And what would he be telling us?
Evidence of meeting #4 for Health in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was meeting.
Evidence of meeting #4 for Health in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was meeting.
11:25 a.m.
Committee Researcher
He may be able to tell you exactly what negotiations are going on among provinces in terms of meeting the accord.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
Bonnie Brown Liberal Oakville, ON
I see.
I was kind of interested in the example from Alberta about orthopedic surgery.
11:25 a.m.
Conservative
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
Bonnie Brown Liberal Oakville, ON
I'd like to hear how they did that and whether they think it can apply to other areas where wait times are going to be guaranteed.
11:25 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
I think it would be a great example for the committee to take a look at, and that's what I was suggesting.
11:25 a.m.
Conservative
Dave Batters Conservative Palliser, SK
Mr. Chair, I just think this is such an important topic. I know that Ms. Chamberlain, in the last meeting, echoed this as well. It's also one of the five priorities identified by the government.
I think devoting the entire meeting to that would be more than reasonable. In fact, I'd personally like to see this committee.... Maybe we can have a discussion following that as to how many meetings we'd like to devote to that. It's probably more than one meeting for certain, as this is the major issue facing Canadians. But I'd certainly support Ms. Brown's idea that we go ahead with wait times for the entire meeting.
May 16th, 2006 / 11:25 a.m.
Liberal
Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre, BC
Please excuse my voice.
I think there are other groups that have been doing--
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre, BC
Physician heal thyself.
I think there are lots of groups that have done good, solid work on wait times. There's a western wait times initiative that has done some good work. I think there is the cardiac wait times that's been done in Ontario, and there is, of course, the hips wait times that has been done in Nova Scotia.
If we're going to talk about wait times, I think we should bring in a panel of about four people from all those areas and listen. I don't believe there is a one-size-fits-all solution here. While Alberta may have found that they were successful in a particular piece, we may need to see how other jurisdictions and other groups--the hospital administrators, nurses, doctors, and others--have come up with strategies that are going to bring down wait times. Wait times is really a management issue.
11:25 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
So what you're suggesting is that if we can fit in some other witnesses on that day to complete it, I should try to do that.
11:25 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
We'll try that. I certainly don't have a problem with that.
Madam Gagnon.
11:25 a.m.
Bloc
Christiane Gagnon Bloc Québec, QC
As far as I'm concerned, our first order of business should be to examine the Tobacco Reduction Strategy. We should explore the whole question of mild cigarettes, which are not regulated in any way, to disclose their real impact on people's heath.
The Non-Smokers' Rights Association released a statement criticizing the government for not moving quickly enough to pass regulations. Other countries have been much quicker to act on this matter. Some adopted anti-smoking legislation much later than Canada, but were much quicker to bring in regulations.
The Association is also concerned about the fact that initially, $480 million were allocated over five years to combat tobacco use and smuggling, but year after year, the funding of such initiatives has been slashed. Another concern is the whole question of smoking cessation advertising campaigns. Ever since the sponsorship debacle, the Prime Minister's Office has been handling all advertising strategies. That means that delays are encountered. The Association has been quite vocal about these delays and Health Canada officials could be called before the committee to explain why it has taken them so long to produce anti-smoking regulations. Efforts thus far have been rather meak.
This is a timely subject. As my colleague Hedy Fry was saying, if this is a provincial matter, then each province has likely already come up with its very own scenario. Quebec has developed a plan. Therefore, negotiations with the provinces are in order. Perhaps we could focus on this matter a little later.
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
That's what I was going to suggest. We haven't really set any schedule past the 8th. Perhaps if we go into the next week, which I assume we will, that's where we could pick up on the tobacco.
Would it be appropriate, generally, if we set that as an agenda?
That gives us some pretty good direction. I think we can leave it at that. That tells the committee where we're going to go. So on June 1 it will be on wait times, and the next week after June 8 we'll be talking about cigarettes.
11:30 a.m.
Bloc
Nicole Demers Bloc Laval, QC
Mr. Chairman, could we possibly add a name to the witness list? Another problem concerning breast implants has been brought to my attention. I've been told that women who want to have their implants removed because they are experiencing some problems have had to wait for the procedure. In Ontario, the procedure is performed free of charge, because it is covered under OHIP, but surgeons are so busy performing implant surgery that they don't have time to operate on other women who want the procedure reversed. One woman contacted Dr. Brown, who sits on a panel of experts. She has an appointment scheduled with him in December 2006, but he will not be able to remove her implants until December 2007. She is in pain, but cannot have her implants removed because the surgeon is too busy performing implant surgery on other women. I'd like us to have more information about this matter.
Another concern in the whole question of MRI machines...
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
Does that give us a balanced enough panel, with pros and cons on every issue?
11:30 a.m.
Bloc
Nicole Demers Bloc Laval, QC
That's what I'm wondering. That's what I'm asking you, Mr. Chairman. It would be good to have some idea of the current situation. We could look into the dilemma these women face when they cannot get their problems properly resolved.
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
Okay. We can certainly ask, and we'll try to make sure we have balance on the committee. I think that's what we're trying for here, so I don't see a problem with that if we can make that arrangement here on the sixth.