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 - 302 - Apr/18/24

Apr/18/24 12:36:42 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, in general, I agree totally with my hon. colleague. The seniors are the Canadians in this country who have, through their many decades of effort, toil, work and labour, built this country. It is a shame when we have so many seniors who are living paycheque to paycheque, often many beneath the poverty line, so we think there needs to be a comprehensive resolution to this issue. That is why, in my speech and in the budget, we are pushing for affordable non-market housing, including for seniors. We have long pushed for increases to the Canada pension plan and old age security, and it should be set, at a minimum, at the poverty level. My hon. colleague did raise dental care. There are two ways we can help seniors. We can raise their incomes, and we can reduce their expenses. In terms of dental care, I cannot tell the House how many seniors, including many in Quebec, have come to me and our party and said thanks for providing dental care, because they now do not have to pay out of pocket for necessary dental care, such as dentures and other things, which they cannot live without. The Canadian dental plan will pay for that for them. That is going to make a meaningful impact on their bottom line and their budgets, and they are thankful for it.

231 words

Context: House Hansard - 247 - Nov/6/23

Mr. Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, NDP)

Nov/6/23 5:24:23 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-34

Madam Speaker, in a now notorious case, Chinese insurance agent Anbang took over B.C.-based Retirement Concepts, which was a Canadian-owned company that operated senior living facilities. At that time, Anbang was a privately owned corporation. This takeover was approved under the current rules, and almost immediately, we saw problems in seniors homes in British Columbia, including declining quality standards, seniors' needs not being taken care of and a general decline in the care of our seniors. It seems the current laws did not work in that case, and I am wondering if my hon. colleague has any suggestions on how we could strengthen Canadian laws to make sure that this kind of situation does not happen again, particularly when it has such devastating impacts on people as vulnerable as Canada's seniors.

135 words

Context: House Hansard - 58 - Apr/26/22

Mr. Don Davies

Apr/26/22 10:50:15 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I can tell the member that I have been an MP for 14 years, and I cannot tell her how many seniors have come into my office who do not have access to dental care. I have had seniors in my office who had no teeth. Can the member imagine what the impact is on nutrition and oral health if one has no teeth? This budget, next year, would provide every single senior who makes under $70,000 a year and who has no dental insurance, in other words, just about every senior in the country, access to public dental care. My hon. colleague asked, “What is in the budget for seniors?” Well, I would say that this is the biggest expansion of public health care in half a century, and it will bring dental care to every senior in the country, including in Quebec. The member should support that or explain to seniors in Quebec why she is going to vote against the bill that would bring them dental care. I challenge her to ask seniors in Quebec what they think about that.

188 words

Context: House Hansard - 31 - Feb/15/22

Mr. Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, NDP)

Feb/15/22 5:44:30 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-12

Mr. Speaker, a very common theme throughout my hon. colleague's speech was concern for seniors, particularly low-income seniors and seniors living in poverty. It is now widely regarded in Canadian society that one of the best ways to deal with poverty is with strong, universal programs, including our public health care system, which means everybody gets access to quality health care regardless of the size of their wallet. I was quite disturbed to hear the hon. member, on February 7 in the emergency debate on COVID-19, endorse the concept of “opportunities for private delivery” in health care in this country. Does he not agree with me that the last thing anybody in this country needs, including poor seniors, is private health care, which would make health care dependent on the size of their wallet?

139 words

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Member of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians

Don Davies