CPAC - Wednesday, May 22, 2024 - 07:00 p.m. (ET) - Segment #1

is as follows: Mr. McKinnon... >> Voice of Interpreter: Seconded by Mr. Have a Ronnie move that in relation to the government business number 39 the debate not be further adjourned. [ End of Interpretation ] The period for members voting electronically has started and the House will proceed to the vote for the members participating in person. All of those in favour of the motion will please rise. [Calling of Recorded Vote] [Calling of Recorded Vote] >> The Speaker: >> Voice of Interpreter: Will all those opposed please rise. [Calling of Recorded Vote] [Calling of Recorded Vote] [Calling of Recorded Vote] [Calling of Recorded Vote] >> The Speaker: The House will now wait for the electronic voting period to end before resuming its proceedings.

>> The Speaker: I wish to inform House that the electronic voting period has ended. >> Voice of Interpreter: If mental members were not able to vote due to technical difficulties they can use the raise hand function and the Chair will be record them. >> I would like to record my vote. My app was not working. >> The Speaker: >> Voice of Interpreter: The table will compile the results of the vote. >> The Clerk: Yeas for 156. Nays 144. >> The Speaker: I declare the motion carried. Orders of the day. >> The Clerk: >> Voice of Interpreter: Government orders. Government business. Resuming debate on number 39. Proceedings on Bill C-64. An Act Respecting Pharmacare. The honourable member for Calgary-Centre. >> Motion 39, I now lose my unlimited time and have a 20-minute slot and will share my time with the member from Cumberland-Colchester even though I would have enjoyed on something that I hold dearly to heart which is the approval of rare disease drugs in Canada and how patients can get access to it. The two words appear once in the legislation and they're the most needy patients in Canada. On the debate back in C-213 back in 2021, the hardest medication to get in Canada is not approved because the manufacturer says that's complicated and hurdles and steps that exist make it difficult for patients with rare city -- disease to get access to patients trying to get access for cystic fibrosis drugs. It took many years before it was available in America before it was available in Canada. It was regulatory hurdles that made it much more difficult in order to do so. Now that the Government has passed the gag order on the gag order and will direct the Standing Committee on Health -- >> The Speaker: I apologize, I see a Point of Order, the honourable member for Sault Ste. Marie. The Honourable Member, I'm not sure if he took his hand out. Okay, sorry. The Honourable Member for Calgary-Shepard I apologize. >> Thank you, Madam Speaker. It's the right of every member to raise a Point of Order if they wish to. I want the attention of the house to debate page 2,051 a debate in the minister of health was responding to a member about the timelines and why they were limiting debate down. At the time the minister said, there will be time for committee to conduct a study. I put to you, Madam Speaker, and to constituents back home that ten hours -- potential ten hours of witness testimony at a committee is insufficient time to consider this pamphlet of a bill that the NDP-Liberal Coalition is pretending is pharmacare. I've read the legislation in full so I'll comment on its contents. The minister said, yes, it's important to debate, however, there's plenty of time for debate in committee and during the House process. It's time to get on with it and move forward. With this programming motion, essentially when they've done is ordered the MPs on the committee to spend a few more hours, and after passed there's only a day left for amendments to be considered. How can you consider amendments to be proposed without hearing from officials and witnesses that might bring forward amendments of value by parliamentarians before this committee? It seems completely backwards. On the issue of Conservatives delaying. It's a favourite talking point by the Liberals and the NDP and the Bloc. The bill was tabled January 2024. This was not a priority of the October and considered May 6, 7 and April 16th, three days of consideration by the House of Commons. There were secret negotiations

held between the Minister of Health. He's saying it on the record. And then whichever person on the NDP side to cobble together this piece of legislation. Now, I would put to you, Madam Speaker, and I put to my constituents back home who deeply care about rare disease patients like I do that there's nothing in this piece of legislation for them. That's not the job of the House of Commons or members of parliament to reach a -- a deal between the NDP and our job is to debate ideas and amendments from expert witnesses, stakeholder groups and individuals who care about the issue. Québec has been mentioned several times there is another province that said openly it will not participate in this pamphlet of a pharmacare plan. It's my Province of Alberta. Successful ministers of health have said they will not participate in. One 69 talking points I heard is we have a patchwork system in Canada. Saying patchwork is a way to denigrate the hard work of the public servants in Canada of public insurance plans. In Alberta, Blue Cross is available to anyone in Alberta who wants to obtain it. There's lots of public servants who work for them and they work hard to cover as many Albertans as possible. My province and the province of Québec said no, so you still have a patchwork. Even if this passes and the principles of and Haifa looting -- high Faluting NDP and the Liberals. This case clearly states nobody's medication is paid for. Separate agreements have to be reached by the province and it says in Section 6 and sub-1, and any existing pharmacare coverage so every province has to create or drastically expand a plan or successive series of plans that are a single payer. One of the principles that is referred to again in that direction. If the province doesn't do that they can't negotiate for future medication to be covered. No medication would be covered for diabetes or contraceptives, none. There will be none because no agreements have been signed yet. My province and Québec said no. The patchwork will continue. On to the legislation because I did want to mention this, because like as I said before, there's a yiddish proverb I used listening to the Minister introducing Motion 39. He seems that -- [ Inaudible ] -- flow from his mouth because when I compare his speech on pharmacare Bill C-64 and his speech the same three anecdotes. In the summary of the legislation when you review it, it gets into areas of provincial and territorial jurisdiction. It's exclusive provincial and territorial jurisdiction because it's starting to interfere with how the provinces manage their public health care plans. I'll mention this here. The only time rare diseases is mentioned because nobody with a rare disease will be covered by this piece of legislation. Nobody, nobody will be covered. Whether you have sistanosis. And whether it's someone with an M.S., the most common rare disease in Canada. None of their medication will be covered. If your kids or family like mine that has APro syndrome none of their medication will be covered by the changes introduced here. The funding commitment. It does say funding but funding commitment in Section 5, it says beginning with those with rare diseases the funding for provinces and territories must be through their respective governments. But then it goes on to say payments upon Section 6 and contradicts Section 5 because it says for specific prescription drugs and related products intended for contraception or treatment of diabetes, there be no payment plan for anything else because there can't be because this legislation does not do any of those things. Nobody with a rare disease will be covered once this legislation passes. And for the past nine years I've been consistent in this place for rare disease patients. That is the focus of my opposition to national pharmacare because it will not help them. Like as I said the hardest medication to get in Canada is the one not approved in Canada and all the changes they have done to the Canadian Agency for

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