Debates of May 6th, 2024

Second reading

[An hon. member]

Monetary policy is not fiscal policy.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

I love how the Liberals across the way are defending the Prime Minister, who said to the reporter, “Glen, we took on debt so you don't have to”.

[An hon. member]

No, you just don't know the difference between monetary policy and fiscal policy. They are two different things—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Order, please.

There are going to be questions and comments after this, and I am sure if members put their hand up they can get to ask questions on this.

The hon. member for Peterborough—Kawartha has the floor.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, 27 million Canadians who rely on workplace plans would be placed at risk by the legislation. It would create the Canadian drug agency, which would cost about $90 million to create, and perhaps another $35 million a year to continue. The Parliamentary Budget Officer says it would cost tens of billions of dollars. However, when asked, the Liberals do not have an answer. They are not sure. It is kind of like the carbon tax, which was supposed to be revenue-neutral but made a billion dollars, but we are not really sure where that money went. Nobody seems to know.

The major cause of people's inability to afford their medications is the cost of living. The number one reason people say they cannot afford their medications is inflation and the cost of living.

This one is my favourite. Who remembers the $4.5-billion promise from the Liberals of a mental health transfer? I cannot find it. I have not seen it. However, what I do know is that we have ranked 35th out of 38 in the world for teen suicide. That is where we are at in Canada, but the Liberals are going to come save us. They do not deliver. They are the guy who promises—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The member is out of time, almost 30 seconds past her time.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Châteauguay—Lacolle.

[Brenda Shanahan, Liberal, Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad I do not live in the world the member lives in. It is another dystopia. The last time I listened to the member go on in a speech in that vein was on Bill C-35, the child care bill. She went on and on arguing against it and then, at the end of the night, she voted for it. In fact, every single member on that side voted for the bill.

I am wondering if it is going to be the same story with the pharmacare bill.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am so glad the member brought up child care, because what chaos has been delivered by the Liberal-NDP government. I would strongly encourage her to reach out. There is a call right now by child care operators and families across this country. They are in dire straits from coast to coast to coast. They cannot access child care. Women cannot go to work because they cannot access child care. Children have nowhere to go. Operators who have built their entire lives on this are losing their business. There are 77% of high-income people accessing this program. That is on the Liberals' watch.

It is another failure, and it is exactly what this pharmacare bill will be.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Châteauguay—Lacolle just asked my colleague who just spoke a question saying that they do not live in the same world. The member for Châteauguay—Lacolle also lives in a world where the National Assembly unanimously voted for a first resolution, then a second, and then a third.

For years, we have been calling for Quebec to have the right to opt out with full financial compensation when Ottawa institutes new spending programs in the jurisdictions of the provinces and Quebec. She supposedly lives in that world, but it does not seem like it because across the way, in their alternative world, the federal government is supposed to be able to manage a hospital, which it has never been able to do properly.

I have the following question for my Conservative colleague. Perhaps the Conservatives will form the government some day; it is hard to say. When that happens, will they agree with the concept and principle of a right to opt out with full financial compensation for Quebec when the federal government institutes programs in the jurisdictions of the provinces and Quebec?

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, again, child care is a great example. The Liberal government loves to weasel its way into provincial jurisdiction, and that is what it did with child care, too. Things were fine and everything was in its own little jurisdiction, but no, the Liberals had to meddle, disrupt it and cause chaos. Then, when it fails, they are going to blame the Conservatives. That is the way they operate.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am both shocked and saddened by the member's speech. I am shocked because she mentioned the Conservative government. I lived through, as Canadians did, the shockingly bad years of the Harper regime, with the record deficits each and every year, the bad financial management, the scandals, one after another, and the fact that they gave $30 billion a year in the infamous Harper tax-saving treaties to the wealthy, $300 billion over the course of a dismal decade. There were cuts to health care funding and slashing of veterans' benefits. It was one of the worst periods in Canadian history, and it was certainly the worst government in Canadian history.

I am saddened because the member has seen the benefits of dental care already in her own riding, dozens of people. There were 15,000 seniors in the first three days who got dental treatment. There were dozens in Peterborough—Kawartha. The reality is that 17,000 people would benefit from pharmacare in her riding.

Why does she not listen to the 17,000 constituents who would benefit from pharmacare?

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what is sad for me is a New Democratic Party that props up the Prime Minister so he can stay in power. If the member listened to anything I said and if he really cared about the most vulnerable and the disability benefit, he should know that the record-high use of food banks in history is because New Democrats are keeping the Prime Minister in power.

Who is really standing up for people? That is what I would like to know.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for holding the Liberal-NDP government to account on its promises, which in many cases are just marketing projects that are never followed up on with the actual hard work of governing.

Now, my colleague mentioned a couple of times that the pharmacare bill is nothing more than window dressing and that there is nothing in this bill that actually is a pharmacare plan. This is merely a bill to maybe talk about a plan to maybe talk about a pharmacare plan maybe later down the road.

The NDP is championing this legislation as such a big win for them, just to keep the Prime Minister in power. Is there anything actually in this legislation that promises Canadians any change or additional access to health care or health care products?

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I love that question, and the answer is no.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this is what I am worried about. This bill talks about contraceptive medication. In particular, when we talk about a woman's right to choose, what I am worried about is that the Conservative Party of Canada—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Order. Let us just make sure we get the questions and comments, and we can continue on.

The hon. member for Kingston and the Islands has the floor.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has been suggesting recently that he will use the notwithstanding clause where he sees fit.

On Friday, the member for Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston specifically said, “A common-sense Conservative government would use the notwithstanding clause only on matters of criminal justice.” Well, performing an abortion back in the nineties was considered a crime.

The member could very easily put my concern to rest by answering this question. Can the member categorically say that a future Conservative government would absolutely protect a woman's right to choose and not use the notwithstanding clause on a matter such as that, yes or no?

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what a question coming from a man. I would love him to tell me what to do with my uterus. That is great. That member will never tell me what to do with my body. We know the Liberals are losing really bad when they bring up abortion. We will never bring this up. If the member opposite wants to talk about my reproductive rights, he had better put a woman up and stop mansplaining to me.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Order.

The hon. member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in her speech, my colleague quite pointedly criticized various aspects of this bill. She explained why it should not be passed.

In my opinion, she left out one thing, and that was jurisdictions. It is not the federal government's place to become involved in health issues or, by extension, in drug management.

Does my colleague have anything to add about the federal government's jurisdiction over pharmacare?

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, absolutely, we believe in provincial jurisdiction. Again, we have just seen a federal government and a Prime Minister that want more control weighted into an area that has nothing to do with the Liberal government.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, this is such an important bill, because it would help individuals who need it most, whether it is women who may need medicines for their reproductive health or people who suffer from diabetes. These are two areas of pharmaceutical care that are desperately needed throughout Canada, in the territories and in all the provinces.

Could the member better explain how this bill is not supporting those people, specifically women who may need access to abortion because of an unplanned pregnancy that they may have experienced?

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the member that I was actually with a constituent of hers on the weekend. His name was Josh, an incredible young boy who was accessing the services at Toba child advocacy centre. What that young man has been through and what his family endured up north is absolutely incredible. He said to me, “I'd like to see the Conservative government win so that we can deal with drugs and drug addiction and help people who are most vulnerable”, which is what I would like to focus on.

I think we can help all of the folks the member is referring to, in particular women, to be out of poverty, have access to housing and have access to all the things they need. There are truly people struggling in this country, and it is just not in the bill; that is the reality.

This is a failed Prime Minister who will not deliver anything he says he will. It is time for a competent government that delivers what it says it will and restores confidence in the people, restores trust and makes life affordable again.