Debates of May 29th, 2024

Department of Health—Main Estimates, 2024-25

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, a leaked B.C. Northern Health memo told nurses to stop confiscating weapons from patients and to permit the use of hard drugs in their rooms. Is the minister aware of this?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, hospitals and law enforcement are under provincial jurisdiction to ensure safe workplaces. We, of course, support the enforcement of safe workplaces for health workers.

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, does the minister confirm or deny that she granted an exemption to the province of B.C., at the request of that government, to allow these kinds of hard drugs to be used in public places, including hospitals.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the request by B.C. for the subsection 56(1) exemption had a clear mandate of public safety and public health. That is how we work collaboratively with the B.C. government.

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister did not answer my question. Did she in fact grant an exemption at the request of the B.C. government that allowed for hard drug use, unprescribed and unsupervised, in hospitals in British Columbia?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the B.C. exemption, which was requested by the province, has been amended, as per its request, to ensure that public safety is a top priority as well as ensuring public health services.

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, when did the minister sign that exemption?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member needs to be clear about which amendment.

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, when did the minister sign the exemption that allowed for hard drug use in public spaces, including hospitals, in British Columbia?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the exemption was signed under my predecessor.

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I introduced the safe hospitals act, which would ban the minister or any succeeding minister from allowing open, unprescribed and unsupervised hard drug use in hospitals.

Does the minister agree that this is common sense?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the commitment is to work collaboratively with provinces and territories, with their jurisdictions and the responsibilities under their purview, which include health services, safety and law enforcement.

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, will the minister commit to supporting the safe hospitals act, and if not, why not?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the debate.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise. I am going to be splitting my time with the Minister for Mental Health and Addictions.

I want to start by simply thanking the officials who are here today, not only for their presence, but also for the incredible work that they do on behalf of Canadians every day. The Public Health Agency of Canada and, indeed, everyone at Health Canada did an extraordinary job during the pandemic, helping us have one of the best pandemic responses anywhere in the world, and they continue to help lead the way in overhauling our health system and meeting the challenges that confront a modern health system.

I speak of the pandemic, and that was a time that was so challenging for so many, particularly for those within the health workforce. I want to acknowledge, in particular, those within the Public Health Agency and within Health Canada. In that period of time, there was a lot of hope that, coming out of the pandemic would mean that things would be getting easier, but of course, the reality is that we had wait-lists, backlogs and burnout, which meant that, not only in Canada but also all over the world, there was an enormous amount of stress coming out of the pandemic. A lot of the weaknesses that existed in our health systems across the country, in the provinces and territories, were exposed, as they were all over the world. It is easy to see problems. We certainly hear a lot in the House about people reflecting a mirror on the problems of the day. That requires no skill or talent. It requires a simple ability of observation.

To imagine how we can move through the challenges that we are in to a better time, to a time that is better for the health of Canadians, to a time that is better for this country generally, requires a great deal of courage to jump into the unknown and imagine what can be done. The conversations that I have had with health ministers across the country, be they Conservative, New Democrat or Liberal, have been in a spirit of co-operation, of coming together to focus on solutions, to not focus on just observing what is wrong, but on having the courage to imagine what could be right, in how we can make investments and do things together.

The federal government has pledged just a little less than $200 billion to health care over the next 10 years. That has manifested itself in 26 agreements, signed in every province and every territory. Each of those agreements lays out a blueprint for how we deal with the challenges of primary care, making sure that folks get access to a doctor, making sure that seniors can age at home and age with dignity, that we have places for them when their health fails.

Building upon that, because we knew it was not enough, we looked upstream and took essential action. I want to thank the work that was done, particularly with the member for Vancouver Kingsway and the NDP House leader, the now health critic, to pave the way, along with our caucus, for a national plan on dental. We have seen that plan, which that the Conservative leader says is not real and does not exist, in just over three weeks, has already served 120,000 claims. That is over 100,000 seniors getting dental care, many times for the first time. We are also taking action on pharmacare to make sure that women have access to the medicine they need for their sexual and reproductive health and making sure that diabetes patients have access to the medication they need to keep themselves healthy.

Of course, this builds on the work that we did in Charlottetown on a digital charter, talking about data, interoperability and the ways that we can work together as jurisdictions to improve our health system.

In the last budget, we also saw essential action on school food to make sure that kids get the nutritious food they need. We are taking action on personal support workers and drugs for rare diseases. We have a strategy and are moving forward with agreements with provinces. We also, very importantly, through bulk purchasing, have seen more than $3.4 billion each and every year saved in the cost of drugs for Canadians by taking collective action together.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Before I proceed to the member for Kingston and the Islands, I am going to presume or perhaps the member will make it clear that he is not going to expect that the minister has to respond in the time that it takes him to ask the question.

