44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 8, 2023 02:00PM
- Feb/8/23 2:32:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the Prime Minister's meeting with the premiers, he had a chance to tell premiers not to double down on for-profit care and poach from our hospitals. However, Premier Doug Ford confirms that this never came up in any conversation. The Prime Minister had a chance to stand up for public health care and increasing staffing levels. Instead, he stood down.
The Prime Minister used to believe in public health care. Why the flip-flop?
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- Feb/8/23 2:33:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure my hon. NDP colleague will be pleased to know that he has been misinformed.
One of the very first things I said when I sat down with the premiers yesterday was about respect for our universal public system and how the principles of the Canada Health Act are foundational for this government and for any money that we flow to the provinces and to health care systems across this country over the coming years.
On this side of the aisle, we will always stand up for universal public health care.
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- Feb/8/23 2:33:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during the last election, the Prime Minister spoke out against the for-profit privatization of our health care system. He said that would not be innovation, and I agree.
However, it has been confirmed that, yesterday, he did not raise this issue in his meeting with the premiers. He had the opportunity to defend our health care system and he rolled over.
Why this big flip-flop?
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- Feb/8/23 2:34:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will repeat my answer to make sure that my NDP colleague hears me properly.
The first thing I said when I sat down with the premiers yesterday to talk about health care and the investments that the federal government will make to help people is that we need to uphold the Canada Health Act and continue with our universal public system, which provides services to Canadians across the country.
That is a fundamental principle that we will always defend. We are always there to defend our public health care system.
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- Feb/8/23 2:43:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I cannot do it here, so let us imagine that I am speaking to someone from outside. I would ask him what he knows about this as someone who has never operated a health care system.
That kind of rhetoric pops up in every election campaign, but let us tell it like it is. Imagine if the NDP took an actual stand, which I believe is possible. Does the Prime Minister really think this kind of hogwash will get his budget passed?
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- Feb/8/23 2:51:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, many of my constituents depend on a functioning health care system.
Whether we are talking about emergency rooms, intensive care units or long-term care, they need their staff to have all the resources necessary to care for our children, our seniors and the most vulnerable.
Can the Prime Minister update the House on the recent progress made with his provincial and territorial counterparts toward ensuring that everyone has access to high-quality health care?
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- Feb/8/23 2:52:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague from Vaudreuil—Soulanges that our health care system is facing significant challenges. That is why we are working with the provinces and territories to ensure that all Canadians have access to a quality health care system.
As a result of this work, yesterday we announced $198 billion in federal funding for health care over the next 10 years, including $48 billion in new funding.
This will ensure that Canadians have access to more family doctors, shorter wait times, better mental health services and more.
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- Feb/8/23 3:01:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Liberal government has added more to the national debt than every other government combined. Wait times for health care are the longest they have been in three decades. Canadians cannot buy medicines for their sick children. Canadians do not have a family doctor. I bet many Canadians watching this today are in that group. Canadians are tragically dying in emergency rooms around this country. The cupboard has been spent bare.
When will the Prime Minister take responsibility for the broken health care system and step aside so that we can fix what he broke?
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- Feb/8/23 3:02:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the member opposite that yesterday we announced $198 billion worth of additional funds in health care over the coming 10 years. This is money that the provinces will be investing to make sure that people have better access to family doctors, that there is better and more timely mental health care, that we are supporting our frontline workers and that we are grounding our systems in better data and better health information.
On top of that, for the emergency rooms that the member opposite is worried about, we are sending $2 billion immediately to provinces and territories so they can deal with the important pressures facing them. We are here to help on health care.
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- Feb/8/23 4:20:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to describe an important step our government took just yesterday to strengthen our country's health care system.
As we all know, accessible, publicly funded, universal health care is a source of pride for many Canadians. Unfortunately, over the past several decades, and certainly in recent years, our health care system has faced unprecedented challenges.
Across the country, Canadians seeking care are finding their emergency rooms overwhelmed or even closed. Surgeries are being postponed or even cancelled. We have all heard heartbreaking stories of how the system has failed. Canadians deserve better. No one should lose a loved one because they could not get timely medical care.
After months of work, yesterday our government tabled a strong, reasonable and concrete offer to deliver real results for health care workers and all Canadians.
