Bill C-284

National Strategy for Eye Care Act

An Act to establish a national strategy for eye care

This enactment provides for the development of a national strategy to support the prevention and treatment of eye disease, as well as vision rehabilitation, to ensure better health outcomes for Canadians.
It also designates the month of February as “Age-Related Macular Degeneration Awareness Month”.

Eye Care

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions that have been certified by the House that call on the government to support Bill C-284. Given the fact that over eight million people are suffering from eye diseases and 1.2 million live with vision loss or blindness, 75% of vision-loss cases, if diagnosed and treated early, are preventable.

Historically, the federal government has lacked any substantive framework on the matter of public eye health care, and the current structure has created huge gaps in access to care. Therefore, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada call upon the House of Commons to adopt Bill C-284, an act to establish a national strategy for eye care as soon as possible.

I can report to the House that they have done that, and the House has supported Bill C-284.

Age-Related Macular Degeneration Awareness Month

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, February is Age-Related Macular Degeneration Awareness Month, and yesterday was AMD awareness day on the Hill. A number of stakeholders and specialists in eye care are here in Ottawa this week to meet with members of the House and of the other place to speak about vision care issues. We salute them and the work they do on behalf of all of us.

I also take this opportunity to thank all of my colleagues in the House for adopting unanimously my bill, BillC-284, to establish a national eye care strategy in Canada. I ask my colleagues in the Senate to please pass the bill as soon as possible. It would be wonderful to celebrate the adoption of an eye care strategy during February, AMD Awareness Month.

Eye Care

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to finally have the opportunity to present these petitions.

Over eight million people are suffering from eye diseases, and 1.2 million live with vision loss or blindness. Therefore, petitioners call upon the House of Commons to adopt Bill C-284, an act that would establish a national strategy for eye care, as soon as possible.

This was done a few days ago, and I am very pleased that it was done.

National Strategy for Eye Care Act

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at third reading stage of Bill C‑284, under Private Members' Business.

The House resumed from October 20 consideration of the motion that Bill C‑284, An Act to establish a national strategy for eye care, be read the third time and passed.

Eye Care

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as I have been working on the eye care bill, Bill C-284, I have learned that many people take their eyesight for granted.

Today I want to recognize Dr. Steve Arshinoff, the president of the Eye Foundation of Canada, a remarkable ophthalmologist from my very own riding who improves the lives of many Canadians. Dr. Arshinoff has been actively helping remote communities as well by spending up to three weeks a year with the travelling Eye Van project for over 30 years. This initiative, plus many others, has been a beacon of hope for those needing eye care outside of the most populated areas, especially indigenous communities. His dedication, expertise and compassion have transformed countless lives with his other projects as well throughout the world. Initiatives like these make Canada stronger, healthier and more vibrant. I want to thank Dr. Arshinoff for his unwavering commitment to Humber River—Black Creek and all Canadians.

To enhance the good work of Canada's eye health community, I ask all members to support Bill C-284 tomorrow afternoon.

National Strategy for Eye Care Act

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is not easy to speak after everyone else. I will be repeating things that others have already said. At least it shows that we are sometimes capable of sharing the same vision and seeing eye to eye—no pun intended.

Every time a bill introduced in the House of Commons has any direct or indirect bearing on health, we are forced to point out that health is the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces and that Quebec already has a number of programs specifically addressing eye health. My colleague from Terrebonne discussed this matter at length just now. I will use different words, but essentially, we are saying the same thing. Naturally, there is always room for improvement.

All we can do is once again point out that the funding from Ottawa is not meeting the needs and that the health care transfer agreement that was signed in March 2023 was very far from meeting the real needs of our health care systems. That is an obvious sign that the provinces were forced to sign the transfer agreement. The federal government twisted their arm to get them to sign it. It is so easy for the federal government to achieve its ends, given the ongoing fiscal imbalance between the federal government and the provinces. That is exactly what my colleague from Terrebonne was saying.

I would like to remind the House of certain facts. This is too good an opportunity to pass up. Ottawa offered only one-sixth of what the provinces were calling for, or $46.2 billion over 10 years. In Quebec, three ministers pointed out that the federal funding was far below what Quebeckers expected.

Let us not forget that the federal government continues to withhold Quebec's share of the $25 billion that it had promised in the bilateral health agreements. Again, instead of sending that money to Quebec, which already knows its needs in health, the federal government is withholding the money to try to impose its priorities. I want to take advantage of the time I have left to call on the federal government to sign an agreement with Quebec that recognizes asymmetrical federalism and respects Quebec's jurisdictions.

That being said, I will come back to Bill C‑284, which seeks to raise public awareness of eye disease and its treatment, as well as prevention, in order to improve health outcomes for Canadians. The Bloc Québécois voted in favour of the bill at second reading and we will also vote to pass the bill at third reading. Amendments were made that confirm our position.

