Debates of May 30th, 2023

Justice

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice]

Mr. Speaker, serious crimes deserve serious consequences.

What we are doing is implementing criminal law reforms that are based on evidence, not meaningless slogans.

With regard to Bill C-48, the president of the Canadian Police Association, Tom Stamatakis, said that police officers appreciate that the ministers “worked collaboratively with stakeholders and introduced this common-sense legislation that responds to the concerns that our members have raised.”

Natural Resources

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has what the world needs, particularly in our ability to harness our natural resources to power the world. In Atlantic Canada, we have immense opportunities to utilize offshore wind to drive hydrogen and green ammonia production while decarbonizing our electricity grids. There needs to be regulatory certainty to ensure Canada can attract the capital at home and around the world.

Can the Minister of Natural Resources speak to Bill C-49, which was tabled this morning, and the ongoing work he is doing with the governments of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador to make sure that our region is the best in the world and can drive our energy future?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Kings—Hants for his consistent advocacy on this file.

Canadians expect their governments to accept the scientific reality of climate change and to take concrete action to address it, something our colleagues across the aisle could learn, and they expect us to look to seize the—

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Why did you turn down the tidal project?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am going to ask the minister to start over. The member for Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame has been shouting quite a bit and it is getting a little out of hand. I am going to ask him to quiet down.

The minister can start from the top, please.

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Kings—Hants for his consistent advocacy on this file.

Canadians expect their governments to accept the scientific reality that is climate change and to take concrete and bold action, something our colleagues across the aisle could learn from. They also expect us to look to seize the economic opportunities that can be enabled through a transition to a lower-carbon future. One such opportunity is offshore wind to produce electricity and produce hydrogen. By 2040, the global offshore wind market is predicted to attracted $1 trillion of investments, and our east coast has some of the best resources in the world.

Today I was pleased to introduce amendments to the offshore accord acts, the legislation—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The member for Vancouver Kingsway.

Pharmacare

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yet another study once again proves public pharmacare saves our health care system money: $1,500 per patient every year. It also reveals patients cannot access medicine because of cost. This means more hospital visits, needless suffering and billions of dollars wasted.

The New Democrats have pushed for public pharmacare for decades because we know it saves lives and money, and the Liberals have promised it since 1997. Will the minister finally implement public pharmacare to keep our bottom line and Canadians healthy?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows really well, we are working together. I thank them for their partnership in keeping up and supporting the hard work we have done until now in increasing accessibility, increasing affordability and increasing the appropriateness of the use of drugs across Canada.

We put in place strong regulations a few months ago to bring the prices of patented medicines in Canada closer to what we want to see across the world. We have also invested in a new Canadian drug agency and will be doing a lot more.

Health

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is in open defiance of its legal obligations to ensure health care for first nations children under Jordan's principle. We have children in British Columbia who are now being denied therapy because the government refuses to pay the bills. We have speech pathologists in northern Ontario who are facing bankruptcy this week because of the minister's policy of delay and denied payment for Jordan's principle. Without these treatments, these children's lives are going to be permanently impacted.

The minister has been asked again and again to stand up for the children. Why is she refusing to respect her legal duties under Jordan's principle?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be part of a government that prioritizes access to care for children all across this country. Indigenous children are receiving care through hundreds of thousands of products and services as a result of the action this government has taken.

In respect of the provider the member opposite is speaking about, the member now has a dedicated service provider in the department working to ensure that invoices are correctly submitted and remitted in payment as quickly as possible.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I wish to draw the attention of members to the presence in the gallery of the Right Hon. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, who is accompanied by one of the deputy speakers, the Right Hon. Nigel Evans.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I also wish to draw the attention of members to the presence in the gallery of the Hon. Timothy Halman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change for the Province of Nova Scotia.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

The House resumed from May 29 consideration of the motion that Bill S-5, An Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, to make related amendments to the Food and Drugs Act and to repeal the Perfluorooctane Sulfonate Virtual Elimination Act, be read the third time and passed, and of the amendment.

Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

It being 3:16 p.m., pursuant to order made on Thursday, June 23, 2022, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the amendment of the member for Red Deer—Mountain View to the motion at third reading stage of Bill S-5.

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the amendment, which was negatived on the following division:)

Vote #337

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I declare the amendment defeated.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a technical matter with respect to the vote that just took place. I was attempting to vote using the app and received a notice on my phone saying that my vote had been flagged and may not have gone through. I rushed down here to participate in the new vote in person and to confirm that my yea vote was in fact recorded.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Yes, it did go by and was counted as a yes.

The next question is on the main motion. If a member of a recognized party present in the House wishes that the motion be carried or carried on division or wishes to request a recorded division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair.

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Grande Prairie—Mackenzie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would request a recorded division.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #338

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I declare the motion carried.

(Bill read the third time and passed)

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I wish to inform the House that, because of the deferred recorded division, Government Orders will be extended by 29 minutes.