Health Committee on Sept. 23rd, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I'm going to call the meeting to order. This meeting is now in public.

We have only 20 minutes. I don't know if we can get resources to go beyond 1 p.m., but we're checking. The clerk is checking on that.

I'm going to read you Mr. Mazier's motion first. It says:

Given that:

6.5 million Canadians do not have access to a family doctor.

Canada is short 23,000 family doctors and 60,000 registered nurses.

Over 80,000 internationally educated healthcare professionals in Canada are not working in their profession.

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study on the impact of the federal government's immigration policy to health care and the barriers preventing the integration of internationally educated health professionals into the Canadian healthcare system.

That the study consists of no less than six meetings; that one full meeting be dedicated to the Minister of Health and officials; that one full meeting be dedicated to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and officials; that witnesses include the Canadian Post-MD Education Registry (CAPER), Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Medical Council of Canada, and internationally trained physicians; and that the committee report its findings to the House.

Is there discussion on the motion?

We are going to decide not only whether you agree to the subcommittee adopting this motion but also, at the end of the three motions, your priority for the studies—which one goes first, which one goes second and which one goes third.

I will open debate on Mr. Mazier's motion.

Seeing no hands up, I'm going to call the vote. The clerk will call the vote.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

I have a point of clarification. Is this on the order of the motion or just—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

It's just the motion.

At the end of the three motions, if they're adopted, we will decide on the order.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you for the clarification.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

We have only 15 minutes, so please, everybody, be as brief as you can. If somebody says something, don't repeat it. Just say, “what he said” or “What she said,” and move on—because we have to finish this.

(Motion agreed to: yeas 9; nays 0)

After the motions, we will decide on the priority.

The second motion is by Monsieur Thériault. It reads:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study on antimicrobial resistance, which, according to the World Health Organization, is one of the 10 greatest threats to global public health facing humanity. That the committee hold a minimum of four meetings; that additional meetings be added to the committee's schedule if the committee deems it necessary; that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House; and that pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request a comprehensive response to the report by the government.

That's Mr. Thériault's motion. You have it in English and French in front of you.

Is there any discussion on Mr. Thériault's motion? Seeing none, we will take a vote on the motion.

(Motion agreed to: yeas 9; nays 0)

Now we will move on to the third motion, which is by Ms. Chi. It reads:

That, whereas it is in Canada’s best interests to have a strong domestic pharmaceutical industry that ensures Canadians have access to essential medicines and medical supplies, the committee undertake a study pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) of no less than eight hours examining Canada’s pharmaceutical sovereignty; that the committee hear from representatives of industry, academic, and patient groups; that the study develop recommendations for how Canada can best promote pharmaceutical sovereignty; that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the Government table a comprehensive response to the report.

That's the third motion on the table. Is there any discussion?

Mr. Powlowski.

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

I'm sorry. I'm a doctor. I have public health degrees. I have law degrees. I have no frigging clue what you mean by “pharmaceutical sovereignty”.

Can you explain this term that I'm voting on?

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you, Dr. Powlowski.

The motion is about how we, as a nation, ensure that we have supplies when there is a shortage. Definitely, during the pandemic, we saw what unfolded.

It's more about how we make sure that we have enough supplies when we experience extraordinary circumstances. Even outside of that, it's how we make sure that folks—patients and families—have access to much-needed medications when they're presented with such challenges.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Ms. Chi.

Is there any further discussion or debate? No. I'll call the question.

(Motion agreed to: yeas 9; nays 0)

Moving on to the process, we now have three motions that this committee has accepted on the floor. I need you to prioritize these motions for study. In other words, I'm going to ask you to decide which of those three motions should be the first one we study.

Mr. Powlowski.

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

On a point of clarification, we also have to finish the women's health study, and we are going to wait a month to get the opioid study report back.

What are we deciding here? There are two other studies to complete plus these three new studies. What's the order going to be? Are we going to finish those other ones?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

We decided on the order earlier on in this committee, Mr. Powlowski, but I think we now need to decide, once we embark on studies, which of these three will be our first study.

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

After we've—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

It's after we've done the other work that we discussed earlier on in the committee.

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Go ahead, Mr. Mazier.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

I propose that we do the Conservative study first, the Bloc study second and the Liberal study third.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Ms. Sidhu.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

All of the studies are important, but right now, I'm thinking.... You've seen in some cities that their mayors have declared emergencies. On the opioid study, we've already gone through so many witnesses and had so many meetings. I think the opioid study is very important right now.

As a country, we need to pay attention to that side, as mayors have declared emergencies. Everyone knows that. How many deaths are happening? This opioid study is a very important study—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Ms. Sidhu, we're not voting on the opioid study. We already voted that we would get the report and then embark on the study. We're waiting a month for the report. We're discussing which of the three motions you just passed would be the first one. In order of priority, Mr. Mazier suggested that his be the first, Monsieur Thériault's be the second and Ms. Chi's be the third.

Ms. Chi.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

From my understanding, the women's study is already ready to be reported out—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

We decided on this earlier on.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Right. Let me finish.

I think it's very important—it's a study with a lot of witnesses and a lot of experts and impacts half our nation—to a lot of folks in the room and beyond. I would really like to see that presented soon, as in next week.

As to the order, I propose that we study Mr. Thériault's Bloc study first and then the Liberal study on pharmaceutical sovereignty, followed by the CPC study.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Ms. Konanz and Mr. Bailey will be next. Mr. Powlowski also has his hand up.

Ms. Konanz.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Chair, as I mentioned earlier, I am very interested in the women's report, but I didn't actually notice that we had a vote on putting that as the first study. I think having the Conservative study go first, and the list that MP Mazier mentioned in order....

As for the women's study, give us a couple of months to look at that. As I said, I'm sure it will be very interesting, but that's not something that we all voted on looking at, at least not until we see the report.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Madam Chair, with the shortage of physicians in Canada and a couple of provinces actually making some headway, we as Conservatives would like to bring some information to light that might help other provinces. With the importance of this study, it needs to be looked at immediately. Hence, we've asked that it be first on the list.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Monsieur Thériault, go ahead, and then Mr. Powlowski.