- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Health
- Liberal
- Ajax
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 65%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $134,982.00
- Government Page
- Oct/21/22 11:53:44 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, what I find most unfortunate is that, at a time of global turmoil, when people across the world are facing the impacts of not only inflation but also climate change, the government, which is taking action, faces an opposition in the Conservatives that is raising and amplifying people's anxiety instead of providing solutions.
What are their solutions? To take something they know gives more money back than it takes to fight climate change and to stand up against dental care for those families who need it and support for low-income families who are renting. That is not responsible.
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- Sep/18/23 3:14:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in all times of great challenge globally, there is a responsibility for all of us to focus on solutions and answers. Yes, it is incredibly easy on the other side to point out what is wrong in the world and what is happening, but their solutions are cutting support and services from the most vulnerable. Let me just talk about dental care for a second. The number two cause of children in the hospital is oral health, all of which is preventable. We could stop people from getting ill. We could take action to make our world better or we can throw around slogans, like what is being done on the other side. Let us focus on real answers.
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- Sep/18/23 3:14:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what is irresponsible to a weary planet that is going through some of its darkest days is that although Canada has some of the lowest food inflation and some of the lowest inflation in the world, there is so much more that we have to do, but saying to people who are facing the global challenge of inflation that cutting dental care, that taking away dental care from vulnerable families, is a solution to global inflation and the crises that we face shows—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/16/23 2:38:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what we see day in and day out, as the world reels from the effects of the pandemic, and while we deal with the global effects of inflation, where Canada is doing better than the G7 average and the G20 average—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
Hon. Mark Holland: Mr. Speaker, they can yell across the way as much as they want. The difference is that we have a finance minister who is trying to protect and ensure that children get dental care. We have an opportunity when we are dealing with child care.
What they are talking about is cutting these programs. Therefore, they can attack and be partisan, as that is what they do, but underneath it is about cuts. It is about not being there, and it is misrepresenting world events.
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- May/15/23 2:55:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said, the finance minister is appearing tomorrow, so it does seem ridiculous for her to keep standing and saying she is going to be there.
However, I do want to come back to their questioning as to why the finance minister of a G7 country would participate in G7 meetings. It may be because we live in an interconnected economy. When the Conservatives were dealing with such issues as climate change, they went to world forums to attack action on climate change and to drag other countries out of doing the essential work of protecting our planet. We talk to other countries' leaders because we understand that we live in an interconnected world.
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- May/15/23 2:55:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have to get up and say it because it makes no sense. The finance minister has said she is there tomorrow, so I do not know why they have not revised their questions. However, I will ask, if they give me the chance—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Mar/29/23 2:49:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it would behoove us in this House when we are dealing with issues that are as serious as what we are dealing with, instead of advancing a partisan interest, which was certainly incredibly evident in that last question with its hyperbole and misrepresentation, to instead deal seriously with the issues in front of us honestly.
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- Mar/29/23 2:48:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in what world is it fair to talk to Canadians who are dealing with the most difficult times since the Second World War, while using the kind of incendiary language and misrepresentation of fact that we heard from the other side?
We are going through a global inflation challenge, but this is a pattern of behaviour where they make it personal, they attack and they make up facts. Take the Prime Minister being in London, where they talked about the cost of a hotel room. That hotel room was for more than one room and it included rooms for security. There is a constant effort on the part of the party opposite—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Feb/15/23 3:04:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, it is Canadians who decide who gets to sit in government, not Conservative MPs. The second point I would make is that the member is suggesting that the Conservatives would engage in political interference and interfere with the independent, arm's-length process to engage contracts. Canada has one of the highest standards in the world for how contracts are engaged. Those decisions are made without political interference, and I find it disturbing that the Conservatives continue to come back and say that they would, if that is what I am hearing, politically interfere and make decisions about what the public servants engage in, in terms of contracts.
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- Feb/2/23 2:31:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I had an opportunity, during the course of the other questions, to reflect on the question that was posed by the Leader of the Opposition.
I would suggest that the leader think about the assertion that anybody supports anybody taking their life. When there are difficult times and when we are talking about issues like MAID, it is below this place to assume that any person anywhere in this country supports the idea of suicide as a way through dark times.
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- Oct/31/22 3:03:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I sat in opposition when the party opposite was in government. They did not talk about poverty. They did not talk about the plight of low-income families. They had no targets on poverty reduction.
