Pharmacare Act  Mr. Speaker, I will suggest to the member that this is an incredible opportunity for us, as a federal government, to work closely with provinces and territories. We have much to learn from Quebec. The member for Winnipeg Centre mentioned a few things earlier in her debate. Quebec

Pharmacare Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank the member for Nunavut, along with the member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, for joining me on Sunday in support of Christie Lake Camp, which is a worthy organization in Ottawa, in my community, raising $20,000 to support kids from priority neighbou

Pharmacare Act  Mr. Speaker, I would suggest to the member that it would be incompetent for any government not to invest in health care for Canadians. I would ask the member, if he thinks that this is wasteful spending, if he would cut the spending. Would he not provide pharmacare for Canadian

Pharmacare Act  Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak about Bill C-64 and about how this represents a historic milestone in the evolution of the Canadian health care system. This bill and other investments made by our government will help millions of Canadians who are struggli

Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, there is nothing more important to our government than reconciliation with indigenous peoples. That is why, from the very beginning, we have been working very closely, in partnership with all indigenous peoples across the country, to ensure that we rectify past injus

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, health care is a shared responsibility between the Government of Canada and the provinces and territories. The federal government’s primary role in supporting health care is to provide funding to the provinces and territories, while the provincial and territorial gov

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, CFIA, has other means to engage with stakeholders, including with the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers and Mushrooms Canada. It engages regularly with stakeholders on regulatory, policy and program developm

Jewish Federation of Ottawa  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the remarkable 90-year journey of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa. The roots of the federation can be traced back to 1934, amidst a backdrop of rising anti-Semitism and economic adversity caused by the Great Depression. From the outset, the

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I would never cast negative aspersions on the member's community, and I thank him for spending time in my community and supporting local businesses in my community. He mentioned the last four years that he has been here. Almost three of those years were during the pa

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. I have had the honour of serving in the provincial legislature as well. For 11 years, I was the provincial member of Parliament for the same community of Ottawa Centre, which was kind enough to elect me as their member of Parli

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, as the member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, it is a great pleasure for me to speak to this budget: “Fairness for Every Generation”. I have 10 minutes and I can probably speak for hours in terms of things that are in this budget document that support members of my

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, the federal government does not directly fund hospitals or clinics to provide medically necessary health care services, including abortion care services. Rather the provincial and territorial governments fund and administer the provision of these services within the

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, Health Canada has authorized several COVID-19 vaccines for use in Canada. Each of these underwent a careful scientific review, and met our standards for safety, efficacy and quality. Information about all of the authorized vaccines, including the Regulatory Decision

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, Health Canada initially authorized the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine in December 2020 and subsequently has authorized updated versions, including the most recent vaccine targeting the XBB Omicron subvariant in late 2023: https://covid-vaccine.cana

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, in answer to part (a) of the question, at the time of initial authorization of the first COVID-19 vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech, in December 2020, there was no reported evidence on the efficacy of the authorized COVID-19 vaccine to prevent asymptomatic infection, to redu