Debates of Nov. 26th, 2020

Health—Main Estimates, 2020-21

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, what this government successfully did was negotiate the best portfolio of vaccines in the world with more doses per capita than any other country. That is what this government has achieved and we are so proud of the work we have done on behalf of Canada and Canadians. We will continue to make sure that we are investing and moving rapidly—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Vancouver Kingsway.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Chair, Australia is a mid-sized federal parliamentary democracy like ours. It has a clear road map and strategy on vaccine distribution in just 12 pages, with clear lines of responsibility between its federal government and states, outlining its options and priorities. It is also producing 30 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine domestically.

In contract, in Canada, we have a federal government that speaks in vague terms and will not give us firm answers on basic vaccine readiness.

How does the minister account for this difference in approach?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, we also have a plan. It is being worked out now with provinces and territories. We are confident that they will have their plans for immunization ready. In fact, all of the provinces and territories have experience in immunization, and we will be there to support them with the novel vaccines that will require extra attention.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Chair, the Liberal government has rightly pointed out that Conservatives seriously eroded Canada's pharmaceutical capacity, perhaps most starkly when the Mulroney Conservative government privatized Connaught Labs, a publicly owned laboratory that helped produce vaccines and low-cost prescriptions for Canadians. However, that was in 1986. The Liberals made no moves to create a public drug manufacturer, despite many years of government since then.

Will the current government do so?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I think the Prime Minister himself has been very clear that Canada needs to invest, and is investing, in biomanufacturing in this country. We have all lived through an experience now, in this pandemic, and realized that Canada needs to assert its sovereign independence in its ability to actually provide medical supplies, vaccinations and pharmaceutical goods, and we are making those investments.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Chair, with COVID-19 cases surging at an unprecedented rate across Canada, the Prime Minister has called on premiers and mayors to “please do the right thing”, and “act now to protect public health”, but growing numbers of public health experts are calling on the federal government to use its emergency authorities to coordinate a national response.

Is the federal government prepared to follow this advice? If not, why not?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, every step of the way we have provided national advice and guidance through the special advisory committee, which brings together all public health officers from across the country to work in collaboration to determine the next steps and provide national advice and guidance on a variety of issues.

We will continue to work with provinces and territories and support them in their obligations around health care delivery, including, for example, acquiring vaccines and distributing them at no cost to provinces and territories.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Chair, is the minister confident that current provincial and territorial control measures are sufficiently robust to address the resurgence of COVID-19?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, every step of the way this government has listened to our experts, our scientists and our chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, who, as the House knows, chairs the special advisory committee and works on national guidance developed with all of the other medical officers of health. We know that following science and evidence is the way to protect lives in this country. It is the way to get through COVID-19. It is—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Vancouver Kingsway.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Chair, Canada's pandemic warning system, the Global Public Health Intelligence Network, was the cornerstone of Canada's pandemic response capability, yet the federal government effectively shut down GPHIN prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. Former Liberal federal health minister Ujjal Dosanjh called this decision a colossal failure.

How does the minister explain her government's decision to shut down GPHIN?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, when I heard that scientists within the Public Health Agency of Canada were not feeling that their voices were being heard as part of the team of the Global Public Health Information Network, I was alarmed. That is why I called for the external review, which has begun. I am excited to hear the findings, both from a retrospective perspective about how that decision was made but also the suggestions of how to build the best public health information network in the world.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Chair, the minister knows the NDP introduced Bill C-213 in the House to create a structure to establish universal public pharmacare in Canada.

She is also aware this bill mirrors the Canada Health Act by allowing any province that agrees to provide necessary prescription drugs to its residents, at no direct cost via our public health care system, to receive federal funds to do so. This is exactly the same way we fund all other covered medical services, from hip replacements to cataract surgeries and broken arms.

Will the minister support our bill?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, this government has done more to lower the cost of pharmaceuticals than any government in a generation. In fact, we have been working tirelessly over the last number of years to put into place ways to control the cost of drugs in Canada and to ensure Canadians can access the drugs they need at a fair price.

We are going to continue that work. As I speak, work is under way to stand up the Canada drug agency, a very important next step in ensuring we have the coordination nationally to pursue pharmacare.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Chair, as health minister, does the minister support public pharmacare or instead a private-public patchwork system?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, my mandate letter from the Prime Minister asks me to create a universal pharmacare program. That is exactly what I am doing.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Chair, according to industry documents reviewed by Reuters, the pharmaceutical industry has made a last-ditch offer to the Government to Canada to spend $1 billion over 10 years to block the coming into force of the amended patented medicines regulations set to go into force on January 1.

According to an industry estimate, the regulations would reduce drug companies' revenue by $20 billion over 10 years; $6 billion by the estimate of the PMPRB.

Will the minister confirm that the Government of Canada will refuse this blatant attempt to buy regulatory benefits from the drug industry?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, the changes to the PMPRB are going forward. We agree with the member opposite that we must have lower drug costs for Canadians. There is no point in having access to drugs that are unavailable because they are priced out of the market for most Canadians. The PMPRB is doing the work it needs to do, and we are very proud of our work to lower drug costs for Canadians.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Chair, the government's 2019 throne speech called universal dental care an idea worth exploring. What steps has the government taken to explore this idea?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, our government has been focused entirely on COVID-19 and indeed some other projects such as the universal pharmacare program about which the member spoke.

I encourage the members of the health committee to study the idea of a universal dental care program. This is an excellent idea. They are independent and will choose their own topics of study, but certainly more could be learned through the expertise of the members on that committee.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Chair, experts and public health authorities across Canada, including B.C.'s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, have called for the decriminalization of substance use and the provision of safe supply to bring this crisis under control. The evidence shows conclusively that criminalization exacerbates the harms to those suffering and does not work to help them recover.

The government has repeatedly claimed that it follows expert advice in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, yet the minister has unequivocally ruled out this evidence-based response to the overdose epidemic. Could the minister please explain this contradiction?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, I am so proud to be part of a government that understands that compassion and access to treatment and supports for people who use substances is critical in reducing the deaths from opioid overdose, but also ending the stigma for people who use substances.

I have worked extensively with the Province of British Columbia as well as many other provinces. I have written to my colleagues across the country to accelerate their work. We have ensured that people can access programs to provide safer supply, so people reduce their use of toxic street drugs. We have made it easier for communities to set up safe consumption sites. The work continues.

I will continue to work with provinces, territories and, indeed, local communities until they feel it will help them manage opioid overdose and problematic substance use.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Chair, according to PHACS' recent report on an equity-based approach to COVID-19, “COVID-19 has underscored the inequities in health that are shaped by these determinants, highlighted how these inequities may be exacerbated in the context of a pandemic, and shown how they can aggravate and prolong the spread of disease, making the pandemic worse.”

Would the minister support the implementation of a guaranteed livable income to address the inequities shaped by the social determinants of health?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, the hon. member is absolutely right. Poverty, lack of access to affordable housing are the things that make people more at risk of contracting COVID-19, but also all kinds of other illnesses. In fact, they contribute to a lack of people reaching their full potential.

That is why we have pursued things like an enhanced Canada child benefit, lifting 300,000 Canadian children out of poverty. That is why we immediately moved to implement the CERB when we asked people to stay home. We knew it was an important public health—