Mike Morrice

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Chair, absolutely, I would be happy to do that. I appreciate the specificity.

I would next like to ask about Dylan and Kim. They are two of many parents in my community who have shared with me what it is like to raise a child living with CF. In their case, it is their son Jackson. As we know, kids like Jackson need expensive medication, such as Trikafta, which can significantly improve their quality of life. However, given the high cost of Trikafta and other CF drugs, many families struggle to afford it unless they are covered by private insurance. Those with access only have it because of private insurance through their employer. It often means that the value of this coverage is actually more than the person makes in terms of their salary. Of course, no child should go without essential treatment because of their family's financial constraints.

Can the minister share when the government plans to move forward with the pharmacare program that would include drugs such as Trikafta and maybe, at minimum, require private insurers to cover the drugs that public plans do? I understand this is already the case in Quebec and something CF Canada is calling for.

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Chair, can the minister share more about what can be done in working with provinces and territories to address this seeming gap? The issue, it seems, is that Noor cannot access the drug because it is approved by Health Canada but not listed by the Canadian drug agency as recommended for public coverage.

Can he share more, just briefly, about what can be done in working with provinces and territories to address this?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Chair, I am encouraged to hear that on both fronts. I appreciate that.

I would like to tell the minister about another constituent of mine, Noor Ayesha. Noor is battling an incurable rare cancer. For it, she requires an oral drug. The name is Pemazyre. It has been approved by Health Canada but is not recommended by the Canadian drug agency for public coverage. Noor's oncologist recommends that she take this drug to help her live longer, but it costs $800 U.S. per tablet and has to be taken daily. It is a cost of over $15,000 U.S. per month.

Here is what Dr. Jennifer Knox, a medical oncologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, had to say about Pemazyre: “this drug represents real progress, a key scientific and clinical advancement.” Noor's family has had to turn to starting a GoFundMe to help her fight cancer and live longer because the Canadian drug agency has not recommended Pemazyre for coverage.

What steps is the government taking to address this gap between Health Canada's approval of rare cancer drugs and the CDA's recommendations for public coverage in order to ensure that patients like Noor can access the treatment they need without prohibitive costs?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Chair, I need to move to the next question.

My next question is on a concerning limitation in Bill C-64 brought to me by a senior in my community. The bill, of course, is designed to provide coverage for specific prescription drugs and products intended for contraception and the treatment of diabetes. My concern and that of this constituent is that critical equipment to administer medication and monitor blood sugar levels for people with diabetes, like real-time continuous glucose monitoring devices, is not included. Instead, the Health Canada website states, “the federal government is announcing its intention to establish a fund to support access to diabetes devices and supplies.”

Glucose monitoring devices cost between $2,000 and $6,000 per year and are a crucial part of diabetes management. While providing insulin is an important measure and the Greens support it wholeheartedly, I am concerned that this senior is still on the hook for hundreds of dollars a month for this essential tool in managing her diabetes, even with the passage, once we get there, of Bill C-64.

Will the minister commit to establishing this fund to ensure that glucose monitoring devices required by diabetics will be covered across the country, and if so, by when?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Chair, would the minister or a member of his team be open to accept a meeting with ACCKWA to hear directly from it about how important the support is for these test kits?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Chair, as I begin this evening, I want to recognize that both ministers have been, for over three hours now, providing answers of substance to all parliamentarians, and I appreciate them for that.

I would like to start by following up on a letter I sent to the Minister of Health. We had a conversation about a month ago about renewing investments for support and training for HIV self-testing kits. As a reminder to the minister, in my community, the AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo and Area recently expanded its services to Guelph Wellington and, for over the past year, has supported over 600 people in testing for HIV. Of the people engaged, 94% requested assistance from a peer worker to ensure they understood and completed the test correctly.

While the test kits remain available, the funding for support from a peer worker had ended. When we last spoke, the minister shared that he was planning to look into this. Can he share if the federal government will resume funding for the support of these self-test kits and, if so, when?

[Petitions, May 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise to present a petition on behalf of folks who are concerned with the number of deaths across the country as a result of poisoned drugs, a crisis that is hitting my community particularly hard.

Petitioners note that they call on the Government of Canada to, first of all, declare a public health emergency with respect to overdose deaths. They look to have the government reframe this away from a criminal justice issue to a public health one. They call for a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach to addressing this crisis and the root causes of poverty, addiction, housing and health care, among others; and, including in that multi-faceted approach the decriminalization of drugs. The petitioners go on to call for the government to specifically listen to and act on recommendations made not by politicians, but by social workers, frontline workers, nurses, doctors and those directly involved in the drug-using community.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, May 27th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I can start by saying that I appreciate the member for Edmonton West's bringing up something we agree on, which is how poorly rolled out the net-zero accelerator fund is. I raised that at committee. What is a qualitative GHG reduction? It does not make any sense at all. That $7 billion could have gone towards true climate solutions. It is disappointing that it has not.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, May 27th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, first of all, we agree with the Bloc Québécois on the fact that the government needs to eliminate all oil subsidies, including those pertaining to carbon capture and storage.

As a Green Party government, we would be much more ambitious. We would move more quickly and take this issue more seriously. We are in a climate crisis. That means that we need to make significant investments in public transportation. We need to electrify our grid across the country and we need to eliminate all oil subsidies.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, May 27th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, as the parliamentary secretary knows, the amendment in front of us is, of course, not a substantive amendment. It is one of the tactics that are available to parties in this place, in this case, to delay legislation.

I would also point out that it is the governing side that has the legislative power and calendar to set the agenda of the House. Greens' view is that we would have liked to see the fall economic statement move along more quickly and earlier. We can empathize with the fact that there are various delay tactics being put in place to slow the legislation down. However, we would also encourage the governing side to ensure that, when they have the legislative calendar available to them, they do what they can to move ahead important pieces of legislation. This is of course one of them. It certainly is a bit odd that we are this late into the spring and still talking about the fall economic statement. Our interest would be for parties to come together, agree on legislation that could move ahead and ensure that this happens.