In its initial version, the bill called for the Canadian strategy to impose clinical practice guidelines on the provinces. Here again, the federal government wants to lecture us and argues that it can do better. However, it is the professional associations that govern these professions, and they fall under provincial jurisdiction. In Quebec, the Ordre des optométristes du Québec was established under the province's professional code and the Optometry Act. In addition to regulating the profession, the order ensures the quality, practice and continuing education of its members. It stands to reason that clinical practice guidelines cannot be imposed by the federal government. The government acknowledged its mistake and removed that aspect from the bill, thus limiting its jurisdictional encroachments.

The fact remains that item (a) of the content of the strategy remains an irritant, because, as mentioned, training and guidance do not fall under its jurisdiction. I would remind the House of the wording of item (a):

(a) identify the needs of health care professionals for training and guidance on the prevention and treatment of eye disease [including clinical practice guidelines].

This is another attempt to intrude. The training of health care professionals is a matter for Quebec and the provinces. Despite that, and since the term “identify” is not prescriptive and the bill contains some good elements, such as improving the examination of drugs and devices related to eye disease, as well as developing research, we will vote in favour of the bill.

I would like to highlight an important beneficial element of the bill. Point (b) of the eye care strategy mentions promoting research. Quebec is actively involved in ophthalmology research through its universities and hospital network. For example, the Vision Health Research Network, which brings together the Maisonneuve‑Rosemont hospital research centre, the Université de Montréal hospital research centre, as well as seven Quebec universities and several integrated health and social services centres, conducts basic, evaluative and clinical research on eye health.

I am pleased to hear that the strategy will aim to enhance research ecosystems and that Quebec will be able to contribute its talents to tomorrow's advances in eye health, because research is definitely expensive.

In his speech, my colleague from Mirabel talked about how important eye health is. According to the statistics that he quoted from 2019, 1.2 million Canadians suffer from diseases that could lead to vision loss, and 4.1% of those people could become blind. He also pointed out that eight million Canadians suffer from an eye disease that may lead to blindness, and that, for some of these diseases, blindness is preventable. What is more, the health care costs related to these diseases can reach up to $9.5 billion. Let us not forget the social and human costs, either. I could once again talk about the importance of increasing health transfers, but my colleague from Terrebonne gave such a good speech about that and I already spoke about it briefly.

The federal government has a role to play in funding research and approving drugs and devices, for instance. The bill is now generally more respectful of the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces.

I salute my colleague from Humber River—Black Creek and congratulate her on her bill, because eye care is never a priority. Because it is never a priority, people lose their eyesight. Highlighting this neglected health issue is a major part of this bill and is part of the reason it is so relevant. We have to keep talking about it. As my Conservative colleague mentioned earlier, we live in the screen age. In Quebec, a coalition of experts that created an initiative called Pause Your Screen explains the following on its website:

Prolonged screen use can cause dry eyes (because we blink five times less when looking at a screen), eye strain, blurred vision, headaches, burning, itchy eyes as well as a loss of attention or focus. In the long term, screen use can lead to ocular dryness, fluctuating vision, and photophobia (extreme sensitivity to light), cause or aggravate eye coordination problems, and foster the progression of near-sightedness.

That is a serious problem.

We will now turn our attention to pollution and its effects on eye health. I like to make the necessary connections between pollution and health. A 2021 study reported that researchers had conducted a large-scale project to better understand the development of eye diseases. They found that air pollution can have serious consequences for eye health, especially in terms of age-related macular degeneration. The study was published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. With tens of thousands of study subjects, it showed that people with higher exposure to air pollution presented higher rates of age-related macular degeneration. We know that air pollution has a significant impact on health. This is yet another reason to reduce CO2 levels and transition to renewable energy sources as quickly as possible.

The bill also designates February as age-related macular degeneration awareness month. That is the name of the disease. As the population ages, the frequency of this disease will increase. Now, we also know that high levels of air pollution will also increase the frequency of this disease.

I will close by saying that if some people remain blind to environmental problems and pollution, then there is a good chance that they will go blind from the CO2 pollution in the air.

[Gerald Soroka, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on an important matter, the future of eye care in Canada, Bill C-284, which was presented by the hon. member for Humber River—Black Creek and addresses a matter of national concern and would ensure Canadians have access to a coordinated and comprehensive eye care response.

I thank the member opposite for bringing this bill forward. I am happy we have had some productive discussions over its content. One of my first concerns when I heard about the bill was the possible overreaching of power between the federal and the provincial government, because this does end up in the hands of health care, which is the responsibility of provinces, but I am so glad this bill would not do this. It is more about collaboration and what we can do to make sure we have national eye care and health for all Canadians.

I am surprised by one of the statistics I found, which is that 75% of Canadians have some type of vision loss or eye impediment. I am a prime example; I wear glasses. It is no surprise that a lot of us, as we get a bit more mature, start having eye difficulties. The other side of this is the fact there are a lot of diseases, such as macular degeneration, which are very hard to deal with. Any time one has loss of vision, it becomes quite incapacitating.

