Libby Davies

[Petitions, October 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House today to present a petition that is signed by a number of people in Vancouver.

The petition draws our attention to the fact that Falun Gong practitioners have been the largest and most severely persecuted group in China since 1999 for their spiritual beliefs in truth, compassion, forbearance.

The petitioners also point out that Canadian investigators, David Matas and David Kilgour, a former member of Parliament, have compiled more than 50 pieces of evidence and concluded that the Chinese regime and its agencies have put to death a large number of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience. They also tell us that democratic nations have a responsibility to condemn such atrocities.

The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to condemn these practices and to publicly call for an end to the persecution of the Falun Gong in China.

[Health, October 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary and the government have not been clear at all. They keep passing the buck to the WHO, which is not the problem. The American pharmaceutical company NewLink Genetics said it wants to “be in control” of clinical trials. Because of the deal the Conservatives signed with the company in 2010, now the lawyers are holding it up.

The situation is very dire, and Canada's vaccine could help now. Will the government tell NewLink Genetics to allow this vaccine to move, or will it cancel the deal today so that we can get this lifesaving vaccine to where it is needed?

[Health, October 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has the most promising vaccine for Ebola in the world, but despite government promises two months ago, it is not getting to scientists and patients.

Yesterday the parliamentary secretary said “consent needs to be provided”, but whose consent did she mean? We know that the World Health Organization is not the problem, so whose consent is she referring to? Is it the pharmaceutical company the Conservatives gave the licensing rights to?

[Health, October 2nd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I can say that Canadians expect their government to be proactive, not sitting around waiting.

Let us look at drug safety. While the U.S. takes drug safety seriously, this minister has been improvising. Five months ago, the U.S. banned imports from Apotex. Health Canada politely asked Apotex to stop and did nothing when it refused. This week Conservatives finally imposed a ban, but then they got the product list wrong.

Can the minister confirm that she was told about the problems with Apotex in April and did nothing, or is she suggesting that she is not responsible for her own department?

[Health, October 2nd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary has just confirmed again that this urgently needed vaccine is still sitting in a Winnipeg lab, despite the promises that were made weeks ago to get a vaccine to West Africa. In the meantime, the number of Ebola cases is doubling almost every three weeks.

Rather than passing the buck and trying to blame someone else, we want to know, and can the minister tell us, what steps she is taking now to deliver on Canada's promise for this vaccine.

[Health, October 1st, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, maybe the minister should read the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report and find out that they are downloading to the provinces.

I am glad to see that the government has finally listened to the NDP on drug safety and taken action to ban imports from two Apotex factories. The ban comes after Health Canada received information from the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S.

However, the Auditor General warned three years ago that Health Canada was slow to react. Why does Health Canada have to rely on information from the U.S. before it takes action to protect the health and safety of Canadians?

[Finance, October 1st, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government should not be balancing the books on the backs of provinces. The Parliamentary Budget Officer's report clearly shows the government's fiscal sustainability has come at cost. Cuts to services and downloading the fiscal burden to provinces are going on.

If the federal government had not cut health care transfers by $36 billion, the fiscal gap faced by the provinces and municipalities would be essentially eliminated. How does cutting federal funding improve health care for Canadians?

[Health, September 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the framework she talks about is evolving to the point that it simply does not work. The fact is that Canadians should not have to rely on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to protect our prescription drugs.

Public safety must be paramount, and Health Canada's secrecy must stop. Health Canada has yet to let Canadians know which drugs it quarantined yesterday. Why is the minister so opposed to increasing transparency? Will she publicly disclose details to Canadians about which drugs have been quarantined and why?

[Canada-Korea Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, September 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, my apologies to the member who just spoke for interjecting just before the questions and comments.

However, I want to rise on a brief point of order and let the House know that when we were debating the topic of the missing and murdered indigenous women on Friday, September 19, I noted in my comments that I met with the Minister of Justice in 1999. In actual fact, I was in error of the year. I did meet with the Minister of Justice, but I believe the year was 2002. I have tried to go back and look but it is hard to find a calendar from that year. However, I did want to correct this in the record because it was not in 1999, but a bit later and I believe it was 2002. I just want to note that for the record.

[Health, September 23rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is ignoring the fact that her government actually cut the money for wait times in this country. As we can see today from the new report from the Wait Time Alliance, Canadians are becoming increasingly frustrated with this government's inaction. In fact, 94% of Canadians are concerned about waiting too long to see specialists, and a majority of Canadians, according to a poll, believe things have gotten worse, not better, under the current government.

When will the government finally provide the leadership Canadians are looking for and work with provinces to reduce wait times?