Justin Trudeau

[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.

[Health, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, over the next 10 years, the federal government will invest an additional $198 billion in health care systems across the country, and that includes $46 billion in new money for the provinces and territories. The purpose of this money is to provide access to family doctors, provide access to better mental health services, especially for our youth, ensure that frontline health workers get appropriate support, and create better data and information systems for Canadians.

[Public Services and Procurement, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, through a very difficult pandemic, yes, there have been challenges for service delivery. That is why this government has been stepping up. One area we are stepping up in is recognizing that our universal public health care system needs more support. That is why we are moving forward with investments worth $198 billion in additional money to support provinces and territories in delivering better health care for Canadians.

Whether it is with more access to family doctors, better mental health supports, better support for frontline health workers or better data and information to underpin our system, we are there to invest as Conservatives continue to push cuts.

[Housing, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, over the past eight years we have stepped up on investing in housing. We have invested in low-income rentals, and we have made sure that seniors have extra supports so they can retire with dignity. The previous Conservative government consistently nickelled and dimed seniors and veterans and refused to support young families. These are the kinds of things we have been working on, and yes, there is more to do. This is why we were so surprised that the Conservative Party stood against extra supports for low-income renters and supporting families to send their kids to dentists when they could not afford it.

These are things we will continue to do.

[The Economy, February 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, it is ironic that the member opposite speaks about fixing things. When we took office, one of the first things we had to do was reverse the cuts that the member had voted for that would have raised the age of retirement to 67 years old instead of 65.

We continued to step up with increasing GIS by 10% for our most vulnerable single seniors and, in the years following, we have consistently been there for seniors. Conservatives continue to call for more cuts and more austerity, while we have been there to support seniors, and we will continue to be there.