44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 29, 2024 02:00PM
- May/29/24 7:48:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this week I met with members of the Matsqui First Nation who have been calling for a health study for their community for decades. They are seeing rare forms of cancer in their community in unprecedented proportions that should be unheard of. The government could fund that health study, it could invest in protecting the communities impacted by the oil sands and by the corporate greed that we are seeing across this country, but it is choosing not to. It could be giving every low- and middle-income Canadian a heat pump, but it is choosing not to.
If the Liberals are choosing not to, because, as they are saying, there are fiscal restraints, well then tax the big oil and gas companies that are burning our planet, poisoning the water and fuelling the climate crisis that we are in. When will the government implement a tax on the biggest corporations, the big oil and gas companies?
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- May/29/24 7:56:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yes, the number of people who have been arrested rather than being diverted to health services has—
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- May/29/24 8:05:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my questions will all be for the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.
Does the minister agree that hospitals should be safe places where patient care is a priority?
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- May/29/24 8:06:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all hospitals should be safe places for those who work there. We have passed legislation to protect health workers and provinces have the same responsibilities to regulate hospitals.
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- May/29/24 8:11:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise. I am going to be splitting my time with the Minister for Mental Health and Addictions.
I want to start by simply thanking the officials who are here today, not only for their presence, but also for the incredible work that they do on behalf of Canadians every day. The Public Health Agency of Canada and, indeed, everyone at Health Canada did an extraordinary job during the pandemic, helping us have one of the best pandemic responses anywhere in the world, and they continue to help lead the way in overhauling our health system and meeting the challenges that confront a modern health system.
I speak of the pandemic, and that was a time that was so challenging for so many, particularly for those within the health workforce. I want to acknowledge, in particular, those within the Public Health Agency and within Health Canada. In that period of time, there was a lot of hope that, coming out of the pandemic would mean that things would be getting easier, but of course, the reality is that we had wait-lists, backlogs and burnout, which meant that, not only in Canada but also all over the world, there was an enormous amount of stress coming out of the pandemic. A lot of the weaknesses that existed in our health systems across the country, in the provinces and territories, were exposed, as they were all over the world. It is easy to see problems. We certainly hear a lot in the House about people reflecting a mirror on the problems of the day. That requires no skill or talent. It requires a simple ability of observation.
To imagine how we can move through the challenges that we are in to a better time, to a time that is better for the health of Canadians, to a time that is better for this country generally, requires a great deal of courage to jump into the unknown and imagine what can be done. The conversations that I have had with health ministers across the country, be they Conservative, New Democrat or Liberal, have been in a spirit of co-operation, of coming together to focus on solutions, to not focus on just observing what is wrong, but on having the courage to imagine what could be right, in how we can make investments and do things together.
The federal government has pledged just a little less than $200 billion to health care over the next 10 years. That has manifested itself in 26 agreements, signed in every province and every territory. Each of those agreements lays out a blueprint for how we deal with the challenges of primary care, making sure that folks get access to a doctor, making sure that seniors can age at home and age with dignity, that we have places for them when their health fails.
Building upon that, because we knew it was not enough, we looked upstream and took essential action. I want to thank the work that was done, particularly with the member for Vancouver Kingsway and the NDP House leader, the now health critic, to pave the way, along with our caucus, for a national plan on dental. We have seen that plan, which that the Conservative leader says is not real and does not exist, in just over three weeks, has already served 120,000 claims. That is over 100,000 seniors getting dental care, many times for the first time. We are also taking action on pharmacare to make sure that women have access to the medicine they need for their sexual and reproductive health and making sure that diabetes patients have access to the medication they need to keep themselves healthy.
Of course, this builds on the work that we did in Charlottetown on a digital charter, talking about data, interoperability and the ways that we can work together as jurisdictions to improve our health system.
In the last budget, we also saw essential action on school food to make sure that kids get the nutritious food they need. We are taking action on personal support workers and drugs for rare diseases. We have a strategy and are moving forward with agreements with provinces. We also, very importantly, through bulk purchasing, have seen more than $3.4 billion each and every year saved in the cost of drugs for Canadians by taking collective action together.
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- May/29/24 8:18:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I very sincerely hope that the Conservative Party will change its position. If the Conservatives get the opportunity, as I am sure they do, like I do, to talk to people like Raphael who are getting oral health care for the first time in an extremely long time and hear what that does for their dignity and what it is going to mean for prevention, I hope this is something we can all get behind. At a minimum, I wish that the Conservatives would not give misinformation to providers. This program is simple to use. It is working effectively, and it is seeing people across the country get the care they need.
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- May/29/24 8:18:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to be speaking with the hon. members who are here today and to share the work that the health portfolio is doing to support Canadians' mental health and address the substance use and overdose crisis in this country. As the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, I believe wholeheartedly that a strong and resilient health care system is an essential part of Canada's social safety net. We must ensure that mental health is treated as a full and equal part of our health care system. Governments are meant to invest in people.
