Mark Holland

[Dental Care, May 6th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking the member for Richmond Hill, who has been such an incredible advocate in making sure that all Canadians get the oral health care they deserve.

In the first three days, we have had extraordinary results. More than 15,000 seniors, just in the first three days, have already gotten service. When we think about that, it is a fundamental issue with dignity and prevention. Those are seniors who are not going to wind up in a hospital room.

We need to continue that momentum. More than 8,000 dentists have now signed up, with more and more signing up every day. We are going to get to—

[Dental Care, May 6th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking the member for Richmond Hill for all his work to promote—

[Mental Health and Addictions, May 6th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, of course, all members in this House are absolutely ripped apart by what we are seeing the opioid crisis do across this country. The responsibility we have to the families who have lost loved ones and to the people who are in crisis right now is to make sure we follow the evidence. The reality is that the ideas proposed by the Conservatives have been tried and have failed everywhere they have been tried. If we are going to have honest conversations, holding out false solutions is very disappointing on a subject so sensitive.

We need to work collaboratively in an evidence-based way to make sure that we do everything we can to get this right.

[Health, May 6th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is a question of freedom. Women across the country will have access to the contraceptive drugs they need for their body and their freedom. I wonder why the Conservative Party is blocking the bill that will provide drugs not just to women, but also to diabetics.

It is time to take action. It is time to ensure that there is true freedom for women across the country. It is time to stop blocking legislation.

[Health, May 6th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, let me state clearly and unequivocally that every woman, in every part of the country, must have access to the oral contraceptives she needs to have control over her reproductive future. Any party that stands in the way of that is standing in the way of the basic freedom for women in our country to have autonomy over their body.

I would ask the Conservative Party of Canada to stop blocking this so that women can get the reproductive aids they need to have control over their reproductive future.

[Health, April 30th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Scarborough—Agincourt for her continued advocacy.

She knows all too well, as do I and every member of the House, that so few of us get to make it through life without being touched by cancer. It is imperative that we do all that we can.

I want to take a moment to recognize the Canadian Cancer Society, Breast Cancer Canada and all those who work tirelessly to advocate. Over the last five years, we have put $1 billion to work for breakthroughs in science and to improve how we prevent and treat cancer. We are taking critical action in prevention. Together, we can see an end to cancer.

[Mental Health and Addictions, April 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, replacing science with slogans and replacing research and evidence with talking points will not fix the problem. There is not a person in the House who is not ripped apart when we watch somebody lose a loved one to this crisis, but to meet it with partisanship, to meet it with pretend solutions and to do things that have failed in other jurisdictions is a disgrace for those who have lost family members.

[Mental Health and Addictions, April 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask clearly what evidence the Conservatives are basing their decisions on. The answer to that question—

[Mental Health and Addictions, April 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, around the world, opioid deaths are taking so many lives. The only way we can rise to meet that moment is with truth and evidence and not by inflaming, through spreading false information, the situation.

I would ask the member opposite, instead of trying to seek opportunity to attack in the House, to work collaboratively on evidence-based solutions that save lives. Like her, and like every member of the House, when a life is lost, it rips us all apart. We have to meet it with truth and honesty and set aside partisanship.

[Dental Care, April 16th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that those members do not want the nine million Canadians who do not have dental care to get service. They do not want Canadians who do not have access to diabetes medication to get it. They do not want women to be able to get access to universal contraception. They push despair because they do not want people to hope for something better. We are there to deliver something better.