Mr. Speaker, the Conservative cuts to the interim federal health program have left vulnerable newcomers in a very precarious and difficult position in Canada. The interim federal health program provided crucial temporary health benefits to refugees and asylum seekers until they became eligible for provincial health coverage.
The Conservative cuts deny access to health care for large numbers of refugees and claimants, threatening the health of refugees, many of whom face health concerns due to the fact that they have left everything they own to flee from situations of persecution, violence and torture in their home countries. These punitive and mean-spirited Conservative cuts categorize refugees into different groups, each of which receive different health care coverage. Refugees from so-called safe countries, a list that is created at the discretion of the minister, are cut off from even basic medical coverage, completely turning a blind eye to the refugees' individual experience and need for medical care.
Along with the New Democratic Party, medical experts, front-line health care workers and refugee support workers across the country have condemned these cuts, stating that they are unfair, unethical and inhumane.
Not only have the changes hurt some of the most vulnerable, but costs are being downloaded to the provinces and communities across the country. I raised this issue the previous time because these short-sighted cuts were actually impacting a volunteer-run clinic in my riding of Scarborough—Rouge River. The volunteer clinics, offered by the Muslim Welfare Centre, provide services to all in the community. They are feeling significantly overwhelmed because of the changes to the interim federal health program and because of these cuts. It does not make sense to me that the government believes that volunteer-run community clinics should pay for this misguided decision.
Experts also state that these cuts will only end up costing Canadians more, as untreated conditions will lead to more expensive hospital care further down the road. Since these cuts have been implemented, we have all heard horrible stories of refugees denied proper health care, cancer patients whose treatments have been cut off, children with asthma unable to receive their medication and forced to wait until their next attack and be hospitalized. Refugees who are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder have had their medications cut off, and what about the stories that have not been made public yet?
Since the Conservative cuts to the interim federal health program, refugees are suffering and the health of those seeking refuge in Canada has been jeopardized. Given that these Conservative cuts are demonstrably impacting refugees with legitimate health concerns, including vulnerable groups like children, pregnant women, cancer patients and the elderly, will the government reverse these mean-spirited cuts?