44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 6, 2024 11:00AM
- May/6/24 2:29:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me state clearly and unequivocally that every woman, in every part of the country, must have access to the oral contraceptives she needs to have control over her reproductive future. Any party that stands in the way of that is standing in the way of the basic freedom for women in our country to have autonomy over their body.
I would ask the Conservative Party of Canada to stop blocking this so that women can get the reproductive aids they need to have control over their reproductive future.
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- May/6/24 2:30:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a question of freedom. Women across the country will have access to the contraceptive drugs they need for their body and their freedom. I wonder why the Conservative Party is blocking the bill that will provide drugs not just to women, but also to diabetics.
It is time to take action. It is time to ensure that there is true freedom for women across the country. It is time to stop blocking legislation.
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- May/6/24 3:00:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, of course, all members in this House are absolutely ripped apart by what we are seeing the opioid crisis do across this country. The responsibility we have to the families who have lost loved ones and to the people who are in crisis right now is to make sure we follow the evidence. The reality is that the ideas proposed by the Conservatives have been tried and have failed everywhere they have been tried. If we are going to have honest conversations, holding out false solutions is very disappointing on a subject so sensitive.
We need to work collaboratively in an evidence-based way to make sure that we do everything we can to get this right.
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- May/6/24 3:01:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking the member for Richmond Hill for all his work to promote—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/6/24 3:01:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking the member for Richmond Hill, who has been such an incredible advocate in making sure that all Canadians get the oral health care they deserve.
In the first three days, we have had extraordinary results. More than 15,000 seniors, just in the first three days, have already gotten service. When we think about that, it is a fundamental issue with dignity and prevention. Those are seniors who are not going to wind up in a hospital room.
We need to continue that momentum. More than 8,000 dentists have now signed up, with more and more signing up every day. We are going to get to—
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- May/6/24 3:36:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his work on this legislation. Specifically, I want to take an opportunity to thank the member for Vancouver Kingsway for his work as well.
Canadians expect parliamentarians to work together to get results, to get the services and the care that they need. It is fine that the Conservatives are going to vote against dental care or vote against pharmacare, which means they are voting against medication for diabetes and against women getting access to the contraceptives they need. It is bad enough that they would vote against it, but to block it actively, to block the elected will of the House to be able to get care to people, is extremely disturbing.
I will talk about dental care. It was really revealing to talk to dentists across the country who had been filled with misinformation, and who were shocked by how easy it is to use the dental care plan. The reason that confusion, in many cases, exists is because of the confusion deliberately being pumped into it.
Again, I would say this to the Conservatives: It is fine that they do not want people to get diabetes medication, they do not want seniors to get dental care and they do not want people to be able to get access to the contraceptives that they need. That is one thing, but they should allow the House to do its work, allow us to move the legislation forward and allow us to make sure that those people who need care get care.
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- May/6/24 3:38:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there will be time for the committee to conduct a study. After committee, there is still going to be time for the report stage and third reading. After that, there will be time in the Senate. It is important to keep the debate going, one step at a time. We need to make sure we can have a conversation with the Quebec government.
I had a good conversation with Minister Dubé. Quebec is ready to move forward. If the House takes too long, it affects people who really need medication, whether it is diabetes medication or contraceptives.
Yes, it is important to debate. However, there is plenty of time for debate in committee and during the rest of the House process. It is time to get on with it and move forward.
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- May/6/24 3:41:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think it really is reprehensible to see the backward movement we are seeing over women's reproductive health and rights, where their autonomy over their own bodies is being called into question.
Let me make it very clear, as Minister of Health, that we will do everything in our power to make sure that women have full power and autonomy over their bodies. That is a fundamental freedom. That includes their reproductive futures.
In many of these instances is an inability to have real conversations about sex and about whether a woman should have the autonomy to make a choice about the way in which she makes decisions with her body. It is absolutely unacceptable in this country. When we take something like contraceptives, such as a condom, that have a failure rate of about 9%, and an IUD, which has a failure rate of 0.2%, how could people, first of all, have the position that they are going to tell a woman what she does with her body and then, secondly, try to block her ability to get reproductive technologies so that she does not wind up with an unwanted pregnancy?
