Ya'ara Saks

[Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, December 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, on the other side of the House, they are big on outreach, but they are really weak on facts. When we talk about Canadians, we want to show that we support them and invest in them. We have the lowest ratio of debt to GDP in the G7. Interest rates have gone down. We have been investing in Canadians. That is what we do as a government. We invest in child care, we invest in national school food programs and we invest in pharmacare, because we invest and fight for Canadians. The Conservatives would cut and they would talk Canadians down. On this side of the House, we are proud to fight for Canadians every single day.

[Indigenous Affairs, December 12th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member. Friendship centres provide essential services to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. Their network offers culturally appropriate, mindful support to navigate health care systems, find safe shelter and learn indigenous languages, and they support our indigenous communities when they go into urban centres and provide mental health services. With this work, $32 million goes to them every year, and our government has committed an additional $60 million through budget 2024.

There is more work to do. Friendship centres do incredible work across communities in Canada, and we will work with them.

[Taxation, December 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his question and also for the hard work that he does on behalf of his constituents and Canadians.

We will always be there for Canadians, for families and businesses, in the good times and in the hard times. Twice we have offered tax cuts to the middle class and twice the Conservative leader has voted against them.

Today, with the GST cut, we are providing even greater support for families and businesses. One would think, with all the slogans and the childish shouting, this would be a no-brainer for the Conservatives, but they voted against this tax cut and they voted against Canadians. We are here for Canadians.

[Mental Health and Addictions, November 26th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, since 2017, our government has committed over $1 billion to support the work with provinces and territories to save lives and address those who struggle with addiction. We know that doing this work with community organizations, local health care providers and communities, whether they are municipalities or indigenous communities, is the way that we make it through to save lives and meet people at their hardest moments.

We know we need more harm reduction and prevention. We know we need treatment services, recovery and after care. We are there for Canadians. We need to open the door to those who struggle with addiction so they are not alone.

[Mental Health and Addictions, November 26th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House we will lead with compassion, we will lead with health care and we will lead with evidence. Since 2015 we have been investing in the treatments and the pathway that mean the most to the people whose lives we need to save.

On that side of the House, the Conservatives cut the drug treatment fund by two-thirds when they were in government. They cut the CBSA and they cut the drug checking laboratories. They do not protect Canadians, they do not address the illicit drug supply and they do not understand that people need health care and help and that they need our compassion. Shame on them.

[Mental Health and Addictions, November 26th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, every life lost due to the illicit toxic drug supply in this country is a tragedy for families and for communities. On this side of the House, we have invested over a billion dollars in treatment, prevention and harm reduction to save lives. We have worked with our U.S. counterparts on precursors, and we will continue to do the work to save lives based on evidence, based on health care and based on protecting those who need help the most. We will not look away. We are here to protect those who need our help.

[Carbon Pricing, November 22nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, what we know about Conservatives is that they will cut. On this side of the House, we invest.

Just now, we announced that Ontario will be able to feed nearly one million students, 75% of the province's schools, as of today. Every child in Canada deserves a chance at a good, healthy life, nutritious meals and a good start to the day on their education. We are investing $1 billion over five years in our kids to provide nutritious meals. That is 400,000 children across this country who will have a better start to their day. That is what matters.

[Carbon Pricing, November 22nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it never ceases to amaze me that the Conservatives do not really seem to understand, and vote against, every measure we have taken to help Canadian families, whether it is the Canada child benefit, $10-a-day child care across this country or the GST holiday we just announced yesterday. We are there for Canadians. We invest in them each and every day.

I would like to know why the Conservatives continue to vote against Canadians, vote against the things they need, whether it is pharmacare, dental care or anything else. We are here for Canadians and we will continue to fight for them.

[Mental Health and Addictions, November 19th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member across the way that mental health is in fact health, and that is why we made sure to put in 200 billion dollars' worth of agreements with every province and territory in this country where mental health and substance use services were a key principal priority. It is time for the provinces and territories to step up. It is time for them to work with us.

That is exactly why we announced yesterday the opening of the youth mental health fund, which is $500 million to invest in young Canadians and their mental health. We are doing the work. We are happy to have the provinces and territories step up with us.

[Mental Health and Addictions, November 18th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Scarborough—Agincourt for being such a tremendous, unwavering advocate for mental health in this country. Community organizations are the lifeline when it comes to mental health that is local and trusted. This fund, a $500-million investment, is a once-in-a-generation investment to make a difference for our youth to make sure that they have access to the services that they trust the most, adding capacity, filling gaps and making sure that we meet them where they are at.

When we talk about the youth of today, we want to make sure that they have the tools they need to thrive, because when they thrive, Canada succeeds.