I will go off topic a little. I was at a conference a couple of years ago, and one of the guest speakers was a motivational speaker. He was a thalidomide baby and was born without arms. He said that every time he went to a classroom, the first question people always asked was how he lived without arms and whether he missed them. He would reply that he never had them so never missed them.

For most Canadians, it is the exact opposite when it comes to eyesight. Most of us are born with healthy eyesight and we take for granted the fact that we have good eyesight and we never think about losing it. We do not wake up and say, “Wow, I can see this morning.” It is not until one has a disease or injury and loses their eyesight, or until one has an impediment to their eyesight, that people think about it.

I think it is very important we bring recognition to this. We also want to make sure there is a good strategy in place for Canadians and that we do not go after any vulnerable or marginalized communities. We need to ensure every Canadian, regardless of their social or economic background, has equal access to quality eye care. One's eyesight is very important. It is the number one sense that people are most afraid of losing. However, like I say, every day we take it for granted.

My grandfather had macular degeneration, and he told me an interesting story. He was not fully blind, but he was legally blind, and he could still see out of the corners of his eyes. He was legally blind and hard of hearing in his early 90s, and he said it made for a very long day. He still lived on a farm and he looked forward to cutting the grass in the summer, but he would cut the grass every day. I asked him how he saw to cut the grass, and he said that he could still see out of the corners of his eyes. He figured that if he cut it every day, he would cut every piece of grass at least once in a week, because he did not think he would miss the exact same piece of grass seven days in a row. This was something he did to keep his mind active and keep busy throughout the whole summer. This was one of the things he lived for. Unfortunately, he passed away a number of years ago, but that is life. At least he tried to live his life as best as he could with the impairment he had.

The big challenge when one has an eye impacted, whether it is through disease or injury, is to try to make the best of the situation. It is so easy to get down and ask what we can do now and think that because we cannot see then we cannot do anything. However, as we have seen through many different types of programs for Canadians, such as service dogs for the blind, Canadians can lead a functioning life.

We know that on every street corner, there are beepers to make sure they know when to cross the street. There are many things we try to do, but the main thing is hoping that Canadians do not have to go through this type of situation of losing their vision. A very important thing about this situation is that we want to make sure Canadians have a great eye care service.

Something else I found out are the studies on exposure to blue light. One might think, “What is a blue light?” Every one of us looks at our cell phone at least once or twice a day, or we look at computer screens. This is actually starting to have an impact on our vision. It is quite a horrible thing, when we start thinking that it could cause earlier macular degeneration in our children or our young adults. We need to start looking at what kinds of opportunities there are so we do not have these kinds of things affecting our eyesight.

For myself, the glasses I have right now do have a blue light filter on them so that it is not as hard for me to look at computer screens. People are already starting to use technology in place to offset some of the things that are affecting our eyesight.

I have to admit that, even growing up, I was one of those people who probably did not take care of my eyes as well as I could have, because, being on a farm, it is quite easy to be in dusty conditions. When someone is using a grinder and not using goggles, they might even get a bit of a grinding file in their eyes. I have experienced a few horrible situations, yet one does not think about it and how it could impact one's life later on. As with any injury, all of the issues that could potentially happen seem to materialize the most later in one's life.

The thing with vision loss is that it is not just about how it impedes a person's life. It is also about their abilities, their mental health and the social integration and productivity they have. I talked about how one can have service dogs for the blind. Someone can have a cane to monitor where they are, but we want to make sure that people do not get to that stage. That is the one thing about this whole bill: making sure we have a structure in place between national and provincial jurisdictions to make sure that Canadians are taken care of the best they can be.

I did talk a little bit about how modern technology, such as the blue light filter, can help with eyesight, but there is also laser eye surgery. I know that the first time I heard about this, I was quite young, and I was wondering why anyone would want to cut the cornea of their eye to shape it so that they do not have to wear glasses. However, if someone wore glasses with very thick lenses, it was actually quite liberating to not have a heavy pair of glasses on their eyes. People were always concerned, wondering whether the scar tissue would be as strong as the original skin cells themselves. I think, as time has progressed, laser surgery has really materialized into a safe procedure.

Another thing is cataracts. People did not think about them. In the past, cataracts would go across one's eyes, basically like wax paper, and there was not much that could be done. Now, however, not only can doctors reverse that process, but they can also actually, when the lens is changed, get people back to 20/20 eyesight.

There are a lot of technologies out there that are helping with eye research and how it can advance Canadians, to make sure that they do not lose their vision. Technology is one of the biggest ways through which I am hoping we can solve a lot of our problems around the world, but more so with eye care, so it is very important that we have brought this forward.

In many cases, we can talk about how good technology is. At the same time, there are always limitations. One of the limitations I learned about regarding macular degeneration is that there is some new technology that was proposed that it is still in the final testing phases with Health Canada. How can that be rectified? I think, bureaucratically, there are some opportunities that need to be looked at so we can address that. That is something we need to start looking forward to. What kind of new technologies are out there that can save our vision?

