Sarnia-Lambton's MP says Canada needs to create a plan to safely end the pandemic lockdowns and eventually reopen the border.
Marilyn Gladu supports her Conservative party's motion calling on the Trudeau government to produce a plan within 20 days.
"The motion is calling for the federal government to come up with a plan of how we will exit the pandemic and move into economic recovery," said Gladu. "We see that other countries, like the U.K. and the U.S., have published their plan, and we think that we need to have a plan that makes it clear for Canadians so they can have hope."
Gladu said if there is no plan to exit the lockdowns, people will be hurt and many small businesses and restaurants will not survive.
"I do think that we're seeing an increase in mental health issues, an increase in suicides, obviously bankruptcies of many businesses, and delaying of medical procedures, and all of those things will have a cost."
Gladu said many considerations related to the impact of COVID-19 need to be part of the plan.
"Having a plan that looks at what is the hospital capacity, what are the death rates, what is the incident rate of COVID, and takes those things into account while opening up where there isn't any fact or evidence-based data to suggest that there is a risk."
Gladu discussed how the motion could impact provincial lockdowns, saying the federal government has a responsibility to work with the provinces and territories to come with an overall plan.
"Because obviously some parts of the plan are under provincial jurisdiction, and some parts, like air travel and border restrictions, are under federal jurisdiction."
Gladu also called for a plan to reopen the border with the U.S.
"I want to be clear that I am not asking for opening the border today. Obviously as the vaccination schedule progresses and the number of cases of COVID is reduced, there will be some criteria that we need to have in place in order to have the border opening, but those discussions and that plan need to exist."
Gladu said the prolonged border closure has taken a toll.
"There are people that have been separated from their families for over a year, there are people who have property in the U.S. that they are not able to attend, and from a commerce point of view, essential commerce is happening but there is a lot that is being restricted by the border controls that are in place."
The border has been closed to non-essential travel since March 2020.