This is a government that not only introduced, finally, targets on poverty reduction, but has exceeded them every single time, lifting more than two million people out of poverty. That is not enough. We must do more. The fact that the party opposite is trying to raise anxiety at a moment when we need solutions and answers is problematic. The Conservatives vote against direct measures to help those in need and then seek at every opportunity to amplify anxiety. I ask why.
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- Oct/31/22 2:58:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, indeed, across the world, the problem of making ends meet and paying bills is being felt profoundly. What is irresponsible for those who are struggling is that the Conservatives are going to amplify their fears and anxieties and are going to mislead them about their situation.
Let us talk about inflation. When Canada has one of the lower rates in the world for inflation, that is not acceptable and does not help pay the bills. What does help is concrete actions on affordability. What does not help is amplifying an anxiety and giving no answers. Unfortunately, that is what we hear from the other side.
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- Oct/21/22 12:00:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is just like the Conservatives to believe that inflation is something that can stop at Canadian borders and that we will not be affected by it. They also say that we caused it. That is how ridiculous and preposterous their positions are.
That is also their position on climate change. They want to pretend that climate change is not going to cost tens or hundreds of billions of dollars. In fact, over the next 100 years, perhaps it will be trillions of dollars.
We just watched what happened in Atlantic Canada. We just watched what happened with Fiona. We need to take responsible leadership to protect this planet and, at the same time, make sure life is more affordable for Canadians. That is exactly what we are doing.
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- Oct/21/22 11:57:32 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, what is irresponsible is pretending that a global problem we have to take seriously is a problem that just exists in Canada. The Conservatives might as well promise that the wind will stop blowing at our coastal borders if they were in government.
The reality is that we face global challenges, just like every other country, and it does not matter that we have one of the lowest rates. We need to take action. We need to provide support. It does not matter that we have lifted 2.7 million people out of poverty in the last five years. We have to do more. It does not matter that this House has adopted legislation to help those who are in need with $500 in a GST credit.
Where are they on dental? Where are they on housing?
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- Oct/21/22 11:52:28 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the leader of the official opposition said that countries that are running higher inflation than Canada are dumb. That list includes the U.S., Italy, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and the entire eurozone.
Right now, when we are in a time of global crisis, when people are finding things hard, it does not matter that Canada has one of the lowest inflation rates in the world. We have to do everything we can to help Canadians, and that is why I ask the member opposite why they will not support dental care for families who need that support. Why will they not support help for those who are low-income and renting? Why do they refuse to support it? Worse, why do they not even let it pass through the House?
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- Oct/20/22 2:25:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives did not support child care for those who needed it, to help cut it in half immediately and make sure that it goes to $10 a day. They did not support raising taxes on those who are earning the most so that we could give a break to those in the middle class. Here we are again with dental care, where many families are struggling because of the challenges happening across this globe, and they are not supporting that. I understand they are not supporting that, which is their partisan position, but will they at least get out of the way so that those of us who are trying to help Canadians right now can pass legislation?
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- Oct/20/22 2:24:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, around the world we are dealing with unprecedented times: climate change, a war that has happened in Ukraine. We are dealing with global inflation and that demands maturity and serious answers.
I would say for the member opposite that in this time, we have an opportunity not to amplify anxiety, not to make people more scared, but to provide them real solutions. It is bad enough that the Conservatives are not willing to support dental care. I am just asking, as the House leader, as somebody who is attempting to get that legislation in support of Canadians, will they at least stop opposing it so the parties that do support it can get it done?
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition is stating that inflation is a problem that is only faced by Canadians. He is presuming that Canadians are not watching what is happening in the rest of the world.
Right now, he has an opportunity. The Conservatives reversed the decision they made on Bill C-30 to provide support for Canadians. They have another opportunity to reverse their position to ensure that low-income renters have an opportunity to get the money they need in these difficult global times. They have an opportunity to ensure that those who need dental care get it. Will they reverse their position and support us in these measures?
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- Oct/20/22 2:21:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would obviously pose a question. During the pandemic, what would the Conservatives have cut? What supports would they not have offered to Canadians? In what way would they have not been there when Canadians needed them the most?
The second question I would ask is this. As we enter a time that is the most difficult probably that the globe has faced since the Second World War, it demands responsible leadership. Amplifying anxiety is easy; solutions are hard. Are the Conservatives going to support dental care for those who need it?
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