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Gord Johns

Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
NDP

Courtenay—Alberni
British Columbia
Voting Attendance: 66%
Expenses Last Quarter: $148,159.67

Government Page

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

May/7/24 11:48:22 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this morning, I met with nurse Crystal Edwards, who is the director of the women and children’s and mental health programs at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, as well as Dr. Justin Jagger, who is the chair of pediatrics at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and Children's Healthcare Canada. We talked about the children and youth crisis regarding physical and mental health in Canada and how band-aid solutions will not measurably improve child health care systems or children's health outcomes. They are calling on the federal government to take a leadership role in resolving this crisis by declaring children's health and well-being a national priority. I worked with my colleague from Yukon, as he was part of the negotiations, to create the youth mental health fund. It is historic, and it is a step toward parity between mental and physical health. However, they are also calling on the government to create and implement a national children's strategy that would include targets and timelines to improve children's health outcomes, the establishment of a chief children's health officer and the creation of a dedicated funding envelope to ensure a robust maternal child and youth health research agenda. Does my colleague support those asks from Children's Healthcare Canada?

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Context: House Hansard - 209 - Jun/8/23

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Jun/8/23 10:08:47 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is timely that I table this petition on behalf of youth from Qualicum Beach in my riding. They cite that children born in 2020 will face, on average, two to seven times more extreme weather events than their grandparents. Clearly, we are on the higher end of that. In a 2021 report in The Lancet, 83% of children worldwide reported that they think people have failed to take care of the planet. Those most affected by climate change are the youngest generation, as they will live to see the worst effects of this crisis. Youth discussion has proven crucial to successful climate action and policy creation. However, dozens of climate-related decisions are made without input from youth. Statistics around the world show that if youth were making these decisions, the representation in Parliament outcome would be different. Children under 18 are not legally allowed to vote and are therefore without legal voice or action. They are calling on the Government of Canada to require all members of Parliament, regardless of party line, to consult with secondary or elementary school leadership, a student council or an environmental youth group in their ridings before Parliament holds the second reading of any bill that directly affects Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of the consultation will be to listen to the viewpoints of those directly affected by the specified bill who do not already have representation in Parliament.

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Context: House Hansard - 114 - Oct/20/22

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Oct/20/22 8:49:18 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I really appreciate my colleague speaking to the sense of urgency. I have a quote from Children's Mental Health Ontario, CMHO, which reads: Kids have borne the weight of this pandemic. They continue to wait on lists for care that were already too long pre-pandemic—some waiting as long as two and a half years in parts of Ontario. The longer kids wait for care, the worse their outcomes are—increasing the likelihood of a mental health crisis or having to visit an emergency room for care. We can do better. We can do better, and I think we all agree children need to be our priority. The Liberals say they cannot get it done because the provinces and territories cannot get an agreement. They were able to do it with child care. Does my colleague agree that the stigma is the problem? If this was truly a priority, they would have the provinces and the territories at the table and would have negotiated an agreement by now.

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Context: House Hansard - 112 - Oct/18/22

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Oct/18/22 3:44:27 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-31

Mr. Speaker, I find it mighty rich that Conservatives are using all of their stalling tactics to prevent children from getting dental care, while MPs in the House get dental care, Conservative MPs. I find it extremely disturbing and shameful that they are doing this. We need to move forward with this so that children get help so that they can deal with their dental work.

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Context: House Hansard - 100 - Sep/22/22

Mr. Gord Johns

Sep/22/22 7:44:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, the government announced its intention to establish the $10-a-day child care program, and there were deals with provinces and territories in place within a year. Here we are a year later, and when it comes to mental health transfers, the Liberals still have not delivered their 2021 election promise. Too many Canadians cannot access appropriate mental health or substance use services in a timely manner, either because they would be required to pay out of pocket or because they face long wait-lists for publicly funded care. The average wait time for adult residential treatment for substance use is 100 days. In Ontario, there are more than 28,000 children on wait-lists for community-based mental health services that can range from 67 days to more than two and a half years depending on the service, exceeding clinically appropriate wait times. This is unacceptable. These are children. I am calling on the government to be more transparent and to move rapidly on its $4.5-billion transfer. It is needed now. Mental health care is needed now.

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Member of Parliament

Gord Johns