The hon. member for Kingston and the Islands.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yes, I was going to point that out, and I do not require the response to be limited to the amount of time of the question.

I want to go back to the minister's comments about dental care specifically. During debates in this House as recently as just a couple of weeks ago, I had an exchange with a Conservative member who tried to tell me that only 41 dentists in the entire province of Ontario had signed up for the dental care program. In my riding alone, I know there are 61, so just in my riding the number surpassed the number that the Conservative member gave out. Can the minister inform the House as to how many dentists have signed up for the program throughout the country, and in Ontario? If the minister does not have the exact number, could he give the best estimate as per his last indication?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member is right. We are seeing a really strong take-up across the country. In fact, we are now at nearly 40% of oral health providers having signed up, and that means more than 10,500 providers who are providing service every day. We are literally seeing thousands and thousands of seniors every single day getting care. Therefore, that 120,000 figure in just over three weeks is remarkable.

Before I turn it back to the member for his question, I would say that it is unfortunate. If members want to vote against it and do not want seniors to have dental care, that is their prerogative vote in this House. However, to malign the program and to actively call around and try to sabotage it and get providers to not participate is very contemptuous.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is a great segue to my next question, because I was going to provide some comments on this and then ask for the minister's take on this. It is one thing to be against a dental program, speak against it and vote against it, but it is an entirely different thing to actively root for a program to fail, a program that is going to support so many Canadians. That is unfortunately what we are seeing from Conservatives. They want the dental care program to fail and not provide these very important services. I am wondering if the minister can give his insight as to why the Conservatives are playing political games with this issue.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I very sincerely hope that the Conservative Party will change its position. If the Conservatives get the opportunity, as I am sure they do, like I do, to talk to people like Raphael who are getting oral health care for the first time in an extremely long time and hear what that does for their dignity and what it is going to mean for prevention, I hope this is something we can all get behind. At a minimum, I wish that the Conservatives would not give misinformation to providers. This program is simple to use. It is working effectively, and it is seeing people across the country get the care they need.

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

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to be speaking with the hon. members who are here today and to share the work that the health portfolio is doing to support Canadians' mental health and address the substance use and overdose crisis in this country. As the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, I believe wholeheartedly that a strong and resilient health care system is an essential part of Canada's social safety net. We must ensure that mental health is treated as a full and equal part of our health care system. Governments are meant to invest in people.

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I am just back from a tour with the health committee to Vancouver, Calgary, Red Deer and Montreal. We heard from amazing organizations that are working tirelessly to help and support those who are using drugs. All parties were represented for the entire duration of the tour, except the Conservatives. It is a shame, because we heard that it is painful for frontline workers to hear that politicization is killing people. We have heard a lot of misinformation about safe consumption sites and harm reduction. Can the minister explain why these measures provide critical support to people who use drugs?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to note that in the initial part of this debate this evening, we heard very stigmatizing language from across the bench, with the insinuation that all people who suffer from substance use are violent and a threat to society and are essentially criminals. I do not understand why they are criminalizing people's loved ones when they need health care and health services.

Prescribed alternatives are done under the strict authorization of medical providers and health experts. It is a sacred relationship between a patient and their physician to move them toward a place of health. We need to open the door to safety for those who use substances and are struggling with addiction, and prescribed alternatives are just one tool of a robust set of tools. The opposition pits harm reduction against treatment rather than looking at a holistic and compassionate approach to those who use substances.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I want to share with the minister an email I got from a member of Moms Stop the Harm. It is too long to read in its entirety, but I wanted to give a couple of elements of the letter, and I am sure the minister has heard these stories before.

This mother said that after her son died, it was a very difficult time, and that she watched me give a response to the Conservatives, who were using, as the minister said, very hurtful language. Her son was 24 years old when he died, and she said, “How dare politicians and so-called experts tell us that our children are only worth something if they say no and go to treatment?”

I would like to ask minister this: Does she see harm reduction as part of that treatment continuum?

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the minister for her question; it is an important one.

It should be very clear to everyone, and I say this to Canadians but I also say it to the benches, that harm reduction is health care. Providing key services to keep people alive so that we can steer them towards a safe journey towards treatment starts with compassion. It starts with a full suite of tools. There are international standards for this that include harm reduction as the key strategy. We have to approach this with compassion.

We only hear slogans from the Conservatives across the way on this. They do not see it as keeping loved ones alive, as the minister once said, one more day to keep them alive. Why will they not join on in evidence-based approaches to do that?