Government Business No. 20—Proceedings on Bill C-31  Madam Speaker, my colleague is quite right in pointing to the 500,000 children who we estimate do not have appropriate dental care, in addition to those that do not have appropriate child care for their families. In the member's riding, probably around 1,000 to 2,000 children and their families would benefit from this dental care program, if it is passed by Parliament.

Government Business No. 20—Proceedings on Bill C-31  Madam Speaker, we are all very pleased to hear that the member supports this bill, so we should pass it quickly. We look forward to the Conservatives' support when the motion is voted on soon. We look forward to their support when it gets passed in the House.

Government Business No. 20—Proceedings on Bill C-31  Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to be asked a question about my riding of Québec, where there is a large number of community organizations such as low-cost housing, housing co-operatives and housing non-profits that have been working very hard since 2015 to support and strengthen the Canadian government’s efforts as part of the first housing strategy in the country’s history.

Government Business No. 20—Proceedings on Bill C-31  moved: That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, Bill C-31, An Act respecting cost of living relief measures related to dental care and rental housing, be disposed of as follows: (a) the bill be ordered for consideration at the second reading stage immediately after the adoption of this order; (b) when the House resumes debate at the second reading stage of the bill, (i) the ordinary hour of daily adjournment shall be midnight, (ii) at 11:45 p.m. or when no member rises to speak, whichever is earlier, all questions necessary to dispose of the second reading stage of the bill shall be put forthwith without further debate or amendment, provided that, if a recorded division is requested, it shall be deferred to the expiry of the time provided for Oral Questions on the next sitting day, and the House shall thereafter adjourn to the next sitting day, (iii) during consideration of the bill at the said stage the House shall not adjourn, except pursuant to a motion moved by a minister of the Crown; (c) if the bill is adopted at the second reading stage and referred to the Standing Committee on Health, during its consideration of the bill, (i) the committee shall have the first priority for the use of House resources for committee meetings, (ii) amendments to the bill, including from independent members, shall be submitted to the clerk of the committee by 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 20, 2022, and distributed to the committee members in both official languages by noon on Friday, October 21, 2022, (iii) suggested amendments filed by independent members pursuant to subparagraph (c)(ii) shall be deemed to have been proposed during the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, (iv) the committee shall proceed to clause-by-clause consideration of the bill no earlier than 7:00 p.m. on Monday, October 24, 2022, and if the committee has not completed its clause-by-clause consideration of the bill by 11:59 p.m. that day, all remaining amendments submitted to the committee shall be deemed moved, and the Chair shall put the question, forthwith and successively without further debate on all remaining clauses and amendments submitted to the committee, as well as each and every question necessary to dispose of the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, (v) a member of the committee may report the bill to the House by depositing it with the Clerk of the House, who shall notify the House leaders of the recognized parties and independent members, and the report shall be deemed to have been duly presented to the House; (d) the bill be ordered for consideration at report stage on Thursday, October 27, 2022, provided that, (i) no later than 6:15 p.m. that day, if the House has not previously disposed of the report stage, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this order, and in turn every question necessary for the disposal of the report stage of the bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment, (ii) if a recorded division is requested after 2:00 p.m., it shall not be deferred, except pursuant to Standing Order 76.1(8), (iii) the bill be ordered for consideration at the third reading stage immediately after the concurrence of the bill at report stage; (e) when the bill is taken up at the third reading stage, pursuant to subparagraph (d)(iii) of this order, not later than 11:45 p.m. or when no member rises to speak, whichever is earlier, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this order, and in turn every question necessary for the disposal of the said stage of the bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment, and if a recorded division is requested, it shall not be deferred; and (f) on Thursday, October 27, 2022, (i) Private Members’ Business shall not be taken up, (ii) the House shall not adjourn until the proceedings on the bill have been completed, except pursuant to a motion proposed by a minister of the Crown, provided that once proceedings on the bill have been completed, the House may then proceed to consider other business or, if it has already passed the ordinary hour of daily adjournment, the House shall adjourn to the next sitting day.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by thanking the member for Brampton South for her outstanding work, including the work she did to proceed yesterday with the announcement of the first-ever framework for diabetes. That same work is going to support the lives of millions of Canadians living with diabetes, their caregivers, their families, their friends and their health care professionals, with better access to diagnostic services, treatment and prevention services.

Health  Mr. Speaker, my colleague is quite right. The Canadian government invested $73 billion in health and safety for Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has continued to spend on vaccines sent free of charge to the provinces and territories, rapid tests and Paxlovid. Hundreds of thousands of courses of Paxlovid treatment are now available in the provinces and territories to help Canadians with serious health problems related to COVID-19.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to be asked this question. This gives me the opportunity to say that once again, next week, I will be speaking with all my fellow health ministers. I plan to tell them that I am their ally and that I am going to help them invest money to reduce the backlogs in surgery and diagnosis, which are huge because of the accumulated effects of COVID-19.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I am glad to hear the member talk about science; 200,000 is the number of deaths of people who unnecessarily died in the United States because of the relatively lower vaccination rate they had compared to Canada. In the U.S., 200,000 people died unnecessarily. That is an outcome we did not see in Canada, which we can be very proud of.

Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2  Madam Speaker, there is good news for children in Quebec. Quebec's system partially covers dental care for children up to the age of nine and we are proud of that. The good news is that the Canadian government is going to expand that coverage to older children and to more types of care.

Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2  Madam Speaker, there are two different things. First, NIHB, as the member knows, covers most dental care services, and other health services, for indigenous peoples. We have been investing more resources into that program, and we will be investing more resources over time. Second, this is a key part of the House agenda over the next few days.

Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2  Madam Speaker, we all know, and I am sure the member knows this as well, that health and health care are global. It is all part of an entire body. It would be unfortunate to say that we should treat one part of our body or mind and not treat the other parts. They are all connected, and that is why investments in dental care, mental care, long-term care, home care and community care are all important.

Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2  Madam Speaker, before answering definitely yes to the last question, I would like to correct the introduction a little. The introduction to the question suggests that we have not worked together over the past few months. I suggest that my hon. colleague speak to his counterpart, Quebec's health minister—even though he may be a little busy right now—and check with him about all the exchanges we have had over the past year, which led to positive health outcomes, especially in the fight against COVID-19.

Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2  moved that Bill C-31, An Act respecting cost of living relief measures related to dental care and rental housing, be read the second time and referred to a committee. Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful for that question. The member pointed to a health care crisis. We have a health care crisis because we have a health care workers' crisis. We need to support them through the very hard time they are going through, with the investments we have already announced and implemented, including the $2-billion investment we are making now to support a reduction in surgeries and the additional $1-billion investment to reduce the pressure on long-term care, health care workers and patients.

Health  Mr. Speaker, we are obviously devastated by the news every day of so many Canadians dying of mental health issues, issues that can be cared for and prevented for the reasons and example the member just gave. We are investing, and very mindful of the need to invest, in the mental health of Canadians.