SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 300 - Apr/16/24

Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)

Apr/16/24 11:14:31 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate the minister for working attentively with the effective NDP opposition to actually bring about this historic debate today. It is going to make a difference, on average, and I point this out to the Conservatives, to 18,000 constituents in each of the Conservative ridings across the country. I wanted to reference one of my constituents, a Burnaby, B.C. resident, Amber Malott. She learned she had diabetes when she fell into a coma just before her 21st birthday. With all of the types of insulin and injections that she takes, her monthly bill on insulin because of her diabetes is close to $900. We saw last week the disgraceful exhibit of Conservatives blocking even bringing this bill forward to the House. They blocked it from the kind of debate we need to have on this bill. Conservatives have indicated they would like to destroy this initiative. What would be the impact on people like Amber if the Conservatives had their way?

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Context: House Hansard - 300 - Apr/16/24

Mr. Marc Dalton (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, CPC)

Apr/16/24 12:43:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, this is not a pharmacare plan; this is a PR exercise by an NDP-Liberal coalition that is floundering in the polls. There is a reason that almost a quarter of the NDP MPs are not seeking re-election. The member is from British Columbia, as am I also. As he was speaking, I was looking up what the plan is for pharmacare in B.C. It says, specifically, that pharmacare covers approved diabetes management supplies and most insulin. It is already covered. The plan being proposed does not even compare. I wonder if the member will also mention that, due to inflationary spending, we have to pay $50 billion in interest and that it is actually undermining health care across Canada.

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Context: House Hansard - 300 - Apr/16/24

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Apr/16/24 1:32:34 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we know that the Conservatives have consistently opposed pharmacare. We heard my colleague from Timmins—James Bay highlight that the Conservative deputy leader was a lobbyist for AbbVie, a large pharma company in North America that jacked up its prices on medications for seniors by over 470%. Who really needs pharmacare lobbyists when we have Conservatives here? I want clarity, because I heard him say, misleading the House, that people in British Columbia are covered for insulin. That is not true. I am going to give my colleague another chance to clarify that insulin is not free in British Columbia, and in fact, it is a huge cost to many British Columbians, especially working-class British Columbians. Is he going to oppose, for those British Columbians who require insulin, this legislation that would provide them the support they need on life-saving medication, especially when someone loses their job and their deductible is no longer within their affordability level. I would like some clarification from my colleague from Cariboo—Prince George.

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Context: House Hansard - 300 - Apr/16/24

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Apr/16/24 1:46:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to join my colleagues in congratulating my colleague on his election and his first speech. I recall a great quote by Scott Brison, who sat on both the Liberal and Conservative benches. When he sat in the House, he said that although he did not share a lot of the policies of the Conservative Party, regardless of where we sat in the House, we could have a huge impact and difference for Canadians. I hope my colleague will take that to heart and work collectively with members to try to find solutions to support Canadians as we walk forward together. With respect to the question on insulin, my colleague cited the delays by the Liberal government, and I agree, but does he believe that if insulin were free of charge, it would be of benefit to his constituents and would he be willing to work with us to find a pathway to expedite that?

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