Those things, to me, seem to be diametrically opposed. If one was opposed to abortion, if one was opposed to a woman being able to make that choice over her body, it would seem to me that one would at least stand up and support her ability to get reproductive medicine.
For me, it is extremely disturbing that this is any kind of debate in this country. Everywhere in this country, every woman should be told that she has autonomy over her body and that she has access to the medication she needs. That is fundamentally what this bill is about, in part. I am sure we will get an opportunity to talk about diabetes as well.
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- May/6/24 3:44:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is a concrete proposal to move pharmacare forward in this country. The drugs are two classes of drugs. They represent more than 80 different medical drugs that deal specifically with diabetes and contraceptives. It is part of a broader suite of actions that we are taking, such as, for example, drugs for rare diseases. I am currently having conversations with every province and territory about how we can take action on drugs for rare diseases so that folks with rare diseases can get access to the medications they need.
It is part of what we have done on bulk purchasing to realize $300 million in savings for Canadians across the country. It also builds on the work that we are doing with a pilot in P.E.I., where we have been able to get copays down to five dollars there, saving seniors hundreds and hundreds of dollars in P.E.I.
Action is taken one step at a time by demonstrating in evidence exactly what is going to be saved and exactly how this should function. As an example, in British Columbia, when it comes to contraceptives, it already shows that the province is saving more than it costs to run the program. I suspect we will also see that in diabetes. Canadians, rightfully, want to see this in evidence. They want to see these things live out there, demonstrate how they work in each example and then build on that successively.
Our health care system was based on an iterative process by making sure that the steps we take are prudent, smart and fiscally responsible, and that is the way that we need to proceed with pharmacare as well.
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- May/6/24 3:47:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the answer, of course, is no, and that point is not grounded in any kind of reality. There is no plan. I used to be the head of Heart and Stroke, and we would negotiate benefit agreements. They cannot say, “Oh, there are two drugs and now people are going to cancel the rest of their medical coverage.” That is a preposterous notion that is not rooted in anything resembling reality. What really would happen is that people would have choice. What does that mean? Let me be very clear, and put the question back to the member.
For somebody in the member's riding who does not have the money for contraception, why should they be limited to the choice they can afford, which has a 9% failure rate, when there is something available to them that has a 0.2% failure rate? Why should somebody who has less money not have access to the contraceptive medicine they need to have choice and autonomy over their own body? I can tell the member that I have had direct conversations with Minister Asagwara. We are ready to work together to deliver this in the same way that we are working together to create dental care.
It is fine if the Conservatives want to vote against it. If they do not think those people should have access to contraceptive drugs, then that is fair. They are allowed to have that position and to go and defend it. However, they should not try, with misinformation and blocking in the House, to sabotage the ability of somebody to get dental care or contraceptives. Let us have a debate rooted in reality. The reality is that there is an enormous need. This bill would make sure that everybody would get exactly what they need and would not be left in a position without the critical medication that they require.
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- May/6/24 3:51:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I recognize and appreciate the work of the New Democratic Party in this bill. It was a good example of members coming across party lines to find a way to work toward solutions.
In the first order, every member should be very clear about where they stand with respect to reproductive medicine for women. It is a pretty basic question, and I hope every member would answer it in the affirmative. Should women be able to access the reproductive medicine that they need to have control and autonomy over their own bodies? I hope every member would say yes. I am concerned that some might not agree with that statement.
In the second order, in this country, people can have an opinion on whether a woman should have an abortion or not, but they do not have the right to tell a woman what to do with her body. It is that simple. The member is quite right that the ability of every woman everywhere in the country to have clear, definitive and unquestionable choice over who she is as a person and her sexual and reproductive health is essential. Anywhere that a woman is blocked from that, then we have a collective demand for action. Yes, there are provincial and territorial considerations in that, but I absolutely and firmly agree with that, as a matter of principle. I look forward to working with the member to make sure that we live in the type of country that she and I both want to have, where every woman has full control over her body and over her sexual and reproductive choices.
