Mark Holland

[Health, September 24th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, if we are going to be talking about being too weak, two days after the NDP leader got a letter from the Leader of the Opposition saying to back out of standing up for pharmacare and to standing up for improvements to the health care system, he ran away. If he ran away from that, how is he going to stand up for Canadians?

We had a chance. We were working well together. We got things done on dental, 750,000 people and over 80% of providers. We were working well together on pharmacare. If he has ideas, he knows we were all ears. However, he is all about politics. He is all about trying to divide rather than working together.

[Carbon Pricing, September 24th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, this is the guy who said dental care does not exist. This is the guy who said providers will not sign up. Well, I have news; 750,000 people across this country got care. I also have news that more than 80% of providers have signed up. We are getting it done.

He can fearmonger and he can scare people, but we are going to get it done on pharma as well. We are going to make sure that diabetes patients get their medication. We are going to make sure that women get their contraceptives, because that is what freedom looks like: a woman who has choice over her own body.

[Carbon Pricing, September 24th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, maybe I can speak in language the Leader of the Opposition will understand. Conservatives are going to cut the dental, they are going to axe pharmacare, they are going to break the health system and they are going to destroy child care. The difference between those slogans and the nonsense he throws around, the vacuous garbage that is best left for Nabisco and not for the House of Commons, is that is the stuff he is actually going to do.

At some point, he is going to have to look in the eyes of seniors and tell them what he is going to do to dental care. He is going to have to look in the eyes of diabetes patients and say what he is going to do with their diabetes medication. At some time, the vitriol is done and the truth comes out.

[Dental Care, September 23rd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her relentless advocacy for oral health. The member for Scarborough—Agincourt has been such a passionate advocate for making sure that everybody in this country gets access to the oral health care they need.

When we hear that number, 750,000 people in less than five months, it is incredible, but behind that number are real lives and real stories of people who can be proud of their smiles and people who are addressing their oral cancer. I was talking to Dr. Redmond, who told me of three patients whose oral cancer was identified and caught early. Imagine what that means. This is about the kind of country we live in, making sure that everybody gets care.

[Health, September 23rd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell members what “weak” is. Weak is to run away just two days after the Conservative leader demands that they stop action to work with the government to help Canadians on health care. Do members know what else is weak? It is weak to abandon climate action when the Conservative leader puts too much pressure on them.

Canadians should ask if the NDP is willing to stand up for Canadians, if the NDP can stand up to the Conservative leader. We are here each and every day to make sure that Canadians get what they need, to stand up for our public health care system and to make sure that Conservatives do not get what they want, which is to cut our health system to the bone.

[Health, September 23rd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP had a choice to continue working on pharmacare, dental and our health system or to cave to a bully. Here are the facts: if NDP members cannot stand up to the Conservative leader, how are they going to stand up for Canadians?

The reality is that Liberals are going to keep fighting to improve our health care system and work on the basis of collaboration. We are not going to cave to the bullying of the Conservatives across the way. We are going to make sure that every Canadian gets dental care and pharmacare, and yes, that we revolutionize primary care.

[Business of the House, September 19th, 2024]

Yes, Madam Speaker, by popular demand, I am back. I really missed these exchanges. Some of our great moments are on Thursdays, not just for CPAC viewers, but also for you and me personally, I know. Therefore it is wonderful to exchange and wonderful to be back. I want to wish members a good return. I hope everybody had a productive and happy time with their families and their constituents in their ridings.

This afternoon, we will resume second reading debate of Bill C-66, the military justice system modernization act.

Tomorrow, we will begin the report stage debate of Bill C-33, the strengthening the port system and railway safety in Canada act.

On Monday, we will begin second reading debate of Bill C-63, the online harms act.

Madam Speaker, you will be very happy to know that next Wednesday we will also be resuming second reading debate of Bill C-71, which would amend the Citizenship Act.

I would also like to take the opportunity to inform the House that both next Tuesday and next Thursday shall be allotted days.

Furthermore, on Monday, the Minister of Finance will table a ways and means motion on capital gains taxation that incorporates the feedback received during consultations over the summer. The vote will take place on Wednesday of next week during Government Orders.

[Health, September 19th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, did the New Democrats choose to continue the work on pharmacare? No. Did they choose to continue the progress on dental? No. Did they choose to make progress on working with provinces and territories in a spirit of collaboration? No. Instead, the New Democrats yielded to a bully. They abdicated the field. They got afraid. They walked away.

We are not afraid. We are going to stand up, and we are going to fight for public health care in this country. We are going to get it done. We are going to deliver dental care. We are going to deliver diabetes medication. We are going to make sure that every woman has access to contraceptives, and nothing is going to stop us.

[Health, September 19th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, working together, we have been able to make incredible progress in our health system. Bilateral agreements have been signed with every province and every territory, based on co-operation, of $200 billion. With the NDP, when it was interested in working with us, we were able to do things like provide dental care, with 650,000 people already getting care. We were able to do things like pharmacare.

Unfortunately the NDP has made a choice. The New Democrats have decided to give in to a bully who is using a playbook that comes from a movie like Mean Girls, rather than standing up and fighting for our health care system and working collaboratively.

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 16th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, as outlined in the notice of intent, found at https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/natural-non-prescription/notice-intent-address-risks-youth-appeal-access-nicotine-replacement-therapies.html and published by the department on March 20, 2024, Health Canada is considering legislative and regulatory mechanisms to address access and potential youth appeal of nicotine replacement therapies, or NRTs. New requirements, such as but not limited to specific requirements for labelling and packaging, as well as restrictions related to colours, flavours, advertising and place of sale, are being considered.

Health Canada is considering many sources of input as it continues to develop a proposed path forward, such as, for example, the publicly available information below. Please note that information on sources of input related to regulatory mechanisms will be published as part of a regulatory impact analysis statement along with any regulatory measures in the Canada Gazette, where appropriate.

Here are some examples of publicly available information: “Canada Gazette, Part 1, Volume 155, Number 25: Order Amending Schedules 2 and 3 to the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (Flavours)”, at https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2021/2021-06-19/html/reg2-eng.html; and the “Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey (CTNS): summary of results for 2022”, at https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/canadian-tobacco-nicotine-survey/2022-summary.html.