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Libby asks the Conservative government to reverse their reckless cuts to Health Canada

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Posted on 2012.04.3

Libby asks the Conservative government to reverse their reckless cuts to Health Canada

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HANSARD

House of Commons

April 2, 2012

Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP):  

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary knows that OAS is sustainable.

All Canadians know that the Conservatives hid their plans to cut OAS during the last election, the same thing that they did to health care.

Not only does the budget unilaterally cut health care transfers; it also cuts Health Canada by over $300 million.

All in all, the Conservatives have failed to show leadership on health care and have remained silent on critical issues like pharmacare and the accountability of health care dollars.

Will the Conservatives reverse their reckless cuts to Health Canada?

 

Hon. Leona Aglukkaq (Minister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CPC):  

Mr. Speaker, the opposition’s claims that health transfers would be cut is absolutely false. Clearly, the opposition is unable to do its math; in fact, federal transfers for health care will increase faster than provincial spending. Last week’s budget confirmed that our government will transfer record amounts of health transfers to the provinces and territories, climbing to approximately $40 billion by the end of the decade.

 

Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, the minister’s math is wrong. The government is ignoring inflation and population increases.

The Conservatives cannot escape. The Prime Minister broke his promise on health care, and cash-strapped provinces will have to pay the price.

Experts, including the Parliamentary Budget Officer, agree that the Conservative formula will cost provinces over $30 billion. There is no getting away from that.

Will the government finally listen to Canadians and provinces and reverse its decision to download billions of new costs to the provinces?

The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users looks back on 20 years fighting for human rights

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The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users looks back on 20 years fighting for human rights

In October 1997, Libby Davies had just been elected as the NDP MP to represent Vancouver East, a position she held until 2015. In a telephone interview, she recounts her first meeting at the church. "It’s a long flight of stairs up to that room," she begins. "It was very dark, it was extremely crowded. There were people sitting on the floor. There were flip-chart pages all along the walls, because Ann Livingston always used to write down what people said." Davies was greeted with skepticism. "Oh, a politician," she remembers a member of the audience said as Osborn introduced her. "But I told them that I was there because I was their member of Parliament," Davies continues. "That they were my constituents, and I was hugely concerned about what was going on with the overdoses and the criminalization of users, and that I was there to help them."

The original article, The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users looks back on 20 years fighting for human rights was published on September 4, 2017 in The Georgia Straight. Author(s): Travis Lupick

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