Heather McPherson · TranslatePolitics.ca

Oral Questions

Foreign Affairs

2026-06-18

“I think the Prime Minister is bad for supporting a war. I want to remind people of the sad results of that war to make him look even worse.”

Statements by Members

Coal Mining Petition

2026-06-17

“I want to cheer for a petition that opposes coal mining. If I praise it at length, it might make me look good.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, more than 3,000 volunteers helped collect over 200,000 signatures from Albertans who are determined to protect our mountains, our rivers and our drinking water from the threat of coal mining. Albertans have spoken loudly and clearly. They know coal mining threatens critical watersheds, harms our wildlife habitat and risks contaminating the water that communities, ranchers, farmers and indigenous peoples depend upon. For years, Albertans have been fighting to stop reckless coal development in one of the most beautiful and ecologically important regions in our country. Today's achievement is proof that when governments refuse to listen, citizens will organize and make themselves impossible to ignore. Congratulations to Corb Lund, the Water Not Coal campaign and the hundreds of thousands of Albertans who stood up for our Rocky Mountains and our shared future. I am so proud to represent them.

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Oral Questions

Air Transportation

2026-06-10

“Where are the Toronto Liberal MPs? They're doing nothing while Doug Ford forces through a $5 billion airport expansion that the people of Toronto don't want. The Ontario NDP fights it but Toronto Liberal MPs hide and pretend to consult. The consultation is fake. No business case, no environmental assessment, no details. Toronto Liberal MPs won't stand up for those who elected them. The Prime Minister should step in and stop this.”

Private Members' Business

Fair Representation Act

2026-06-04

“Attacks on worker rights are bad. Corporations and governments are doing it here and around the world. We need to protect workers' rights to collective bargaining, safe workplaces, and pay.”

“I want a number that gets some workers on my side but doesn't let too many change the whole union. This number does that. It's good enough.”

“My bill is good. The unions I like are good. Trust me, those unions are good. The bill protects workers. I promise.”

Official Hansard

Madam Speaker, it is very clear. A good union that represents workers' rights is elected democratically by the members, and it answers only to the members. That is the definition of a good, democratic union. I stood today with Siobhán Vipond, the vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress, and she spoke about the democracy within the labour movement. I think it is important for us to recognize that democratically elected leadership that is responsible to the members, and only to the members, is a key component of good union leadership, of good union representation. That is what this bill would do. It would actually protect the right of workers to trust and know, without any doubt, that who is representing them is only representing their interests.

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“I'm proposing a new law to stop fake unions that don't really represent workers. Real unions fight for workers and raise wages. Fake unions side with the company, drive down wages, and make workplaces less safe. Workers deserve to know their union is on their side. My bill would let workers challenge unions that might be controlled by the company. Unions should answer to workers, not employers. This is how we protect workers' rights and bargaining power. Let's put power back where it belongs - with workers.”