I think it is very good that the member did bring this bill forward. Hopefully, we can actually get a better case for our health care for our eyes, and in the future, work collaboratively with the Government of Canada as well as with all the provinces.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak to Bill C-284. I will only take a few minutes to express my support for it.

I want to congratulate the member for Humber River—Black Creek for bringing the bill forward. She has championed it at every stage. I know she has been here in the House to listen to the debate and has heard what members have had to say as it made its way through committee and back to us now for its final hour of debate.

I thought it would be important to point out some striking statistics that relate to the eye health of Canadians. In 2019, the year for which we have data, $38.2 billion was lost in the Canadian economy, 1.2 million Canadians were blind or partially sighted, eight million Canadians were at risk of blindness and 1,292 deaths were associated with vision loss.

About 75% of individuals can be prevented from going blind if diagnosed early. Unfortunately, we all take our eyesight for granted until it is often too late. Bill C-284 attempts to raise awareness of the impacts of vision loss and blindness, improve eye health care and support, and foster innovative research to advance new therapies for vision loss.

It is important to try to put ourselves in the shoes of others. A close friend of mine, whom of course I will not name as I do not want to embarrass him, is slowly starting to lose his vision as a result of a genetic problem with his eyes. He is an individual who works in a technical field that requires him to always look at what he is doing and use his hands, sometimes on very small instruments. I think quite often about what will happen when he gets to the point his father did and he does not have the vision he requires to do his job.

Let us for a second think of the impact that has on people, not just from an economic perspective, because obviously they would be at a disadvantage, but also from the perspective of how it affects them psychologically. Having a strategy for how we will address issues like this, how we will support Canadians like this and how we can do more research and education around strategies related to the vision of individuals and the deterioration of it is incredibly important.

I want to again congratulate the member for Humber River—Black Creek for bringing forward this very important piece of legislation. I express my support for it and have heard around the House of others who support it. I really hope it will pass and make its way over to the Senate, where it can be adopted and then become law.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to rise on behalf of the New Democratic Party to talk about Bill C-284, an act to establish a national strategy for eye care. I want to thank my colleague, the member for Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, who brought forward Motion No. 86 in a previous Parliament to make this a reality.

In 2003, the Government of Canada promised that we would have a national vision health plan. Twenty years have gone by, and nothing has been done. The issue of health and vision care is fundamental to quality of life.

I will say at the beginning that I have had bad eyes my whole life. I have had to wear glasses. When I realized I had a cataract, I was shocked. The effect it had on my ability to work was dramatic. I could not read reports. I was stunned at how quickly my vision deteriorated, yet in the midst of the height of the COVID crisis, I was able to get into a public hospital in Canada to get treated. My quality of life turned around immediately. I know it was much to the chagrin of Conservatives that I was back at work the next day, holding both the Conservatives and the Liberals to account.

Issues of health care and vision care are fundamental. We see that cataracts, for example, affect 3.5 million people. Age-related macular degeneration affects 1.5 million people, and glaucoma affects 294,000 people. Diabetic retinopathy affects 749,800 people. This is affecting people in Canada, so to have a strategy to make sure we are including vision care in the overall understanding of health care is very important.

Certainly at the heart of the New Democratic Party's vision of health care, from 1961 with Tommy Douglas, is the belief that we need head-to-toe health coverage for everyone in Canada. It is not just about quality of life; it is also about the impact on our economy. It is about those we love being able to live lives of dignity. Deloitte just put the cost at $33 billion in 2019, from a lack of proper eye care for people.

If it is diagnosed early and people have access to treatment, vision loss can be prevented in 75% of cases. How do we make sure that happens? It is about having timely access. It is about being able to go to an eye doctor. I mention this because in Ontario, the government of Doug Ford, the man who promised the people of Ontario that he would give them buck-a-beer, targeted eye care against seniors. As of September 1, once-a-year eye coverage that had been available has now been moved to once every 18 months. The Conservatives say that this is not a problem and that it is saving us some money, but here is the kicker: When someone is 84 years old, suddenly has a worsening eye condition and is told that they are not allowed follow-up eye coverage and will have to wait another 18 months to be seen, this is the difference between being able to see and going blind. However, Doug Ford said that seniors are no longer eligible for that care.

Adults with lazy eye are also no longer covered in Ontario. I talked about cataracts and having lived through the frightening impact of suffering a cataract. People are no longer eligible to have cataract surgery in the Ontario of Doug Ford unless they can prove that their condition would cause significantly decreased vision. It is up to the person who is not able to see to prove to the Conservative bureaucrats in Ontario that they are eligible and that they deserve cataract surgery.

Doug Ford also does not think retinal disease is an issue that should be looked after. Corneal disease is no longer a priority for Doug Ford. Optic pathway disease is no longer a priority for Doug Ford. In each case, the person must prove they are suffering significant impacts before they are eligible for treatment. Otherwise, they pay out of pocket. For people who cannot pay out of pocket, particularly in times of high inflation, the impact is the potential of going blind.

