John Oliver

[Health, January 28th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, our government has demonstrated its commitment to improving the accessibility and affordability of prescription drugs, including joining with provinces and territories to negotiate drug prices through the pan-Canadian pharmaceutical alliance, but we recognize that there is an opportunity to do even more.

The advisory council on the implementation of national pharmacare is engaging with Canadians and assessing options to provide our government with independent advice on how best to implement a national pharmacare program in a manner that is affordable for Canadians, employers and governments. The work of the council will be fundamental in ensuring that Canadians have access to the drug therapies they need at an affordable cost. I look forward to the council's final report next spring, which will guide the government in moving forward on national pharmacare.

[Health, January 28th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be here today to participate in the important discussion on prescription drugs. Our government is committed to strengthening health care and supporting the health of Canadians. This includes taking concrete action to improve the affordability, accessibility and appropriate prescribing of the medications Canadians need.

Our government recognizes affordable access to prescription drugs is a challenge for some Canadians. For too many, existing drug coverage programs are not working. Our government welcomed the report of the Parliamentary Budget Officer on the federal cost of a national pharmacare program and the Standing Committee on Health's extensive study of this issue.

Budget 2017 provided $140.3 million over five years and $18.2 million ongoing annually for Health Canada and other federal agencies to lower drug prices and improve access to prescription drugs. As part of that work, the government is proposing amendments to the patented medicines regulations that would give the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board the tools and information needed to protect all Canadians from excessive patented drug prices.

Our government has also worked to lower drug costs through the pan-Canadian pharmaceutical alliance. By combining the bargaining power of federal, provincial and territorial governments, the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance saved over $1.3 billion in 2017 through price reductions for patented and generic drugs.

We have worked to improve access to orphan drugs by launching the regulatory review of drugs and devices initiative. This is a major effort to improve the availability of prescription drugs, including drugs for rare diseases.

Our government also recognizes inappropriate prescribing of medications creates risks and unnecessary waste in the health care system. To remedy this, we are working with partners to promote best practices in prescribing and use of drugs.

Finally, budget 2018 announced the creation of the advisory council on the implementation of national pharmacare. Chaired by Dr. Eric Hoskins, this council will evaluate a range of options and provide recommendations on how to implement national pharmacare in a manner that is affordable for Canadians and their families, employers and governments. It will report to the federal ministers of health and finance and is expected to deliver its advice in the spring of 2019.

The measures I have outlined here today in regard to the council and improving affordability, accessibility and appropriate prescribing are significant. They have the potential to move Canada toward a more sustainable and responsive pharmaceutical management system, no matter what form it takes in the end.

[Message from the Senate, December 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, just before I pose my question to the member, this will probably be my last time rising to speak in this chamber. It has been an incredible honour to stand in this place and be part of this history, and be part of the debates in the House. I want to extend a huge thanks to the residents of Oakville for giving me the honour and opportunity to represent them here in this place before we move to our new temporary quarters.

The Senate made one amendment to clause 2 allowing Canadian border security to keep records for 15 years. Canada, unlike most countries, does not collect information about people leaving Canada. This will improve our ability to prevent people from travelling overseas to join terrorist groups, combat human trafficking, respond to amber alerts, and ensure the integrity of our social benefit programs that require residency in Canada.

I have heard a lot of discussion from the member today in the 20 minutes he had to speak. In the end, does he support this bill?

[Opioid Crisis in Canada, December 10th, 2018]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank all members tonight for their participation in this take-note debate. There have been some very touching and heartfelt stories. Every one of us is experiencing the impact of opioids on people in our ridings, and all of us have stories of people who have lost loved ones because of this crisis.

I want to go back to the words of the minister at the outset. She is deeply committed to addressing this issue. A top priority for her is the health of all Canadians, and this government is firmly committed to continue to address and work to resolve these issues. The debate tonight has been informative.

My hon. colleague mentioned how important it is that we work together across party lines to address this issue. I invite her one more time to talk about the importance of that all-party collaboration to get real results in this crisis.

