44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 16, 2023 10:00AM
- Feb/16/23 12:35:12 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise in the House today to speak to the motion brought forward by the NDP.
My colleagues and my constituents certainly already know how I feel about the Ontario premier's privatization agenda. Federal Liberal and Conservative governments have backed away from their role in the provision of health care. Instead of enforcing the Canada Health Act, they have steadily allowed two-tiered health care. Over decades, successive Liberal and Conservative governments have severely underfunded the health care system, cutting transfers, creating a perceived a crisis and making people believe that there is no other solution but privatization.
The government needs to provide real leadership and real solutions. The solutions need to solve the recruitment and retention crisis with health care workers. It needs to make sure that public dollars go to public health care. It needs to close loopholes that are allowing private American-style health care through the back door.
While respiratory illnesses were ripping through our communities, I was in the House calling on the federal government to take that leadership. Last fall, when London's emergency room wait times hit an all-time high of 20 hours, I called on the government to sit down with the provinces to create a deal that protected public health care. When London was warned by health officials that the record influx of patients at children's hospitals would not slow down, I told the government that parents are living in fear of their kids getting sick, and it had to come to the negotiating table.
When children's hospitals were forced to delay surgeries, I called out the government for walking away from those negotiations. When Doug Ford tried downloading $300 million to London's municipal government because he did not want to adequately fund health care infrastructure, I called on the government to find a deal to ensure the provinces could find enough money that was needed for that infrastructure.
When the crisis peaked and London's underfunded and understaffed children's hospitals had to transfer out kids all the way to Kingston, and when the Red Cross had to be called in to Ottawa's hospitals, I asked the government what it would take to finally step up to provide that leadership. By sending people to private for-profit clinics, not only will people now pay double for health care services, but human resources will be drained from an already strained public sector.
To explain a bit of this recruitment and retention crisis in Ontario, we only have to look to Doug Ford's government's use of Bill 124 to cap Ontario nurses' wages at a 1% increase. Think about the financial strain that workers have gone through in the last few years, certainly recently with the cost of living crisis throughout the pandemic and now. Through all of that, Conservatives froze nurses' wages. While the government refused to pay what they are worth, they still showed up for Canadians through COVID-19. They show up today.
When these failed provincial policies meant hospitalization and ICU rates hit unprecedented levels over and over, they still showed up, but that took a toll on our health care workers. Ontario nurses' overtime hours skyrocketed by 109% during the pandemic. Across Canada, 94% of nurses said they were experiencing symptoms of burnout and 45% of nurses said they are experiencing severe burnout. Even before the pandemic, 60% of nurses said they intended to leave their jobs within the next year and more than one-quarter wanted to leave their profession altogether.
After years of refusing to hammer out fair collective agreements with health care workers, years of neglecting our health care system and the creation of a crisis, the idea of privatization has been allowed to creep in. However, we have to be clear that for-profit health care means that wait times will get worse, the quality of care will drop and all Canadians will have to foot the bill.
We know what happens to for-profit corporations when they deliver care. We have seen it in long-term care. During the pandemic, more than 17,000 people lost their lives in long-term care. The Canadian Armed Forces were called in because of that crisis. The loss of life and neglect of seniors were avoidable, but the lack of legislated care standards directly led to the deaths of thousands of people living in long-term care homes.
The staffing shortage has only gotten worse in private hands. For-profit temp agencies have been overcharging care homes. Yesterday, Global News reported that the temp agencies are taking advantage of the staffing shortage by charging up to $150 an hour. That is why New Democrats have fought for national long-term care standards and have called for them in our agreement with the government.
In my community, we had two recent preventable tragedies. We lost two seniors in house fires, two women who were waiting for long-term care beds. One of them was on a list for a not-for-profit bed for two years. She was living at home long after she knew it was time to leave, as it was not safe.
The privatization of this sector has exacerbated the crisis. Private, two-tiered systems do not work. The for-profit delivery of health care is only going to make this crisis worse. After years of the suppression of public sector wages, health care workers will be poached by short-term promises from private employers. They will then prioritize cheap, fast procedures over complex, life-saving surgeries that would help solve the backlog. Prioritizing profit over treatment means rushed jobs that increase preventable deaths.
