SoVote

May/6/24 7:36:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have been advocating for this type of legislation for a number of years. This is something that has been brought into Liberal platform positions in the past. This is something about which the government is very serious. Again, the member just reinforced that the Conservative Party does not support national pharmacare. I think Canadians need to be fully aware of that.

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri (Peterborough—Kawartha, CPC)

May/6/24 7:37:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour, as always, to stand in the House of Commons to represent the incredible people of Peterborough—Kawartha. Tonight on the docket, what do we have here in Ottawa, in the House of Commons? We have a bill that was put forward by the Liberal—NDP coalition and it is called pharmacare. I just want to give some context for folks at home of the summary. This is the official summary: This enactment sets out the principles that the Minister of Health is to consider when working towards the implementation of national universal pharmacare and provides the Minister with the power to make payments, in certain circumstances, in relation to the coverage of certain prescription drugs and related products. It also sets out certain powers and obligations of the Minister—including in relation to the preparation of a list to inform the development of a national formulary and in relation to the development of a national bulk purchasing strategy—and requires the Minister to publish a pan-Canadian strategy regarding the appropriate use of prescription drugs and related products. Finally, it provides for the establishment of a committee of experts to make certain recommendations. One can tell, with the word salad here, which we often see put forward by the government, that it just leaves a lot of loopholes to say that they are not going to over-commit and that they are not going to do anything, so they can then skirt out of it when it fails. What is the bill? It is really the crux of the supply and demand agreement. It is simply a bill to keep the Prime Minister in power. The leader of the NDP sold his soul for this bill, and it is sad because he has also sold out Canadians. It is frustrating. It is infuriating. It is exhausting for everyone at home. After nine years of the Prime Minister, here is what we have. I actually have to read it off of paper because there is so much that has happened. There has been doubled housing costs, the highest food bank usage in history and a steady decline in the Canadian economy, meaning that Canadians are now poorer by $4,200 per person. This is Canada's worst decade for real economic growth since the 1930s. There are Facebook groups called “dumpster divers” because people cannot afford food. Crime and chaos are at all-time highs. There are criminals running free and terrorizing neighbourhoods because of the Prime Minister's soft-on-crime policies. Domestic violence has increased. Compared to 2014, intimate partner sexual assault is 163% higher. Online child predators are up 300%. Recruitment and retention in the armed forces is the lowest in history. Young people believe that they will never own a home. People have no motivation to go to work because 46% of their paycheque goes to taxes. I had one gentleman message me. He said, “You know, Michelle, we work so hard. I'm almost embarrassed to say this because I make $100,000 a year. That sounds like so much money, but our interest rates have increased. Our mortgage costs have doubled. ” He said, “I decided I'll go take some overtime because we really can't make ends meet. We really have no money left at the end of the month. We can't afford to feed the kids. We're having to cut their sports. It's taking a toll on my marriage. It's taking a toll on our life.” He goes and works 30,000 dollars' worth of overtime and he was taxed $22,000 out of that $30,000. That was time away from his family, time away from his kids, time away from everything, to go to work, to do the right thing. Work does not pay. Why are people going to work? Why would one go to work? What a devastation to the soul, because people love to work. It is purpose. It is structure. We work for two things: because we have a purpose in this world and to collect a paycheque to provide for our families. The Liberal government has taken away both of those things. Our birth rate is the lowest in history. Has anyone noticed a trend here? These are historic numbers that have never been seen before. People cannot afford to have a baby. They are saying they cannot afford a home and cannot afford to have kids. They are terrified. There are headlines like that of a Global News article, which says, “B.C. mother says lack of child care could leave her homeless”. Guess what? The Liberal-NDP government promised that it would make affordable, accessible child care, that it would save everybody, and that everything would be great. What has been delivered? Absolute chaos. Women entrepreneurs have given their life; they have sacrificed everything to care for kids in their home, and they are losing their businesses because the Liberal-NDP government is so ideological that it does not offer flexibility and choice. It has to be the government's way always. It wants control, and that is what has happened. I visited a child care facility in Manitoba this past weekend. It was absolutely incredible. It was able to build 22 child care spots in 18 