SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24

Ms. Leah Taylor Roy (Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, Lib.)

May/29/24 2:17:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, four women put their names forward to run for the Conservative nomination in my riding of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill. None of those women made it onto yesterday's ballot, but two men did. Really? This example is not the exception. It demonstrates a lack of support for women and women's rights throughout the Conservative Party, and it is just the tip of the iceberg. Recently, we saw the chairperson on the Standing Committee on the Status of Women summarily removed by the Conservative leader. Was she too progressive or too strong? There are so many anti-choice caucus members, and one recently shouted that women who get abortions are needing redemption, forgiveness and God. It is truly appalling. As well, the Conservatives' leader refuses to answer questions or to make a commitment to proactively defend access to abortion, instead, pointing to a written statement. This is not good enough. Canadian women deserve a leader who does not just make hollow statements. We need and deserve a leader who proactively supports. Luckily, we have that leader and that party. I give thanks to our Prime Minister.

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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24

Mr. Peter Julian

May/29/24 8:52:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, now I will move on to women's health care. Abortion is health care, and the Liberals promised to expand access to sexual and reproductive health. Abortion care is still inaccessible for far too many women, especially in northern and rural communities. Clinic 554 in Fredericton, the last remaining abortion clinic in New Brunswick, closed its doors earlier this year. Can the minister explain why the government failed to save Clinic 554 and what his government is doing to hold provinces accountable when they restrict abortion care? When will the government re-establish abortion care in New Brunswick?

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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24

Hon. Mark Holland

May/29/24 8:53:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, of course abortion care is absolutely essential health care, and all women should have access to it no matter where they are in the country. There are still options in New Brunswick, but not enough of them. This is a conversation I have had with Minister Fitch with respect to the clinic that has been referenced. That is obviously under provincial jurisdiction, but there have been instances where we have withheld, because of actions taken on this issue, transfers under the Canada Health Act, but I would like to be able to fix this, again, with co-operation. It is essential that women have access to the care they need. Also, we talked about pharmacare and what we are doing—

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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24

Mr. Peter Julian

May/29/24 8:53:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the New Brunswick government is not co-operating, what will the federal government do to re-establish abortion care in New Brunswick?

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Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24

Hon. Mark Holland

May/29/24 11:49:47 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank my friend and colleague for her advocacy in this space, both in her public and private life. The truth is that it is very frustrating, beyond frustrating, to watch some of the members across the way who hold three positions simultaneously. First, they are against choice. They believe that a woman should not have autonomy over her own body and make a choice with respect to abortion. Second, they are voting against women being able to have access to the contraceptive medicine they need to be able to make their own choice about their body and when they would start a family. Third, they will not speak openly or honestly about sex or sexual education. If one is against all three of those things, then, plainly stated, one is against a woman's sexual freedom or health generally. We know that misinformation and stigma is disastrous. We also know that for too many women who do not have the means, they are forced into a circumstance, to use contraceptives that are available and are cheaper, but less effective. To give a very clear example, oral contraceptives have a failure rate of 9%. We know that an IUD has a failure rate of 0.2% but so many women cannot make the choice to have an IUD because it is too expensive, which means that they lose, in many instances, control over when they start their family. That is fundamentally about freedom. In my view, it is fundamentally wrong. I hope that the action we are taking here is seen as complementary to our action generally, to make sure that women have control over their sexual health and their reproductive freedom.

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