Official Hansard

moved that Bill C-259, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (fair representation), be read the second time and referred to a committee. She said: Madam Speaker, it is a great honour to stand today to debate this piece of legislation I have brought forward. I want to start by thanking my colleague, the member for Courtenay—Alberni, for seconding this bill. As a new Democrat, I can say I am so proud of our caucus and the work we have done in this Parliament to support and strengthen workers' rights. I think about the repealing of clause 107. I think about the work we have done to close loopholes in the anti-scab legislation to ensure workers are paid for the work that they do. I am so proud to be a New Democrat and to stand with members like the member for Courtenay—Alberni as the party representing workers in the House. I am also proud to speak to this legislation, Bill C-259, the fair representation bill, or as I like to call it, the wolf in sheep's clothing bill. Today, Parliament will debate a simple idea that workers deserve real representation. The fact is that real unions represent workers and fake unions do not. I want to thank the Canadian Labour Congress, the United Steelworkers, the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association, LiUNA Local 1611, the Building Trades, the International Union of Operating Engineers, IBEW, UA and other workers who stood with me today to talk about why this legislation is so important. I also want to thank the many unions and workers across this country who have pushed for this legislation and who have supported me along the way. I think about Scott Crichton, a member of IBEW Local 424 in my riding of Edmonton Strathcona, or Tyler Bedford from the Operating Engineers who have worked so closely to make sure this legislation comes to fruition. Unions support this legislation because unions in this country, the vast majority of them, do what unions are supposed to do. They fight for workers, raise wages, improve safety and strengthen communities. This bill is not about them. They are unions that do the work they are supposed to do. This bill is about fake unions. It is about unions that represent companies, not the workers. It is about unions that do not fight for their workers. It is a danger, because those are the unions that drive down wages, make workplaces less safe and undermine workers' rights. That happens within those unions, but it also happens across sectors, because what impacts one worker impacts us all. I want to be very clear that workers have asked for this legislation. This came from workers. It came from the concerns that have been raised by labour over many years. When we wanted to bring this legislation forward, we worked with workers, labour leaders, members of the building trades and others across the labour movement. I want to acknowledge the incredible work that Terry Parker and my friends at the Building Trades of Alberta did to help move this legislation forward. We have strong support from organized labour because real unions have nothing to fear from worker accountability. Real unions support this bill because it protects the rights they have fought for generations to win. Right now, there is a gap in the legislation. Federal law does recognize that employer-dominated unions are a problem. Subsection 25(1) of the Canada Labour Code says that employer-dominated unions cannot be certified. However, here is where my legislation is so necessary and so important: There is no way for workers to remedy that after certification. There is no worker-driven review process. There is no dedicated mechanism. There are no specific remedies. There are provinces in this country that have much stronger regulations against company unions, and federal workers deserve that same protection. What would this bill do? This bill would give workers a practical way to fight back. It would create a process for workers to raise concerns. It would allow workers to seek a review where there are allegations of employer domination or influence. It would require organizations to demonstrate their independence when concerns are raised. It would provide remedies where employer domination is found. It would reinforce a very simple principle that unions must answer to workers, not employers. This matters. It matters because when employer-dominated unions put employers first, we know that wages suffer. We know that working conditions suffer. We know that safety on the job for Canadian workers suffers. We know that bargaining power, a fundamental right of every worker in this country, the ability to bargain effectively, is taken away, and that right suffers. Workers deserve the confidence that the organization speaking for them is actually on their side. I want to tell the House a story as to why this matters. Today I had some folks from British Columbia join me. They told a story about Sam Fitzpatrick. This story illustrates for me why this issue is not theoretical. This is not just about what happens on paper. It impacts workers in our country. Sam Fitzpatrick was a 24‑year‑old who was working in Squamish, B.C. He was killed on the job in 2009. There were serious safety failures that were documented. Previous incidents were documented. His employer had promised it would do better, that it would not endanger the workers' safety. Concerns were raised. Risks remained. There was a WCAT review. In fact, the employer was described as “heedless”, “wanton”, “extreme”, “gross” and “highly irresponsible”. This is the employer. The union representing Sam Fitzpatrick was the CLAC, the Christian Labour Association of Canada. It wrote in and said, “a presidential penalty was not appropriate given the employer's prior demonstrated commitment to safety.” The CLAC literally argued that the corporation should be fined less for its incompetence and its failure to protect the life of a worker. It is unbelievable. A worker was killed, the family was seeking accountability, and the union representing that worker argued against the harshest penalty. That is not what a real union does. That is the opposite of what a real union does. Workers expect more from a union. Workers deserve more from a union. That is not the only example. Today I stood in the foyer with a photo of Sam Fitzpatrick, a 24‑year‑old worker. My children are that age. That man had parents. He had friends. He had people who loved him. There are other examples. In 2025, at the Executive Hotel Le Soleil, the B.C. Labour Relations Board found unlawful employer interference in the employees' choice of union. Management steered workers toward the CLAC and away from Unite Here Local 40. The board later voted that the employer's voluntary recognition agreement with the CLAC needed to be voided. It happened again with the EXchange Hotel in 2026, where there were findings of employer interference. There was pressure. There were inducements. There was employer support. Decisions were issued in 2025 and 2026. This is still happening in this country. This is not history. This is happening right now. I want to talk a bit about the international context. Union independence is recognized internationally as a core principle. In 2011, the ITUC suspended CLAC and said that workers deserve representation independent from employer influence. This is all happening right now. Millions of dollars in federal funding flowed to CLAC last year. The same year that the B.C. Labour Relations Board brought a finding against it for not properly representing its members, the federal government was spending millions of dollars and diverting that money there. In my home province of Alberta, the UCP government just announced a new $4-million training initiative being delivered in partnership with the CLAC. Workers are raising concerns, yet governments are continuing to write cheques. Workers deserve confidence, before public money is spent and before public money is handed over, that it is going to unions that represent workers. I will tell members some good news. Just months ago, more than 800 workers at an Edmonton manufacturing facility voted to leave CLAC and join the operating engineers, because they were dissatisfied with the representation they were receiving. It was one of the largest departures from CLAC in Canadian history, and it happened not decades ago, but last year. When I talk about federally regulated workplaces, I am talking about everyone who is working in those workspaces, which is roughly one million workers. These are workers in transportation, telecommunications, broadcasting, banking, grain handling, longshoring and federally regulated construction. These workers deserve protection. They deserve to be represented by a union that will represent them and only them. That is what this legislation would do. In this country, workers are worried. They are worried about affordability. They are worried about wages. They are worried about job security. The economic war we are having with the United States, the tariffs and the economic impacts are causing uncertainty. The moves that the Liberal government is making to strip workers of their rights, such as the use of section 107, a backdoor method to force workers back to work, continue to undermine the rights of workers in this country. This legislation would give workers their rights back, because workers need stronger protections, not weaker protections. The Liberals and the Conservatives say they support workers. This is their opportunity to prove it. Real unions answer to workers. Employer-dominated unions do not. Fake unions do not. Let us put power back where it belongs. Let us put power back with workers.