months. It is remarkable what it has been able to do. A woman who spoke to me said that the CWELCC program, or the $10-a-day child care program, is actually a risk to children because moms and parents are having to choose between feeding their kids and putting their kids in safe child care. That is the reality of what has happened under the Liberal government. Every day there are viral videos of Canadians who say they are moving because Canada is broken and no longer recognizable. We have a Liberal Prime Minister with historic records of corruption and scandals. Every single day is another scandal or another corruption. There is zero trust with the Canadian people. A guy came up to me on the street and said he just wanted me to know that people are exhausted. He is a restaurant owner and he said he was exhausted. He said that he cannot believe we have a Prime Minister who has destroyed our country in the way that he has, and that people are so tired. The NDP leader keeps him there with the bill before us that would deliver nothing, again. There are 22 people a day dying from overdoses. Drugs have flooded our streets, and addiction has taken thousands of families hostage. I want to tell members a story because I think it is critical. Right now, the Conservatives are the only party saying “enough with the wacko drug policy, safe supply”. How does it work? I want to explain it because I think it is really important. Safe supply is, ultimately, the idea that somebody dealing with or battling with addiction walks in and is given a supply of Dilaudid. On the street, they are called “dillies”. It is a highly addictive opioid. Someone is given 30 of them, Dilaudid or dillies, then they go out, maybe want to do the right thing, and take them and try to level out. However, it does not work, and they need something stronger, so they sell the Dilaudid. This is called diversion. They sell them on the street, and it brings down the value of the drug. Then they seek something stronger. Then there are all of these “safe” drugs; that is how the drug dealers sell it to high school kids. They go around and say, “Hey, this is safe. It is only a buck. Your parents can take it.” The kids buy it and now get addicted to opioids. There is a whole new generation addicted to opioids. What happens is that the addict progresses, takes fentanyl, a street drug, and dies of a fentanyl overdose. That is why we have people, especially in the NDP, who say that people are not dying of safe supply and of diversion. However, they are dying as a direct result of the failed experiment of safe supply. That is a true story. The number one cause of death for children in British Columbia between the ages 10 and 18 is opioids. It is unbelievable. There is an outreach worker in Ottawa who tells the story of what is happening on the streets of Ottawa, outside pharmacies, of dillies being diverted to teenagers. There was an arrest just outside my community, of a 14-year-old with safe-supply fentanyl. This is the reality of what has happened after nine years of the current Prime Minister. There are record applications for MAID, including from those who simply cannot afford to live so they are applying for medical assistance in dying. What a time to be Canadian. I have just read historic stats to members. Never before in my lifetime have I ever seen Canada like this. Certainly why many of us chose to run for politics was to correct the course we are on. It is not a fluke, and it is not random, why we are here. It is all a lack of leadership. That is the reality of what we are dealing with in this country. When we have a leader whose sole mission is power and control, we can guess who loses; it is Canadians. There are consequences to actions and consequences to policies, and Canadians are feeling the misery and suffering after nine years of the Prime Minister. How does this impact pharmacare? The Prime Minister knew he was tanking in the polls. He had to think up a plan, and he had to think it up quick, just like the good old Grinch. He said, “I know who I can exploit. I am going to go to the leader of the NDP. He will never be in power, so I will make him an offer, make him think he has power, and that is what I will have to keep myself in power. In case an election is called, this is how I will do it.” Every single day, I get calls asking why there is not an election. We are done. Every single thing has an expiration date. The Prime Minister is long overdue his, but he is in power, and the pharmacare bill is a big piece of it. The leader of the NDP signed a coalition agreement, and maybe he had good intentions. Maybe he thought he was actually going to help Canadians, and maybe he thinks he is going to get something out of this. I thought at the beginning of my term, and now I know, that power and control are what the Liberals want. That is the driving force for the leaders of the NDP and the Liberals in the House. The pharmacare bill is yet another marketing slogan. It sounds wonderful, but as with everything the Liberals announce, they promise us one thing and deliver another. In so many instances, they actually deliver nothing. I want to tell a story that is really sad. The Liberals often hurt the most vulnerable because they set an expectation, saying, “We are going to promise the moon, the stars, the sun and $10-a-day day care for everyone, except that one person does not get it, and another and another do not get it. One does get it, that guy right there, but everybody