Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's nice to have the floor after having to sit for almost four hours, listening to our NDP colleague filibuster every one of the CPC amendments. He likes to point fingers, and say the CPC are filibustering, but in reality we're the only party that put forth any amendments to this bill.
I will challenge Canadians that whenever a bill comes forward, it is the opposition's job to review pieces of legislation. As the government always says, “Let's not let perfection get in the way of progress.” It says, “Just trust us. Let's get it to committee, and we will work with all parties to make this bill better.”
The Conservatives rolled up their sleeves. If Canadians have been listening in for the last four hours, they will see that we have put forth some common-sense amendments, non-partisan amendments, that would make this bill clearer and more concise and would tell Canadians all about Bill C-64.
Unfortunately, after every discussion regarding the CPC amendments, our colleague from the NDP wants to filibuster. He goes on and on and on, and blames filibustering for four hours on Conservatives. I would assume... Well, pardon me; I won't say “assume”. You never want to assume anything. However, I would bet, Mr. Chair, that our colleague from the NDP will probably raise his hand and want to filibuster my intervention for the remaining minutes of this committee meeting.
What's sad is that the NDP had an opportunity, with its coalition, to really make something that would be beneficial for so many Canadians. Instead, it bowed down to its Liberal colleagues in the coalition. It's desperate to try and keep the Prime Minister in power, instead of fighting for Canadians and a true pharmacare program.
Mr. Julian spoke about his constituent who had cardiac issues. I spoke about my former constituents who succumbed to a terrible disease, ALS. There are millions of Canadians struggling because of the lack of access to a pharmacare program or affordable drugs. The NDP did not fight for a true pharmacare program; it settled on contraception and diabetes. Ultimately, we are left with a two-bill drug that really doesn't include any other Canadians who—