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Adjournment Proceedings

Steel and Aluminum Industry

2026-06-03

“I want taxpayers to spend money on my favourite industries. I want the government to make legally binding rules about how companies can run their business. I think only the government can make sure these companies are doing the right things.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, that response shows that the government is not acting with the urgency that workers require. Instead of a place at the table, and instead of an actual strategy, the government is giving announcements without accountability and consultations without inclusion, and it is getting public dollars without finding guarantees. This is why New Democrats are very clear: Every federal dollar spent to support Canadian industry must come with enforceable conditions, not voluntary commitments and not good intentions, but legal and binding protections for Canadian jobs, Canadian production and Canadian workers. There must be no more blank cheques to corporations and broken promises to workers. If taxpayers take the risk, workers deserve the return. This is not radical. This is basic accountability.

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“I want the government to spend money on a national steel strategy that includes union demands. I'm arguing this by saying steel builds our economy and is important, and accusing the government of excluding unions from decisions. I'm using the fact that steelworkers were in Ottawa to create a sense of urgency.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, steel is not just another commodity in a trade ledger. Steel is the backbone of our economy. It builds our bridges, our transit systems, our housing, our energy projects and our manufacturing capacity. It is quite simply economic sovereignty in physical form, and if we cannot make it here, we are not economically sovereign. Steelworkers were in Ottawa recently to remind the government of that reality, and they were very clear. They did not come for photo ops; they came for a plan. They came for a national steel strategy, because steelworkers know something the government too often forgets: We do not build national economies by shutting out the people who actually do the work, the people who actually build. The United Steelworkers are calling for a comprehensive national steel industrial strategy, one that invests in domestic capacity, that strengthens supply chains and that protects good union jobs across this country. They are joined by the Canadian Labour Congress, which represents over three million workers who have been equally clear that workers must be at the table when decisions are being made about their futures. Right now, that is not what we are seeing. We are seeing CEOs and political insiders included in advisory structures. We are seeing labour excluded or minimized, and we are seeing the very people who built this economy treated as an afterthought in the decisions that shape it. That raises a simple question for me: How can the government claim to stand with workers while locking them out of the room? We have seen what happens when we invest in Canadian steel capacity. In Sault Ste. Marie, recent steel investments that were supported by the United Steelworkers and Local 2251 helped modernize production, and that is a great step, but it is a one-off. That is not a strategy, and what we need in this country is a strategy to move us forward. When steel is strong, the communities in which steelworkers work are strong, and when steel is weakened, everything else follows. I asked the government two simple questions. Will it work with the United Steelworkers to develop and implement a comprehensive national steel strategy? Why has it excluded labour, specifically the USW and the Canadian Labour Congress, from the CUSMA advisory council? Of course, we were happy to see that Unifor was included in that, but for the three million Canadians represented by the Canadian Labour Congress, not having the CLC at that table is a very big oversight. We are in a period of extraordinary trade instability. Tariffs and trade disruptions from the United States are not theoretical. They are real, and they are already hurting Canadian workers. That does not mean things on a spreadsheet. That means people not being able to pay their mortgage, not being able to pay their bills and not knowing where their next paycheque is coming from. We need to see more urgency, we need to see more action and we need to see the government recognize the impact this is having on Canadian workers.