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- May/29/24 8:19:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am just back from a tour with the health committee to Vancouver, Calgary, Red Deer and Montreal. We heard from amazing organizations that are working tirelessly to help and support those who are using drugs. All parties were represented for the entire duration of the tour, except the Conservatives. It is a shame, because we heard that it is painful for frontline workers to hear that politicization is killing people. We have heard a lot of misinformation about safe consumption sites and harm reduction. Can the minister explain why these measures provide critical support to people who use drugs?
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- May/29/24 8:22:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the minister for her question; it is an important one.
It should be very clear to everyone, and I say this to Canadians but I also say it to the benches, that harm reduction is health care. Providing key services to keep people alive so that we can steer them towards a safe journey towards treatment starts with compassion. It starts with a full suite of tools. There are international standards for this that include harm reduction as the key strategy. We have to approach this with compassion.
We only hear slogans from the Conservatives across the way on this. They do not see it as keeping loved ones alive, as the minister once said, one more day to keep them alive. Why will they not join on in evidence-based approaches to do that?
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- May/29/24 8:26:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this gives me the opportunity to say that we have met our workers on the front lines of the toxic drug supply with the “ease the burden” program, because we know that we need to work with our workers to keep them alive and get them to health.
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- May/29/24 8:32:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first the member opposite says that health is an exclusive jurisdiction of Quebec, then the member says that the government needs to do more in the health field. In my opinion, the member's position is a little strange.
The funds provided to each province are subject to a minimum annual increase of 5%. These funds are not reduced; they automatically increase by at least 5%. Additional amounts are also paid under agreements specifically designed to improve the situation.
The problem with our health care system is not money. It is really about transformation. In times of transformation, it is vitally important that we avoid picking fights. Picking fights is easy. The right thing to do is to work toward achieving results in a spirit of co-operation.
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- May/29/24 8:34:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I see that my colleague is unfortunately trying to avoid the question, since he is not answering, but I will answer for him. Health is the exclusive jurisdiction of Quebec.
He said earlier that it was not just about money. If it is not just about money, what is the federal government's purpose? All citizens of every province pay taxes to the federal government. A portion of these taxes is returned to the provinces through health transfers or transfers for social programs.
The problem is that the transfers are insufficient. They do not match the cost of the services we deliver. Not only that, but the federal government, which is not responsible for health, is interfering in the area of health without having jurisdiction over it. What I do know is that, with regard to health, the federal government has jurisdiction over indigenous people's health, military hospitals, Health Canada drug approvals and quarantines.
I would like my colleague to tell me how many national health policies or strategies there are. Do these policies or strategies involve anything other than prevention and awareness?
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- May/29/24 8:47:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have some other questions that will not be as easy on minister. The first is the issue of keeping profit out of health care. Conservative premiers across the country have been trying to take advantage of the health care system to allow for-profit corporations to take over. Can the minister explain to Canadians what he is doing to stop Conservative premiers from strangling the health care system and allowing profit to take over?
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- May/29/24 8:47:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the first thing is the interpretation letters that we need to issue, which I think will be critically important in helping to stem that. Second, we recognize that provinces may have taken some actions coming out of COVID to try to reduce burden but that we need to see the gaps closed and public systems protected. Under the Canada Health Act, we have made reductions in instances where private health care has been present, and we have the ability to do that in other places.
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- May/29/24 8:48:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in Ontario there is a Conservative Premier, Doug Ford. He has underspent his health budget by $1.7 billion. The health care spending there is among the lowest in Canada. Hospital capacity has been shrinking and doctors and nurses have been getting burnt out. Patients are receiving terrible care in Ontario.
Can the minister tell the House why the Prime Minister was praising Doug Ford's approach on health care when things are getting so much worse in Ontario?
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- May/29/24 8:48:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the first order, there is the government of Nova Scotia and there is the government of Manitoba, and I am sure there are going to be others, where elections get decided on health. I am sure Ontario will be no different.
My approach as health minister has been to try to focus on the positives. There are lots of places I disagree with my provincial counterparts, but one of the reasons that common indicators are so important is that we would be able to see in data how people are doing and get people to ask—
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- May/29/24 8:49:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have talked with Minister Hindley in Saskatchewan, and we had a conversation about the essential nature of public care. That is where we have to be, and I want to see that done through collaboration and co-operation. I think that is the best way to get there. It is going to be the continued approach, but the Canada Health Act is my responsibility, obviously, to enforce, and keeping care public is essential.
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- May/29/24 8:53:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Minister Hindley is retiring and there will be a new health minister. I am talking to Minister Hindley and the incoming minister on that very matter.
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- May/29/24 8:55:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first nations, Inuit and Métis people often do not have access to health care. As clinics in or near their communities are closed, folks in the far north are frequently required to fly south, often alone and often receiving health care in a language they may not understand. Can the minister explain why the government, including the Department of Indigenous Services, has not responded to the health care needs of indigenous peoples?
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- May/29/24 8:55:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, responding to health needs in rural and remote communities is exceptionally challenging. I was just in Nunavut, where we were able to announce, with federal support, a new MRI machine that means that so many folks in Nunavut are not going to have to go south for that care. We still have a ton of work to do. There is a lot of opportunity and potential in remote medicine, and we have to make sure we use the existing potential workforce there for health issues.
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