Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am happy to rise today on behalf of petitioners who are asking the Canadian government to recognize that the Chinese Communist Party is perpetrating a genocide against the Uighur people. The petitioners ask that the government formally recognize that Uighurs in China have been and are being subject to genocide, and that the government use the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, the Magnitsky act, to sanction those who are responsible for the crimes being committed against the Uighur people.

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, in the first wave of the pandemic, we were the worst country in the OECD when it came to deaths in long-term care homes. Tragically, we are still seeing big deadly outbreaks in long-term care homes across the country. In Edmonton, all but four residents of the South Terrace Continuing Care Centre have tested positive for COVID-19.

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, according to the PHAC's recent report on an equity-based approach to COVID-19, “COVID-19 has underscored the inequities in health that are shaped by these [social] determinants [of health], highlighted how these inequities may be exacerbated in the context of a pandemic, and shown how they can aggravate and prolong the spread of disease, making the pandemic worse.”

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, I do not think the minister heard my question. I am just going to repeat it. Would the minister support the implementation of a guaranteed livable income to address the inequalities shaped by the social determinants of health?

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, that still was not an answer. I will move on. The NDP has introduced Bill C-213 in this House to create a structure to establish universal public pharmacare in Canada. The minister would also be aware that this bill mirrors the Canada Health Act by allowing any province that agrees to provide necessary prescription drugs to their residents at no direct cost via our public health care system would receive federal funds to do so.

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, as the health minister would she support public pharmacare or a private-public patchwork plan?

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, could the minister finish that thought, please?

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, through you I will start by asking the minister a series of questions about my home province of Alberta. The federal government allocated $3 billion to the provinces to help provide extra pay for essential health care workers, emergency responders and other crucial employees.

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, can the minister tell me if these funds have been spent?

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, with the skyrocketing numbers and lack of contact tracing ability in Alberta, what is the federal government doing to get provinces to buy in to using the federal contact tracing app?

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, today I met with firefighters in Alberta and at the moment they are very afraid. They are classified as tier 3 for receiving vaccines despite the fact they are often on the front lines dealing with emergency calls and are obviously providing an essential service. Will the minister agree to elevate firefighters to tier 1 or tier 2, as was done during the SARS pandemic?

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, will the advisory body be putting firefighters in tier 3, tier 2 or tier 1?

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, why is overdose prevention not a part of our national pandemic strategy given that it is in fact a syndemic. Given that some jurisdictions like Alberta are actively introducing measures that are not rooted in evidence and will cause harm, will health transfers to provinces receive more direct federal oversight to ensure evidence-informed overdose prevention strategies are being used?

Petitions  Madam Speaker, the opioid crisis is one of the most deadly public health emergencies of our lifetime, with a death taking place, on average, every two hours, and a death toll of almost 15,400 people in the past four years alone. That number is from before COVID-19. Many Canadians, including representatives from the group Moms Stop the Harm, have asked me to present this petition calling on the government to declare the overdose crisis a national public health emergency.

Post-Secondary Education  Mr. Speaker, I think if you seek it, you will find unanimous support for the following motion. I move: That the House recognize the significant financial hardship that COVID-19 has caused to post-secondary students across Canada and, in an effort to alleviate such hardship, call on the Government to extend the moratorium on repaying student loans to cover October 1, 2020 through May 31, 2021.