[Opioid Crisis in Canada, December 10th, 2018]

Mr. Chair, my colleague made reference to decriminalization as a potential strategy here. We have talked about that a bit tonight, and I just want to emphasize some of the points that were made earlier.

First of all, decriminalization would not ensure a safe supply of drugs. It means if one is found with drugs, that person will not be criminalized but would not be given a safe supply. It would not move people to treatment. Some of the feedback from Portugal is that it was not a silver bullet.

I did want to mention that the government has moved forward with expanding access to opioid substitution therapies, which is an important part of moving people off opioid dependency. We have expanded access to methadone and to opioid replacement therapies like diacetylmorphine, which is a pharmaceutical grade of heroin.

Steps have been taken to make sure that these kinds of drugs are available for safe and effective treatment for people who are working on their opioid dependency.

[Opioid Crisis in Canada, December 10th, 2018]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the hon. member for her very passionate intervention in this take-note debate. A number of the issues she raised she called bragging. This is the government's attempt to deal with and address the issues and concerns she is raising. We are responding to the crisis. We are restoring harm reduction as a core approach. We have opened two dozen supervised consumption sites. We have invested over $331 million into treatment and into fast-tracking regulatory action into education for those programs.

I believe the hon. member is in agreement with the direction the government is taking. I wanted to confirm that. Are there other steps she thinks the government could be taking in addition to those already in place?

[Opioid Crisis in Canada, December 10th, 2018]

Mr. Chair, I just want to emphasize again that there is a multi-faceted approach that the government is bringing to this problem. In budget 2018, $231 million has been invested, establishing an emergency treatment fund for treatment beds just as the member described; developing a national public education program to help address those who might be considering using opioids or moving down that path; enhancing the ability of front-line personnel to detect, intercepting illegal drugs at the border, which is happening; and accelerating and expanding access to public health data so we can track this problem.

However, the real issue here is that we have had three years to play catch-up with this problem. Where was the member in 2014? Where was he in 2013 when this problem began?

We are playing catch-up for the previous crime and punishment approach to opioids and opioid addiction. The former Conservative government did not move into treating this early enough and now we are dealing with the crisis across Canada.

[Opioid Crisis in Canada, December 10th, 2018]

Mr. Chair, I feel that there has been an unwillingness to listen to what the government is doing and what actions have been taken. There is a multi-pillar approach going forward. The member is raising the continued question about treatment and treatment beds. I need to remind him that the opening of treatment beds is a provincial-territorial responsibility. We have a $150-million fund created. We cannot create nurses and infrastructure and places for treatment. That is a provincial-territorial responsibility. The biggest problem we have is that we are playing catch-up after nine years of the Harper government's failing to making any investment in treatment and prevention. That is the biggest problem we are facing tonight.

[Opioid Crisis in Canada, December 10th, 2018]

Madam Chair, the Government of Canada is very aware of the B.C. lawsuit against the opioid manufacturer. That case is being studied and looked at. At this juncture, I think the government is interested in watching the B.C. government proceed with it.

If there is criminal activity happening in Canada, the government will not fail to take action to protect and defend Canadians from criminal action. That is where it sits right now, with an ongoing review and consideration of that B.C. lawsuit.

[Opioid Crisis in Canada, December 10th, 2018]

Madam Chair, absolutely, we are focused on people who need treatment today, who are experiencing severe health issues, possibly leading to death. We have to take steps to stop the next generation or the next cohort of Canadians from becoming addicted to opioids.

As I have mentioned before, we are requiring mandatory labels on all prescription opioids sold in Canada, with increased pharmacist education and training, so that people are aware of the addictive or dependent nature of those drugs. We are moving to severely restrict the marketing of opioids to medical professionals, and are creating a dedicated team to crack down on offenders.

When it comes to the Canada health transfer and the current negotiations we have $5 billion going to the provinces to address mental health and addictions, so that we can stop the next generation, the next cohort of Canadians from developing a dependency on these opioid drugs.