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Private Members' Business

Arab Heritage Month Act

2026-06-02

“Thank you for introducing this bill. I agree that Arab Canadians have made important contributions to Canada. We should designate a month to celebrate Arab heritage. This bill was passed before but died on the order paper. It's important for young Arab Canadians to feel like they belong. There have been attacks targeting Arab Canadians and Muslims. This bill is more than just symbolic. It will give people opportunities to learn about Arab culture and achievements. Arab heritage month will help make sure that we remember what Arab Canadians have done for our country. I hope everyone supports this bill.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support of Bill S-227. I want to thank Senator Mohammad Al Zaibak for introducing the bill, and I want to note that this legislation, an identical bill, was brought forward and passed unanimously in the previous Parliament but of course died on the Order Paper before receiving Senate consideration. Canada's Arab communities have contributed enormously to our country, and they deserve the recognition that reflects their place in our shared story. Canada is home to more than one million Arab Canadians. The first recorded arrival of people of Arab origin dates back to 1882, in the early years following Confederation. Arab Canadians have enriched every aspect of Canadian life, including arts and culture, language and literature, and food and hospitality. I would be remiss if I did not use this opportunity to raise people's awareness of the incredible Lebanese and Arab food in my community, including at Fattoush, a restaurant on Whyte Avenue in my riding that is run by Randa Alead. It is a wonderful place. Everyone should stop in if they are in Edmonton. Arab Canadians have contributed to business and entrepreneurship, and to public service and politics. I would like to give a shout-out to Joe Hak, a Lebanese Canadian who unfortunately passed away two months ago but who was a real leader in our community, a real leader for Lebanese Canadians in Edmonton and across this country. Arab Canadians have been leaders in faith communities and with civic leadership. Arab Canadians are not newcomers to the Canadian story. They have helped write the Canadian story for generations. Heritage months are opportunities to educate, celebrate and reflect, and they help future generations understand the contributions of communities that have helped build this country. Recognition sends an important message to young Arab Canadians that they belong, that they are valued and that their stories matter. That is important for many reasons, but I reflect on the last few years when I have travelled across this country speaking to people, as the foreign affairs critic for the New Democratic Party, about what has been happening within Palestine. I also reflect on people of Arab descent's telling me that they feel like their government does not see them and does not see them as citizens. This moment in time is important for us as Parliament and as a country to recognize the important contributions Arab Canadians make. It is also important when we look at the rise of Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism and anti-Palestinian racism across this country. Members will recall the Quebec City mosque attack in 2017, the murder of the Afzaal family in London, Ontario, in 2021 and the ongoing vandalism and attacks targeting mosques and Muslim communities. In my city of Edmonton and across this country, Arab Canadians continue to experience discrimination and hate. Where hate tries to divide us, parliamentarians have a responsibility to affirm that every community belongs. The bill is about more than symbolism. It would create opportunities for schools, community organizations, municipalities, provinces and cultural institutions to celebrate and educate Canadians about the diversity and achievements of Arab communities. It would highlight the diversity of the Arab world and the many cultures, languages, traditions and experiences represented within it. New Democrats proudly support Bill S-227. We reaffirm our commitment to standing against racism, colonialism, hatred and war, and we celebrate the rich contributions of Arab Canadians to Canada's social fabric. Arab heritage month would help ensure that the stories, achievements, struggles and contributions of Arab Canadians are recognized not only during one month each year but as an essential part of Canada's past, present and future. I urge all members to support the bill.

