Health Committee on May 16th, 2006

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

And obesity.

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia, MB]

Yes, it ties into obesity, so I would be interested in seeing how that all works out.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Another one that I see there that might be coming up--and who knows what will happen in the next month--is the pandemic preparedness. We may want a briefing on that as well.

Madame Gagnon.

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

There are many interesting subjects, but in my estimation, the committee should give priority consideration to those areas that come under federal jurisdiction.

Earlier, I mentioned the health of aboriginal peoples. This is an area under federal responsibility. I don't believe the Standing Committee on Health has previously examined this subject. We could make it a priority of ours, along with Internet drug sales. The subject-matter is interesting because we'd also be looking at safeguarding our drug stocks. How widespread is the phenomenon? We're protected in Quebec, but to what extent exactly?

The committee should give priority consideration to matters under federal jurisdiction, and should refrain from infringing upon provincial areas of jurisdiction. Otherwise, we'll never make any headway.

Consider the range of illnesses. Earlier, mention was made of Type 1 juvenile diabetes. I know that this illness is cause for serious concern, but the committee could also discuss degenerative diseases, research in general and the funding of various research institutes.

We need to identify our priorities. It would be difficult to focus on each and every disease. Many people are battling debilitating, incurable diseases.

That's my general opinion. However, I don't think we should overlook the health of aboriginal peoples.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

I think you're absolutely right in one respect, and this is what I was trying to challenge the committee to think through. Each of these topics could be so broad they would take us forever to do; they'd be exhaustive. We may not have the time or will to be able to follow them to completion, and that's my fear. I think whatever we do in a long-term project, we want to pare it down. We need to decide or determine some parameters around those issues as we go into it, or we will get lost. I would challenge us to consider that.

Ms. Priddy, did you have something further?

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Yes, I did.

However we approach it is fine, but I suggest that if we are going to talk about a particular disease--let's use childhood obesity as an example--then it seems to me if you were doing something like a mind map, although you wouldn't have to go and study them, some will have a broader public health impact across the country than other individual ones might. For instance, if you look at diabetes, the number of people on dialysis, the number of people waiting for kidney transplants as a result of diabetes, etc., it has a very broad impact. Even if we didn't go to those other places, it would give us some sense about whether we were looking at something that's very niche or that has broader effects on the general population. I would think organ transplants is a federal...well, it's not a federal responsibility, but it's certainly getting to be a federal concern.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Yes.

Ms. Keeper.

[Tina Keeper, Liberal, Churchill, MB]

As a follow-up to your last comment about setting parameters on some of these issues, I would like to add that as a first nations person—and I also represent a riding that has a very high percentage of aboriginal people, including first nations and Métis—I appreciate the consideration on aboriginal health. Of course, you know the expanse of that file.

Because of an issue we're dealing with in my riding that has been ongoing.... I know Health Canada has been involved in putting out a report. But on the issue of tuberculosis, which is on this list, what I suggest is that.... Because the proposed Public Health Agency of Canada Act doesn't include a first nations jurisdiction--so it doesn't apply on reserve--public health, as an issue under the aboriginal health file, may be one way of paring down that file.

In terms of the pandemic strategy you're talking about for the avian influenza that the Public Health Agency has been working on—again, it doesn't apply in first nations jurisdictions—I think if we look at public health under the aboriginal health file, that's what I suggest would be critical. If we're looking at a nationwide strategy on this pandemic, and we're dealing with epidemics that are public health concerns in first nations as well, then public health may be one area.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

That's why I brought up the pandemic preparedness. And this may come at us--hopefully, it doesn't--because of forces and the urgency.

[Tina Keeper, Liberal, Churchill, MB]

But that strategy doesn't apply in first nations jurisdictions. That's why I'm saying this.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

I realize that.

When we're dealing with this, perhaps.... Those are very valid points and appropriate questioning as to how it applies to first nations.

