g. reverse open reading frames [ORF]) violate the terms and conditions of the Pfizer and Moderna contracts, and, if not, why not; and (n) if the answer to (m) is affirmative, what are the consequences?

With regard to COVID-19 vaccines, including boosters, purchased by the government for delivery in 2023: (a) how many doses did the government procure for an expected delivery in 2023; and (b) of the doses in (a), how many does the government project will be (i) administered to Canadians, (ii) donated to foreign countries, (iii) discarded?

With regard to COVID-19 mRNA vaccine safety and efficacy: (a) has Health Canada (HC) reviewed the peer-reviewed, published scientific article by Hulscher N., Alexander P. E., Amerling R., Gessling H., Hodkinson R., Makis W., et al., titled “A Systematic Review Of Autopsy Findings In Deaths After COVID-19 Vaccination”, Science, Public Health Policy and the Law, 2024 Nov 17, v5, 2019-2024; (b) if HC has reviewed the study in (a) what is their assessment; (c) which department or agency makes the final determination about causality, when a family member makes a vaccine injury death claim through the Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP); (d) how many death claims relating to the COVID-19 vaccines have been made to date through the VISP; (e) how many death claims relating to the COVID-19 vaccines have been accepted as being causally related; (f) how many death claims relating to the COVID-19 vaccines have been paid out through the VISP and what is that total amount paid out; (g) is an autopsy required in the case of a vaccine injury death claim; (h) if (f) is affirmative, what specialized immunohistochemistry (IHC) is required to prove causation in the event of an mRNA vaccine injury death; and (i) has HC considered mandating autopsies with appropriate IHC staining for sudden deaths?

With regard to Health Canada (HC), the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) or the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) and the COVID-19 vaccines: (a) when did the (i) Chief Public Health Officer, (ii) Deputy Chief Public Health Officer, (iii) Chief Medical Officer at Health Canada, (iv) Minister of Health at the time, become aware that the COVID-19 vaccines did not prevent transmission of SARS CoV-2; (b) when were any of the federal health agencies in Canada made aware of this information and by who; (c) when was the information described in (a) delivered to (i) the Office of the Prime Minister, (ii) the Privy Council, (iii) the Cabinet, (iv) the members of the House of Commons; (d) what federal entity, ministry or minister first initiated the concept of “COVID-19 vaccine passports”; (e) on what date did the federal government implement vaccine passports for (i) federal employees, (ii) travel restrictions for all unvaccinated Canadians; (f) in 2021 and 2022, did any personnel from HC, PHAC or NACI engage with or share information about the vaccines’ inability to stop transmission of SARS-CoV-2 with any person involved with (i) the World Health Organization’s Strategic Group of Experts, (ii) Vaccines Together, (iii) the International Vaccine Institute, (iv) Dr. Hanna Nohynek, the World Health Organization’s Chair of Strategic Group of Experts on Immunization; and (g) if the answers to (f)(i) through to (f)(iv) are affirmative, what were the summaries of those discussions or correspondences in relation to the transmission question and the validity of vaccine passports?

With regard to Health Canada (HC) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): (a) what do HC and PHAC know about the origins of COVID-19; and (b) how and when was the knowledge in (a) obtained?

With regard to Health Canada’s (HC) and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s (PHAC) decision to withdraw the market authorization of and to destroy the COVID-19 XBB.1.5 vaccines and future assessment of upcoming mRNA vaccines: (a) are there material differences between the XBB.1.5 COVID-19 vaccines and the new 2024-2025 formulation beyond the mRNA coding for a different spike protein strain; (b) if (a) is affirmative, what are the differences; (c) if the answer to (a) is affirmative, how will Canadians processing claims against the vaccine manufacturers be able to prove their allegations when physical evidence is required and has been destroyed; (d) what is the estimated number of COVID-19 vaccine vials that will be destroyed, broken down by manufacturer (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, others); (e) what is the estimated dollar cost to Canadians to destroy these vaccine products, per vaccine and in total; (f) what is the regulatory process for COVID-19 vaccines which resulted in a “contractual obligation for Health Canada to withdraw all XBB products from the market until a lot could be released and distributed in Canada” (Global news); (g) what is the contractual obligation in (f) and with whom; (h) will provinces be able to order any interim supply of the COVID-19 XBB vaccines and, if not, why not; (i) with respect to the statement made by Pfizer/BioNTech on October 20, 2023, found on page 56 of Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) 2024-000097-2024-08-22, that Pfizer “would be open to discuss the outcome from the plasmid backbone modification evaluation with Health Canada”, does HC expect the removal of the SV40 sequences from the updated Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for 2024-25; (j) is HC considering the assessment of future mRNA-based vaccines to continue under the Centre for Vaccines, Clinical Trials and Biostatistics or to be transferred to another Centre or Department within Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate or elsewhere, and, if so, what would be the criteria or rationale?

With regard to any contracts or businesses dealings between any government department, agency, Crown Corporation, or other government entity and Global Health Imports Corporation, since the company was incorporated in April 2020: (a) what are the details of any contracts with the company, including the (i) date, (ii) value of the contract, (iii) description of goods or services, including the volume, (iv) reason the contract is not listed through proactive disclosure, if applicable; and (b) what are the details of all submissions, proposals or inquiries received by the government from the company, including the (i) sender, (ii) recipient, (iii) date, (iv) title, (v) summary, (vi) summary of response?

With regard to notices of determination and notices of debt sent to applicants for COVID-19 financial support programs for individuals, since the date of inception of each program and broken down by each financial support program for individuals: (a) how many audits have been conducted; (b) how many notices have been issued to applicants, broken down by (i) notices of determination, (ii) notices of debt; (c) for the notices in (b), what is their dollar value; and (d) what is the dollar value of the total amounts previously received refunded?

