Murray Rankin

[Health, June 15th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, what the Conservatives have done is unilaterally cut $36 billion from future health care funding. At the same time, they refuse to sit down with the provinces and territories to address urgent priorities, such as seniors care, palliative care, and the high cost of prescription drugs.

The results are clear. A majority of Canadians now believe our health care system is deteriorating and is increasingly unsafe, so why have the Conservatives failed to work collaboratively with the provinces and territories to address these concerns and strengthen our public health care system?

[Health, June 11th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, today there was another unanimous loss for the Conservatives in the Supreme Court of Canada. The court was very clear. The regulations limiting medical marijuana use to smoking had nothing to do with the health and safety of patients.

Unfortunately, when it comes to medical marijuana, the Conservatives continually choose to play politics, rather than respect the health and safety of patients.

This judgment today will help many Canadians who should not have to take up smoking in order to get the medical benefits from doctor-prescribed marijuana. Will the Conservatives abide by the judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada?

[Health, June 11th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians need to know that the medications they are taking are safe, but the Minister of Health has completely dropped the ball on drug safety, with inadequate inspections and a complete unwillingness to actually enforce the rules.

In fact, the Conservatives are now allowing drug ingredients to enter Canada that come from factories overseas that have never been inspected. They are trusting the companies to inspect themselves.

Why are the Conservatives failing to ensure the safety of prescription drugs taken by Canadians?

[Canada Revenue Agency, June 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, two new Swiss banks are now facing fines from the United States for helping wealthy clients evade taxes. Still there is no action from the Conservatives to actually charge Canadians found to be stashing millions overseas.

We are losing up to $8 billion a year to tax havens. That money could help pay for child care, health care, transit or boosting economic innovation. However, the Conservatives have totally failed to get serious on cracking down on tax havens. Why do they keep letting the wealthy and well connected avoid paying their fair share?

[Health, June 9th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians pay among the highest prices in the OECD for prescription drugs, leaving one in ten Canadians unable to fill prescriptions.

Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, health experts, and seniors organizations have all called for the creation of a national drug plan to make prescription drugs more affordable. The provinces have said they are willing to talk, but the federal government will not even come to the table.

Why are the Conservatives showing such a shameful lack of leadership in addressing the high cost of drugs for Canadians?

[Yukon and Nunavut Regulatory Improvement Act, June 5th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the minister's intervention focused appropriately on Nunavut. However, the other part of the bill before us is the amendments proposed to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act.

The minister's colleague, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, said that this measure was “fully supported” by the Yukon legislature. Notwithstanding, there is enormous opposition to that in the Yukon, particularly among first nations. Apparently five law firms are lined up to challenge this as soon as the Conservative government rams the bill through with another time allocation motion.

Does the minister stand by the statement that there is full support of the Yukon legislature and first nations, as the minister, her colleague, suggested earlier today?

[The Environment, June 5th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are ignoring our duty to first nations just like they are ignoring our duty to act on climate change. A new UN report slams Canada today for pulling out of our international efforts to fight climate change. The report points out that Conservatives are way off track to meet even their weak 2020 emissions target. Canada is going to show up at the G7 meetings with no credible plan.

For the sake of our international reputation and for the sake of future generations, will the Conservatives finally take the threat of climate change seriously?

[Yukon and Nunavut Regulatory Improvement Act, June 5th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the remarks of the minister today about the debate on Bill S-6 that would affect the people of Yukon so dramatically.

I think it first should be noted, this is the first and only day of debate on third reading for Bill S-6, as the government has decided to, once again in an unprecedented way, use time allocation to shut down debate on legislation in this place.

The minister talked about “broad support” for the bill, and it respecting the spirit and intent of the Umbrella Final Agreement in land claims in Yukon. One of the great accomplishments of Canada was the creation of the Yukon Environmental and Social Assessment Board, YESA. That was a three-legged stool with the equal participation by statute after the Umbrella Final Agreement, of first nations, Yukon government and federal government.

I had occasion to work. I was the legal adviser to the Yukon government during the self-government agreement preceding YESA. With this bill, people of Yukon are saying that this is tilting that three-legged stool in an unbalanced way to the federal government, and Council of Yukon First Nations are talking about lawsuits in order to stop this misguided legislation.

My question to the minister is, how does he say that there is this “broad support” for the legislation when people are talking about lawsuits to stop it and to change the balance that had been created so effectively when YESA was first created?

[Committees of the House, June 2nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Charlottetown for the opportunity to restate what is so clear on page 42 of the report before us today. The position of the NDP is that we need to establish an independent commission to consult on the non-medical use of marijuana and “to provide guidance to Parliament on the institution of an appropriate regulatory regime to govern such use”. In other words, we need to get it right, we need to study it, and we need all of those voices, as I mentioned, at the table. Then we need guidance on how we would implement an appropriate regulatory regime. That is where we stand. We think a made-in-Canada solution to this complex issue is necessary.

[Committees of the House, June 2nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, if I gave that impression, it certainly was not my intent. My friend from Oakville is absolutely right. There was never anything specifically to that effect in the comments made by the association. However, in its resolution of 2013, to which he referred, it did emphasize the need “to expand the range of enforcement options [for] law enforcement”. That is what I was getting at.

It is just not right in a country like Canada where in Vancouver one would basically have to do something outrageous to be charged with possession of small quantities of marijuana whereas in other parts of the country one could go to jail. That is wrong. The fact that the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police recognizes that we need to have a different array of enforcement options is very telling.