I think that any ordinary, decent human being would realize and agree that that is a real misuse of public trust, but then this also is the government that decided that, instead of favouring seniors with eye care, it would look after Mr. X in the Greenbelt.

Who was his other friend, the guy who calls himself the Phoenix Kiss? Is this like an episode of the Sopranos? Mr. Phoenix Kiss says, “Meet the fixer.” He really fixed Doug Ford, with this bogus transfer of public land so that insiders could make money. Then, of course, there were the gifts at Doug Ford's family wedding. There were developers showing up to give money.

Members do not want to stand up and defend Doug Ford? Okay, I will continue.

One could hear the music playing as if it were right out of The Godfather. That was criminal, corporate, Conservative culture to a T. Those are the same people who say, “You know, when we get into power we're going to do nothing for people except sell off a whole bunch of public buildings paid for by the taxpayer to our friends”. I wonder if Mr. Phoenix Kiss and Mr. X will be invited. Actually, Mr. X does know the member for Carleton who lives in the mansion at Stornoway.

I raise these issues because this is about issues of priority. In Ontario, senior citizens have a right and should be able to know that if they have problems with cataracts, or a degenerative visual disease for which they can get treatment, without regard to whether they are an insider developer who hangs out with the Ford family at their weddings. That is what public health care is about. Public health care is about the obligation of federal and provincial officials to put in policies that make sure that we develop the long-term benefits for the people of our country.

The New Democratic Party thinks this issue of a vision care strategy is really important. We are going to need to see, of course, some standards that we put in place to ensure that across Canada we are addressing the serious issues concerning lack of service for those who are suffering from visual impairment. For people who are blind, there is a real lack of services. We have seen in indigenous communities a lack of ability to access proper treatment, especially at a young age. When the inability of a child to see properly at a young age is identified, we are able to rectify problems that will affect their learning from the get-go. I certainly remember back in grade 3 when the nuns were yelling at me because I was heckling, it was also because I could not see the board. Then they gave me glasses and I became a much more focused heckler.

I know that my laser eye now has caused a lot of problems for both Liberals and Conservatives because I stay focused on the issues and it is not just the blur that it used to be. I can actually identify the differences between these parties and where they are both bloodily similar. That requires really good political eye progress.

I would stay all day talking about the issue of proper eye care coverage and the need for us to take responsibility on this issue, but I want to say that New Democrats support this bill. We think it is a good initiative. It is a bill that we have supported in the past. We supported it when it was sponsored by the member for Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing. We have waited 20 long years to have a national vision care strategy and we need to get it implemented.

We need to also start talking about a long-term path to providing public coverage for all forms of eye care. This kind of care is fundamental to the value and quality of life and it is fundamental to the value and quality of our society. We will certainly be supporting this bill.

The House resumed from September 28 consideration of the motion that Bill C‑284, An Act to establish a national strategy for eye care, be read the third time and passed.

Motions in Amendment

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

Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for putting forth this private member's bill. It is always an honour to get up in the House and address Canadians as an elected representative from my riding of Peterborough—Kawartha, but our voices often resonate across Canada.

What we are talking about tonight, for those watching, and I know my mom and dad are watching, is a private member's bill. My parents will like this private member's bill. It was put forward by a Liberal, the member for Humber River—Black Creek, and it is a really good private member's bill.

A private member's bill is something that, as it sounds, is put forth by members themselves. There is policy we see on the floor of the House of Commons that comes forward, and then there are private member's bills, where a member works together with people here at the House of Commons to put it forward. It takes a little more work in a lot of ways because the member has to convince everybody in the House to work with them and get everyone on board.

A lot of this often comes from a place of personal experience. We all have an agenda for why we got elected or what we are doing here, and we have personal connections and things we want to change. The member who put this bill forward shared her story of her personal connection and why she put it forward, and I am going to read the summary into the record for people. Bill C-284 is “An Act to establish a national strategy for eye care”, and the summary states:

This enactment provides for the development of a national strategy to support the prevention and treatment of eye disease, as well as vision rehabilitation, to ensure better health outcomes for Canadians.

It also designates the month of February as “Age-Related Macular Degeneration Month”.

There is a reason I love this bill so much. When we look at our health, let us be honest: Nothing else matters in the world other than our health. Someone does not know they do not have health until they do not have health. I always say it is like that age-old adage: When someone is sick and laying on the ground with the flu or something, they could have all the money in the world and all the possessions in the world, but without their health they cannot do anything.

What I like about this bill is that it puts a focus not only on our eyes, but on the overall health of our eyes and the impact our eye health has on us. It also talks about prevention, and that is the smart economics, I would say, of this bill. When we look at prevention, that is really when we are working upstream.

Often in this House, what we are doing is intervening. The damage has already been done and we are doing an intervention, constantly. We are doing damage control all the time. We see this in so many aspects, such as our mental health crisis and our opioid crisis. We are trying to undo all of these things. However, if we focus on prevention and research, we will save ourselves so much money in the long run. I like that this bill has a specific focus on research and prevention.

