Don Davies

[Business of Supply, May 10th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I will respond to the substance of the motion. I agree with the principle of the separation of church and state, and I agree that references to religious concepts are also are not appropriate in public sector proceedings, so I will support the motion.

Equally, I know that the climate crisis threatens our planet. The housing crisis means millions of Canadians are right now living with insecurity and worry, and our health care system is under serious strain, if not a crisis. I think it is a fair question to ask the Bloc, with all of these serious, pressing, existential issues facing Québécois, Canadians and our world, why they decided that the opening prayer of Parliament is a more important issue to debate in the House.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, May 9th, 2022]

With regard to the mandate letter of the Minister of Health and the direction in the letter to invest in the study of the long-term health impacts of COVID-19, including the effects of long COVID on different groups, notably vulnerable populations and children: what is the total funding allocated for this purpose, broken down by (i) fiscal year, (ii) department or agency, (iii) initiative, (iv) amount?

[National Nursing Week, May 9th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize National Nursing Week. This is our opportunity to thank Canada's nurses for their outstanding leadership delivering health care to all Canadians. During this pandemic, nurses made tremendous sacrifices to answer the call when we needed them most. They provided care with skill, compassion and courage in the face of unrelenting waves of COVID-19.

We know Canada's nurses provide critical services to patients at all times in all health care environments. Nurses take care of us at our most vulnerable, and we must take care of them in return. This National Nursing Week, let us turn our words of gratitude into action by addressing important issues such as staffing shortages, workplace violence and unacceptable working conditions.

Canadian nurses are the backbone of our health care system. This week, take a moment to thank them for their professionalism, skill and dedication. I will be doing exactly that for my sister, Cheryl Davies, and her partner, Bob Jasperson, who have been superb nurses for over 30 years.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1, May 5th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, the budget contains $300 million this year, $600 million next year and $1.2 billion the year after, for a total ongoing commitment of $1.7 billion thereafter, to provide dental care to some 6.5 million Canadians: the children, seniors, people living with disabilities and low-income families with no dental insurance now.

My hon. colleague talked about being unable to afford things. I was in the House when the Conservatives wanted to increase military spending in this country to 2% of GDP, which would add about $26 billion every year to our budget.

Does he think that spending $1.7 billion to bring dental care to 6.5 million Canadians is less of a priority than spending $26 billion a year? Can he explain to us why he thinks we can afford the military but cannot afford dental care given those numbers?

[Employing Persons with Disabilities Act, May 5th, 2022]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-272, An Act respecting the development of a national employment strategy for persons with disabilities.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the employing persons with disabilities act, with great thanks to my colleague, the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley, for seconding the bill.

This legislation would provide for the development of a national employment strategy to increase the economic participation of persons with disabilities. Across Canada, persons with disabilities continue to face barriers and stigma when looking for work, seeking accommodation or trying to advance in their careers. As a result, over 400,000 working-age Canadians with disabilities are unemployed despite being willing and able to work.

People with diverse needs also have diverse skills and have a great deal to contribute to our society, like my daughter Cerys, her friends Calum, Melissa and Elliott, and many others. We must do more to support their participation in the workforce.

I call upon all parliamentarians to support this vital initiative because when people with diverse abilities succeed, we all succeed.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Economic and Fiscal Update Implementation Act, 2021, May 3rd, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I am sure that Quebec is no different than any other province in that the citizens of these provinces are having a terrible time finding affordable housing. This is one of the areas where we are all in agreement that it takes all levels of government working together in order to provide a supply.

In my riding, we still have many constituents who have benefited from the very successful co-op housing program of the federal government of the 1970s and 1980s. I wonder if my hon. colleague can comment on whether co-operative housing and federal support for building co-op housing in Quebec would be a significant way to help people of Quebec develop at least one model of affordable housing.

[Economic and Fiscal Update Implementation Act, 2021, May 3rd, 2022]

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague touched upon housing. I think there is not a member in the House who does not have constituents with serious concerns about the lack of affordable housing.

There are some measures in this bill that deal with housing, I think, mainly about underutilization of property, but there is nothing in the bill about an anti-flipping tax. There is nothing on blind auctions. There is no real additional funding to increase affordable supply, or a housing strategy by and for indigenous communities.

I am wondering this. What does my hon. colleague think about that, and what measures does she think the government should take in order to provide affordable housing options for Canadians?

[The Budget, April 26th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, as I said in my speech, and I think my hon. colleague touched on it a bit, one of the signature pieces of this budget is the creation of a dental care program that will help six-and-a-half million Canadians get access to primary health care for their mouths. I know the Conservatives are opposing the budget and, in fact, they oppose dental care. I have not heard any positive comments from the Bloc Québécois on this.

Can my hon. colleague share with the House what he thinks of dental care and whether his constituents would benefit from having a program that would help people who make under $90,000 a year get access to dental care?

[The Budget, April 26th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, in short, yes, it is, and I share my hon. colleague's concerns about the climate crisis. As I said at the outset of my speech, we do not agree with everything in this budget, nor were we able to get all of the New Democrat priorities in the confidence and supply agreement. We negotiated as best we could.

I think we have to do much more, and do it much more urgently, to take the climate crisis seriously. That includes phasing out all fossil fuel subsidies immediately, and transitioning immediately, as well, to sustainable forms of energy. We cannot wait any longer, and I share the member's passion and sense of urgency in dealing with the health of our planet. We have to push the government to go much further, much faster.

[The Budget, April 26th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I can tell the member that I have been an MP for 14 years, and I cannot tell her how many seniors have come into my office who do not have access to dental care. I have had seniors in my office who had no teeth. Can the member imagine what the impact is on nutrition and oral health if one has no teeth?

This budget, next year, would provide every single senior who makes under $70,000 a year and who has no dental insurance, in other words, just about every senior in the country, access to public dental care.

My hon. colleague asked, “What is in the budget for seniors?” Well, I would say that this is the biggest expansion of public health care in half a century, and it will bring dental care to every senior in the country, including in Quebec. The member should support that or explain to seniors in Quebec why she is going to vote against the bill that would bring them dental care. I challenge her to ask seniors in Quebec what they think about that.