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Pierre Poilievre

Conservative on The Budget 2026-11-05

Replying to Gord Johns (NDP)

“Mr. Speaker, the mental health crisis touches everyone in this place. It touches every single family in this country. We need a compassionate, coordinated response where help is ready when people are ready. The Mental Health Commission of Canada puts the cost of mental illness at nearly $200 billion a year, or roughly 6% of our GDP. The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates that ensuring mental health and addictions care under our universal public health care system would cost the federal government an average of $4.9 billion a year. Instead, what does the government do? The Liberals chose to provide $36 billion in business tax incentives over the next five years instead of addressing this crisis. Nation building is not just about what we build; it is about the people we invest in. Mental health is health. Do the Conservative leader and his party support our call for parity so Canadians can get the care they need? They should be getting care with their health card, not their credit card. People need help now. This is a national crisis.”

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Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right. There is a mental health crisis in this country. He mentioned credit cards. Let us be honest, the two are linked. When people are forced to put their groceries on their credit card, when they are plunging into their savings just to keep the heat on in the winter, when they are falling behind on mortgage payments and when one in three of them is skipping meals because they cannot afford to eat, do we think that does not affect someone’s mental health? Of course it does. There are two economies in this country. There is one for the suffering people who are overcome with the anxiety that they cannot get by and they worry about their children’s future and one for the club of Liberal insiders who are looting the public treasury with the help and aid of the Prime Minister. It is time that we had one Canada for all Canadians, for the people who work hard, pay their taxes and play by the rules.