Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, not only for his more recent work, but for all that he has done during his career. He has put in so much effort and brought so much talent into the arts community throughout Quebec. It is a great source of encouragement and hope to know that, even though we work in different political parties in the House, we, in Quebec, are all focu…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. First, it gives me an opportunity to acknowledge what we heard from Quebec today. People across the country believe in the importance of dental care, which is essential to overall health. Second, two to three million Quebeckers will be able to benefit from the Government of Canada's new dental insurance plan in the coming years. Lastly, all of th…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for making that connection and focusing on Quebeckers' needs, which are just as important as the physical health, mental health and oral health needs of all other Canadians. The Quebeckers I have been talking to for quite some time now are happy to see that between two and three million Quebeckers, families with average and modest incomes, will be able to take adv…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from London West for her question. She knows, as we all do, that good oral health is essential for physical and mental health. That is why we are so pleased that, to date, 250,000 children have received the $650 benefit to take better care of their oral health. That is why we are so pleased that, by 2025, we will be rolling out our dental care plan for all Canadia…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear this question, although I am also very troubled by the challenges that families, mothers, parents and fathers, like me, with children face in those very tight circumstances. That is why Health Canada has made sure that, with special interim regulation policies, more than 70 additional formulas have been imported in the last few months to Canada, and more will…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear the member make the connection with the major investments announced by the Prime Minister on February 7 and confirmed in the budget tabled yesterday by the Minister of Finance. These investments will support hundreds of thousands of Canadians, patients and workers across Quebec. In addition, the dental insurance program that will be implemented in the coming …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Bourassa for his hard work and for joining me yesterday in Montreal as I made an important announcement regarding the first-ever national strategy for drugs for rare diseases. This three-year, $1.5-billion strategy will help improve the lives of thousands of Canadians, including children, with rare diseases such as sickle cell disease. Through this strategy, …
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Mr. Speaker, I am certain that my colleague, like all members of the House, agree that in Canada we receive health care based on need and not on our ability to pay. The Canada Health Act is clear. In Canada, what gives us access to health care is our health card, not the privilege of being able to pay for health care or the inability to pay for it. That is why we will continue to ensure that all C…
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Mr. Speaker, with regret and with respect I would say this is indeed a bit too late. We have done that just a few weeks ago. We have been working on that months ago and years ago, and that is why this is already happening in Canada, including in Atlantic Canada, P.E.I., Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Ontario and British Columbia. We are making important and quick progress, obviously wit…
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Mr. Speaker, access to family health teams and primary care in Canada is indeed essential. I am grateful for the question. That is why I am going to send a copy of a letter I sent to health ministers a couple of weeks ago to my colleague so he sees why and how provinces and territories have already committed to national licensure for health professionals, including the recognition of foreign crede…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Lac-Saint-Louis for his excellent work. Safety and wellness are critical aspects of quality of life, particularly for aging individuals. That is why the national strategy on dementia will continue to improve quality of life for people living with dementia, as well as their families and caregivers. Funding will also go towards research on aging and brain healt…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform my colleague that the Government of Quebec, Mr. Dubé and I are working together to ensure that, in Quebec as elsewhere in the country, access to essential diagnostics remains free. There is an opportunity for the Quebec government to correct the situation and recover the money that has been cut, as is currently the case in British Columbia. We will work collabor…
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Mr. Speaker, we are obviously very mindful of the incredible challenges that patients and workers face in these very difficult times. That is why, just six weeks ago, the Prime Minister announced a historic investment of almost $200 billion in addition to the current level of the CHT, in addition to the value of the tax points. Those dollars obviously matter very much, but more importantly, they m…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to remind my hon. colleague that on February 7, 2023, we announced a total investment of $198 billion to help Canadians access better health care. In addition, as part of the agreement with all the provinces and territories, everyone agreed to boost and facilitate the recognition of skills acquired here at home or abroad. I am very pleased that my colleague from the …
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Mr. Speaker, it is happening. All provinces have now sent a letter, in principle committing to implementing a national credential recognition. It is happening in Atlantic Canada. It is happening in Ontario, and it is happening in British Columbia, with the leadership of this government. Obviously, the words and support from the opposition leader also matter, but more importantly, the actions on th…
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Madam Speaker, I think access to safe and accessible abortion services across Canada is not only a right but also a priority for this government. That is why we have been working with provinces and territories to make sure that this is true across Canada, including in provinces where access is more problematic and where fees are sometimes imposed, to ensure safe and accessible abortion services in…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for giving me an opportunity to talk about this issue. Health care in Canada is top of mind for every health minister in the country, including me. We have different roles to play, but we have the same responsibility to serve the same people with the same funding. That is why, in Canada, no matter where we live, we must have access to health care based o…
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Madam Speaker, we are all pleased to hear that my colleague agrees that extra billing is not part of the health care system in our country, including Quebec. The good news is that Quebeckers and the Government of Quebec can be quickly reimbursed for these deductions if Quebec, like the other provinces, continues to ensure that people are being provided with treatment based on their medical conditi…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table, in both official languages, the report on COVID‑19 rapid test procurement and distribution.