[Tina Keeper, Liberal, Churchill, MB]

I'm suggesting that you could take a number of these issues and create one on public health, if you want to set parameters. Then you could look at one issue under aboriginal health.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Okay. The point is well taken.

We don't want to get exhaustive here, but Ms. Fry.

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

I want to support Tina. I think what we want to focus on is if you look at public health in the broadest sense, it's not simply dealing with infectious diseases, the avian flu, or SARS. Public health is about factors that are going to shorten longevity and increase the ability for people to become ill, even chronically so.

Generally speaking, if as a parliamentary committee we can focus on what we can prevent, that is a huge piece. A lot of what concerns transplants and so on can arguably be seen as falling under provincial jurisdictions, because that's how care is delivered.

But when it comes to looking at the overarching health of Canadians, which at the end of the day impacts the health care system--and I think Mr. Batters mentioned the word “epidemic”—some of what we're talking about under aboriginal health in terms of public health, such as childhood obesity, is an epidemic. It is shortening the lives of our children. People are not going to live as long as you and I are living, and this is something that can be prevented

Here is an opportunity for a committee to have an impact on results. I think that's where we should be focusing. What is it we can do to have an impact on people's health? I can see rolling in active living, sports, childhood obesity, and type 2 diabetes. I can see looking at infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis in aboriginal people. These are important and preventable. As a committee, we should focus on what we can actually make decisions on—act, do, implement--to improve the health of Canadians as soon as possible.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Those are very worthwhile comments with regard to how to pare it down. If we can do something to push prevention, it doesn't matter whether it's aboriginal illness, childhood obesity, wait times, or prescription drugs. I think those comments apply to all of these.

We don't want to make it exhaustive here.

Madam Brown, and then we'll....

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I don't want to suggest another topic at all, Mr. Chairman. You have a set of meetings that are updates, and then you have three possible meetings to give us a snapshot of these broader topics. I suggest that when we get through those three meetings you might want to let us vote--in other words, put our priorities in--and then you'll have to do the mathematics and select one.

If we could pick one before we rise for the summer, the research staff could draw up terms of reference for such a study that would make it manageable. In other words, we could pick a topic and then decide how many months we want to put into it. If you put a whole year into it, the terms of reference can be broader, but if you want to finish something and report by Christmas, the terms of reference have to be tighter.

In any case, just from this meeting this morning it seems to me we've got a plan. The second part of planning could be after that last meeting in June, when we actually decide what we want to study in the fall. I think that would be very good.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Yes. This is a kind of game plan. That's why we spent some time discussing it here this morning. We have a little bit of extra time. I think it's valuable just to put our heads around some of this stuff. I think I see consensus forming around the committee. All of these could be very valuable. It's good advice. It's a great opportunity for our support staff to be able to come up with those terms of reference over the summer, and have witness lists and so on as we move into the fall.

I think we should just leave it at that for now, because anything further means we're going to actually start pushing our own agendas. I'm not afraid of doing that, necessarily--we're going to do that--but I think we should be doing it after we have this series of meetings. That will give us some more direction.

Is that okay?

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

That's not my agenda. Sorry; none of those are my agenda.

What I was going to say was that if the committee ever got to the stage of voting--

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

You don't think we'll do that?

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

I have no idea; we may very well. I would suggest at that stage, if it happens, that there be some parameters put around it from the chair, or however it can come about, so that we don't simply have everybody voting for their favourite cause.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

That's what we're trying to do through the discussion this morning.

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

There would need to be some parameters around how people place their votes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

I agree.

Mr. Batters.

[Dave Batters, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Just for clarification, Ms. Brown pointed out three areas of conversation. To clarify, then, one is health care wait lists, on which we've already agreed we're going to have an exploratory meeting. Two is prescription drugs, if I'm hearing Ms. Brown correctly. She had tied in numbers 7 and 13; I guess number 5, bulk drug exports, could also be tied into that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Yes, items 5 and 15--we might be able to do that.