Don Davies

[Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, September 25th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, like many members in this House, the people of Vancouver Kingsway are experiencing unprecedented high prices for food. People are going to supermarkets and finding that the price of three apples is about $5. I am not sure how anybody can eat nutritious food with the kinds of prices we are being charged in this country.

There has always been a problem in our schools with children not having access to healthy food and it is even worse today. The Liberals and the NDP campaigned last election on having a billion dollars over five and four years respectively to get started on a national school nutritious food program. We are the only country in the G7 that does not have one.

Would my hon. colleague not agree that, at a time of unprecedented high prices for food and when so many families are struggling, this is the ideal time for the federal government to bring in this long-overdue program to make sure that kids, when they go to school, get at least one nutritious meal, so they can learn better and help relieve the strain on family budgets across this country?

[Health, September 25th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian children have been going to school hungry for years. Skyrocketing grocery bills are making things worse, yet Canada is the only G7 country without a national school food program. New Democrats have been calling for one for years. Despite their promises, the Liberals have only delayed action and disappointed families. Children are going hungry on the Liberals' watch.

Why is the government not delivering a national school food program to help our kids learn?

[Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act, September 19th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, the provincial Conservative government in Nova Scotia is moving aggressively to establish a significant footprint in power supply from offshore wind. Clearly, it sees the benefits of tapping into the enormous potential of renewable energy. As New Democrats, we see there is enormous potential for a thriving offshore renewable energy industry in Atlantic Canada. We need to seize this potential, while making sure it is done right.

Will the government guarantee that benefits from offshore wind projects will flow directly to local workers and that local fishing communities will be supported?

[Criminal Code, September 18th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague's speech was pretty wide-ranging and touched on a number of things. It contributed to the debate, but in some cases it did not.

We are talking about bail conditions and how we deal with people who commit crimes on bail. The member raised the tragedy outside the Starbucks in Vancouver, where Mr. Schmidt was knifed to death. However, that was by a person who was not out on bail, so I am not sure what that has to do with the legislation that is under consideration.

The current bail law in this country is that bail can be denied when an accused's criminal record is taken into account, particularly if they have failed to comply with past bail conditions or court orders. It is the law now that bail can be denied by a judge if someone has failed to comply with bail conditions in the past or if they have a repeat criminal record.

Could the member explain to us why she thinks the current law is not sufficient to keep those people in jail pending their trial, when that is the law right now?

[Criminal Code, September 18th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I think the average person on the street would probably agree with the principle that someone who has repeat offended at some point would require a reverse onus for bail. However, I am thinking of one of the cornerstones of the rule of law system in our country, which is the presumption of innocence. We have a right to walk the streets and have liberty, and if the state charges us with a crime, we have a right to be presumed innocent and not to be deprived of our liberty.

I am wondering how my hon. colleague squares that notion with the concept of reverse onus, where somebody who is accused would have to justify why they would retain liberty instead of being incarcerated pending a trial and pending conviction of the crime, which has not yet occurred. Does he have any concerns in that regard?

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 18th, 2023]

With regard to the government's treatment of Egyptian refugees: (a) does the Minister of Public Safety consider (i) Canadian citizens, (ii) permanent residents, (iii) foreign nationals, who joined or participated in Egypt's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) after the 2011 Egyptian revolution, to participate in Egypt's democratic elections to be a danger to the security of Canada; (b) why has the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) deemed FJP-affiliated refugees inadmissible to Canada; (c) will the Minister of Public Safety grant ministerial relief to those Egyptian refugees who have been deemed to be inadmissible to Canada because they joined or participated in the FJP after the 2011 Egyptian revolution to participate in Egypt's democratic elections; and (d) will the Minister of Public Safety issue a directive to resolve the CBSA's inconsistent treatment of Egyptian refugees with FJP affiliation to ensure that all refugees are treated equally, impartially, and consistently?

[Monique Bégin, September 18th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I rise today on behalf of Canada's New Democrats to honour the life and legacy of the Hon. Monique Bégin, who sadly passed earlier this month.

Madam Bégin was a feminist trailblazer, a passionate advocate for social justice and a tireless champion for public health care.

In 1966, she served as vice-president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec and was a signatory of the organization's founding charter. She was then appointed secretary-general of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada, where she carried out groundbreaking work to advance women's equality.

In 1972, Madam Bégin, along with Albanie Morin and Jeanne Sauvé, became one of the first women from Quebec elected to the House of Commons. She was appointed to cabinet in 1976, where she served as minister for national revenue and then as minister for national health and welfare.

In Parliament, she advanced a number of critical measures to support vulnerable Canadians, including the child tax credit and the guaranteed income supplement, but perhaps her greatest legislative achievement was securing unanimous support for the Canada Health Act in 1984, something extremely near and dear to New Democrats' hearts in this country.

At the time, Madam Bégin warned the chamber, “An erosion of medicare is taking place” and called on all parliamentarians at that time “to consolidate medicare by fixing the loopholes and bad habits that have developed to make it work for years to come.”

Unfortunately, today Canadians are once again witnessing an erosion of this cherished national institution, as she warned so presciently of those decades ago. Decades of underfunding, creeping privatization, inadequate enforcement of the Canada Health Act and the continued exploitation of legal loopholes represent profound and ongoing threats to our universal public system.

Madam Bégin was known as a fierce defender of public delivery, and she never hesitated to wield a big stick at any province that threatened that principle. Let us learn from Monique Bégin's inspiring example by turning these words of tribute today into action for tomorrow. Let us honour her legacy by recommitting ourselves to protecting, strengthening and expanding public health care for all Canadians.

New Democrats cherish her vision. We will carry it on today in the House and for decades to come.

[Violence Against Pregnant Women Act, June 13th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to say that I was coming into the Chamber right at that moment. I can tell you that I did see the member for Kingston and the Islands make an objectionable sign with his finger to the opposition.

[Pharmacare, June 13th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, today New Democrats introduced our plan to deliver prescription medicines for all. Our push comes after the health minister blocked reforms meant to save Canadians billions on drug costs. Too often we have seen the current government put the interest of big pharma ahead of patients, and it is now clear that only public pharmacare will save our health care system billions and help millions of people.

Will the health minister assure Canadians that he will put their health ahead of pharmaceutical industry profits and implement the NDP pharmacare plan?

[Canada Pharmacare Act, June 13th, 2023]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-340, An Act to enact the Canada Pharmacare Act.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to introduce the Canada pharmacare act, with thanks to the member for Burnaby South for seconding this legislation. He follows in a long line of great NDP leaders, from Tommy Douglas on, who have built and are building our great public health care system.

No one should have to face the impossible choice of paying rent or filling a prescription, yet every year millions of Canadians go without their prescription medications because they cannot afford them. This legislation would establish a framework for universal, comprehensive and public pharmacare across Canada.

It is modelled on the Canada Health Act and based on the recommendations of the Hoskins advisory council. Like the Canada Health Act, the Canada pharmacare act specifies the conditions and criteria for provincial and territorial prescription drug programs to receive federal funding. This includes the core principles of public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability and accessibility.

After decades of delay, Canadians cannot afford to wait any longer. It is time to add medicine to medicare. I call on all parliamentarians to support this long overdue initiative.

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