Canadians need real solutions to fix public universal health care, not to be funnelling funds and staff to the for-profit facilities. We need new bilateral health agreements that result in thousands of new health care workers. We need to stand up for those workers and their unions to keep the professionals we have and to recruit new ones. We need to close Canada Health Act loopholes that are already allowing corporations to siphon public funds to private pockets.
I want to finish today by telling the House about my constituent, a woman of incredible generosity, kindness and care. She gave a lot of her senior years in service to helping veterans in my community. Her name was Doreen Schussler. Every time I saw Doreen, she was there with a hug and a smile. She took such pride in the fact that her husband was a veteran. He had actually won the highest service honour from the government of France for his time in service. She was always there, and then Doreen got sick.
A normally very healthy senior woman got sick. She needed a fairly non-complex procedure. She had to go to the emergency room where she waited for hours and hours for care. When she was finally provided assistance from one of the overburdened workers in the ER, she was seen in a hallway. She was not given an adequate diagnosis. She was not given the time that she needed because that health care worker did not have it to give, and she was sent home where she continued to suffer in pain and agony.
It is a pretty gruesome story, so I will not go into details. Her daughter, Deborah, shared them with me, and we cried a lot over the death of her mother. Deb came to find her mother in a horrific situation, dead at home because of the care that she did not receive due to the crisis that has been created through the underfunding of our public systems, which was entirely preventable.
Deb came to me and asked me to fight for her mother. She also asked, “Lindsay, how can I also fight for people like my mother, people who do not have an advocate in their corner, who cannot suffer the same fate as my mother?” I want to thank Deborah not only for allowing me to share her mother's story today, but also for that continued fight. Her daughter simply asks that we think about this now in the House: What if it were our own mother?
That is what we talk about when we talk about care in this country. To fight over jurisdiction does no one any good, but to actually come up with real leadership and solutions, that is what we have been sent here to do. That is what I ask us to do today.
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- Feb/16/23 12:45:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would simply ask the member if the government is willing to ensure that all this money he is talking about, which is inadequate by the way, actually goes to public health care?
It used to be that the agreement between the provinces and the federal government was a fifty-fifty split in responsibility and funding of health care dollars. That does not exist now. That is because of successive governments, Conservative and Liberal, undermining that funding. That is what I ask, and that is what I challenge the government to do. It should ensure that whatever money it can give, which is not enough, actually goes to public funds.
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- Feb/16/23 12:47:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, again, this is not about that jurisdictional fight, which I know has been the focus of the Bloc today. It is not actually voting with the NDP beyond that jurisdiction fight. Yes, it is about the money. It has not been there. The Conservatives slashed it in the Harper days. The Liberals have not brought it back to the levels that are required.
Each provincial government, including the Quebec national government, has underfunded health care. They have used the privatization aspect to underfund those public system. Money is at stake here. It is part of the conversation, but so is the drive of each provincial and territorial government on what they expect Canadians, overall, to put up with. Simply put, it cannot be a privatization of the system.
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- Feb/16/23 12:49:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I often cannot see the difference between Conservatives and Liberals with the decisions that they make. The flip-flop is not all that surprising to me. What I would suggest is that New Democrats have always been consistent about our defence of health care, the creation of it, the expansion of it and the strengthening of it.
We had to sit down and force the Liberal government to fulfill some of the promises it has been making for decades. Dental care is a perfect example. Pharma care is a perfect example. I would ask that Canadians look at that and the constant flip-flop to say who actually—
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- Feb/16/23 3:37:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague and neighbour in London West spoke about the $49 billion extra funds coming to the provinces. Of course, that is spread over 10 years and it is spread over the provinces.
In our city, London Health Sciences is asking for an additional plan of $3 billion, and $300 million of that will fall to the city because of a lot of the downloading. We talked about downloading from the federal government to the provinces and provinces to the municipalities. I would like her to respond about the specific ask from London, the need and how this money could go to help that institution.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for the introduction of this PMB. I know it will mean a lot for members in my community in London—Fanshawe. He spoke about that coming together after the explosion in Beirut, and I really appreciate that. That hit my community so incredibly hard.
They have been asking what we can do now, what more we can do and how we can ensure that consistent building back for Lebanon, which is complicated but necessary, as the jewel of the Middle East, is brought forward.
What can Canada do?
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Mr. Speaker, shukran. It is an honour to rise in the House today to speak about Bill C-232, which designates the month of April as Arab heritage month. I want to thank the hon. member for Ottawa South for introducing it. Arab heritage month is an important month to have because it provides the opportunity and space for Arab Canadians to showcase their culture, their talents and why they are proud to be both Arab and Canadian.
