Debates of May 2nd, 2024

Mental Health and Addictions

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal minister responsible for legal hard drugs in British Columbia is not being straight with Canadians. Yesterday she said she is waiting for more data from B.C. to decide whether she would reverse her decision to legalize drugs like cocaine, opioids and fentanyl in parks, playgrounds and hospitals. The B.C. NDP confirmed yesterday that it answered the Liberal government's request for more data within hours. After nine years of the Prime Minister, drug deaths tragically rose 380%. It is as if that were not enough data.

Why will the Liberals not be honest with Canadians and just end their radical drug policies?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we speak to our provincial counterparts, the experts and those with lived and living experience. The member for Carleton will not even meet with Moms Stop the Harm or other experts and those who are advocating for their families and their lives.

We continue to work with our B.C. counterparts. They have provided amendments to their proposals, and we are working together to face the public consumption issues.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I speak to residents in my communities, and the minister is not listening to British Columbians. She did not listen to B.C. mayors who wanted to stop open drug use in their communities a year ago. She is not listening to B.C. parents horrified to find crack pipes and needles near schools and playgrounds.

A student project from a school in my community had students writing to me about issues important to them. Unbelievably, crime and open drug use was the number one issue. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost.

Why will the Liberals not be honest with Canadians and just end their radical drug policy?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives are not genuine with Canadians about their care or concern for those who are dying from the toxic drug supply. The opposition leader talks a big talk about investing in treatment. The Conservatives cut two-thirds of their drug treatment fund when they were in power. They focus only on treatment and recovery. They do not focus on safe consumption sites. They do not focus on harm reduction as health care.

We need to partner with everyone. When will the Conservatives listen?

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal minister responsible for legal hard drugs is misleading Canadians. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death among youth aged 10 to 18 in British Columbia. Just yesterday she said she was waiting on more information from the B.C. NDP government, which the province said it delivered within hours.

How much more information does she need to end the radical and extremist policy, which is putting the children of British Columbia at risk?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives, I have been in touch with the Province of British Columbia. B.C. requested the pilot project, and I was in touch this week with the premier of B.C. He and his government have serious concerns about the pilot project. We share those concerns and are working together with B.C. to address them.

I do want to say that making political hay out of the pain of suffering Canadian families is simply irresponsible.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the government is supposed to be in the business of protecting children, not killing them with exposure and access to hard drugs.

The RCMP has confirmed that legal hard drugs are being sold on the black market. In Abbotsford, the soccer association has to regularly sweep the pitch for needles. The legion and many businesses in Mission have to deal with crack smoke every day.

When will the government do the right thing and cancel its ideologically extreme experiment to legalize hard drugs, and start protecting B.C.'s children?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as a mother of three, including teenagers, I care so much about Canada and Canadians. I agree that opioid addiction is a tragedy; it is a public health tragedy and it is a public safety tragedy.

Let me tell members what is putting the public safety of all Canadians at risk: consorting with white supremacists and misogynists. That is a public safety risk. The Conservatives have an opportunity today to disavow that. They should do it.

Intergovernmental Affairs

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the National Assembly unanimously adopted a historic motion:

...it denounces the refusal of the New Democratic Party, the Conservative Party of Canada and the Liberal Party of Canada to uphold the principle of respect for Quebec's jurisdictions and to grant Quebec the right to opt out with full compensation...

This is the first time that the National Assembly has unanimously rebuked each of the federalist parties by name because all of them are working against Quebec.

When the government says it is working hand in hand, does it mean hand in hand with these parties against Quebec?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, going against the Bloc Québécois does not mean going against Quebec. On the contrary, we are working with Quebec on housing, seniors, young people, day care spaces and measures to ensure children go to school on a full stomach.

Bloc Québécois members oppose all that. They are doing the opposite of what they promised Quebeckers. They were elected on the promise that they would fight climate change and work for seniors and housing. However, they vote against all that. They voted against everything they promised Quebeckers. Shame on them.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Before the hon. member for Joliette speaks, I just want to encourage members not to interrupt when someone else has the floor. I hope that this will also apply to the member for Joliette.

The hon. member for Joliette.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a unanimous motion by the National Assembly of Quebec is historic. Canada's Liberals have been denounced by their Liberal allies in Quebec. The NDP has been denounced by Québec solidaire. The Conservatives have not been denounced by their ally Éric Duhaime because he has no members. Quebeckers do not vote Conservative. However, the Conservatives were also unanimously condemned by the National Assembly of Quebec.

All elected members in Quebec City see that all federalist members in Ottawa are working to undermine Quebeckers' ability to make their own societal choices.