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- May/6/24 3:54:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for the bilateral agreements with every province and territory, there is truly a spirit of collaboration. The focus is not on jurisdictions, but on the best way to work together, to ensure that there are nationwide indicators for tracking progress in the data for every province and territory.
As we did for oral health care, we are once again going to work closely with the Province of Quebec, Minister Dubé and the entire Government of Quebec to ensure that the program works properly. There are going to be debates in committee and at third reading stage. After that, it will go to the Senate, and then to the provinces and Quebec. I am very open to the idea of working with the members across the way because we have a common objective: to ensure that everyone receives services and ensure that the jurisdictions are respected. The goal is to work collaboratively to find a solution together.
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- May/6/24 3:57:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, each of these actions does not stand on its own. They are part of an overall plan to make sure that we have the best health care system in the world. We cannot have the best health care system in the world, just as a point of fact, if one-third of Canadians do not have access to dental care. We cannot have the best health care system in the world if women do not have access to the contraception they need or if we have diabetes patients who do not have access to their medication. As an example, Sarah, in an Ottawa clinic, was talking about people having to reuse syringes because they do not have the money to get new devices.
Also, we think of the school food program, about kids getting the healthy food and nutrition they need. We think about what we are doing for the safe long-term care act and, as the member mentioned, the 26 agreements signed across the country, whether they are on aging with dignity, working together, primary care, nurses or doctors. What we are seeing with the provinces and territories is that, by working together, we are able to make huge change everywhere in our health system to improve it.
What we all need to be doing in the space of health is to be focused on data, evidence and moving forward because, I will say, and I know the member feels the same way as I do, that what Canadians expect of us is to not talk about our differences. This is not to try to find problems and spend all of our energy criticizing things, but to find solutions and answers, to drive that forward and to make things better. That is squarely where our mind is focused, and I know that it is squarely where the health ministers across the country of every political stripe are as well. I look forward to the meeting we are going to be having later this week with all health ministers.
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- May/6/24 4:00:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite would know that we are dealing with an inflationary crisis that exists across the world. That makes it incredibly difficult for Canadians.
It does not matter that Canada has one of the lowest rates of inflation in the industrialized world. In fact, we have the second-lowest rate of food inflation in the OECD. It is ridiculous to pretend that that exists in some kind of domestic bubble that only Canada is facing. It ignores the complete reality across the world.
The question is what we do when people are facing hard times in the world. Do we pretend that it only exists domestically and tell people that cuts to government services and programs is somehow going to magically make things better, or do we lean in and help people?
I would say the member for Saskatoon West has an opportunity. He says that people have access to the drugs that they need. That is not the case. That is absolutely not the case. People who have an existing drug plan are going to continue to enjoy the access that they have to their drugs.
The question here is about, for example, a woman who is an abusive relationship and whose insurance overage is through her partner. She would not have the ability to get that medication on her own. That is what this bill is about. If a young woman, whose health coverage is through somebody else, is making a decision about their reproductive future, it is about making sure that that person has access. There are absolutely millions of people who do not have any coverage at all, for whom dollars and cents mean they do not have access to life-saving medicine.
If the member opposite does indeed support the people who do not have access to these medications getting them, there is great news. There is something he could do, and that is vote for this bill.
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- May/6/24 4:02:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her work and for her advocacy in this space. I recognize that she has worked long and hard to try to make sure that women have access to what they need, to make sure that they have autonomy over their own bodies and their sexual and reproductive health.
I cannot guess as to why the Conservatives would block something as important as this. Underlying it is a conversation that we do need to have as a country about sexual health. We have to be able to have open conversations about sex. When we do not have open conversations about sex, it means that people are more likely to be mistreated, manipulated and subject to abuse. Consent can only come from knowledge. Sexual shame does radical and destructive damage everywhere in the country.
For me, women having access to the contraception that they need is not, just in and of itself, enough. We also need to be able to say to women, to men, to those who are non-binary and to those who are trans that who they are is just fine and anybody who tries to make them feel less than or to attack their identity is creating an act of sabotage that is totally and utterly unacceptable. The real villain is the shame that we push upon others for being who they are, and the damage that does is unspeakable and must be stopped.
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