44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 22, 2024 02:00PM
- May/22/24 4:14:21 p.m.
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I declare the motion defeated.
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- May/22/24 4:15:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 21 petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
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- May/22/24 4:15:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the reports of the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, respecting its participation at the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Accra, Ghana, from September 30 to October 6, 2023, and the bilateral visit to Guyana, November 13 to 18, 2023.
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Mr. Speaker, I have two reports to present.
I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 21st report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in relation to Bill C-58, an act to amend the Canada Labour Code and the Canada Industrial Relations Board Regulations, 2012. The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House with amendments.
I also have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 22nd report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, entitled “Main Estimates 2024-25: Vote 1 under Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Votes 1 and 5 under Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization, Vote 1 under Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, and Votes 1 and 5 under Department of Employment and Social Development”.
Mr. Speaker, while I am on my feet, I move:
That the House do now proceed to orders of the day.
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- May/22/24 4:17:48 p.m.
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If a member participating in person wishes the motion be carried or carried on division, or if a member of a recognized party participating in person wishes to request a recorded division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair.
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- May/22/24 4:18:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the defence of democracy, I would ask for a recorded vote.
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- May/22/24 4:18:18 p.m.
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- May/22/24 5:01:47 p.m.
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I declare the motion carried.
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- May/22/24 5:02:51 p.m.
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I have the honour to inform the House that a message has been received from the Senate informing this House that the Senate has passed the following bill, to which the concurrence of the House is desired: S-16, an act respecting the recognition of the Haida Nation and the Council of the Haida Nation.
It is my duty pursuant to Standing Order 38 to inform the House that the questions to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment are as follows: the hon. member for Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, Correctional Service of Canada; the hon. member for Spadina—Fort York, Diversity and Inclusion; the hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, Innovation, Science and Industry.
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- May/22/24 5:03:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in relation to the consideration of Government Business No. 39, I move:
That debate be not further adjourned.
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- May/22/24 5:03:06 p.m.
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Pursuant to Standing Order 67.1, there will now be a 30-minute question and answer period.
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- May/22/24 5:03:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the government side why it felt the need to do this, to shut down debate on a gag order, because Motion No. 39 is a gag order being directed at the Standing Committee on Health. I will also remind members, before they give me talking points, that just two days before Motion No. 39 was tabled before the House, the Minister of Health said, “there will be time for the committee to conduct a study.” He continued to say, “Yes, it is important to debate. However, there is plenty of time for debate in committee and during the rest of the House process.”
What is the truth? Why is the government moving to a gag order on the gag order?
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- May/22/24 5:04:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the proposed programming motion contemplates several hours of committee study. What is also important for the House to understand and for Canadians who are watching to understand is that when we are talking about pharmacare and a precedential expansion of the medical system envelope provided in this country, we are talking about a significant feature that will help promote better health care outcomes, more equality for Canadians and specifically give women reproductive rights and reproductive control over their bodies through the provision of free contraception.
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- May/22/24 5:05:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I wonder if my colleague would join me in imploring the Conservatives to actually stand up for their constituents. There are 18,000 constituents in each and every Conservative riding in the country who would benefit from the diabetes aspect of the pharmacare program that the NDP has pushed forward and forced the government to put on the table. There are 25,000 people on average in each Conservative riding who would benefit from contraception. We are not asking Conservative MPs to even lift a finger. They do not have to do any work at all for all these benefits to flow to their constituents. All we are asking is for Conservatives to stop blocking legislation that is going to save lives and is going to help people. We are not asking them to do any work. They do not have to do anything at all. All they have to do is stop blocking.
Will Conservatives stop blocking stuff that actually helps their constituents, thousands of their constituents?
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- May/22/24 5:06:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, certainly there are many reasons to get behind this kind of legislation, but there is also an economic reason. I appeal to the red Tories who are standing opposite right now. On the diabetes stats alone, unnecessary costs are incurred from lost productivity and elevated health care system use due to diabetes and its complications, which include heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and amputation. If we provide diabetes medication free of charge, we can save an estimated $27 billion to $39 billion in our health care system in this country by 2028. That makes fiscal sense, not to mention ethical sense.
