Justin Trudeau

[Health, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers and all Canadians understand full well that it will take additional investments in our health care system. That is what we are doing.

They also know full well that money is not the only solution. We need more family doctors, more support for mental health care, more help for frontline workers, more data, more information to improve the quality of care. That is what we are working on, together with the provinces.

While the Bloc Québécois is looking to pick another fight, I am very eager to work with the provincial premiers to get results for Canadians.

[Government Priorities, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we are taking action to help Canadians who are facing difficult times. Yes, there have been challenges with service delivery in the wake of the pandemic this past year. We will continue to work to improve services and support Canadians. That is what Canadians expect.

Unfortunately, the Conservative Party voted against help for dental care and help for low-income renters. It has nothing to offer Canadians except recommendations like investing in cryptocurrencies to avoid the effects of inflation. That is ridiculous and irresponsible.

[Government Priorities, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, throughout our history, Canada and Canadians have faced some extremely difficult times.

We are going through a difficult time right now. Instead of throwing our hands up and saying that everything is broken, we know what Canadians are doing. They are there for one another. They are rolling up their sleeves to help one another. That is how we know that they appreciate the fact that we are investing in support for dental care and for low-income renters.

Our hon. colleague voted against these initiatives. We will continue to be there despite the Conservatives' opposition to investing.

[The Economy, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, as a government we stepped up to support Canadians during the pandemic. As a government we continue to step up to support Canadians during these difficult times of high inflation and high interest rates. That is why we put forward initiatives to double the GST rebate for 11 million families. That is why we moved forward with rental support for the lowest-income renters and dental supports for families who cannot send their kids to the dentist.

Despite all the rhetoric from the Conservatives, they cannot dodge the fact that they voted against those initiatives.

[Seniors, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, while opposition members are simply focused on frightening seniors, what we actually saw 10 years ago was that they raised the age of retirement from 65 to 67 years, which we returned to 65 when we first took office. Then we moved forward with an increase in the guaranteed income supplement of 10% for the most vulnerable single seniors; that party voted against the increase.

We continue to step up in ways to support Canadian seniors right across the country and lift more of them out of poverty while Conservatives continue to argue against those investments.

[The Economy, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to see the lengths to which Conservatives will go to pretend the pandemic never happened. It was a very difficult time for Conservative politicians at the federal level. They were not convinced about vaccines and did not like all the supports we were sending to Canadians, even though it not only ensured that millions of Canadians were kept safer during the pandemic but also allowed our economy to bounce back stronger than just about any of our fellow economies did.

In regard to supporting Canadians, our price on pollution puts more money back in the pockets of families. At the same time, we are investing $500 million so that families can upgrade their home heating.

[The Economy, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that Canadians are going through difficult times right now following the challenges of the global pandemic and global inflation. That is why we chose to step up to support Canadians last fall with a doubling of the GST credit, which has helped 11 million Canadians; moving forward on supporting lowest-income renters; and making sure that all families can send their kids to the dentist. Unfortunately, the Conservatives, despite their rhetoric, stood against those last two measures and refused to help Canadians who need it. They are abandoning the middle class in favour of cuts and austerity.

[Health, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat my answer to make sure that my NDP colleague hears me properly.

The first thing I said when I sat down with the premiers yesterday to talk about health care and the investments that the federal government will make to help people is that we need to uphold the Canada Health Act and continue with our universal public system, which provides services to Canadians across the country.

That is a fundamental principle that we will always defend. We are always there to defend our public health care system.

[Health, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure my hon. NDP colleague will be pleased to know that he has been misinformed.

One of the very first things I said when I sat down with the premiers yesterday was about respect for our universal public system and how the principles of the Canada Health Act are foundational for this government and for any money that we flow to the provinces and to health care systems across this country over the coming years.

On this side of the aisle, we will always stand up for universal public health care.

[Health, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, while my hon. colleague talks about what the provinces want, we are focused on what Canadians need.

Canadians need more family doctors. They need more mental health help. Canadians need to see that frontline workers in hospitals and other facilities are better paid and supported. Canadians need to know where their medical records are and they need better information to understand the system they rely on.

That is what we are doing in partnership with the provinces. We are going to improve health care systems for tomorrow.