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Marcus Powlowski

Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
Liberal

Thunder Bay—Rainy River
Ontario
Voting Attendance: 64%
Expenses Last Quarter: $144,359.62

Government Page

Context: House Hansard - 321 - May/30/24

May/30/24 10:35:50 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the very perceptive question by the member from Ottawa. This is a very important point. We heard from a lot of people, and there was a lot of concern about having a basic system. What if we needed more expensive medications for certain things? Would we be getting rid of private drug plans? That is not necessarily the case. There will be a public plan, but I think there would still be the option, if people wanted, to pay additional money for a private plan that would cover all the things that are not currently insured, as there is for other kinds of health care at the moment.

112 words

Context: House Hansard - 321 - May/30/24

Mr. Marcus Powlowski

May/30/24 10:32:12 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, this is a step toward universal health care. Yes, it does not bring us to that point yet, but it is a step. With respect to the committee that is going to be involved in this, I thought the member was going to ask me about the fact that those two people were not consulted in the process. That is too bad. However, I agree with the member that how we do this is really important. If we have an efficient system and an efficient bureaucracy, this can save Canadians money. If we create a gigantic bureaucracy that costs a whole ton of money, more than the private system, then it will not end up benefiting Canadians. It is really crucial who we put on that committee and the steps we take in subsequent days, weeks and years.

140 words

Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24

Mr. Marcus Powlowski

Feb/13/24 7:53:47 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Montcalm, who sits with me on the Standing Committee on Health. I am worried about something. I was a doctor and I still practise medicine, but now I am here in the legislature. We make the rules, and I think one of our responsibilities when we make rules is, like a doctor, to do no harm. If we implement this legislation, I am genuinely concerned that, although I know my colleague from Montcalm is a great individual, and I trust him, there are a lot of zealous MAID practitioners who are very cavalier in allowing MAID for various forms of illness. I do worry that my kids and the kids of my constituents are going to go through hard times and see one of these zealous practitioners, who will say, “Well, it is your decision to make." It is our job to protect those people. That is why I am here.

159 words

Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24

Mr. Marcus Powlowski (Thunder Bay—Rainy River, Lib.)

Feb/13/24 7:06:09 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I am not in too much disagreement with a lot of what the member had to say. As a long-time doctor, I certainly know that one ought to be cautious, and I think our government has been pretty cautious. We first put a one-year pause on this; now we have a three-year pause. I hate to get political in this political place, but the reality is that one of the reasons we should hesitate to implement MAID for mental illness is a lack of mental health services. Our government has been fighting to increase those services. Will the Conservative Party make the same commitment to providing adequate mental services for Canadians?

116 words

Context: House Hansard - 45 - Mar/24/22

Mr. Marcus Powlowski (Thunder Bay—Rainy River, Lib.)

Mar/24/22 10:52:06 a.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, we all agree that things are getting better with COVID, and everyone is justifiably relaxing the mandates, but the question is at what rate. Some provinces have been more cautious from the beginning; some have been less cautious. If we look at the numbers, we see that the provinces that have been more cautious have done better. Globally as well, if we compare countries, we see that some have been more cautious and some have been less cautious. As a result of that, the United States has three times the death rate per population that Canada has. Does the member opposite not agree that perhaps in matters of public health, one ought to be cautious?

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Member of Parliament

Marcus Powlowski