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- May/22/24 5:06:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think that if we take a look at the whole concept of a national pharmacare program where diabetes is being highlighted and the many different benefits that society would receive, it is there, and it is very tangible, as the minister just made reference to. The concern that I have is that the Conservatives have made it known that they do not support it, which means that they are prepared to do whatever it takes to prevent the bill from passing. I am wondering if the minister could provide his thoughts on the importance of the legislation passing.
Without using this particular tool within the government, the Conservatives would not allow the bill to pass.
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- May/22/24 5:07:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his contributions today and every day in this chamber. What I would say is that it is critical. It is critical for basic equality. It is critical for basic things such as women's control over their own bodies and their reproductive rights. I know that that this can sometimes be a divisive issue on that side of the House and, in particular, within that caucus.
On this side of the House and among progressive parties that are represented in this chamber, it is not controversial whatsoever. We stand by a woman's ability to control her body, to control her reproductive processes, and if that means providing free contraception, that is exactly what we will do with this bill, and we will proceed with haste to achieve that goal.
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- May/22/24 5:08:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yet again we see the government seize an opportunity to block debate on an important bill. We could have analyzed the government's intention to once again interfere, through this bill, in areas of jurisdiction that belong to the provinces and Quebec. However, by blocking debate and cutting our time short with a closure motion, the government is stopping us from having these very important conversations.
It is one more opportunity for the government to encroach on health care, which is Quebec's jurisdiction. Quebec is perfectly ready and able to take responsibility for its own social, health care support and insurance programs.
I would like the minister to reassure us. I know this is a topic that the Bloc Québécois comes back to a lot, but interference in Quebec's areas of jurisdiction is a concern for many Quebeckers. Although the debate will be cut short, will the minister still listen to Quebec's demands? Quebec demands the right to opt out with full compensation from programs like the one we are discussing today, namely pharmacare, and any others that constitute federal interference in the jurisdictions of the Government of Quebec.
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- May/22/24 5:09:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I completely disagree with everything my colleague across the way just said.
I want to stress that, when we talk about the health care budget we give to Canadians in Quebec and all across Canada, it is not about interference. It is about equality. It is about control and independence, especially for women, whether they are Quebeckers or Canadians. They have the right to control their own reproductive system, and contraception will help them do that. It is as simple as that. This is crucial for gender equality.
I hope all the Bloc Québécois members vote in favour of the bill so it can go to the committee mentioned in the motion we are now studying, because it is time to act.
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Mr. Speaker, I am all in favour of the purpose of Bill C‑64, but I take issue with rushing through the work, because we must participate in the debates.
I really wish we had time. I understand the pressure, as things in this place seem to face so many obstacles. The concern of the government is that things will get bogged down
As the leader of the Green Party, we have been, in every platform for I cannot remember how many elections, calling for a universal single-payer pharmacare that actually means that Canada will properly be a country with universal health care. We are the only country in the world that has a nationalized health care system that does not provide for universal pharmacare.
The big pharma industry in this country, and globally, makes indecent levels of profits over drugs that it has not had to put investment in for research. There are a lot of issues to discuss with pharmacare. The Hoskins report scratched the surface of the ways we could, in this country, save billions of dollars for our health care system, but not with a piecemeal approach. I very much fear the piecemeal approach to what I support: absolutely, diabetes medications, absolutely, contraception available for free. However, I fear that we may be setting up a system where, because we do not see savings, we may even see an increase in costs.
Universal, single-payer pharmacare would save our health care system billions of dollars a year, and this is not it, not yet. I want to support getting the bill through, but I really object to seeing a constant loss of our opportunity to thoroughly debate issues because of the need to bring down le bâillon, toujours la guillotine.
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