Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am obviously very pleased to receive this question. The member knows very well of the additional $200 billion we announced just a few weeks ago in support of provinces and territories in addition to the normal value of the CHT and in addition to the value of tax points, but, more important, to support workers through the crisis the member correctly identified. Those dollars are desi…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Châteauguay—Lacolle for her hard work and her important question. We all recognize the value of organ and tissue donation in protecting the health and lives of those in need of a transplant, sometimes urgently. With the co-operation of the provinces and territories, as well as multiple organizations in the field, our government initiated the organ donation an…
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Mr. Speaker, a lot of people in the House wonder what interests members of the opposition. In my opinion, there is at least one thing that should interest them. I am referring to the huge, fantastic announcement made a few weeks ago at the Davie shipyard, in the greater Quebec City area. I know that my colleagues from across Quebec, including my Conservative colleagues, will realize what a game-ch…
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Madam Speaker, let me start by thanking all members in the House, as well as members of the other chamber, for having spoken so long and so well on the matter of this bill. I have information that, in the House, we spent 34 hours debating the bill, plus an additional 22 hours at committee. In the Senate, they spent 18 hours debating the bill in the chamber, plus an additional 65 hours in clause-by…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank our colleague from Drummond and his Bloc Québécois colleagues for all the work they have done in recent months to restore some reason and reduce the confusion surrounding this important bill. Unfortunately, there are many conspiracy theories and misunderstandings. Fortunately, they are rarely the product of bad faith. It is 2023. The ways content is broadcast h…
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Madam Speaker, let me also express my words of thanks on behalf of the minister and the government, and on behalf of all artists and members of the cultural communities across Canada. My congratulations and my thanks go to the member opposite and his party for pointing out the importance of modernizing and making more equitable the Broadcasting Act. Again, we are in the 21st century. We are not ba…
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Madam Speaker, it is exactly that, keeping up with the times and looking forward to an ever-stronger and prouder community of artists, musicians and creators in our field in Canada. We are so proud of Canadian culture. We know, however, that web giants are making enormous amounts of money on the backs of Canadian artists. On this side of the House, we are certainly not preoccupied with their botto…
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Madam Speaker, there is indeed an impact on people here, and the impact is on the CEOs of web giants. There are very few of them in my riding. I live in a riding where there are lots of artists, where people come from outside of my region of Quebec City to visit festivals and support culture in my community. That is where people want to work and live. I am not particularly concerned about Netflix …
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Madam Speaker, the Senate spent 83 hours of its time looking at the bill, and House of Commons committees spent 56 hours on it. As we mentioned earlier, this is the longest-ever amount of time the Senate has spent on the study of a particular bill. That is why we are so proud and so pleased about the enormous amount of work that people in the House and the other chamber did over the last months an…
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Madam Speaker, I think we all regret that too. We would prefer to be able to move on a different path with the Conservative opposition, as has been mentioned by the Bloc and the NDP, and as the leader of the Green Party just reminded us. This is unfortunate, but that is the only path to helping Canadians and artists in our communities go forward in a challenging world. Social media, modern technol…
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Madam Speaker, the member is right in pointing to the important work the Senate did. It is why a very large number of the amendments the Senate is proposing are being approved and accepted by the government. We look forward to moving forward with them. That is why, as has also been said, we are grateful for its work and the 83 hours of time it spent on the bill. It is a very important bill; the me…
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Madam Speaker, the member who was speaking is totally right to be able to focus her attention on that.
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Madam Speaker, I look forward to more questions from her, as she keeps speaking as I try to answer the other person's question. It is fair and fine that this is happening. It is a right of all members of this House to speak at the appropriate time, as the Speaker just said, and I look forward to answering more questions.
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Madam Speaker, the member for Courtenay—Alberni said it really well. There are challenges, pressures and stressors that cultural communities, artists, musicians and others in our communities face. We know how hard-working they are, but they are working in a different environment now in 2023 than they were in the 20th century. That is why, as he rightly says, fixing things is absolutely essential. …
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Madam Speaker, I again thank my colleague from Drummond for all he is doing and for his kind words about the artists and arts community in Quebec, including in my riding of Quebec City. The actors, screenwriters, composers, technicians, musicians, all the people who bring our culture to life in Quebec and make it vibrant have said that they support this bill and want it to move forward. With respe…
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Madam Speaker, it is indeed troubling. We live in a world in which we should be able to speak about facts, and in the process, reassure Canadians that this is done for the right purposes and in a manner that is supported by so many artists and artists' representatives in Canada. It is sad, as the Green Party leader also said earlier. However, as the parliamentary secretary mentioned, we can either…
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Madam Speaker, I sure the member for Kelowna—Lake Country is very proud of her riding too. That is why I sometimes speak about my riding. Although I am the Minister of Health, more important, I am a proud representative of the Quebec City area and the member of Parliament for Québec. She is right to point to the fact that we have spent, and are spending, enormous amounts of time on this bill in th…
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Madam Speaker, the member has asked me why Conservative members do not want to move forward. I am sure it is not because they would like to support the bottom lines of web giants. I suppose that is not the case. It would seem to be the case when there is so much focus on protecting their interests and the interests of artists in Canada. I am also very proud of what she said when it comes to suppor…
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Madam Speaker, 56 and 83 are the number of hours that we spent in the House and that senators spent in their chamber looking at this bill. It is a great source of gratitude to see the extensive efforts that we all made and provided collectively in looking at the bill. As we know, things are changing. Canadians expect us to progress on matters that are important to them, and artists, musicians and …
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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 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 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 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 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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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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, 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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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, 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, 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, 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 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, 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, 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, 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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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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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, 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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