else is a loser. There is one winner.” There are winners and losers. That is what the Liberal-NDP government does. The government set out the Canada disability benefit. The minister of, at the time, disabilities and inclusion came to testify at the human resources committee in October of last year. We were waiting. We had witnesses. We were studying the bill, and we asked what the benefit would do. The minister said that the benefit “will lift...people out of poverty, big time.” Along came budget 2024. The Liberals were so proud. They came out and said, “Here is our disability benefit: six dollars a day.” Rachel and Jason came to my office. They are with the Council for Persons with Disabilities in Peterborough. I said, “Tell me how you feel about the disability benefit.” They said, “Well, you know, we are grateful”, because this is what the Prime Minister does. He shames people. They cannot speak out, because they just have to be grateful for the scraps the government gives them. It takes everything away from people, and then it gives them little scraps. It belittles them and make them feel small and worthless. Rachel and Jason said that it is basically like this: Members know that old game of trust, the trust and fall exercise we used to play as kids. We would close ours eyes and fall backwards, and the person behind was supposed to catch us. Jason and Rachel said to me that it is as if the person who catches is the Liberals, but not only do they not catch someone but they got out of the way and did not tell them. That is the reality of the bill before us, and the Liberals make it seem like the Conservatives do not care about this. No, it is that we do not believe them. We do not trust them and we do not believe them, because they have not delivered anything they said they would. We are the only ones standing in here fighting for the Canadians who are genuinely struggling to survive. That is the problem with the bill. Not once have Liberals proven to us that they will deliver what they said they will. There are historic highs of food bank usage in this country. Housing costs have doubled, and young people believe they will never own a home. However, the Liberals get up and say, “We have done a great job. We are such good people and Canadians should be grateful. We are really good. We are great.” Guess what? Canadians have caught on. They know so much; they see right through it. The bill is just another distraction of “We will give you this.” Let us break down the facts. Currently we are spending more on serving the Prime Minister's out-of-control debt than we are on health care transfers. This is a true story. It is going to get worse and worse because he keeps spending and spending like a maniac. It is basic economics. Anybody who has ever had to balance a household budget knows this. If someone makes $100 a month but spends $150, what happens? The person has to borrow the money. Then the next month, if that person makes $100 and again spends $150, they need to borrow more and are now at $200. They had to use their credit card to do that and are now paying credit card interest, so they are just putting money toward the interest and not even paying down their debt. Their credit score goes down and they go further and further into debt. They cannot spend time with their family and are stressed out of their mind. This is Mental Health Week. The number one thing a good leader would do is make life affordable. That is the greatest gift we can give our kids. They do not need money and things; they need us. They need connection and they need time. Parents cannot give that because they are too busy working trying to pay for food and housing they cannot afford because of the Liberal Prime Minister. There are six million Canadians without a family doctor, and wait times have never been longer. Where is the bill on that? I do not see it. The wait time from seeing a family doctor to getting specialist treatment is crazy. Listen to this. Something is wrong with a person, and they need to see the family doctor. The wait time has increased incredibly. The person does not have a family doctor, so there is problem number one. Number two is that the family doctor then has to recommend the person to the specialist. The wait time to get to the specialist has increased 195%. This is the longest it has been in three decades. People are literally dying while waiting to see specialists and to get surgery. We have the longest wait times in the world, at 25 months, for new life-saving therapies. I do not see any money in the budget for that. Who writes prescriptions? Doctors do, so if someone does not have a doctor, how are they going to get the prescription from the magical pharmacare bill? The Canadian Life & Health Insurance Association has stated that the bill would spend billions of dollars unnecessarily on drugs for people who already have coverage. Who cares about monetary policy, right? What possible consequences could come from not wanting to balance a budget? There are 27 million Canadians who rely on workplace plans and who would be placed at risk by the legislation. It would create the Canadian— An hon. member: Monetary policy is not fiscal policy. Ms. Michelle Ferreri: I love how the Liberals across the way are defending the Prime Minister, who said to the reporter, “Glen, we took on debt so you don't have to”. An hon. member: No, you just don't know the difference between monetary policy and fiscal policy. They are two different things—

