Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I had my hand up and was on the speakers list for CPC-8. It then was withdrawn. The point I wanted to make with it is that I asked an honest question regarding the ruling on it, and our colleague from the NDP took the opportunity to go on and take a partisan shot, suggesting that we were filibustering just because I asked a simple question. It's theatre for him, because the cameras are on and he takes every opportunity to slam us.
It was an honest question that I had regarding CPC-8 and the words “Indigenous peoples” and “Indigenous governing bodies” within it, which is why I'm using the opportunity now to bring this up. Just because we ask a question or are bringing forth reasonable amendments, it's not a filibuster because we're asking these questions. We honestly want to get this right for Canadians.
The question we have and the point we are making is, again, that this is not a pharmacare bill. I'll draw the attention of the committee to page 4 and clause 6. It starts with:
The Minister may, if the Minister has entered into an agreement with a province or territory to do so, make payments to the province or territory
The last line says:
for [the] specific prescription drugs and related products intended for contraception or the treatment of diabetes.
Our colleague from the NDP brought up his concerns regarding heart medication.
They will stand up and they'll say that they got this done for Canadians, for every Canadian or whatever the stats are—the 9 million Canadians who are diabetic or whatever those stats are for that. We have said that this is important for those Canadians who struggle with those issues.
Why didn't they fight for the heart medication, for the folks who are cardiac patients? Why can't this bill be amended or why couldn't they have fought for those Canadians who are struggling with other serious long-term diseases and medical issues that require access to medication? They want to bill this as pharmacare, as a pharmacare bill or as a national pharmacare program. Well, why wouldn't they have fought for that when they were sitting around the table with their coalition partners?
Mr. Julian will grab the microphone more times, probably, throughout the course of this evening, and talk about his constituent who pays $1,000 a month for heart medication. I'm certain that Mr. Julian would have known about this when he was at the table negotiating this piece of legislation. Why didn't he fight for that at that time? How many millions of Canadians require that medication? Does he have those stats?
It's frustrating—again I use that term—because, again, this is not a pharmacare piece of legislation. It deals with contraception and the treatment of diabetes, and nothing else. CPC-9 is a reasonable amendment, again dealing with what this piece of legislation is about, is truly about, and that's it.
Mr. Julian has already stated his intention to vote against it. I will suggest that he's going to vote against all of the CPC amendments, because, well, they're common sense, and we've seen that in the NDP, at least within the last number of years, common sense has gone out the door with the costly coalition.
It is frustrating for me when we ask a simple question. My question regarding CPC-8 was short and to the point. I was asking for clarification, and Mr. Julian probably should have just looked at the camera and spoken directly to Canadians, because that's who he was putting on the act for. It was not a filibuster at all; it was simply to get clarification, and I take offence to the fact that he says we are filibustering that simple point and simple amendment.
Thanks.