Member of Parliament 1997-2015, Public speaker, writer, community activist
Libby Davies: 1,000,000:1 Don’t even think about it—even though the former Vancouver East NDP MP remains one of the party’s most popular figures in a generation. She’s done with constantly flying back and forth between Vancouver and Ottawa.
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 25, 2013
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE – New Democrats are calling on Stephen Harper to work with Canada’s first ministers on initiatives to improve and sustain our public health care system.
“As Canada’s premieres gather to discuss health care for Canadians, the Prime Minister and his health minister are missing in action,” said the NDP’s Deputy Leader and Health critic Libby Davies (Vancouver-East). “The Prime Minister’s disregard for provincial leaders is irresponsible. He should be here to discuss with them important health initiatives including a national prescription drug coverage plan, improved home care and long-term care, and timely access to health care professionals.”
Prime Minister Harper has repeatedly rejected collaborating with the provinces and instead imposed decisions on them. He refused to consult them before imposing new terms for health care funding, turned a blind eye when they voiced concerns about damages caused by his EI reforms, and unilaterally cut Old Age Security, downloading yet more costs onto the provinces.
“Canadians deserve better than a Conservative government that refuses to work our provincial leaders,” said Davies. “ Canadians deserve a federal government that works with our provinces to strengthen our public health care system.”
You can also check out Libby’s discussion with Dr. Robert Woollard from the Canadian Doctors for Medicare about the future of Canada’s public health care system:
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Singh embarked on the tour to help build a profile in suburban ridings around Toronto and Metro Vancouver in particular, but is holding his first event in one of the NDP’s urban strongholds in Vancouver, Kwan’s Vancouver East riding, which was held for 18 years by Libby Davies.
A leading Palestinian activist has said that it may be time to dissolve the Palestinian Authority and “dump the occupation back at Israel’s doorstep”. Huwaida Arraf is a Palestinian-American Christian and founding member of the International Solidarity Movement. She told the Straight that the disintegration of the Palestinian territories’ governing party could be the best thing for its people. “Creating the Palestinian Authority, in a way, relieved Israel of a lot of the obligations of an occupying power,” she explained in a telephone interview from New York City. “They kind of relieved themselves of the minuscule administrative tasks and, at the same time, can [now] blame the Palestinian Authority for a lot of things that are not even in its control.”
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House of Commons
HANSARD
October 25, 2012
Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, it is a problem the minister is not willing to tackle.
On March 14 of this year, the House voted unanimously in favour of an NDP motion to mitigate the drug shortage crisis.
The motion called for the government to “develop a nationwide strategy to anticipate, identify, and manage shortages of essential medications”.
It sure looks like the government failed when it came to Zarontin.
Now families are struggling to cope.
What is the government’s plan to get this crucial drug into the hands of Canadians who desperately need it?
Hon. Leona Aglukkaq (Minister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, on another matter, this summer a study showed that higher costs of living have negative impacts on the health of Canadians and that is why our government has focused on jobs and prosperity. When our government went to Washington this summer to raise the issue of indigenous and aboriginal people fully participating in the international AIDS conference after some 30 years, that member joined a march on the White House demanding higher taxes. Higher taxes in the United States and higher taxes in Canada, we all know are not good for the health of Canadians.
Libby Davies, a former NDP MP and Vancouver councillor, has been doing her best to keep the spirit alive. In 1983, Davies was one of several city councillors who voted to designate Vancouver a nuclear weapon-free zone. The designation was largely symbolic, but culminated in numerous anti-nuke signs posted throughout the city. "City councillors were meant to think about pot holes and zoning," Davies told CBC News. "The idea that we were involving ourselves in a global issue was very controversial."