Government Orders
Madam Chair, I think we all know in the House that prohibition did not work to reduce alcohol use and the war on drugs has not worked to reduce drug use. It is said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. That is just common sense, because to address a problem, one has to correctly identify the cause of it. Experts in addiction …
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Madam Chair, the war on drugs is now universally regarded as an utter failure. It has wasted billions of dollars and hurt millions of people. We now know that criminalizing drug use and addiction not only does not work, it adds to the harm and actually makes things worse. Leaving the toxic supply of drugs to street level criminals is literally killing thousands of Canadians every year and, in fact…
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Mr. Speaker, this past weekend saw protesters blocking patients, health care workers and ambulances at hospitals in major cities across Canada. This is putting lives at risk. Paramedics have been delayed, rocks were hurled at emergency vehicles and first responders were subjected to racist slurs. This is completely unacceptable. Just weeks ago, this Parliament passed a law making it a criminal off…
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Madam Speaker, picking up on my hon. colleague's comments, he is absolutely right. Among OECD countries, Canada's ICU beds per capita is less than everyone but Mexico. We are 26 out of 27 in terms of number of doctors per thousand. Among developed countries, we rank tenth out of 10 in terms of wait times. Of course, the reason for this is that in 2014 the Harper Conservatives capped the federal he…
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Mr. Speaker, during the last election I have to say that the most common global concern I heard was on the climate crisis, and my hon. colleague touched on public transit. I am wondering if he can expand a bit on how a massive expansion of public transit in Canada may help us address the climate crisis, and particularly how that might reveal itself in terms of smaller communities like the ones he …
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Madam Speaker, in terms of inflation, I do not think we will see more inflation or a better example than that of prescription drugs, which have gone up every year for years and years. In fact, it is the single fastest growing product in insurance services. We know that with pharmacare, with bulk buying, with streamlined administration and with cost-related non-adherence, we can save over $4 billio…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-227, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (voting age). Mr. Speaker, today I am honoured to introduce legislation that would extend the right to vote to all Canadians aged 16 and over. I would like to thank the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley for seconding this bill and for his tireless efforts to move this important initiative forward. The history of …
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Madam Speaker, the COVID pandemic has exposed the dangerous results of underfunding Canada's health care system. Overburdened ICU wards, burnt-out staff, cancelled surgeries, excessive wait times for diagnostic tests and millions of Canadians without a family doctor, mental health care or prescription medicines are impossible to deny, but this is not surprising. The federal share of health care sp…
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With regard to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): (a) since March 2020, including both the total number as well as change from the previous month or quarter, how many staff members has the PHAC employed in each month or quarter; and (b) in each month or quarter, how many of each of the following kinds of employee did PHAC employ, including both the total number as well as change from the p…
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With regard to the government's $49 million investment in Mastercard's Intelligence and Cyber Centre in Vancouver made through the Strategic Innovation Fund, since January 23, 2020: (a) to date, what is the actual number of jobs (i) created directly by this investment, (ii) maintained directly by this investment; (b) for the jobs in (a), where are they located and how many are (i) full-time, (ii) …
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I know this has been an issue this week, and the hon. member is violating previous speakers' rulings that generally limit the number of petitions to five in any one proceeding. The member opened his presentation by saying he had 56 petitions. I would like to quote from page 1172 of Bosc and Gagnon, which says the following: Certified petitions are presented…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague just mentioned that we had not heard of the omicron variant three months ago. That is true, but for over a year, epidemiologists, infectious disease specialists and the WHO have been warning Canada and all countries that if we do not vaccinate the developing world, a variant of concern will eventually develop and it will come to our country. The fact that Canada and …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his comprehensive look at this. It was a refreshing, revisionist review of neo-conservative economics. I am really glad to hear that he has awakened to the housing crisis in this country. Those of us in the NDP have been pointing this out for decades. I come from the Lower Mainland of B.C., and I can assure him that the housing crisis did not occur today …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to add my congratulations to the hon. member on her first speech in Parliament. She quite rightly raised the other pandemic in this country, which is the opioid overdose crisis. She also talked very sensibly about abandoning what does not work. I postulate that the war on drugs has not worked. The attempt to criminalize those who use drugs clearly has not had any effect…