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Statements by Members

Pride Month

2026-06-01

“It's Pride Month. Let's celebrate queer and trans people. Also let's keep fighting for more, without saying what.”

Oral Questions

Foreign Affairs

2026-05-29

“I want Canada to punish Israel with sanctions and stop trading with them. Israel has hurt people and somebody must do something. The UN and New York Times say so. The government must act now.”

Government Orders

Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 2

2026-05-29

“I want the federal government to spend more money on my preferred programs. I think that will keep the country together.”

“I want to praise my colleague. Government should spend more on social programs instead of giving money to business. People are struggling to pay their bills.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague as well. She is somebody I have learned a lot from in the House, and I appreciate her mentorship. The fact of the matter is that every single budget is about choices. Every bill that comes forward to the House from the government is about the choices the government is making. Time and time again what we are seeing is a Liberal government that is putting corporate interests ahead of the interests of Canadian families. At a moment in time in our country when people cannot afford to live, when folks are worried about their jobs and when they are worried about the security of our economy, what they are seeing is a constant investment in corporations at the expense of Canadians. What that looks like for an everyday Canadian is that they still cannot afford groceries and rent, they are still struggling to make sure their bills get paid, yet they are seeing time and time again corporations getting the benefit of the government.

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“The Canada Health Act is being violated by Alberta's Bill 11. The Liberal government is naive or doesn't want to deal with the problem. They just believe the UCP government's assurance without looking closer. This is a problem for Alberta and the whole country's health care.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I think you were in the chair and the member was across the hall when we had this exact same exchange yesterday. Bill 11 breaks the Canada Health Act; the Canadian Health Coalition has a legal opinion that makes it very clear that it does. Therefore, I do not understand why the Liberal government continues to say, “We have received assurances from the UCP government.” That assurance is not worth anything. Danielle Smith's mandate, her goal, her priorities and her plan is to dismantle health care, so it is a problem to have one of her ministers say, “Don't worry, there's nothing to see here”, and to have the Liberals, either through naivety or a desire to look the other way and not be bothered, say, “Oh, it's okay, they've told us it's good, so we're not looking any closer.” It is a problem for my province and for health care across this country.