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The Deputy Speaker

May/6/24 7:56:10 p.m.
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Order, please. There are going to be questions and comments after this, and I am sure if members put their hand up they can get to ask questions on this. The hon. member for Peterborough—Kawartha has the floor.

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri

May/6/24 7:56:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 27 million Canadians who rely on workplace plans would be placed at risk by the legislation. It would create the Canadian drug agency, which would cost about $90 million to create, and perhaps another $35 million a year to continue. The Parliamentary Budget Officer says it would cost tens of billions of dollars. However, when asked, the Liberals do not have an answer. They are not sure. It is kind of like the carbon tax, which was supposed to be revenue-neutral but made a billion dollars, but we are not really sure where that money went. Nobody seems to know. The major cause of people's inability to afford their medications is the cost of living. The number one reason people say they cannot afford their medications is inflation and the cost of living. This one is my favourite. Who remembers the $4.5-billion promise from the Liberals of a mental health transfer? I cannot find it. I have not seen it. However, what I do know is that we have ranked 35th out of 38 in the world for teen suicide. That is where we are at in Canada, but the Liberals are going to come save us. They do not deliver. They are the guy who promises—

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The Deputy Speaker

May/6/24 7:58:03 p.m.
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The member is out of time, almost 30 seconds past her time. Questions and comments, the hon. member for Châteauguay—Lacolle.

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Mrs. Brenda Shanahan (Châteauguay—Lacolle, Lib.)

May/6/24 7:58:16 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-35

Mr. Speaker, I am glad I do not live in the world the member lives in. It is another dystopia. The last time I listened to the member go on in a speech in that vein was on Bill C-35, the child care bill. She went on and on arguing against it and then, at the end of the night, she voted for it. In fact, every single member on that side voted for the bill. I am wondering if it is going to be the same story with the pharmacare bill.

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri

May/6/24 7:59:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am so glad the member brought up child care, because what chaos has been delivered by the Liberal-NDP government. I would strongly encourage her to reach out. There is a call right now by child care operators and families across this country. They are in dire straits from coast to coast to coast. They cannot access child care. Women cannot go to work because they cannot access child care. Children have nowhere to go. Operators who have built their entire lives on this are losing their business. There are 77% of high-income people accessing this program. That is on the Liberals' watch. It is another failure, and it is exactly what this pharmacare bill will be.

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Mr. Jean-Denis Garon (Mirabel, BQ)

May/6/24 7:59:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Châteauguay—Lacolle just asked my colleague who just spoke a question saying that they do not live in the same world. The member for Châteauguay—Lacolle also lives in a world where the National Assembly unanimously voted for a first resolution, then a second, and then a third. For years, we have been calling for Quebec to have the right to opt out with full financial compensation when Ottawa institutes new spending programs in the jurisdictions of the provinces and Quebec. She supposedly lives in that world, but it does not seem like it because across the way, in their alternative world, the federal government is supposed to be able to manage a hospital, which it has never been able to do properly. I have the following question for my Conservative colleague. Perhaps the Conservatives will form the government some day; it is hard to say. When that happens, will they agree with the concept and principle of a right to opt out with full financial compensation for Quebec when the federal government institutes programs in the jurisdictions of the provinces and Quebec?

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri

May/6/24 8:00:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again, child care is a great example. The Liberal government loves to weasel its way into provincial jurisdiction, and that is what it did with child care, too. Things were fine and everything was in its own little jurisdiction, but no, the Liberals had to meddle, disrupt it and cause chaos. Then, when it fails, they are going to blame the Conservatives. That is the way they operate.

