I probably need to put my glasses on, which I don't want to do.
This amendment speaks about “respecting the autonomy of Canada's highly trained health care practitioners”. This is exactly what I had talked about previously. I find it unusual that this subclause exists in the first place.
Perhaps we'll start off by asking the experts why this is part of the bill's original form:
...the appropriate use of pharmaceutical products—namely, in a manner that prioritizes patient safety, optimizes health outcomes and reinforces health system sustainability—in order to improve the physical and mental health and well-being of Canadians...
CPC-12 would add “while respecting the autonomy of Canada’s highly trained health care practitioners”, and it goes on.
Why do we need this particular paragraph—“support the appropriate use of pharmaceutical products”—in there anyway? When you think about it, it would suggest that at the current time, there is significant inappropriate use of pharmaceutical products.
I could make a bunch of assumptions that you are therefore against so-called safe supply, which, in my mind, would be an inappropriate use of pharmaceutical products. Then “namely, in a manner that prioritizes patient safety” would lead me to believe that this NDP-Liberal costly coalition doesn't believe that Canada's highly trained health care practitioners are practising with the safety of Canadians in mind or with the objectives of optimizing health outcomes or being good stewards of the health system—which, sadly, in the words of one former president of the Canadian Medical Association, Katharine Smart, is on the brink of collapse.
Maybe I'll start with Ms. Boudreau or Mr. MacDonald. I'm not entirely sure what the conversations were with respect to the need to insert this paragraph. I just need to reiterate that it talks about prioritizing “patient safety”, optimizing “health outcomes” and reinforcing “health system sustainability”.
Is this bill, in this particular paragraph, suggesting that this is not the case at the current time?