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“I'm going to say a lot of nice things about how great Albertans are. Then I will complain about how terrible the government is at solving problems. They should spend more money on public services and make big companies pay for it. The government should also give free drugs and dental care to everyone. And they should spend more money on international aid. That's what I want.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time today with the member for Madawaska—Restigouche. I wanted to start today by giving my best regards to Albertans who are standing up for the “Fight Back Now” day of action that is taking place across Alberta today. It is being organized by the Alberta Federation of Labour. I really wish I could be there today. I want to congratulate the workers, union members, indigenous leaders, community organizers, students, health care advocates and every ordinary Albertan who is coming together to raise their voices for fairness, for dignity and for a better future for our province and for our country. At a time when separatist rhetoric is being fuelled by Danielle Smith and the UCP government, at a time when workers' rights, public health care, public education, indigenous rights and human rights of many Albertans are under attack, these Albertans are standing up for the values that built my province: solidarity, public service, good jobs and looking out for one another. Their message is clear. Albertans are tired of governments that prioritize corporate profits and political division, while families struggle to afford housing, access health care and make ends meet. Today's day of action is a reminder that democracy is not passive. Change happens because people organize, speak out and demand better. Albertans, today, are demanding better. I want to start by talking a little bit about Alberta. The frustrations that Albertans feel are real. When we talk about the budget implementation act and the spring economic statement, we have to acknowledge the moment we find ourselves in. People in Alberta feel economically insecure and politically alienated. We are seeing problems on both sides of this House in response to that. We know that the Conservatives are fuelling division and rage, exploiting that anger in Alberta with the UCP government. We know that the Liberals think dangling a pipeline in front of Albertans will in fact fix the separation issue. That is not the way this works. Appeasing separatists with symbolic concessions is like appeasing Donald Trump. It never works because the goalposts change. It never works because they will move the goalposts further down the line. Canadians, including Albertans, need economic security. They need strong public services and national unity that is based on fairness. National unity cannot be bought with a pipeline announcement, while people cannot afford rent, cannot find a doctor and feel abandoned by the governments that represent them. This economic statement did not help any of that. Budgets reveal priorities and values. Canadians are struggling with affordability, access to health care and a health care system in Alberta that is at the point of collapse. We have housing insecurity and global instability. This moment we find ourselves in right now calls for courage and it calls for transformational leadership. Instead what we saw from this spring economic statement was the protection of corporate interests, while asking ordinary Canadians to settle for less. At a time when Canadians needed bold action, the Liberal government delivered corporate subsidies and broken promises. The reality is Canadians cannot afford their groceries, rent, insurance, utilities or medication. The cost of all of it is continuing to rise. People are working full-time and they cannot get ahead. Young people feel locked out of home ownership and stability entirely. Seniors are skipping meals and prescription medication. Disability supports remain wildly inadequate. While I will congratulate the government on tinkering on the edges and making the application process somewhat easier, the amount that we are giving to some of the most vulnerable people in our community does not meet the needs that those members of our community face. Temporary rebates and boutique programs do not solve structural affordability problems. The government refuses to confront corporate profiteering. There is no serious excess profit tax on grocery giants or oil companies, and the government continues to provide corporate subsidies while families in this country are struggling. There is a progressive alternative. We could tax excess profits. We could build market housing at the scale needed to deal with the national housing crisis we are facing in this country right now. We could strengthen public services instead of privatizing them. We could invest directly in people, not in shareholders. We do not need more corporate press releases disguised as affordability policy. Canadians need governments that are willing to take on concentrated wealth and corporate greed. Now I would like to spend a few minutes talking about the health care crisis we are facing. I know Alberta is ground zero for this, but I also know it is happening across the country. The institution of public health care, universally delivered, publicly delivered health care, is under attack in this country. Canadians cannot access family doctors. Emergency waiting rooms are closing. The wait times are in the hours, if not days. Hallway medicine has become normalized. Health care workers across the country are being left burnt-out and discouraged, and they are leaving the profession. In Alberta, Danielle Smith is dismantling public health care, and the federal government is refusing to stand up for the law in this country, the Canada Health Act. In the budget implementation act, the government could have stood up. It could have stood up and invested in mental health care. It could have recommitted the dollars and support for a pharmacare program that it has been promising for decades. The vast majority of Canadians still do not have access to pharmacare, including in my province of Alberta. That is not the principle of the Canada Health Act. The principle of universality says every Canadian, regardless of where they live, should access the same level of care. There is the dental care program that the New Democrats fought so hard for and has helped so many Canadians across this country. The government is failing to invest in it. The government is failing to support it. Canadians deserve a government looking after them, and they deserve a government that believes in the Canada Health Act and is willing to fight to enforce it. The hypocrisy of claiming to defend public health care while allowing privatization to spread and the hypocrisy of saying they support the Canada Health Act and then refusing to enforce it are not what Canadians need. We need universal pharmacare. We need mental health care fully integrated into the public system. We need to defend and expand dental care. We need to train and retain health care workers. We need to enforce the Canada Health Act aggressively. I want to finish by spending a few moments on international development and peacekeeping. Canada's role in the world has diminished. Canada once played a respected role in peacekeeping, diplomacy and international development, but the budget would continue a retreat from that leadership with a $2.7-billion cut to international development. This comes at a time when around the world, global insecurity is fuelling economic collapse and causing people to suffer everywhere. On the back of Donald Trump shutting down U.S. aid, Canada had an obligation to stand up. Canada had an obligation to be that country that so many of us believe we can be. Instead, the government has chosen to retreat once again from human rights. The budget is about choices, and the choices the government has made are very disappointing.