There is an area about this bill that intrigued me and got me thinking. I am the shadow minister or critic for children, families and social development. We have a ton of children in this country who are not reaching their full potential in learning. Something is often overlooked, and I can remember my own experience of this with my kids when things were not working out at school or something was going on. The simplest thing we can do is check to see if their vision is working, if their eyes are working. People do not know any different. If someone's eyes are not working, but they have never had them tested and do not know any different, that is what their baseline is. They do not know that they cannot see the board or cannot see their friends.

There could be a whole bunch of kids acting up or their behaviour has changed or they are not reaching their full potential. They could be a bright child but have fallen through the cracks because they are not engaging socially, or they do not feel smart so their worth declines. That has a spider web of impacts.

We can help our children have access. A ton of children fell through the cracks in so many areas with the pandemic, which I am going to park because I have so many feelings on that. They really fell through the cracks and did not get access to testing. I think that if we have a national eye care strategy that helps in those very first few years, diagnosing whether there is a vision issue, we are going to prevent so many long-term issues. The same can be said for our seniors.

Before I get to our seniors, I want to talk about the economic impacts when we look at prevention and what this is costing our system. There was a report from 2021. It is two years old, so the data could be even more current. A headline about the report reads, “New report reveals vision loss costs Canada almost $33 billion annually”. That is not chump change. That is not nothing.

If I go back to the beginning of what I said, our health is our mental health, so our mind and body have to be working well. If our eyes are not working well, this is going to impact our mental health as well, which costs the system. I do not even know that one can quantify whether that $33 billion would take into account all of the other secondary issues that would happen as a result of not having access to eye care.

The article about the report goes on to say, “What is most concerning is that 75 percent of vision loss is either preventable or treatable if caught early”, so we can see why the private member's bill has garnered support in the House. It is because it is just common sense, as we would say on this side of the House. The report revealed the following costs from vision loss borne by society and individuals every year—

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am thankful for this opportunity to discuss Bill C-284, which advocates for a comprehensive strategy to address eye health.

I would like to begin, as my colleague before me did, by thanking my esteemed colleague, the hon. member for Humber River—Black Creek, for the extensive work she has done on this bill.

I might dare to call myself a poster person of someone who has faced eye health care challenges since my early forties. Late detection of glaucoma with a delay in having it addressed caused me to go through a very complicated cataract surgery and then another surgery of the cataracts, so I had two cataract surgeries with two detached retinas back to back, followed by two glaucoma surgeries. Because of the medication, I then had to have a cornea replacement last year. That was all due to the late identification and treatment of the condition of glaucoma in my eyes. Unfortunately, all of them were in my right eye.

I dare to call myself a poster person for this bill, and once again, I thank the hon. member. I also thank the doctors who helped restore my eyesight to the level that it is now so that I can function. I would like to specifically highlight Dr. Amrahdyan, who is my ophthalmologist; Dr. Berger, who is my retina specialist; Dr. Berke, who is my glaucoma specialist; and Dr. Chiu, who is my cornea specialist. They all worked very successfully on restoring the health of my eye.

That is all to say how important eye health is. The key part is about how important it is for it to be part of our overall health. Vision loss can have a massive impact on daily life. I could spend hours talking about the impact it had on me. Two back-to-back detached retinas basically meant that I had to lie flat on my face for 18 weeks, over two nine-week periods, without being able to move. That stopped me from eating something for more than five minutes. The rest of the time I was basically flat on my face, and I could not actively participate in any activity, whether it was work or family events or anything.

It is important for us to make sure we really support this bill and work across the aisle to make sure that it passes to develop the strategy that is needed and embed it into the health care system. As Canada's population ages, the importance of maintaining good eye health and preventing vision loss is imperative. Vision loss can be caused by several common eye diseases, including macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. I am glad to say that I do not have diabetic retinopathy, but I unfortunately have to say that I have suffered through all of the others.

According to a report from Deloitte and the Canadian Council of the Blind, more than eight million Canadians had a common eye disease in 2019 and were at serious risk of losing their vision, as I was. Throughout a person's lifetime, and especially as they age, it is important to maintain good eye health. Routine vision care can help to reduce the risks of blindness and vision loss later in life and improve the outcomes associated with eye diseases such as cataracts and glaucoma. I cannot emphasize how important it is to ensure that everyone has access to an optometrist and an ophthalmologist and they go through routine eye examinations as early as they can.

One's vision does not need to be impaired to see an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. People need to make sure their eyes are healthy and can continue functioning to have a quality life. This is why I am standing in the House today in support of Bill C-284, which would establish a national strategy for eye care to support the prevention and treatment of eye disease to ensure better health outcomes for Canadians.

This bill calls on the Minister of Health to establish a national strategy in consultation with the provinces, territories, experts and indigenous groups. This strategy would allow governments at all levels across Canada to work together to address vision loss. Bill C-284 demonstrates to Canadians that we are all working to better support their eye health through a comprehensive and collaborative approach. A national strategy for eye care contributes to ensuring that Canadians are getting the vision services they need.

