SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

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

Apr/30/24 10:28:09 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I like the hon. member, but of course, she lived through the dismal decade, as all Canadians did, with the Harper government, where the fiscal management was basically thrown out the window: $116 billion in liquidity supports for the banking sector to prop up their profits; $30 billion a year, according to the PBO, given to overseas tax havens because of the notorious Harper tax-saving treaties that have basically eliminated the fiscal capacity of the federal government, which is $300 billion over a decade. The Conservatives have no lessons to give anybody in terms of fiscal management. They were terrible. However, I want to ask my colleague a very simple question about pharmacare. There are 17,000 people in her riding who have diabetes and who are paying up to $1,000 a month for medication. As members know, the risk of stroke, heart attack or death is four times greater for people with diabetes than for other Canadians, yet Conservatives are blocking, at every single step, the pharmacare supports that would mean a difference of up to $1,000 a month in supports for 17,000 people in her riding. My question is simple this: Why are the Conservatives blocking this life-saving medication that would make such a difference in the lives of her constituents?

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Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

Mr. Dave Epp

Apr/30/24 11:30:49 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I was at breakfast this morning with members of the insurance industry, who outlined exactly their view of this pharmacare program. They said that the monies committed just in this budget alone would provide the full formulary for all the drugs missing by those not covered under other drug plans. They then outlined all of the risks of people dropping their other plans and switching to a public plan. The dollars are going to go into the public purse as opposed to actually helping the people who do not have coverage. If the definition of deplorable is handing the government a balanced budget when it took power, I will take deplorable every day.

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Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Apr/30/24 12:32:37 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we continue to hear Conservatives rise in the House and tell us that people in British Columbia are covered for diabetes medication. Becky, from my riding, wrote, “Our out-of-pocket costs for my son's insulin and devices come to just over $11,000 per year. It is so expensive sometimes that the pharmacy calls me to give me a heads-up about how much an order will be, as if we have an option. Without it, he will die. Something like national pharmacare would be a game-changer for us.” Why are the Conservatives trying to block pharmacare and insulin for Becky and her kid?

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Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Apr/30/24 4:55:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the support that New Democrats have provided on a number of progressive measures. I believe it is important. I think Paul Martin and others, such as Jean Chrétien, might question some of the member's comments in regard to child care. Ken Dryden did a phenomenal job on the child care program. Unfortunately it never got passed through the House, ultimately. I for one have been a very strong advocate for pharmacare for many years now. I am glad that it is incorporated into the budget. We are, from my perspective, at a starting point for pharmacare. One thing we have to look at is what we add to it, and there is no doubt that there will be a lot of discussion over the coming months and years in regard to how we can make the pharmacare program stronger and healthier. An example would be vaccination for shingles. Could I get the member's thoughts on that issue?

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Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

Ms. Bonita Zarrillo

Apr/30/24 4:56:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will take this time to say that all drugs need to be available for Canadians, and it is the work of the NDP to make sure that all drugs will be covered in pharmacare. I appreciate the member's comments on the importance of pharmacare and health care. As such, I wanted to ask for unanimous consent to table, in both official languages, a report entitled “British Columbia Priorities Panel on Primary Care: New perspectives and possibilities for primary care in Canada”. This is a report—

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Pharmacare