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Adjournment Proceedings

2026-05-28

“I don't believe that the Liberal government is honest. They say they talk to provinces and get assurances, but nothing happens. They break their promises on pharmacare, mental health, and dental care. The Liberals claim to support the Canada Health Act, but they won't meet with the Canadian Health Coalition who say that Bill 11 breaks the law. The Liberals should defend the law.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that I feel as though that was one of the most dishonest speeches I have ever heard in this place, to be honest. The member talks about the minister's having dialogue with her counterpart and says that they have been assured. Is this similar to when the Liberal government asked grocery stores to behave better, and they got an assurance? Is it the same thing as when the Liberal government promised to support pharmacare for all Canadians, but then did not do it; to expand mental health care for Canadians, and then did not do it; to make sure that all Canadians had access to the dental care they require, and then backed away from those promises? Is this the same Liberal government that says the Canada Health Act should be universally accessible but refuses to meet with members of the Canadian Health Coalition, who have a legal opinion that has been created and actually says that Bill 11 breaks the Canada Health Act? It breaks the law. They should defend the law.

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“Alberta's public health care is in crisis. I asked if the minister is letting it collapse on purpose or just doesn't care enough. Instead of an answer, all I got was vague platitudes. People are literally dying waiting for care. Emergency rooms are overloaded and understaffed, with patients treated in hallways. Meanwhile, Danielle Smith is openly dismantling public health care, allowing two-tiered care and private billing. The Canada Health Act is being violated. The federal government is silent while corporations get whatever they want. I'm worried public health care is being sold off in secret trade deals. The feds must act to enforce the Canada Health Act now.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, Albertans are tired. They are tired of hearing talking points while their public health care system collapses around them. I asked the minister whether she is deliberately allowing public health care to erode or whether she simply does not care enough to protect it. What I got in response was another vague non-answer and more platitudes about working with provincial partners. Meanwhile, in Alberta, people are dying as they wait for care. That is not figurative or rhetorical; it is literal. Emergency room doctors in my province are warning that preventable deaths are happening because emergency rooms are overcrowded, understaffed and overwhelmed. Seventeen rural emergency rooms are closed today because there are not enough health care workers. Patients are being treated in hallways and storage closets. Nearly one in five Albertans leaves the emergency room without receiving care, because the wait times are so unbearable. While all of this is happening, Danielle Smith is openly dismantling public health care. She passed Bill 11, introducing two-tiered health care into Alberta for the first time in Canadian history. She is allowing doctors to charge patients privately while still billing the public system. She is diverting public money and health care workers away from the public system, and the public wait-lists grow longer. This violates the spirit and the principles of the Canada Health Act, in terms of universality, accessibility and equal care based on need, not on wealth. While I am not surprised to see this Conservative government attack health care, the silence and the complicity of the Liberal government in the face of the breaking of the Canada Health Act is shocking. We watch the Liberal government, and every single time a corporation comes knocking, it opens the doors. However, when it comes time to protect our public institutions, we hear nothing. I am very curious about whether health care is being quietly put on the block in negotiations such as CUSMA and other trade agreements, in which corporate access and investor protections are treated as untouchable but public services are treated as bargaining chips. How far is this government willing to go to accommodate corporate interests, even if it means weakening something that Canadians fundamentally believe in and fundamentally require? The minister says she supports the Canada Health Act, but support without enforcement is meaningless. If the federal government refuses to act while a province openly builds a two-tiered health care system, then what exactly is the Canada Health Act for? Right now, Albertans are watching the slow Americanization of our health care. People with money move to the front of the line, and everyone else waits longer. This is not Canadian health care, and Canadians know it. The federal government cannot keep hiding behind scripted talking points. Albertans deserve answers. When will the government enforce the Canada Health Act?

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Oral Questions

Air Transportation

2026-05-28

“I don't like what Doug Ford did to Billy Bishop airport. The government should stop companies from making profits from airports. The other parties want to sell off airports!”

Government Orders

Business of Supply

2026-05-28

“I want to scare you that Trump is a threat to French content and indigenous content. The Liberals are doing what Trump wants. The Conservatives are doing what Trump wants. You should support us instead.”