SoVote

Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

May/6/24 6:03:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I find it hilarious that the Conservatives are protecting big insurance companies. I find it particularly entertaining that the member and his party, which would not be affected by this, including with contraception, fight so diligently against the reproductive rights of people. I find it funny. Does the member support access to trauma-informed abortion care and access to reproductive rights, which would include free contraception care for those who do not have insurance and those who fall outside the programs, or does he think the Conservatives should just keep violating reproductive rights in real time as we are seeing in the House?

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Context: House Hansard - 309 - May/6/24

Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

May/6/24 7:31:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know that it was the NDP who pushed for the beginning stages of this pharmacare plan. I am very proud that the NDP government in Manitoba already has free contraception in place. I am glad that the Liberals are finally coming on board, after a lot of coaxing. However, despite the Liberals saying they support the right to choose, they have not done their due diligence in ensuring access to safe, trauma-informed abortion care, including out east where women cannot even access abortion. Does my hon. colleague agree that the government is responsible to ensure that women can access safe, trauma-informed abortion out east and that the government needs to do more to uphold that right?

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Context: House Hansard - 309 - May/6/24

Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

May/6/24 8:35:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have heard in the House tonight, I know the Conservatives think providing free contraception is communist, but I would like to say this to the hon. member across the way: They talk about reproductive rights, but in New Brunswick, one cannot even access a trauma-informed abortion at care. We have a Canada Health Act that they have to uphold, and I am glad that the member supports that, but his government actually does not support action. It is one thing to say that we support the right to a safe, trauma-informed abortion, but it is another thing to provide access to that right.

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Context: House Hansard - 309 - May/6/24

Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

May/6/24 8:36:53 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-311

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to support what the NDP has fought for. It is the beginning of a pharmacare plan that will start with one of the things the NDP has championed for years: the reproductive rights of women and people who menstruate. It is a significant step forward to promote reproductive rights for women and gender-diverse people in Canada; we know, for far too long, leaders have neglected calls to improve reproductive health services. In this room today, I have heard Conservatives saying such things as that we already pay for abortion; they know very well that even the Liberal government still does not provide access to safe, trauma-informed abortion care. We are talking about the gamut of reproductive rights; that includes the ability, if one so chooses, to access contraception. I used to be a high school sex ed teacher. One thing we would talk to the kids about was choice and how to protect themselves and their reproductive rights should they want to avoid pregnancy. I know there are Conservatives smiling because the discussion around sex, abortion and contraception is a difficult one, but these are important open discussions that we have to have, especially as we change into a society that is becoming much more inclusive in our gender diversity. I support that. The bill would allow nine million people of reproductive age in Canada to access contraception, providing them with reproductive autonomy and reducing the risk of unintended pregnancies. However, we know that bodily autonomy is currently under attack. We have heard in the House, in fact, petitions that have been put on the floor by the Conservative Party that attack the trans community. The March for Life is happening on Thursday, and I wonder which Conservative faces we will see again this year at the campaign. Just as the colleague across the way said, the Campaign Life Coalition has labelled the Conservatives anti-choice. This is not surprising, because in this very session of Parliament, Bill C-311 was named a backdoor anti-abortion legislation in the name of so-called violence, even though it was not supported by any women's groups working with women and gender-diverse people who are experiencing violence. The bill is also a major win for promoting the rights of economic empowerment for women and gender-diverse people in Canada. We have a right to choose what we want to do with our own bodies. I find it disturbing that, in 2024, most of the people opposing the bill in the House on the Conservative side are not even impacted by it. I do not know many men in the House who have to run to the drugstore to get birth control pills or have to use diaphragms or IUDs. This is a gender-specific issue for women and gender-diverse people. It is really appalling, because the very Conservative opposition that is talking about freedom, with a leader who talks about freedom, does not believe in freedom when it comes to bodily autonomy. The member for Carleton does not believe in freedom of religion, with the kind of Islamophobic, visceral garbage I have to hear on that side. Now they are directly attacking women's right to choose.

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Context: House Hansard - 309 - May/6/24

Ms. Leah Gazan

May/6/24 8:49:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would also like to apologize for my misreading when I was reading the article. I do apologize. I was not trying to be cheeky, but I was reading directly from an article. We know that certain provinces, provinces his colleague called “communist”, are providing free contraception care—

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Context: House Hansard - 309 - May/6/24

Ms. Leah Gazan

May/6/24 8:49:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I certainly was not saying that he called provinces communist. I said that some of his colleagues have called them communist. Certainly, provinces do not act alone in health care. The federal government works with provinces to provide services. We have pushed the federal government to ensure provinces have what they need to provide, as a starting point, free diabetes medication and also contraception.

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Context: House Hansard - 309 - May/6/24

Ms. Leah Gazan

May/6/24 8:52:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is exactly it. If one looks at access to reproductive rights, they vary throughout the country. We need to change that to ensure that if this country is actually doing what it says, which is protecting the reproductive rights of those people who can get pregnant, then they need to start doing that. That means access to safe, trauma-informed abortion care or access to contraception.

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Context: House Hansard - 309 - May/6/24

Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

May/6/24 9:36:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to work with my hon. colleague across the way at the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. There are other folks on the committee and I really enjoy working with all of them, even across party lines, believe it or not. The Conservatives are talking about voting against free contraception in this plan. There is no question that they are anti-choice. All the members have been listed as anti-choice, but they also voted against the school food program and pushed against the national child care program. The Conservative Party does not seem to be supportive of equity in this country. Supporting this bill is so important. I am wondering if they are really serious about advancing the rights of women, or if maybe they just want women and gender-diverse people to stay in the dark ages.

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