44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 8, 2023 02:00PM
- Feb/8/23 2:42:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are making progress; the Prime Minister now understands that we need doctors, nurses, care, surgical procedures and mental health supports. That requires skills, which they do not have. It takes money, which they are holding back.
Could the Prime Minister forget yesterday's negotiation-free monologue and transfer funds to the provinces and Quebec?
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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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Madam Speaker, New Democrats support the modernization and improvements to the Investment Canada Act. One of the things we are looking for, of course, is the prevention and loss of publicly funded research dollars and development dollars when that money is transferred out of the country.
I reference specifically a case in London, Ontario, where the Conservative government, in 2008, provided funds not only through tax cuts but also research and development dollars to Electro-Motive Canada. Caterpillar bought out the company, moved it to the States and took all that money with it. There was no repayment. There were no consequences, and many Londoners lost their good-paying jobs.
I ask the parliamentary secretary if—
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- Feb/8/23 8:03:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just before the holidays, I pressed the Prime Minister to follow through on a critical election promise, which was to fund a new $4.5-billion mental health transfer to the provinces and territories with the Canada mental health transfer. At the time I was pushing for it to be in budget 2023.
That echoed the call of 65 organizations across the country that were similarly calling for the acceleration of the implementation of this transfer and for it to be in budget 2023. They included the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Canadian Association of Community Health Centres, the Canadian Psychological Association, the Canadian Federation of Students, the Alzheimer Society and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The list goes on and on, so I appreciate the chance to come back to this question because at the time the question was not answered and I have not had clarification since.
I have two points I would like to leave with the parliamentary secretary for her to comment on.
First, mental health is health. It deserves dedicated funding. Mental illnesses and substance use disorders will affect one in three people in their lifetime. We know that the pandemic has only made this worse. Of these folks, one in three cannot get the care that they need. That adds up to almost 4,000 people in my community waiting for mental health and addictions care.
I have had the chance to speak with some of these folks myself. Last summer, I was speaking with a mom on her doorstep while she was in tears, describing her teenaged daughter and the mental health challenges she was facing. I spoke with a nurse this past summer who told me about the number of people that she is seeing at Grand River Hospital's emergency department who should have seen a psychiatrist or a mental health professional months before.
That is why dedicated funding for mental health is so important. It would also, of course, take pressure off of other areas in our health care system. It would take pressure off of emergency departments, doctors, social services and the millions of people who are suffering. It is, of course, why the 65 organizations I mentioned earlier are pushing for this promise to be followed through on.
My second point is that election promises matter. The Liberal 2021 campaign platform indicates a comprehensive plan for mental health care across Canada. The plan goes on to say that they would, “Commit to permanent, ongoing funding for mental health services under the Canada Mental Health Transfer”.
Call me a radical, but I believe it is important that political parties and their leaders follow through on the promises they make. I think it is important for our democracy that this is the case and for our Parliament to keep them accountable to it.
I expect the parliamentary secretary will make mention of an important announcement made just yesterday in health care. I have read the announcement multiple times but, as I parse through it, there is no mention of the mental health transfer specifically and nothing about dedicated funds for mental health.
My question for the parliamentary secretary tonight is this: Can she make it clear whether the governing party continues to be committed to the Canada mental health transfer, and whether the $4.5 billion will be included in budget 2023?
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- Feb/8/23 8:11:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is a really important question for the parliamentary secretary to clarify in response. I would agree with her the announcement made yesterday is an important one for health care, but it is not what was committed in the 2021 election campaign. Specifically, what I would like to understand better is that there was a promise and a commitment for dedicated mental health funds. It was to be called the Canada mental health transfer. Yesterday, as the parliamentary secretary shared, new dollars have been set aside for health care, which is good, but we need dedicated funds for mental health, as the governing party promised and ran an entire election campaign on, which they won. My question remains this. Is the governing party still committed to the mental health transfer, and if so, will it be in budget 2023?
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