First, we want to work together to improve essential access to family health care, especially in rural and remote regions and underserved communities. Right now, less than one-third of Canadians can see a health care provider within 48 hours. However, we know that better access to quality family health care helps us live healthier lives, reducing hospitalizations and ER visits. That is especially true for children, because prevention is key to avoiding long-term health problems. That means investing in family health teams, which may include doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, dietitians, occupational therapists and other health care providers.
Second, we want to work together to support our health care workers and reduce surgical backlogs. As my colleagues from Yukon and Thunder Bay—Rainy River, who are both doctors, have told us time and time again, our health care workers suffered greatly during the pandemic. Many of them got sick or experienced burnout. Unfortunately, many of them left the profession. Those who remain are worried they will be forced to bear an additional burden. They took care of us, and we want to take care of them too. That means investing to improve support, retention, training and recruitment and to recognize the credentials of workers trained in Canada or abroad. It also means better planning and more investment in the future of our workers, which includes creating a centre of excellence to support their future.
Third, together we want to improve mental health and substance use services for Canadians. Currently, one in three Canadians report having mental health problems. As my colleague, the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, so often says, mental health is health. Mental health is an integral part of overall health and how we function as a society, so it requires special attention. Our goal is to provide Canadians with a multidisciplinary care model that integrates mental health into all of our shared priorities. For example, with better access to a family health team, people who are suffering will be more easily referred to a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Fourth, we want to work together to modernize our health care system, because information saves lives. I have had this discussion with many people, including my colleague from St. John's East, and we know that improved access to health information will help patients take better care of their health. This is also essential to ensuring that health care workers can provide high-quality health care and make informed decisions. Imagine a nurse or physician in an emergency room trying to treat an unconscious patient in need of urgent care, without knowing what medication the patient is taking, what allergies they have, and what their medical history is.
Can members recall a time when they were referred by one health professional to another and felt frustrated at being asked to answer the same questions and take the same tests again because their medical records could not be shared?
That results in a duplication of efforts, a lot of stress for health care workers and increased costs. In 2023, it should be possible to share medical information securely in order to provide patients with quality health care while respecting their privacy.
Finally, helping Canadians age with dignity closer to home, with access to home care or safe long-term care, is another area of common priority. Many seniors want to remain in their family homes for as long as possible but lack supports to do so.
Collaborative work is fortunately already on its way with provinces and territories to support access to home care and safe long-term care through a joint investment of $6 billion over five years.
Investing in these five key areas of common priorities will help repair the damage caused by COVID-19 and prepare for the future. The investment announced yesterday of $198 billion over 10 years, of which $48 billion is new funding, includes certain common commitments.
First, as per our shared responsibility under the Canada Health Act, governments must ensure that health care is provided based on need, not on the ability to pay. Governments must also ensure equitable access to health care services and that such access is supported by a strong public health care sector.
Second, agreements will reflect our joint commitment to health equity in reconciliation, so that indigenous peoples are able to access quality and culturally safe health services. Finally, we will also continue supporting better access for underserved and equity-deserving groups, including Canadians living in rural and remote areas, and those living in official language minority communities.
In summary, the major support that our government announced yesterday is aimed at helping Canadians live longer, healthier lives. To do that well, we need to act now and for the future. As time goes by, pressure on the health system will only increase as the demographic, social, health and environmental changes accelerate. Our aging population is straining the health care system just as health needs are growing. Experts also agree that we are facing increasing chronic and infectious diseases, growing costs for technology and drugs and the escalating impacts of climate change.
In conclusion, I want to thank my provincial and territorial health ministers for their strong collaborative work over the past year and assure them that our government will continue to be there to support them.
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- Feb/8/23 4:35:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, before I begin my speech, I would like to say that my thoughts are with the friends and families of the children and adults who were the victims of the terrible tragedy at Garderie éducative Ste‑Rose in Laval. I think we are all in shock following this terrible incident, and words fail us. I cannot imagine what the parents of the children who go to this day care are feeling. I want them to know that we are with them.
I have had the privilege of representing the people of Montcalm since 2015. It is as much an honour for me today as it was the first day. During the first oral question period in which I participated, the member for Rivière-du-Nord asked for an increase in health transfers. Members will recall that, in 2011, the Harper government cut the health transfer escalator in half, reducing it from 6% to 3%. That was grossly insufficient to cover system costs. By 2015, we were feeling the repercussions of that decision. I have had the privilege of sitting in the House for almost eight years, and all that time, we have been constantly repeating that health transfers must increase.
