Evidence of meeting #124 for Health in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was answer.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Okay, Mr. Johns. That's your time. We can continue this conversation off-line, I suppose.
We have about a minute before votes. I think we can get in one more turn, if the committee is okay with that. Then we'll suspend to vote.
Is everybody okay with that?
Mrs. Goodridge, go ahead for five minutes, please.
Conservative
Laila Goodridge Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm going to move a motion that I put on notice on Friday, June 14.
It reads:
That, given the large workload the committee has on the docket, the committee instruct the chair to book five meetings between July 8, 2024, and September 13, 2024, to deal with unfinished business and pressing matters facing Canadians, [notably] doctor shortages and the addiction crisis.
Mr. Chair, we have been hearing, very clearly, some very serious concerns. As such, I think it is incumbent on each and every one of us to roll up our sleeves and get to work for Canadians. That is exactly what they expect.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Mrs. Goodridge. Your motion is in order.
The debate is on the motion.
I have Dr. Hanley, then Mr. Johns.
Liberal
Brendan Hanley Liberal Yukon, YT
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I have seen similar motions presented in many committees, so I suspect there is a partisan motivation behind this motion, and that it's not....
We all face many pressing issues, both in our jurisdictions and as a country. We also have obligations to our constituents over the summer. I noticed that the member making the motion posted some commentary about people taking a break over the summer—a summer vacation. Although I hope we all take some rest over the summer, we all have work to do over the summer.
Therefore, I do not support the motion.
I also move to adjourn debate.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
A motion to adjourn debate is not debatable and goes directly to a vote.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
We have a recorded division on the motion to adjourn debate.
(Motion negatived: nays 6; yeas 5)
Next on the speaking list, I have Mr. Johns, Dr. Powlowski and Dr. Ellis.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Mr. Chair, the reason I voted no is that I want to speak to this. We had a study, a tour across Canada, that went to 13 different meetings, and the Conservatives failed to show up for 11. They talk about rolling up their sleeves. I can understand individual circumstances surfacing, Mr. Chair. We have that all the time. We've had colleagues lose family members and had to find subs. We have 25 members. They have 118 members, Mr. Chair. However, I find it interesting that the Conservative leader held a press conference in Vancouver with other MPs during one of the days of study at HESA. They were able to find time to do a press conference on legislation that actually already exists, and then they favourably showed up at a meeting that was held by the Alberta government and provincial-run facilities, but not at the rest of the meetings across Canada.
Mr. Chair, I will say this. When the Conservatives go and meet those 11 organizations that took time out of their lives and days of saving lives—because that's what those organizations and people do—then I'm willing to talk about this motion; I'm willing to work with them on getting back to continuing the work we need to do. However, before any further conversation about more meetings, I think the Conservatives owe it to those individual organizations and individuals and Canadians to go and meet with those organizations and listen to them. That's rolling up their sleeves, Mr. Chair.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Of course.
Colleagues, the vote is under way. I am quite concerned that if we don't suspend the meeting and somebody has technical difficulties, they're going to be denied their chance to vote. The minister has also reached the one hour that she had committed to us, so I'm going to thank the minister for being with us and give her the opportunity to vote, and then I'm going to ask to suspend the meeting until we're finished voting. We'll follow the same procedure as last time. If there's a will to come back before the normal time, I'll canvass the room. We do have some committee business to deal with.
Minister Saks, thank you so much for being with us. Make sure you get your vote in. That's why the good people elected you to be here. We appreciate, as always, your appearance, your flexibility with respect to the timing, and the patience that you showed in responding to our questions.
The meeting is suspended.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
I call the meeting back to order.
I can confirm that during the suspension there were discussions, with all members present indicating a willingness to reconvene the meeting a bit earlier than normal. We're here with the unanimous consent of the committee to resume the meeting.
We were debating Mrs. Goodridge's motion. Mr. Johns had ceded the floor.
Next on the speaker's list is Dr. Powlowski, please.
Liberal
Marcus Powlowski Liberal Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
I'd like to state that I appreciate the motion and I appreciate the severity of the problem we have of not having access to doctors. Certainly, many people in my riding are in that situation, and I'm very cognizant of the importance of that.
It turns out that my blood pressure got high. It was probably because of too much time in these meetings. They've driven my blood pressure high. As a doctor, I knew it was high, but the chronic management of high blood pressure is not my area of expertise. I was an emergency doctor.
I know, as a doctor and as an MP, about the problems of even getting in to see a doctor. There are a lot of people who just never have their blood pressure checked until they go to the emergency room because they're having a hemorrhagic stroke or something.
I understand the importance of getting doctors. I also certainly understand the importance of the opioid crisis. The question is, should we meet during the summer in order to try to solve this problem?
As a lifelong doctor who still practises medicine, I've been up many nights, looking after people when they're sick. I did it because I had to. I've operated on people in the middle of the night and I've done procedures in the middle of the night—not particularly because I like working in the middle of the night, but because I had to. I'm certain there are other doctors here who feel the same way.
The question is: Do we have to? Is it going to change anything?
I'd like to say I think our committee has moved the dial on various subjects recently. One of them was the health care workforce shortage. I think the work of the committee has contributed to addressing that issue and some of the issues around legalization and safe supply. Perhaps the view on those has been changing. I think, in part, it's because of the work of this committee.
However, how much more are we going to change over the course of the summer? I don't think it will be very much.
On the other hand, we have other duties. We have duties to our own constituents. I have 90,000 constituents, and I'm their only MP. They deserve the time to be able to talk to me about their problems, and the summer is a big part of my time to do that.
With all this in mind, I have to say I disagree with the motion. Furthermore, given the time of day, I will try again to move a motion to adjourn.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Is it a motion to adjourn the meeting, or are you moving to adjourn debate on the motion?
Liberal
Liberal
Conservative
Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Can we have a recorded division please, Chair?
(Motion agreed to: yeas 7; nays 4)
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
The debate on the motion is terminated, suspended and adjourned.
According to our notice of meeting, the remainder of the agenda requires us to go in camera. At this point, we'll need to suspend the meeting to go in camera and deal with the drafting instructions and the other things that are listed on the notice of meeting.
That's going to take five to 10 minutes. We have resources only until 6:45, but we'll be done at that point, if we're not done sooner.
The meeting is therefore suspended to go in camera.
[Proceedings continue in camera]