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Madam Speaker, our colleague is exactly right. For workers to care for people and patients, we need to care for them. It has been very hard during COVID-19 and until now. All the pressure, mental health challenges and the physical damage that COVID has had on workers has left a large number of them sick or tired. We need to care for them if we want them to keep caring for us.
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Madam Speaker, I thank our colleague from Kitchener for her hard work. I am thankful for this opportunity to say exactly that. On Tuesday, we made an offer of over $200 billion over the next 10 years to prepare the future in health care, but also to repair the damage that was caused by COVID-19, by giving more access to family health teams, which are essential for a truly functioning health care s…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to describe an important step our government took just yesterday to strengthen our country's health care system. As we all know, accessible, publicly funded, universal health care is a source of pride for many Canadians. Unfortunately, over the past several decades, and certainly in recent years, our health care system has faced unprecedented challenges. Across the countr…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful for that question. As Minister of Health in the Canadian government, I have a special responsibility to ensure that the principles of the Canada Health Act are respected by everyone in this country. We are very proud of the fact that our health care system is publicly funded and very proud of the principle of equal access for everyone. All the health ministers and a…
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Mr. Speaker, we are all very mindful of the terrible pain, the large number of deaths and the even larger number of hospitalizations that we have seen in Canada over COVID-19. That is why our primary responsibility has been, and remains, to protect the safety and the health of Canadians, including the tens of thousands of people who had to access designated quarantine facilities. Because of these …
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this important question. What all of the health ministers in Canada, including myself, are committed to is continuing to work together to look after the health of people and the health of workers in Canada. Canadians have been through some very difficult times over the past few years. We know that we will have immense challenges in the coming years with the rising costs o…
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Mr. Speaker, we are very happy to be asked that question, because we are all looking forward to the next steps, which include the February 7 meeting. The first ministers will meet to build on the major progress that the health ministers have made in recent months, not only in the fight against COVID‑19, thereby saving tens of thousands of lives and tens of billions in economic costs, but also to e…
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Mr. Speaker, putting money on the table is exactly what we have been doing for several years now, with an additional investment of $72 billion in the Canada health transfer and by covering 80% of the costs associated with fighting COVID‑19. Last March, we increased the Canada health transfer by 5%, and we will increase it by another 10% in the next few weeks, in March. We also invested $2 billion …
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Mr. Speaker, reinvesting in health is exactly what we have been doing for several years now with COVID-19. An additional $72 billion was invested in the Canada health transfer. In the last few weeks, there has been an additional $2 billion allocated to reduce delays in treatment, surgery and diagnosis and an additional $9 billion for mental health, home care and long-term care. On top of that, we …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for raising that issue. The situation has indeed been very difficult for sick people, patients and workers across the country, including Quebec, for many months now. The situation was exacerbated by COVID-19, and the demographic pressures are such that, for the past few years, we have been seeing increased pressure on our health care workers and patients across th…
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Madam Speaker, our system is indeed in a crisis. Our health workers are very tired. Backlogs due to COVID-19 are impacting not only COVID-19 patients, and there are many of them in our hospitals, but many other patients who have been suffering from backlogs in surgeries and diagnostics. That is why we have been there for provinces and territories, sending tens of billions of dollars in addition to…
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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…
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Mr. Speaker, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, there have never been as many hospitalizations of children with the flu in the history of Canada as there are at the present time. That means we have to take care of our children. Vaccination works. It is free for the flu and COVID-19 everywhere across Canada. Public health measures also matter and work. We at the federal level are goin…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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