SoVote

Don Davies

Member of Parliament
Member of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians
NDP

Vancouver Kingsway
British Columbia
Voting Attendance: 59%
Expenses Last Quarter: $153,893.57

Government Page

Context: House Hansard - 162 - Feb/16/23

Feb/16/23 11:15:23 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague was relying on quotes, so I am going to share some quotes with him. Bernie Robinson, from the Ontario Nurses Association, said, “I fail to understand where the government thinks it's going to get the human resources to staff these private clinics other than by draining our already-taxed public system.” J.P. Hornick, from the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said, “To improve access to care, public hospitals require staff and funding, both of which will be even further depleted with increased reliance on private clinics.” Finally, Dr. Bob Bell, former deputy minister of health in Ontario, said, “I totally agree with their desire to do more surgery by moving it out of the hospital into the community. But moving it to a for-profit model is simply dumb.” This is not about upholding the Canada Health Act. Why is the federal government not stepping in to make sure that the additional funds are not diverted by the provinces to private clinics, even if they are publicly paid for?

182 words

Context: House Hansard - 162 - Feb/16/23

Mr. Don Davies

Feb/16/23 10:34:47 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I respect my hon. colleague's position. Actually, health care has been ruled by the Supreme Court of Canada to be a shared jurisdiction in this country. We cannot even find the words “health care” in our Constitution. The provinces have jurisdiction over the establishment and maintenance of hospitals and also regulation of the professions. The federal government has its spending power; the criminal law power; and peace, order and good government. We will not fix health care in this country. By the way, I do not think Canadians care about jurisdiction. What they care about is that, when they get sick and they need care, they can go to their public system and get timely access to world-class care. That is going to take all levels of government working together to deliver it.

139 words

Context: House Hansard - 162 - Feb/16/23

Mr. Don Davies

Feb/16/23 10:32:17 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, we absolutely need to open up the Canada Health Act, but we need to do it for the purpose that the NDP is talking about today. This is to close the loopholes that are allowing private, for-profit care to creep into our system. Right now, we have a shortage of doctors in our hospitals. We have a shortage of nurses in this country. Staff are burnt out at every hospital. How can it possibly be a positive development to allow private clinics to drain people from that system and then allow access based on private access to care? We have to add profit and administrative costs to the system. By the way, the United States pays 31¢ out of every dollar to administration. In Canada, we pay under 2%. Administrative costs are much higher in the private system. If we drain those workers, what is going to happen to the wait times in the public system? Obviously, they will get longer. We need to close the loopholes to make it clear that all publicly insured services in this country are delivered in the public health care system. Let us build up our public system. Canadians deserve to have timely access to world-class care. They are not getting it now. New Democrats will continue to make proposals so they can get that.

226 words

Context: House Hansard - 144 - Dec/8/22

Mr. Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, NDP)

Dec/8/22 2:29:00 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is not present. That is the problem. Ontario hospitals are so overwhelmed with sick kids that they are calling in the Red Cross. Staff at the Alberta Children's Hospital are worried that a child might die waiting for care because it is overrun with patients. Across Canada, the situation is dire and parents are horrified, but the Liberals are missing in action and Conservative premiers are moving to privatize health care. Canadians expect leadership from their Prime Minister in a time of crisis. When will he call an urgent meeting with the premiers so our children get the care they need and deserve?

109 words

Context: House Hansard - 126 - Nov/14/22

Mr. Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, NDP)

Nov/14/22 2:31:18 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, parents do not want to hear excuses; they want to know their kids will be taken care of when they get sick. Across Canada there are shortages of children's Tylenol and Advil, and now hospitals are dealing with a lack of pediatric antibiotics. It is a scary time to be a parent, and there are things the government can do now. Instead of giving vague promises and pointing fingers, the Liberals must ensure our kids get the medicine they need. Parents are desperate for help. Where is the plan to care for our children?

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SoVote

Member of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians

Don Davies