The federal government's health portfolio is leading and supporting a range of activities related to eye disease prevention and treatment, in support of health care delivery, which is undertaken by the provinces and territories. I would like to spend a bit of time talking about some of the supports that the federal government is giving the provinces and territories around health care in general. We are hoping that some of them, through the provinces and territories, get directed to eye care.

As we all know, budget 2023 committed close to $200 billion in funding to support our health workforce; reduce backlogs; expand access to family health services, mental health and substance abuse; and modernize our health system. This includes $46.2 billion in new funding to be transferred directly to the provinces and territories through new Canada health transfer measures, as well as tailored bilateral agreements to meet the needs of each province and territory, personal support, work wage support and territorial health investment. As we all know, $25 billion of that is focused on what we call the shared priorities between the provinces and the federal government. My plea to all levels of government, including my own government, is that some of that shared funding be focused on eye health care.

Addressing health workforce shortages and surgical backlogs, including for vision-related surgeries, is a key part of the plan and is a health system priority for this government. I was really fortunate to be able to get immediate support when I went through back-to-back detached retinas. That is considered an emergency. However, I had to wait more than three months to get scheduled for a cornea transplant. I would like to once again thank Dr. Chu for doing such an amazing job in helping to restore my sight.

The Government of Canada recognizes that supporting research is key to a fulsome understanding of eye health, including how to prevent vision loss. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research has supported key vision-related research that has strengthened the evidence base. Health Canada also regulates drugs and medical devices, including those intended for eye diseases and conditions.

Finally, the government fully supports Canada's public health system, which provides coverage for any vision care services that must be performed in a hospital. There are those who have glaucoma and they receive special consideration when they visit a doctor. However, those who do not have it have to pay for the services when they go to their ophthalmologist or optometrist. I am hoping that some of this shared priority focuses on making sure those services are provided as part of the health care system. The efforts to protect Canadians' vision in the long term is something that all members and all Canadians would benefit from and stand behind.

Once again, I wish to thank the hon. member for Humber River—Black Creek for putting forward this bill meaningful bill. I hope that we can all continue to support Bill C-284 to strengthen the work under way across Canada to prevent and treat eye—

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, today I rise to speak in support of Bill C-284, which is an act to establish a national strategy for eye care. I want to thank the hon. member for Humber River—Black Creek for introducing this important legislation, which addresses a long-neglected issue in our health care system.

Above my desk in my office here in Ottawa is a portrait of Tommy Douglas. When I think about the impact that he has had on health care for Canadians, I often reflect on his saying this: “When we're talking about medical care we're talking about our sense of values.”

Our New Democratic Party has been advocating for a comprehensive, public health care system since our founding convention in 1961, where it was affirmed:

Believing that a country's most precious possession is the health of its citizens, the New Party will introduce a National Health Plan, providing benefits to those who need them without regard to their ability to pay. The plan will cover a full range of services: medical, surgical, dental and optical treatment, as well as prescribed drugs and appliances.

I am proud of the role that New Democrats have played in establishing our national health care, as well as recent work we have done to force the Liberal government to establish a national dental care program. We will continue to work toward a national pharmacare plan. I believe that it is also important to add eye care to our universal health care model.

In one of the richest countries in the world, it is shameful that millions of our fellow Canadians lack access to essential eye care. Over eight million Canadians live with an eye condition that puts them at significant risk of blindness. We know that, as the population continues to age, this number will only increase.

Seventy per cent of existing vision impairments in Canada are estimated to be correctable with prescription glasses, yet not everyone who needs glasses can afford them. The impact this has on the independence and quality of life of individuals and their families is significant.

In 2019, vision loss had a direct and indirect economic impact of $33 billion, a number that is expected to rise to $56 billion by 2050. I appreciate the comprehensiveness of this bill; in particular, it would identify the training, education and guidance needs of health care practitioners and other professionals related to the prevention and treatment of eye disease, including clinical, practical guidelines.

It would also promote research and improve data collection on eye disease prevention and treatment. It would promote information and knowledge sharing between the federal and provincial governments in relation to eye disease prevention and treatment. It would ensure that Health Canada is able to rapidly consider new applications for treatments and devices used for macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.

What is more, this bill designates February as age-related macular degeneration month, raising awareness and education about the most common cause of vision loss in individuals over 50.

I want to take a moment here to recognize Hamilton Health Sciences, McMaster University, St. Joseph's Healthcare and the researchers at the Regional Eye Institute at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, who are currently undertaking one of the most comprehensive studies on the prevalence of age-related macular degeneration. This work will help us understand the prevalence of AMD among Canadians, and it could even provide us with valuable insight on the genetic and lifestyle risk factors linked to developing it, as well as treatments to slow vision loss in patients with AMD.

