Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague for asking this very important question. Indeed, our children are very sick these days. Respiratory viruses are spreading very quickly, causing tremendous damage to our families and causing parents and grandparents to worry. Our health care workers are having a very tough time. That is why we need to procure vaccines, take public health measures. That is also why…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we all share the concerns of parents, grandparents, and teachers about our children's health across Canada. With respect to lagging behind, perhaps my colleague did not carefully listen to the most recent news. Almost two weeks ago, we announced the emergency import of more than one million units of children's medication. Last week, we announced the shipment of 500,000 units in the ne…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I think everyone in the House feels a duty to support the Canada Health Act, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it is an important thing to do right now. Our workers and patients are suffering across Canada. That is why we invested, just a few months ago, an extra $2 billion in reducing backlogs in surgeries and treatments. That is why the CHT will increase by a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Hamilton Mountain for her question and her excellent work. Obviously, we are as concerned as parents, grandparents, and teachers about our children's health. We are also keenly aware of the challenges that children's hospitals across the country are facing. That is why we encourage everyone, all families and children, to reap the benefits of vaccination. Vacc…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear that question. First, I acknowledge the very severe pressure health care workers throughout our country are under; second, I recognize the pressure on patients, with backlogs in surgeries and backlogs in diagnostics; and third, we are also very concerned with the pressure and the ambition we see across Canada around the privatization of our health care system…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we are all very mindful of the challenges that our public health care system is going through now, with health workers being tired, leaving in large numbers and sometimes thinking about their future, nurses in particular. That is why we want to maintain and support our public health system. That is exactly why we need to do that in collaboration with and in support of provinces and te…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, obviously we are very grateful to the member for that question. Indeed, our children, our seniors and our families are having a difficult time. Respiratory viruses are spreading at a startling rate. COVID-19 is not over yet. Approximately 10% of hospital beds are filled with people who have COVID-19 and, on top of that, there is the respiratory syncytial virus and the flu, which is go…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for pointing out the useful battle that we need to be waging, the battle for our health care workers, who are suffering, who are sick and who left the profession in droves in Quebec and other parts of the country. They need our help to be able to take care of those who are seriously ill right now and who did not have the surgeries and diagnoses they should have ov…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to repeat the answer in English this time. The question is right. The stress that families and children are going through is real. That is why we were pleased with the collaboration with other producers and partners in the last few weeks to see a substantial increase in production, home production, of analgesics for children. More important, just a few hours ago, we annou…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I think we can thank our colleague for asking that question and addressing the stress that families and children are under. There are two pieces of good news. The first is that Canadian production of these drugs has increased substantially in the last few weeks. The second is that just a few hours ago, we were able to announce an agreement with a company to provide Canadians with seve…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would say that a government's competency and responsibility lies with ensuring the health and safety of its citizens. That is the primary responsibility of any government, certainly in times of crisis such as we experienced in early 2020. That is why we invested where we needed to invest because we knew that people were going to go through some tough times. We knew that we needed to…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I commend the member for putting more focus on results, on the things that actually need to be done, such as reducing wait times for surgeries and diagnostics; increasing access to family doctors, especially in rural areas; increasing access to mental health care; ensuring that home care and long-term care are accessible and distributed fairly; and supporting health care workers who n…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, congratulations to the member for another excellent question. My responsibility, as Minister of Health, is to not send money without conditions to the finance ministers. I like the finance ministers, but my job is to help the health ministers. Sending money without conditions to the finance ministers may please the finance ministers, but that is not what the health ministers need. Wha…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member ended with “giving money”. Giving money is what we have been doing for several years now. We certainly did that when we invested $72 billion to fight COVID-19. Those investments continue because COVID-19 is unfortunately still around. In the last budget, we invested $2 billion to reduce the backlogs in surgeries and diagnostics. We also invested $3 billion in ment…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, families and children are indeed living through stressful times, and that is why we were pleased to announce just a few hours ago that there will be a special importation of additional analgesics, the equivalent of several months' of normal supply, in addition to the increased domestic production of these analgesics, so that children and their families can have access to those drugs i…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we all agree on the importance of taking action for our workers and the patients who need their help. The Government of Canada has to do its share, which it has done in recent years by investing $72 billion on top of other health care transfers during COVID‑19. We are also still investing in rapid tests, vaccines, Paxlovid and PPE for all Canadians. That is still happening because COV…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, my colleague is talking about divisions, but in fact, we are all united. My fellow health ministers and I are all ministers of health. We are all working for the same citizens with the same dollars. We