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Meddle

Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)

May/6/24 8:01:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am both shocked and saddened by the member's speech. I am shocked because she mentioned the Conservative government. I lived through, as Canadians did, the shockingly bad years of the Harper regime, with the record deficits each and every year, the bad financial management, the scandals, one after another, and the fact that they gave $30 billion a year in the infamous Harper tax-saving treaties to the wealthy, $300 billion over the course of a dismal decade. There were cuts to health care funding and slashing of veterans' benefits. It was one of the worst periods in Canadian history, and it was certainly the worst government in Canadian history. I am saddened because the member has seen the benefits of dental care already in her own riding, dozens of people. There were 15,000 seniors in the first three days who got dental treatment. There were dozens in Peterborough—Kawartha. The reality is that 17,000 people would benefit from pharmacare in her riding. Why does she not listen to the 17,000 constituents who would benefit from pharmacare?

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri

May/6/24 8:02:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what is sad for me is a New Democratic Party that props up the Prime Minister so he can stay in power. If the member listened to anything I said and if he really cared about the most vulnerable and the disability benefit, he should know that the record-high use of food banks in history is because New Democrats are keeping the Prime Minister in power. Who is really standing up for people? That is what I would like to know.

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Mr. John Barlow (Foothills, CPC)

May/6/24 8:03:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for holding the Liberal-NDP government to account on its promises, which in many cases are just marketing projects that are never followed up on with the actual hard work of governing. Now, my colleague mentioned a couple of times that the pharmacare bill is nothing more than window dressing and that there is nothing in this bill that actually is a pharmacare plan. This is merely a bill to maybe talk about a plan to maybe talk about a pharmacare plan maybe later down the road. The NDP is championing this legislation as such a big win for them, just to keep the Prime Minister in power. Is there anything actually in this legislation that promises Canadians any change or additional access to health care or health care products?

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri

May/6/24 8:04:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I love that question, and the answer is no.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Kingston and the Islands, Lib.)

May/6/24 8:04:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is what I am worried about. This bill talks about contraceptive medication. In particular, when we talk about a woman's right to choose, what I am worried about is that the Conservative Party of Canada— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

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The Deputy Speaker

May/6/24 8:04:47 p.m.
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Order. Let us just make sure we get the questions and comments, and we can continue on. The hon. member for Kingston and the Islands has the floor.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

May/6/24 8:04:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has been suggesting recently that he will use the notwithstanding clause where he sees fit. On Friday, the member for Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston specifically said, “A common-sense Conservative government would use the notwithstanding clause only on matters of criminal justice.” Well, performing an abortion back in the nineties was considered a crime. The member could very easily put my concern to rest by answering this question. Can the member categorically say that a future Conservative government would absolutely protect a woman's right to choose and not use the notwithstanding clause on a matter such as that, yes or no?

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri

May/6/24 8:05:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what a question coming from a man. I would love him to tell me what to do with my uterus. That is great. That member will never tell me what to do with my body. We know the Liberals are losing really bad when they bring up abortion. We will never bring this up. If the member opposite wants to talk about my reproductive rights, he had better put a woman up and stop mansplaining to me. Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

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The Deputy Speaker

May/6/24 8:06:23 p.m.
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Order. The hon. member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue.

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Mr. Sébastien Lemire (Abitibi—Témiscamingue, BQ)

May/6/24 8:06:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in her speech, my colleague quite pointedly criticized various aspects of this bill. She explained why it should not be passed. In my opinion, she left out one thing, and that was jurisdictions. It is not the federal government's place to become involved in health issues or, by extension, in drug management. Does my colleague have anything to add about the federal government's jurisdiction over pharmacare?

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri

May/6/24 8:07:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, absolutely, we believe in provincial jurisdiction. Again, we have just seen a federal government and a Prime Minister that want more control weighted into an area that has nothing to do with the Liberal government.

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Jurisdiction

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