- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Health
- Liberal
- Ajax
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $134,982.00
- Government Page
- May/28/24 2:57:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when the Conservatives had the opportunity to be in government, they focused no attention on those who were homeless or vulnerable.
We have not only met our targets every year to reduce poverty, but we have taken important action. What the Conservatives essentially are saying is this: “In tough global times, we're here for you to cut your dental care. We're here for you to cut your diabetes medication. We're here for you to cut your child care. We're here for you to cut the supports that you need in difficult economic times.”
Canadians will see through that. They know who has their back.
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- May/23/24 2:26:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when the member was the minister responsible for housing, there were more than two million more Canadians living in poverty, and the number of times he talked about vulnerable people or taking action to help the homeless was zero. He wants to hold out to people, in a time of difficulty across the world, that the solution is to cut the programs they need, to take away dental care, to take away pharmacare. Shame on him for it. We will stand up for vulnerable people in a way he never has.
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- Oct/5/23 2:51:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we can cast our mind back to eight years ago, when 2.4 million more Canadians were in poverty, and we can ask what the government of Stephen Harper and the official opposition leader did at that point in time. They did not do anything.
Right now, there is a global challenge. Yes, Canada has one of the lowest rates of food inflation in the world, but it is hitting us hard. The Conservatives' solution is to stop taking action on climate change, which is the very thing driving that problem. The reality is that the Conservatives would cancel the rebates people get, and yes, they would attack, as an example, 3.5 million seniors who are going to get dental care. They want to take that away. That is what they are really about.
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- Jun/16/23 11:25:33 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we knew the opposition was good at making fake cheques with the Conservative logos, but when it came to actually delivering action, there were 2.7 million more people in poverty when they were in government than what is happening today. They presided over the worst growth that had been seen since R.B. Bennett.
When the economy was down, when more people were in poverty, things were cheaper. That is true. As our economy is growing and booming and Canada is leading the world in growth, we have to meet the challenge of growth. Instead of having the problems of falling apart, we have problems of growing. Those are good problems to have. We are rising to meet them.
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- May/17/23 2:48:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will tell members what is different: 2.7 million people who were in poverty when the Conservatives were in power are not in poverty today. There are two million more jobs since that party was in power.
Yes, these times are difficult across the world right now, but we are leading, and we will continue to do so.
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- Apr/18/23 2:49:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am deeply proud of the government and the Prime Minister, which have, over the last number of years, fought to make sure that Canada is a leader in the world, both economically and on tackling poverty, by making sure we are there in the budget and through other measures.
Yes, the Prime Minister did take a vacation with his family with family friends over Christmas. Yes, there were security costs that were involved with that. If a prime minister is to take a vacation, those costs are inevitable. They cannot be avoided.
I think that we as a House have to ask if we believe that a prime minister should be able to take a vacation with his family. I believe he should be able to.
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- Apr/18/23 2:32:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the point of poverty, when that party was in power, there were 2.7 million more people who were in poverty than there are today, and that includes 800,000 children.
If a prime minister is to travel, there has to be security, so I would ask members of the party opposite this: Is their position that there should be no security for a prime minister who travels on vacation with his family, or is their position that a prime minister should never take a vacation with his family?
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- Feb/16/23 2:23:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a lot of things have changed since the Conservatives were in power, one of them is Canada's unemployment rate, which under their watch was 7%; it is now 5%. The number of people who are living in poverty is now 2.7 million less.
When we look at our record on child care, the Leader of the Opposition actually said at the time that he was proud that he cancelled the child care agreement that was supposed to have happened, and it was killed when he came into power. Instead, we delivered that. We are delivering real help to Canadians across the country.
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- Feb/15/23 2:26:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think it is important that, every single day, we show up and do our utmost to serve Canadians. The reality is that this government has done that in all of its actions. The reality, as I have said on many occasions, is that there are almost two million Canadians today who have jobs who did not have jobs when the Conservatives were in government. There are 2.7 million fewer people in poverty today than when they were in office.
