Ruby Dhalla

[Health, June 13th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the person who should be ashamed is the minister, who is letting his mouthpiece do the talking.

In the last five months the minister has put forward no plan to ensure that wait times are reduced in this country. He has taken no action to ensure that Canadians receive safe and affordable access to medications.

Why can the minister not stand and admit that his ownership in a drug company is compromising his ability to do his job? Let the minister plan to get to work and introduce a national pharmaceutical strategy.

[Health, June 13th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians from coast to coast are waiting for doctors in emergency rooms, waiting for home care services, waiting for a national pharmaceutical strategy, and waiting for CT scans and MRIs. Meanwhile, the only thing that the minister is waiting for is his next dividend cheque from his drug company. Owning a drug company, when the health minister is responsible for the drug approval process in this country, is a conflict of interest.

Canadians want to know, when will this minister do the right thing, stop waiting, and sell his shares in his drug company?

[Health, June 12th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, what is sad is that the government has not followed through on its priority to address health care. It was our Liberal government that invested $42 billion over 10 years to reduce wait times in this country.

What I find disappointing is that the Conservatives do not realize that an ownership of 25% in a drug company that they regulate is a conflict of interest. The Conservatives always seem to get disappointed when we highlight yet again another harpocracy.

Will the Prime Minister ask his minister to sell his shares in a drug company in a field that he regulates? When will the Prime Minister--

[Health, June 12th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health seems to be preoccupied with his ownership in a drug company while Canadians wait for doctors, wait for health care services, wait for CT scans and wait for MRIs. The minister has put forward absolutely no action plan to implement a wait times guarantee. Rather, he has blamed the provinces for his distraction telling them “to get off the pot”.

When will the minister take his own advice and get to work on reducing wait times for Canadians? What is he waiting for, the next shareholders meeting of Prudential?

[Health, June 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, let me remind the hon. member that it was the Liberal government that appointed the Ethics Commissioner who his government is hiding behind.

Double-talk and double standards seem to have become the hallmarks for the government.

The Liberal government was committed to health care, which is why we put $42 billion into health care over 10 years. The Conservative government has not done this. There is no new money.

It is obvious and it is evident that the Minister of Health is distracted from doing his job.

When will the minister do the right thing, step up to the plate and sell his shares so he can continue doing his job on behalf of Canadians to address the concerns of health care?

[Health, June 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of Canadians are waiting hours to see doctors in emergency rooms and waiting months to see specialists. The Conservative government has absolutely no plan and it has invested no new money to achieve the wait times guarantee.

Now we learn the reason why the minister has been distracted. He has been busy trying to increase the profits of drug companies, like the one in which he has a 25% stake. Another Conservative minister and another conflict of interest.

Will the minister get out of the drug company business and start focusing on his real job, which is to address the health care concerns of Canadians?

[Government Policies, June 7th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, there are yet even more “harpocracies”.

Number 141, ordinary Canadians making $80,000 a year.

Number 142, floor-crossing trade minister changes allegiance when he crossed the floor.

Number 143, fearmongering that crime is going up when actually crime is going down.

Number 144, having no plan of action to address the issue of climate change.

Number 145, the minister gets appointed to the Senate because he feels that he should not run in the election.

Number 146, a hypocritical trade minister shakes his head at the hypocrisy of the member who dares to criticize him.

Number 147, muzzling Conservative MPs once again on commenting on the same sex marriage of two Canadian Mounties in Nova Scotia.

Number 148, playing politics by favouring friendly media outlets and ignoring anyone else who writes against him.

Number 149, preaching about accountability while the Conservative MP from Calgary West is sued for wrongful dismissal and accused of improperly using public funds.

Number 150, introducing token Senate reform while breaking the Conservative promise to elect Senators.

[Canada's Commitment in Afghanistan, May 17th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, when we look at Canada's reputation, for many years we, as a country and as a nation, have been the champions of human rights, of peace, of stability, of diplomacy and of democracy throughout the world. The Liberal Party and the previous Liberal governments have always been a champion in ensuring that those rights are upheld, along with our international reputation.

It is quite interesting that in the last 100 days, since the new Conservative government has been in power, Conservative members are all of a sudden concerned about our international reputation and Canada's foreign policy. If this was a priority for the government, why was it not listed as one of the top five priorities that Mr. Harper wanted to address? In addition to this--

[Canada-U.S. Border, May 16th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, there is a growing concern regarding the western hemisphere travel initiative that will make the use of passports mandatory when travelling across the Canada-U.S. border.

This will significantly impact Canadian businesses and the Canadian tourism industry. Border towns and duty free shops are already experiencing a significant drop in revenues as travellers are very hesitant to cross the border.

In fact, the Canadian Tourism Commission states that between 2005 and 2008 with this initiative a possible loss of $1.7 billion could result to the tourism sector.

The Prime Minister has failed to make any progress on this important issue during the Cancun summit or in his subsequent meetings with American counterparts. He seems to be busy listening to American pollsters and strategists and succumbing to every made in the U.S.A. solution.

He needs to wake up and he needs to start representing Canadians because he is the Canadian Prime Minister and not the American ambassador to Canada.

So I ask, will he stand up for Canadians? Because Canadians want action now and they want results on this important issue.

[Canada-U.S. Border, May 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I find it hard to believe that it is a priority because the Conservatives cannot count past five. Those are empty words and empty promises because they have no plan. If they had a plan they would have had action on this important issue.

Even the Quebec premier has taken action. The governor of Rhode Island has said that we should not be thickening the border. The governor of Vermont has said that new regulations would make daily life much more difficult.

Why are the premiers and the American leaders standing up for their citizens while the Conservative government continues to sleep on the job?