Justin Trudeau

[Health, October 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, respecting the provinces means letting the health ministers get on with their work together.

That is why the Minister of Health is meeting with her provincial counterparts today to talk about how we can work together to meet our commitments to Canadians when it comes to health care, while respecting provincial areas of jurisdiction.

That is leadership, something that has been missing from this House for the past 10 years when it comes to health. That is exactly what Canadians expect. That is what they voted for, and that is what we are working hard to achieve.

[Health, October 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the hon. member that the federal government is not responsible for health care spending. We have to work with the provinces, which is something the former government did not do. That is why we are very happy to sit down with the provinces and talk about how we can work together to meet Canadians' needs while respecting provincial jurisdiction, of course.

[Health, October 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we are looking forward to investing $21.5 billion in health care over the next five years, of new money. The only expectation we have is the expectation that Canadians have: that this money be actually spent on health care. That is what the previous government missed out on when it was investing in health care.

We know that health care money must flow to health care. That is what Canadians expect. That is what the provinces expect as well.

[Health, October 17th, 2016]

Actually, Mr. Speaker, the Stephen Harper approach to health care consisted of writing a cheque and then not checking to see whether it was actually spent on health care. Canadians expect that new money invested by the federal government into health care be actually spent on health care.

On top of that, we have made commitments to work with the provinces to invest in home care, because Canadians know that what we need is a system that cares for the sick and elderly, and that demonstrates the kind of collaboration within provinces and with the federal government that did not happen for far too long.

[Softwood Lumber, October 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we are very concerned about what is happening to forestry workers across the country. That is why we are working so hard to resolve the softwood lumber issue.

The fact is that we inherited a broken Canada-U.S. relationship from the former Conservative government. We had so many bridges to build, and that is why we are working very hard to resolve an issue that is of tremendous importance to so many Canadian families, communities, and regions.

[Softwood Lumber, October 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member just showed, once again, that he does not understand that giving benefits to Canada's wealthiest families does not promote economic growth. That is not what Canadians want. The Conservatives chose to give cheques to millionaires instead of doing what we are doing and that is giving bigger cheques to nine out of ten families, families who really need it.

The opposition party still does not understand that it is by helping the middle class that we create prosperity that is shared by everyone in the country.

[Taxation, October 17th, 2016]

Actually, Mr. Speaker, instead of sending child benefits to millionaire families, like the Conservatives wanted to do, we chose to give a more generous tax-free benefit every month that lands in the bank accounts of the nine out of ten Canadian families who need it. This is the kind of thing that helps the people who need it by doing less for the people who do not. The Conservatives never quite understood that, and that is possibly why they are in opposition today.

[Finance, October 17th, 2016]

I find it humorous, Mr. Speaker, that members opposite are talking about a failed approach, because for 10 years their approach of lowering taxes on the wealthiest Canadians gave us the worst growth rate since R.B. Bennett in the depths of the Great Depression.

One of the very first things we did was lower taxes on the middle class and raise them on the wealthiest 1%, and the Conservatives voted against that.

[Finance, October 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect us to make the investments necessary to create growth in this economy.

I would very much like to take this initial moment to add my respects for a former colleague and dear friend, Jim Prentice. Every side of the House feels his loss today, and we will all miss his intelligence, honesty, and thoughtfulness and the kindness he brought to his work. Jim was a man of deep convictions who dedicated his life to public service, to the people of Alberta, and to all Canadians. I cherish the time I spent working with Jim and will always remember his kind, thoughtful manner.

Our hearts go out to Karen and his family. While we know the void can never be filled, we hope that they are comforted by all the amazing stories and memories so many have shared over the past few days about Jim.

[Health, October 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, health ministers across the country will be meeting in a few weeks to discuss how we can improve and protect our health system everywhere in Canada. It is important that the ministers be able to do their job. We believe in government by cabinet, and I have great confidence in my Minister of Health.