With regard to all federal COVID-19 related mandates and restrictions, and broken down by each measure: (a) what was the scientific justification or study for each mandate or restriction; (b) what is the specific website address where the study's details, including the findings, can be found; (c) on what date will each restriction end; and (d) for each mandate or restriction that does not have a set end-date, what criteria or metric has to be achieved in order for it to be rescinded?

With regard to federal contracts given to Deloitte Canada for the purpose of creating a nation-wide system to track the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccinations: (a) what is the value of all contracts, including, for each, the (i) date of the contract, (ii) value of the contract, (iii) products to be delivered, (iv) timeline for delivery; (b) on what date was the nation-wide computer system rolled out; (c) with which provincial and territorial vaccination systems was the national system connected to; (d) what enhancements, improvements, and added functionality did the national system, created by Deloitte Canada, make; (e) what are the details of all national system outages, including, for each, the (i) duration of the outage, (ii) functionality and services impacted, (iii) costs incurred by the federal government to restore functionality, (iv) number of users impacted; and (f) does the government own the intellectual property for any products created under the terms of these contracts?

With regard to the government’s response to COVID-19: (a) on what date did the government first become aware that COVID-19 vaccines could not prevent infection and could not prevent transmission; (b) did the government change the definition of the terms (i) vaccine, (ii) herd immunity, (iii) fully vaccinated, in 2021; (c) if the answer to any part of (b) is affirmative, what are the details of each change, including the (i) term whose definition has changed, (ii) date of the change, (iii) scientific basis for the change, if any; (d) why did the government change the long-standing definition of “case” from a “sick person” to “anyone who tested positive on a PCR test”, even individuals who remained perfectly healthy; and (e) what was Health Canada's guidance about cycle thresholds for the PCR test and what specific scientific evidence was this guidance based on?

With regard to the statement in the government’s response to Order Paper question Q-3082, that “$132,168 was spent in 2021-22 to plan and deliver a social media influencer campaign to help people in Canada make an informed decision about COVID-19 vaccines”: (a) which influencers were paid as part of this campaign; (b) how much was each influencer paid, broken down by influencer; (c) what is the itemized breakdown of how the $132,168 was spent; and (d) for 2020-21, what are the details of the campaign, including (i) how much money was spent, (ii) which influencers were paid as part of this campaign, (iii) how much was each influencer paid, broken down by influencer, (iv) what is the itemized breakdown of how the $132,168 was spent?

With regard to communications sponsored by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic: (a) which individual or agency developed the “Pregnancy, childbirth and caring for a newborn during the COVID-19 pandemic” communication which was first published on July 13, 2021, and last updated on October 25, 2023; (b) who provided the final approval of the communication in (a) and when; (c) which individual or agency developed the narrative for the video titled “Are there any ingredients in the COVID-19 vaccines that I should be concerned about”, narrated by Dr. Ayesha Raza, family physician and women’s health specialist, about the ingredients of the COVID-19 vaccine and how long these vaccines stay in the body, i.e., “they leave the body shortly after vaccination”; (d) who provided the final approval of the communication in (c) and when; (e) which individual or agency developed the narrative for the video titled “Can the COVID-19 vaccines affect fertility”, narrated by Dr. Darine El-Chaâr, maternal fetal medicine specialist at the Ottawa Hospital, and sponsored by the government; (f) who provided the final approval of the communication in (e) and when; (g) on December 23, 2021, which individual or agency developed the advice to Canadians about the interchangeability of vaccines found on the government's website, titled “COVID-19 vaccine: Canadian Immunization Guide, For health professionals, Notice”; and (h) who provided the final approval of the communication in (g) and when?

With regard to the procurement of supplies related to the COVID-19 pandemic: (a) what is the number and percentage of contracts and the total amount and percentage of the total amount of all spending on supplies that went to organizations owned by (i) women, (ii) Indigenous people, (iii) people of colour, broken down by region; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by province or territory?

With regard to loan payback extensions for business owners who received loans through government business relief programs: (a) how many recipients of loans through the Tourism and Hospitality Relief Fund have (i) requested, (ii) received, extensions to their payback schedule; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by length of extension; (c) how many recipients of loans through the Canada Emergency Business Account have (i) requested, (ii) received, extensions to their payback schedule; (d) what is the breakdown of (c) by length of extension; (e) how many recipients of loans through the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund have (i) requested, (ii) received, extensions to their payback schedule; (f) what is the breakdown of (e) by length of extension; (g) what impact will receiving a payback extension have on the partial forgiveness component of the loan, broken down by fund or program; and (h) of the businesses who received payback extensions, what percentage are projected to still receive a partial forgiveness to their loan, broken down by program, and percent of forgiveness?

With regard to the ArriveCAN application: (a) how much money did the government spend developing the application; (b) what is the itemized breakdown of all expenditures related to (a); (c) how much has been spent to date maintaining, updating, or promoting the application; (d) how much money did Shared Services Canada spend to initially develop this application; (e) what is the itemized breakdown of all expenditures related to (d); (f) what are the details of all contracts signed by the government related to the application in any way, including, for each (i) the vendor, (ii) the date, (iii) the value, (iv) the start and end dates, if applicable, (v) the description of goods or services provided, (vi) whether the contract was sole-sourced or awarded through a competitive bidding process; and (g) what is the total cumulative cost (i) incurred to date, (ii) budgeted related to the application?

With regard to Health Canada’s advertising of the COVID-19 vaccine: (a) how much was spent on advertisements encouraging the use of vaccines; (b) how much was spent on advertisements related to the safety of the vaccine; (c) how much was spent on publicists; and (d) how much was spent on social media influencers?