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Madam Speaker, I am not sure that the Harper Conservatives were putting seniors first when they were trying to raise the retirement age in this country from 65 to 67. All those 65- and 66-year-olds who would have been deprived of benefits were not very happy. This bill would essentially end what we would call CERB benefits by putting in a condition that there has to be a complete lockdown in a pro…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-220, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (assault against a health care worker). Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to introduce an important bill to Parliament with thanks to the hon. member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke for seconding it. This legislation would amend the Criminal Code to require a court to consider the fact that the victim of an assault is a …
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-212, An Act to develop a national school food program for children. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to introduce my bill proposing the school food program for children act. I would like to thank the hon. member for Winnipeg Centre for seconding this bill and for her tireless advocacy and support of food security. This legislation would require the Minist…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's chief public health officer just issued a dire warning. She said our public health system is stretched dangerously thin, our public health workforce is understaffed and burnt out. We were not prepared for COVID-19 and we are not prepared for the next emergency. Decades of underfunding under Liberal and Conservative governments are putting Canadians at risk. Dr. Tam is calling…
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Madam Speaker, again, I go back to what Canadians expect us to do here and I think they expect us to be guided by evidence, to be legislating with wisdom and passion, and to be coming up with good public policy. The fundamental question for us in the House is this. We either fundamentally believe that drug use and addiction are health issues or we do not. If we do believe it, then they have no pla…
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Madam Speaker, as I said, in terms of a mandate from Canadians, I fundamentally believe it is there. Most Canadians right now want their government to decriminalize drug use and to treat it authentically and comprehensively as a health issue. The government has said on many occasions that it is guided by evidence, as it should be. The Liberals say that quite consistently. They have said it through…
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Madam Speaker, it is a privilege to stand in the House to speak to a bill that is not only a long time coming and not only important to many Canadians, but is one that touches upon a very real and profoundly important issue that touches every community in our nation. The bill deals with the issue of mandatory minimums and the initiative of the government to remove mandatory minimums for a number o…
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Madam Speaker, the hon. colleague stated in his speech, and we know that the Liberal Party in government has said on many occasions, that he acknowledges that drug use and addiction have to be treated as health issues and not criminal ones. However, the bill before us would retain the criminalized attitude towards drug use; it would simply change the sentencing. Can the member perhaps explain to t…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his kind words. He is quite right that I focused my entire remarks on the aim of the bill to eliminate mandatory minimums when it comes to drug sentences. I am aware that there are other sections of the Criminal Code where mandatory minimums may be taken away. When the bill goes to committee, those sections deserve closer scrutiny. I am sure I speak for…
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Madam Speaker, speaking to this point of order, there was another member in the House who had risen to present petitions before the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, and the Speaker did not see him. However, in 13 years in Parliament, I have never seen one member abuse a rule like this and dominate by taking 15 minutes to introduce 10 or 12 petitions. Other members of the House also…
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Madam Chair, during the last election, the Liberal Party promised to “work towards a national school nutritious meal program with a $1 billion investment over five years.” Can the minister confirm this investment will be put in place during the fall economic statement?
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Madam Chair, does the minister agree that we should end the for-profit delivery of long-term care to our seniors across Canada?
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Madam Chair, again, I guess Canadians have no answer from the Liberals about when they might get universal pharmacare. Canada had the highest proportion of COVID deaths in long-term care of any country in the OECD. Will the minister confirm when national standards for long-term care will be in place?
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Madam Chair, it was a simple question: Will the federal government meet the deadline of January 1, 2022, which is less than a month from now? I guess the answer to that is no, it will not. Can the minister confirm when national universal pharmacare will be in place for Canadians?
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Madam Chair, the Liberal-appointed Hoskins advisory council called on the federal government to launch national pharmacare by offering universal coverage for essential medicines by January 1, 2022. Will the federal government meet this deadline?