The need for a national strategy is, in part, obvious, because it is the right thing to do. However, it is also needed because there currently exists an inequality and inadequacy of eye care services at the provincial level. For instance, most health guidelines recommend having an eye exam once a year for people aged six to 18 years or 65 years or older, as well as those with diabetes or an eye disease. However, Manitoba and Nova Scotia only insure eye exams every 24 months for all seniors. Ontario has ended free annual eye exams for seniors through the Ontario health insurance plan, so those who cannot afford to pay out-of-pocket for an eye exam are putting their health at risk. The different services provided by each province will lead to greater health inequalities for Canadians, solely because of where they happen to live. This clearly highlights the need for a national eye care strategy and the importance of having eye care fully covered by our health care system.

There is also a gender issue at stake. Women carry a greater burden of visual impairment. Recent studies show that one in four women is at risk of visual impairment compared to only one in eight men. In a society that claims to value gender equality, this disparity is unacceptable.

As the NDP health critic and my colleague from Vancouver Kingsway pointed out, this legislation aligns with the NDP's long-standing commitment to universal public health care. It also echoes the excellent work of my NDP colleague, the hon. member for Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, who introduced Motion No. 86 this past May calling on the federal government to work toward a national strategy for eye and health care. New Democrats are not newcomers to this issue, Madam Speaker, as you of all people would well know. We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with organizations like Fighting Blindness Canada, the Canadian Council of the Blind and the CNIB, which are leading the call for greater support for eye care.

In conclusion, I ask my colleagues across all parties to support Bill C-284. Early detection and treatment of eye disease can prevent 75% of visual loss cases, but only if people have access to eye care. New Democrats believe that every Canadian has the right to live a full and productive life, and that must include quality eye care. Let us ensure that our public health care system finally covers us from head to toe.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Madam Speaker, thank you for enforcing respect in the House.

I will share a story about a constituent. His name is Sylvain. His story will illustrate why Bill C-284 is important. His situation is a bit like mine.

Sylvain is a man in his fifties. He works at a big bank. He is a very busy man. He has been wearing glasses for a number of years. Over time, he notices that his vision is not as keen as it used to be. He assumes that it is a natural part of the aging process. It seems to line up with his age.

Sylvain neglects to make an appointment with the optometrist because he is a busy man. He does not take the time to do it. He figures he will get his eyes tested someday and get a new prescription. When the time comes, he goes to his eye exam and he has to see the ophthalmologist. Unfortunately, the news is not good. He gets an alarming diagnosis: It is glaucoma.

Many people are familiar with this disease, which damages the optic nerve so that information is not properly transmitted from the eye to the brain. The way I explain it to people is that it is as if you woke up one morning and you feel as though you are looking through a straw. Sylvain was about to retire. He had plans. He was living in Montreal but was moving to the country, to the Laurentians, in my riding. He was planning to travel and go on bike rides. In the winter, he was planning to ski in the area. In the end, he had a lot less quality time and he had to set aside some of his plans.

Because of the type of glaucoma that he had and the stage of the disease, it was too late for Sylvain. Even the drugs he was prescribed could not slow the disease's progression. It was really impossible, and that is why prevention is key. There is a lack of knowledge. This disease must be prevented. It is unacceptable that people like Sylvain and many other Quebeckers and Canadians are unable to recognize the warning signs, but we cannot blame them. At the same time, if people do know the signs, then they can take action. It is also not easy to get the right information. Some people even have trouble distinguishing between a cold and the flu, so imagine trying to tell the difference between glaucoma, astigmatism or another eye problem, and yet some eye diseases can be fatal.

I mentioned at the outset that I was once in a similar position. In my early forties—some would say it was not so long ago—my eyes were fine. All of a sudden, I felt my eyesight change. My eyesight had started to deteriorate as I got closer to 40, so I got my eyes checked out. I was told that I had early-stage glaucoma. I was shocked to think that I, at 40 years old, would need laser eye surgery to prevent glaucoma. I learned afterwards that it runs in my family. My colleagues can imagine how many people fall through the cracks and cannot get surgery, like Sylvain, who now sees the world as if he is looking through a straw. I was lucky. I did not even know what glaucoma was. Even while preparing this speech, I had to read up on the disease because I was not sure of the facts anymore. That shows how ill-equipped we are as a society to recognize the major symptoms of many diseases.

I am sure that many Quebeckers in the House will talk about this. I would like to remind my colleagues of an ad that ran on television. It was a major national campaign in Quebec known as Memo-mamo. Lise Dion, a well-known Quebec comedian, was featured in these ads, which urged women to book an appointment for a mammogram and get early cancer screening. More than 60,000 women in Quebec have registered with the Quebec breast cancer screening program. That is a record in 100 years of campaigning.

It took a major awareness and education campaign for Quebec to get a breast cancer prevention policy. Women are the ones who are most commonly diagnosed with this type of cancer, which has the highest survival rate if the screening detects it in time. The same goes for the example I gave of glaucoma. It takes money to run screening and prevention campaigns. The federal government needs to be able to conduct such health campaigns in Quebec. In order for the Quebec department of health to take the necessary measures to keep Quebeckers healthy—and let us not forget that health falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of Quebec—the federal government needs to understand that the bill is important and that the Bloc Québécois supports it.