Health  Mr. Speaker, in this country we are facing a public health crisis. It is a crisis of opioid overdoses and deaths. People die every day as a result. That is one of the reasons I am co-hosting a conference tomorrow and the following day, bringing together stakeholders from across the country, people with lived experience, health experts, governments, regulators, and educators.

Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, as a Canadian, it grieves me to look at the realities of the state of indigenous health in this country, to see that indigenous peoples have a life expectancy that is about a decade shorter than non-indigenous Canadians, to see the rates of diabetes, the rates of tuberculosis, the rates of suicide in indigenous communities.

Health  Mr. Speaker, there is no Canadian who does not have a friend or family member affected by mental illness. Every member of the House knows someone with mental health problems. We all know that we must do more to make mental health services more accessible. I met with my counterparts last month.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform this House that in fact this funding is still in place and is being used by the Public Health Agency of Canada. I am also pleased to inform this House that, to expand on that, I am very happy to work with my colleague the Minister of Status of Women on the development of a gender-based violence strategy.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for raising this issue in the House. The matter of HIV funding is something I have been interested in and advocating for over 30 years. It is an issue that was not appropriately addressed in the past decade. In fact, there has been little attention paid to this matter at the federal level for some time.

Health  Mr. Speaker, the matter of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections is a very serious one. I am working actively with the Public Health Agency of Canada to update our approach to these conditions, including hepatitis C and HIV. We will be working with communities to make sure they have access to the resources they need.

Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I want to echo the sentiments of my hon. colleague opposite. It is absolutely devastating to hear of these young people in northern Saskatchewan and indeed in other communities in Canada who have taken their own lives in recent weeks. I believe all members of the House would like to express our condolences to the families.

Health  Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member has indicated, the story of the use of thalidomide in the 1950s and 1960s was a tragedy. As Minister of Health and as a family doctor, I sympathize deeply with the hardship that this has caused for those who have been impacted. The previous government developed a compensation program for affected individuals and selected Crawford & Company to act as an independent third party administrator.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague the member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord for the question. We are using all the tools at our disposal including legislation, regulations, and education to encourage healthy choices. We are updating Canada's Food Guide, improving labelling, addressing sodium, trans fats, sugars, and food colouring, as well as dealing with advertising aimed at children.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I will never play games when it comes to health. Health is a very important issue to Canadians. When I met with my counterparts last week, we talked about how to improve the health care system. We are interested in investing in health, but health investments need to go directly to health.

Health  Mr. Speaker, last week, I met with my counterparts and I reiterated our commitment to providing stable, predictable funding for health care. Canadians expect us to work together to improve our health care system. They also expect health investments to truly go to health. We will continue to collaborate on building a system that meets the needs of Canadians.

Health  Mr. Speaker, our government is sympathetic to the thalidomide survivors and is committed to offering support to help them live the rest of their lives with dignity. There is no definitive medical test for thalidomide, so an objective review process has been used to assess individuals to determine who is eligible for financial support based on this process.

Health  Madam Speaker, I had the opportunity to speak to the territorial health ministers this week, and we discussed the unique circumstances in the territories and the challenges of delivering care. We will of course continue with the Canada health transfer to support the territories.

Health  Mr. Speaker, it was my privilege to have a meeting this week with my counterparts, the ministers of health in the provinces and territories. It is absolutely essential in the matter of health that we collaborate with all partners that are involved, including people in government.

Health  Mr. Speaker, when I spoke to my counterparts, the ministers of health in the provinces and territories, I made it very clear to them that this is not a political discussion. This is about doing the right thing for Canadians. This is about good public policy. I am very committed to the matter of mental health care.