Does the government realize the precedent it has set?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, finally, the Conservatives have one ally, and that is the Bloc Québécois.

The two parties always vote together. I am sensing a deep unease in that corner. I would call it a Bloc hangover, because whenever they promise something and do the opposite, they are breaking their word and their commitment to the people who put their trust in them. While the Bloc said that it would fight climate change, fight for seniors and fight for the environment, it is doing the exact opposite, because it is following the Conservatives. Shame on them.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, whether it be in health care, housing, or other areas, in this budget, the federal government wants to dictate to Quebeckers how to run Quebec. By refusing to amend the budget, the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party and the NDP, the three parties, have proven that they want to exert control over Quebec. However, the unanimous response from the Quebec National Assembly yesterday was clear: We, Quebeckers, always want to be masters in our own house.

Does the Minister of Finance realize that Quebeckers do not want the neighbouring country's elected officials to decide Quebeckers' priorities for them?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, one of the priorities of the people in my riding is access to affordable quality dental care.

The great news is that, since yesterday, thousands of seniors in my riding, 300,000 seniors across Quebec and one million seniors across the country now have access to accessible and affordable quality dental care. For some, this is the first time in their lives that they have had this. That is great news for all Canadians. It is certainly great news for all Quebeckers.

Mental Health and Addictions

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government's dangerous drug policy in B.C. allows people to smoke crack on a public bus, to shoot up next to a park with children playing there and to blow smoke from meth in the face of a nurse in a hospital.

Now we learn what the Liberals want to do to Toronto: what they have done to B.C. The Leader of the Opposition sent the Prime Minister a letter asking him to reject Toronto's request.

Are the nurses in Toronto getting people who smoke meth in hospital rooms, or will the Liberals finally reject the request?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we are completely committed to working with communities across this country in facing the opioid crisis and the tragedies that are happening to so many families. Every request is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The member should know this.

Toronto Public Health has not submitted a proposal that adequately addresses the dual objectives of public health and public safety, which have guided us throughout addressing the opioid crisis.

Every level of government, including the province, must be engaged in the process. We continue to work together.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' plan is killing 22 Canadians every day, and opioid deaths have doubled in this country in just two years. I cannot believe that the minister from Toronto wants to expand the lawlessness into her own city. Otherwise, she would just say no.

I will give her an opportunity to just say that, one more opportunity to stop the extremist experiment on the streets of Toronto. Will she, yes or no?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I am a minister. I am a Toronto MP. I am Toronto mother. I know, as everyone in the House should, that the opioid crisis is a tragedy and that there are no families in Canada that are untouched by it.

The B.C. pilot project was requested by B.C., and B.C. has serious concerns. We share those concerns. We are addressing them. There is no other pilot project anywhere in Canada, and the B.C. experience should and will be instructive.

[Jamil Jivani, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it has been 24 hours since the Leader of the Opposition sent the Prime Minister a letter, asking him to reject Toronto City Hall's request to legalize hard drugs, and we are getting no serious answers from the NDP-Liberal government.

After seeing death and disorder in B.C., why can the Prime Minister not take the no-brainer and say no? At what time today can we expect an answer to Toronto City Hall?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I think the members opposite were not listening to my previous answer.

The only pilot project in Canada is in B.C., and B.C. has serious concerns. We share them, and we are acting urgently together to resolve them. There are no other pilot projects anywhere in Canada. I think all Canadians are aware of the B.C. experience, and we need to take it into account.

We invested $200 billion in the health care system. The Conservatives voted against it.

Grocery Industry

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, people in Port Moody—Coquitlam are struggling to keep up with skyrocketing rents and grocery prices.

Meanwhile the Conservative leader is schmoozing with Canada's wealthiest at a $3,500-a-year wine club. This is the guy who said he would cut dental care and pharmacare in favour of keeping billion-dollar corporate handouts. The Liberals are no better. They are letting big grocery CEOs rack up obscene profits while Canadians go hungry.

When will the Liberals stop this corporate greed?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, in the recent federal budget, we put forward a plan to establish fairness for every generation that would ask the wealthiest to pay a little more so we can fund the things that really matter to the people who have been struggling the last couple of years.

We have plans that would reduce the cost of living by reducing the cost of housing and solving the housing crisis. We have a plan to launch a national school food program to make sure that hungry kids have food on the table.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, as I give this answer, the Conservatives jeer because they do not support the measures that would help vulnerable people in this country. We will stand up for the middle class. We will stand up for the vulnerable. It is a shame the Conservatives will not join us.