Starting in 1890 and continuing throughout the 20th century, generations of Arab immigrants have come to my home city of London, Ontario, to establish a new life for themselves. In turn, they have built a community that continues to flourish today.
In my riding of London—Fanshawe, I have a large Arab Canadian population that I am extremely proud to call my friends, neighbours and community partners. I have people from all over the Arab world: Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Sudan and many more. Each Arab Canadian community has its own traditions, regalia, food, music, dance and ceremonies, which is something I cherish. I look forward to attending ceremonies every occasion I am invited to one in my riding in London.
I have learned that family is one of the most important aspects of Arab society. Family loyalty and unity are the greatest lessons taught in Arab families, and these are the values we need to build on in our country. The Arabic community in London is also so giving, generous and compassionate. We have seen the many fundraisers they held when the tragic explosion happened in Lebanon. There was a fundraiser just last weekend at the London Muslim Mosque in support of the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
They give so generously internationally, but also do so much for our community at home. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge some individuals, Arabic organizations and Arabic religious groups in my riding that have contributed largely to our local community: the Canadian Arab Society of London, the Lebanese Canadian Cultural Club of London, the Canadian Cedars of Hope, the Canadian Iraqi House, the Western Arab Students' Association, the London Council of Arab Women, the Muslim Resource Centre, MAC, the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario, the London Muslim Mosque, the Hyatt Mosque and the Al-Mahdi Islamic Community Centre. They all hold fundraisers, host information sessions and run community organizations, food banks and soup kitchens, just to name a few.
This past summer, I attended the Middle Eastern Community Festival at the St. John the Baptist Melkite Catholic Church, which offers liturgy services to Arabic-speaking parishioners. I enjoyed attending the festival and appreciated the great hospitality, the amazing shawarma and the za'atar pies. I even did the dabke dance, although not well.
Also in my riding is the St. Elias Maronite Catholic Church, which has a proud heritage that it has shared with me and our community so generously.
I have to mention that in London there are two Arabic newspapers, Albilad and Hona. These two newspapers deliver local and international news and information to the community in the Arabic language.
I also have to mention Philip Aziz, an influential Londoner of Lebanese Greek Orthodox Christian descent. He was recognized for his work in the art technique of egg tempera on gesso panels. The Aziz family is one of the oldest families in London.
Of course, I have to mention Nazem Kadri, a Londoner and famous NHL player, who this summer brought the Stanley Cup home and shared it with members of the London Muslim Mosque.
The holy month of Ramadan is approaching, and I am looking forward to breaking the fast with Muslim and Arab community members. They come together and share so willingly. The children run around and there is such joy in the air. It is a truly wonderful place to be.
Today, I know members can hear the joy and pride in my voice when I speak about the Arab Canadian community. However, I also speak with a lot of sadness because of the struggles they continue to face with respect to discrimination and hate. London is not immune to that, so I share my sorrow. My hope is that through this bill to designate Arab heritage month, we can move past it, educate and see an end to the discrimination and hate. I hope this bill, and the designation of Arab heritage month, will help educate us and will celebrate Arab Canadians, who are truly Canadian and a part of our community. This will break down fear and ignorance. The Arab community deserves this type of positive recognition, especially when we consider its economic, social and cultural contributions, which continue in our neighbourhoods.
I do not have time to mention all the incredible businesses in my riding that are of Arab Canadian descent and started by incredible entrepreneurs in our community. There are way too many, but I try to get to as many as I can.
I also want to send a special shout-out to the NDP lobby and Anthony Salloum on our team, who is of Arab Lebanese heritage. In my constituency office, my outreach coordinator is also of Lebanese heritage, and I am so proud to be able to offer our office services in Arabic to welcome Arab Canadians. Trying to find support in one's second or third or potentially fourth language is so challenging. I hope people know that by providing those additional supports and services, people from all different communities, including the Arab Canadian community, can feel welcome and safe in my office and that they know my door is always open and we are here to support them.
I want to thank the member for Ottawa South for bringing this legislation forward. I am proud to support this bill and this important recognition of Arab Canadians. I urge all my colleagues to support it, and hopefully next April, when we are all here, we can celebrate together Arab heritage month.
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