will all make investments to support our health workers, who really need help because of their difficult working conditions, among other things. We will take care of all Canadians, no m…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, funding public health care in Canada is not only a need but also an obligation under the Canada Health Act. We know how important it is to millions of Canadians now with the crises that we see in emergency departments across the country. We also know we need to support access to family health teams, because that is a key part of the solution. People need to have access to their family…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we very much appreciate this question, which allows me to speak of the importance of dental care for our children. If Parliament agrees, of course, 500,000 children in Canada will have access to a dental benefit. For Quebec children in particular, there will be additional support for preventative dental care. We know that prevention is key to good health, and the Canadian government w…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right. Many of us in Canada and Quebec know that dental care is important. That obviously includes businesses and Canadians who already have access to dental insurance. About 4% of dental care expenses are paid by the provinces and territories, and 40% of dental care is unfortunately paid by people who do not have access to dental insurance. That is why all Ca…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am certain that many people here in the House were troubled by the member's previous question, when he criticized Canada's vaccine supply. According to recent figures from the Public Health Agency of Canada, which were validated by other experts, the exceptional vaccine supply that Canadians had access to probably saved about 400,000 lives in Canada over the past year. That is 400,0…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we are all grateful for the member's question. We all feel and fear the consequences of the crisis that health care workers throughout the country are going through. That is true everywhere in Canada, as we heard. People are having difficulty accessing appropriate emergency care, but, more than that, difficulty getting access to a family health team, to a safe and quality long-term ca…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we all very much appreciate what the member just said. We are all feeling it, in the hospitals and in the health care services in Quebec and elsewhere. This is a terrible situation. We are in crisis because health care workers are in crisis and are exhausted. They have left the profession in droves. Many are sick, and many are considering leaving. That is why, over the past few months…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful to the hon. member for giving me the opportunity to talk about the Canada child benefit that we introduced in July 2016. Every month, it helps reduce child poverty in his riding and in mine by 40%. Every month, more than 450,000 children are lifted out of poverty, in addition to their parents, of course, thanks to the benefit that we introduced in July 2016. Unfortu…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to the member for asking the question and pleased to have the opportunity to point out that children under the age of 10 and their families already have access to dental care in Quebec, but that the Government of Canada's additional investment complements the existing program, specifically in the area of prevention. Kids can get fluoride treatments, scaling, cleaning and…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, having access to appropriate health care services is a fundamental, basic human right, recognized, as we all know, by the Canada Health Act, with conditions that ensure that the federal government provides appropriate support to provinces and territories, making sure that the services are universal, accessible and free. That is why we are engaging with provinces and territories to add…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank not only my colleague, but also every organization in Quebec and elsewhere that is fighting to ensure that people can live a healthy life in an environment that is protected. We acknowledge that there are obstacles to accessing this information because of confidentiality laws. We also know that the Canadian government announced last year that the law would be rev…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to once again thank the member. I would like to add to the answer that I just gave a few moments ago that Health Canada and all public servants are well aware that they need to do a solid job when it comes to quality of information, transparency and compliance with the law in that regard. The public servants and organizations involved work together to determine whether th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle for his work and for stressing that oral health care really is part of essential health care. That is why we are very pleased with the progress being made towards passing Bill C-31, which will help families and 500,000 children avoid hospitalization because of widespread infection and reduce the costs and risks of diabetes, cardiovascul…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased that I am being asked this question, and I thank the member for that. Health care workers are in crisis across the country. They are exhausted, and many have quit their jobs. Many are ill and are thinking about leaving their jobs in the next few months or years. First we must acknowledge that there is a crisis. Then, we have to work with the provinces and territori…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, all Canadians, and certainly Albertans, need and deserve the support of the federal government, including support for health care workers in Alberta and across Canada. We are obviously very mindful of the pressures, intentions and sometimes the actions around privatizing our health care system. Canadians want access to Canada's public health care system in a manner which is supporte…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, we are obviously very focused on and mindful of the severe difficulties health care workers across the country, including in the member's riding, have been facing for a long time. They have been exacerbated during COVID-19. That is why we are going to work together to continue to do that with increased—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I am sure the member wants to hear the answer because she is very focused on the problems in her riding. I congratulate her for that. That is why, over the last few weeks and months, we have been investing increased resources through an additional $2-billion investment to reduce backlogs and another $1 billion to support health care workers in long-term care settings—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, our colleague's French was already fantastic, but with a bit of help, it is even better. His question was excellent. He is a man of principle