I know they are focused on us. I know they are focused on politics. We are focused on delivering results for Canadians and improving their lives.
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- Feb/10/23 11:57:59 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, for the first part, it has been seven years and not eight years, and I know the Conservatives have a great difficulty with math.
Talking about other errors in arithmetic, the reality of the Conservatives when they were in power is that they did not talk about those who were dealing with poverty, and they did not talk about the most vulnerable when they had an opportunity. It was this government that set targets on poverty, and that has actually hit and exceeded them every single year. It is this government that has reduced the levels of poverty in this country, such that over two million fewer people are in poverty now than when the Conservatives were in power. That means over 800,000 fewer children are now in poverty than when the Conservatives were in power.
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- Feb/10/23 11:38:11 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, when that party was in power, Canada had its worst growth ever since World War II.
The problems that Canadians faced at that point were that there were more than two million people in poverty who are not now, and there were one and a half million people who did not have jobs then who do now.
We are leading the world in terms of the second-highest GDP growth in the world for this year and we will continue. The reality is that, yes, times are difficult globally and it does not feel great to lead when the world is down. However, when the tide turns, it sure will feel good to lead when the world is doing well.
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- Jan/31/23 2:55:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that we all watch the language we use, and I would be interested to see if the member opposite would use a term like that outside the chamber. This chamber should be met with the same decorum inside as out.
The party opposite had the opportunity for 10 years to care about the issues it is now talking about. I would ask those members, if they said they were there, where they were for those 1.5 million Canadians who now have jobs who did not under the Conservative government. Where were they for over a million individuals who were in poverty and suffering when the Conservatives were in government and never talked about poverty?
It is a bit rich, and they should reflect on their rhetoric.
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- Jan/31/23 2:26:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are plain and straight about the difficult times that we are going through as a planet. I would suggest that when the member opposite had the opportunity to suggest, as an example, how people could deal with inflation, he recommended cryptocurrency.
This is the party that at every opportunity is actually not offering any solutions. In fact, the Conservatives are ignoring the fact that when they had a chance to act on poverty and when they had a chance to act on creating jobs, their party had such a bad record on the GDP that there were 14 times in history when there was more growth in a single year than the Conservatives had in their entire government.
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- Jan/31/23 2:24:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite had an opportunity to be in government and do something on poverty. The Conservatives did not have any targets. They did not talk about poverty. They did not talk about homeless shelters. They did not move on those things at all.
I have talked about what this government has done. The IMF is now saying that Canada will have the second-highest GDP growth in the world. As we work hard to lift Canadians up and do critical things like child care and dental care, instead of just amplifying anxiety and fear, why will the Conservatives not be part of the solution? I would say they have not been in this House. All they have done is block and obstruct real solutions.
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- Jan/31/23 2:22:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I remember my time in opposition looking at the member opposite, who sat in a government that had a poverty rate of 14.5%. Do members know how often the Conservatives talked about poverty or people in food banks then? It was never. In fact, what has happened under this government is that rate has been reduced by 56%. We have lifted literally over 1.5 million people out of poverty. I would point out that in the worst period of growth since 1946, which his government presided over, this government has seen more than 1.5 million jobs created since the Conservatives left office.
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- Dec/2/22 11:33:08 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I spent a lot of time in opposition when Stephen Harper's government, quite frankly, never raised the spectre or issue of those who were the most vulnerable. This was the government that set targets on poverty—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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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/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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- Jun/20/22 2:25:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as we near the end of this session, I understand that the party opposite is continuing to try to obstruct and cast aspersions in a number of different places.
The reality is that over the last seven years, we have seen our economy grow. We have seen the investments that have been made across the board to help lift Canadians up. We have seen a record number of Canadians be lifted out of poverty, and we are way ahead of our poverty-reduction targets.
This government continues to be focused on delivering results for Canadians. I understand that the opposition is searching for attack lines. As they troll from subject to subject, we stay focused on getting things done for Canadians.
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