Two years ago, Quebec and the provinces agreed to call for an increase in health transfers that would raise the federal government's share of health care funding from 22% to 35%. The way things are going, Quebec and the provinces will not be able to provide quality health care to the public.
If Ottawa underfunds health care, which is what it is doing, then there are three possible scenarios. Either health services decline, other government services decline because the governments of Quebec and the provinces have to use their own money to make up for Ottawa's cutbacks, or provincial debt spikes and the fiscal imbalance gets worse. Those are the three scenarios Quebec and the provinces are facing because of this lack of federal funding: deterioration of health services; underfunding of other government programs, including education, social services, roads and culture; or a growing fiscal imbalance. That is the choice that the federal government made by refusing to consider the premiers' legitimate and necessary demands. It has been putting the provinces on the road to austerity for 10 years.
Worse yet, the government is jeopardizing the quality of the services provided to the public. As the leader of the Bloc Québécois rightly said, the gap between the premiers' demand and this government's offer, which really ought to be called an ultimatum, should not be calculated in dollars. No, it should be calculated in terms of the number of people who will be abandoned. How many surgeries will be postponed? How many nurses and orderlies will be left to fend for themselves most of the time? What heartbreaking decisions will the health ministers in Quebec and the rest of Canada have to make in order to balance their budgets in a tight fiscal environment?
For years, my Bloc Québécois colleagues and I have been raising the matter by moving opposition motions, appearing with health care professionals, and tabling unanimous motions adopted by Quebec's National Assembly. We have asked questions relentlessly and reiterated the need to support exhausted and overworked health care workers. We have spoken about the tragedies unfolding in oncology and pediatric departments and the patients forced to wait months and months at the risk of their health, and sometimes even their lives.
The government said that our colleague was right and that that is why it was investing money, because it is so important. If it is that important, then it needs to invest the money because people are dying as we speak.
Yesterday, the government demonstrated that all it is capable of doing is saying the right thing, nothing more. The minister was also eloquent earlier.
Ottawa let its chequebook do the talking. It did not have much to say, other than that the provinces should just deal with it. Its offer is despicable. I say its offer, but when it is a take-it-or-leave-it situation, then it is more like an ultimatum. Its ultimatum is a 5% escalator for five years. I would remind the House that before the Harper era, it was 6%. They are not even going back to the Martin era. They are fixing the escalator issue, but only partly, because the cost of the system is now counted in sick people.
The aging population has put more pressure on the system, and the direct impact this has on health costs needs to be taken into consideration. We are talking about a 5% escalator for five years. The Prime Minister did not need to meet with the premiers of Quebec, the provinces and the territories to do that. He could have done it whenever he wanted to, unilaterally, just like when Stephen Harper unilaterally lowered the escalator from 6% to 3%. The Prime Minister could have announced this on his own, without an agreement.
The provinces were calling for an additional $28 billion a year for health. The federal government's response was $4.6 billion and that was its final offer. The government would have us believe that this is good news. Does the government have any mission more sacred than taking care of people? There are people who are sick, health care workers who are at the end of their rope. What is more important than being there for them? The Liberals would have us believe that they know more about health care needs than the health ministers for Quebec and the provinces and territories, that they know where to invest the money and how much is needed.
We are supposed to believe that the people who are not even capable of managing passports, managing borders and paying employees know how to fix the health care systems in Quebec and across the country. That is ridiculous. Quebec and the provinces needed a minimum of $280 billion over ten years. That was the minimum. Ottawa responded with $46 billion. That is a minimum shortfall of $230 billion in the coming years.
Basically, the federal government announced yesterday that the underfunding of health care will continue for the next 10 years. That is it, and that is all. The Liberals promised us a big offer, but all we got was a big disappointment. Sick people in Quebec and Canada are the ones who will pay the price.
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- Feb/8/23 8:21:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this issue is very serious.
No one likes to imagine an older member of their family having to travel a long distance for proper medical care. This government recognizes the problem, and we know of the stress and harm it inflicts on Inuit families and their communities, so we have been working hard to improve health care in Nunavut. We are constantly working with indigenous partners and territorial officials to design culturally relevant health care that will meet the needs of the community.
We have supported the health care needs of Nunavut, and the other territories, during the pandemic and postpandemic, and we will continue to support the territorial governments and the people of Nunavut, so that their health and well-being are a priority.
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