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Madam Chair, I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague on his appointment. I look forward to working with him to build health care for all Canadians. In the 2019 throne speech, the Liberal government pledged to “introduce and implement national pharmacare so that Canadians have the drug coverage they need.” The 2020 throne speech noted that the government “remains committed to a national univ…
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Madam Chair, every year, six and a half million Canadians avoid going to the dentist because they cannot afford it, and one in three Canadians lacks dental insurance. The Liberal government's 2019 throne speech called universal dental care an idea worth exploring. Can the minister outline what steps the government has taken to address this major public health deficiency?
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Madam Chair, Canada's premiers are calling for the federal share of health care spending to rise from the current 22% of total costs to 35%. Given that the federal government initially agreed to cover half the cost of medicare when it was first established, does the minister agree that 22% is an unreasonable share for the federal government to assume?
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Madam Chair, in May 2021, the City of Vancouver submitted its final proposal to Health Canada requesting an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to decriminalize the simple possession of illicit drugs. It is now half a year later, and the federal government has yet to render a decision. Given that the catastrophic death toll from Canada's drug poisoning crisis is growing every si…
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Madam Chair, the government has allowed PHAC to use the Pacific Gateway Hotel in British Columbia as a federal quarantine hotel since March 2020. Over 140 workers, mostly women, with decades on the job were terminated by that employer using the pandemic as a cover. Workers have now been on strike for seven months. This week, it was reported that travellers are finding “wretched conditions” at Paci…
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Madam Chair, the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care issues important guidelines to health professionals across Canada, yet the task force lacks members with subject matter expertise. This can and has resulted in questionable, inaccurate and dangerous guidelines being issued, for example using outdated studies and ignoring relevant data to recommend against life-saving breast screening f…
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Mr. Speaker, only 6% of people in low-income countries have received a COVID-19 vaccine. The African continent needs hundreds of millions of doses just to get 40% of its people vaccinated, yet deliveries were slashed because of supply shortages, putting us all at risk. Global vaccine production must expand immediately, but Liberals are blocking WTO efforts to get this done. Will the government fin…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague on his victory and welcome him to the House. About a year ago, health experts around the world warned us that if we did not vaccinate the entire world, we risked the development of a mutated coronavirus that would then prove to be problematic and perhaps even vaccine resistant. Part of this was manifested in South Africa and India going t…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for pointing out something that is very important, which is that health care in this country is shared jurisdiction. The federal government has a role to play. The existence of the Canada Health Act is proof positive of that, where we set conditions for the provinces to get money. There are five conditions in the Canada Health Act that provinces mus…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague mentioned housing, and I think I speak for every member in the House when I say that it is the dream of every Canadian, and their right really, to have access to affordable, appropriate, secure housing. If there is any issue that speaks to a failure of public policy at all three levels of government, it is the fact that in this country we have a housing crisis. Thi…
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Madam Speaker, as this is the first opportunity I have had to speak at any considerable length in this House, I would ask the indulgence of my colleagues for a couple of minutes. I have some words of appreciation that I really must put on the record. First, I have to thank the wonderful people of Vancouver Kingsway for doing me the honour of giving me the privilege of representing them for the fif…
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Madam Speaker, I had the privilege of attending university with the member more years ago than I care to admit. I want to welcome him back to the House. I always appreciate his thoughtful speeches. My question concerns something that I think is most important to Canadians when we talk about the economy, and that is jobs. For Canadians, that is their economy. It is how they get their revenue, it is…
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Mr. Speaker, no one is protected from COVID-19 until everyone is protected. The omicron variant makes this clear. For months, health experts, the WHO and New Democrats urged the government to ensure vaccines are available around the world. This is not just for equity reasons, but because it is essential to keep Canadians safe from new COVID variants. Not only did Liberals ignore this advice, but a…
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Mr. Speaker, I actually rise to speak to the question of privilege raised by my hon. colleague from the official opposition. Before I start, I would take this opportunity to thank the wonderful people of Vancouver Kingsway for doing me the honour and privilege of electing me to represent them. I will be mercifully brief and concise. Yesterday, on the opening day of the 44th Parliament, we heard re…
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