and he mentioned the word “principle”. We are at second reading. This is when we look at the principle of the bill. We then go to committee to determine whether the provisions of the bill allow us to achieve that principle. We need to vote on …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my colleagues are as knowledgeable as we are. The $2 billion I just mentioned earlier are costs that provinces and territories need to pay because of the need to hospitalize people, children in particular, who do not have access to good-quality, preventative dental care. These are big costs that provinces and territories need to incur. More importantly, these are severe health costs…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is all right for people to not always agree on every bill. It is perfectly fine in a democracy. However, it would be unfortunate if, just because some members in the House do not like or do not approve of a particular bill, the majority of the members of this House could not vote in favour of it and move forward towards delivering the types of services my colleague has already me…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague, because I do not think I have done that yet, on his appointment as my critic. We are going to be working together to support health and the appropriate health care of Canadian citizens. Let me once again point out that about 4% of total dental care expenditures are currently covered by provinces and territories, and 40% by citizens. Approximately…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am certain, because I know the member well, that she also knows what it is like for seniors to take care of their general health, whether we are talking about seniors in long-term care facilities, in residences or every senior who has difficulty affording dignified dental care. I am sure the member also agrees with everyone in the House that taking care of seniors is also importan…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we all agree that mental health is health, and mental health care is health care. That is exactly what we should all recognize. We fully support the views of the member that we need to invest more in better health care and better mental health care. I would like to point out, in addition to what the member said on dental care, that approximately one family out of three in Canada doe…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there are two things: first, the process, and second, the outcomes. This is the right process to proceed quickly to deliver better dental care for children. On the outcome, about two million school days are missed by children every year because they need to go for emergency dental care. This is time wasted, obviously, for children. It is also an important burden for families. We nee…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we should all commend the member for asking for additional time to study this bill. That is exactly what we are going to do at committee, which is where members of the House can spend more time and energy in the appropriate setting, asking for experts and other stakeholders to come to the committee so they can ask questions and get answers. This is where we want to go next, because,…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the member is correct that we need to do more. We are doing more, in fact, because we have a $6-billion transfer already in place, which will be negotiated over the next few months, on home care, community care and mental health care. In long-term care, there will be an additional $3 billion. Just a few months ago, we announced an additional $2 billion for reducing backlogs in surge…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as my colleague suggests, there are considerable benefits for the provinces and territories in having the Government of Canada invest more in dental health. For example, it costs between $12,000 and $25,000 to treat a child who has a widespread infection because dental health problems were not resolved through preventive services before the child ends up in urgent care, which is ver…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for pointing to the need of having more people having access to better dental care in Canada, including through complementing the work provinces and territories currently do. It is only about 4% of total dental care expenses that are currently covered by provinces and territories. About seven million Canadians, 30% of all Canadians, do not go to see a de…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we obviously all feel the urgency of moving forward. December 1 is coming. This is when we would like children of low and middle-income families to benefit from better dental care. By the way, about a third of all surgeries under anaesthesia for children between the ages of one and five are because children do not have access to proper dental care before they end up in emergency sur…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague for wanting to take a closer look at the bill. That is exactly what we can do if we vote for the motion today. We can go to committee and take the time needed to listen to experts to see how taking care of our children's dental health means taking care of their health in general. It avoids them having to go to the hospital for emergency surgery that would…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member is correct. As we do this, we are going to save probably around $2 billion in emergency services in current dental work not having to be given. A lot of Canadians, and low-income Canadians in particular, do not have access to dental care because of affordability, and $2 billion in hospitalization costs could be prevented with better dental care for children and low-income f…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am so glad and grateful to be able to answer this question and to agree with the member that this is a very important bill. We should move forward because, as we all know, the next occasion is going to give us more time and a better place to study the bill clause by clause and to look at it carefully to make sure that it serves the needs of Canadians on dental care and rental suppor…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am very happy that my colleague asked that question. All of Canada's health ministers have had the opportunity to speak with one another quite regularly over the past several months. We did so again a few weeks ago, and I did so several times over the summer. We have spoken frequently about this dental insurance program since it was first announced a few months ago. My officials a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there are two answers The first is the $25 billion through the Canada child benefit. It is a big amount of money. Every month, it lifts approximately 400,000 children out of poverty, plus obviously, all of their parents. That is a big amount, but it has a big impact in our society. It makes our society more fair and prosperous. We believe that better equity, better justice and bette…
Read full speech →