Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, throughout the day I have heard members talk about the price of drugs and how difficult it is for some individuals to gain access to them. I have given this example before. Access is what we should be talking about, especially for patients with rare diseases. The system we have right now allows a quasi-governmental organization like CADTH to approve drugs, leaving provincial public insurers to reimburse the costs.

Transportation  Mr. Speaker, later this year, Wayne Sands in my riding, will be made unemployed by Transport Canada. Wayne is 79 and was refused the renewal of his marine medical certificate for ocean-going vessels. Wayne is the captain of the S.S. Moyie, an amusement park ride at Heritage Park for kids and tourists to enjoy 25-minute paddleboat rides.

Opposition Motion—Pharmacare  Madam Speaker, I have been listening to what people have been saying. I have more of a commentary on what the member said and what his colleague said when he introduced the motion this morning. On November 25, 2019, the minister of finance in Alberta sent a letter to the Minister of Finance federally, indicating that Alberta would not participate in a national pharmacare program.

Opposition Motion—Pharmacare  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the parliamentary secretary for laying out the government's position on this motion. Many members know I have a lot of problems with the way we currently have our system designed. I am worried that a national pharmacare system will compound all those problems.

Opposition Motion—Pharmacare  Mr. Speaker, I was listening carefully to my colleague's speech. He knows I have an interest in this particular file, and I have more of a comment than a question. When the member talked about single-payer, streamlining and efficiency when referring to national pharmacare, I hope he does not envision it from the same people who ran Phoenix or the F-35 procurement and who run most of the government.

Rare Disease Day  Mr. Speaker, Rare Disease Day came and went on February 29, the rarest day of all. This year's theme is, “Rare is many worldwide. Rare is strong every day. Rare is proud everywhere.” Millions of Canadians, two-thirds of them children, are affected by one of over 7,000 rare diseases.

Emergency Debate  Mr. Speaker, I know that this debate is almost finished, but I will continue to speak in French since I am addressing my Bloc colleagues. This is not the Bloc that I remember. I was a child of Bill 101 and a member from the west. I experienced the referendums and I saw an entire generation of young people leave Quebec to find work out west.

Emergency Debate  Madam Speaker, several members now have said that Teck made a business decision not to proceed. Obviously we are blaming the government for this unfortunate decision and the 10,000 jobs that are lost. In paragraph 2, the CEO says in reference to this project, “it is commercially viable.”

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, first, the easy answer is that the math does not agree. I know that is difficult for the member to accept. Second, as I remember, it was his leader at the time, Jack Layton, who demanded more spending and even larger deficits and more debt. It was a deal the New Democrats had signed with the other opposition parties to topple the government.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, thankfully the great citizens of this country have never found it necessary to put a federal NDP government in charge of our public treasury, and I hope it stays that way. That way, the New Democrats can never pretend they had a chance to balance anything. This is an area of provincial jurisdiction.

Business of Supply  I hear the member heckling me because he does not like my answer, but that is simply the matter. We have a $26.6-billion deficit. In my home province of Alberta, diagnostic services are a private area. They are paid for publicly but are privately administered. The Province of Quebec does it differently.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his question. With regard to his question about Quebec, I do not know whether the province offers this service to its residents or not. That is a choice that Quebeckers need to make with their provincial government. What I do know is that, in my province of Alberta, we have a provincial government that can decide when and how to provide a given service, such as dental care.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I am glad to be joining the debate on the NDP motion. I again thank my constituents for sending me here to represent them in this cathedral of our democracy and to speak to the motion. When I was looking over both the text of the motion and listening to the debate so far, I like the first part, but I have a problems with the second part.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the member is a westerner in a social gospel kind of movement. He and his father are among those rare NDPers that sometimes Conservatives can agree with. I obviously like the first part of the motion and the member knows this. The second part of the motion I have a problem with.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am presenting two petitions. The first is from petitioners in my riding who are asking for the immediate repeal of Bill C-48 and Bill C-69. One is the anti-pipeline bill and the other is the tanker ban on the west coast. The petitioners from my riding remind the Government of Canada that over 100,000 jobs have been lost in the Alberta energy sector alone.