Mr. Chair, frankly Canadians are appalled at that answer. We do not need endless scientific research to know that these labels are misleading. That is the issue here. We know very well that these labels imply to those who buy those cigarettes, mild or light cigarettes and so on, that somehow they are less hazardous to health than other cigarettes. That is simply not the case. I wonder how much longer it will take for the minister to show the kind of leadership that Canadians are looking for on that.
My first question to the minister is with respect to the issue of the health council that was promised by the first ministers. We were told that it would be in place by May 5 which was over a week ago. Then the minister said that it would be in place by the end of this month. Now I have heard her say a few more weeks.
Could the minister clarify just what the timeline is on that? Just as important, would the minister clarify what her objective is with respect to the composition of this council? Will she assure the House and Canadians that this will not be a body that is dominated by government, but in fact will be a body that is independent of government that can ask the kind of tough questions that have to be asked, for example, around the issue of public funding going into private for profit health care? That is the first question regarding the powers of the health council, the timing of it, and what she sees as the key issues concerning the composition.
I will put the three other questions and then perhaps she can respond to those. The second question is, how does the minister respond to the damning critique this morning of the President of the Canadian Medical Association, Dr. Dana Hanson, with respect to the failure of the government to move ahead on a public health system? Dr. Hanson said:
It has become abundantly clear that Canada's public-health system is ill-prepared to deal with rapidly spreading infectious diseases, let alone the more insidious chronic diseases that lie at the root of most morbidity in our society.Canada's public-health and acute-care systems do not have sufficient disease surveillance capacity to adequately anticipate such events, nor the health-care workforce flexibility to respond to sudden health crises or calamitous occurrences
The auditor general said the same thing to the minister, as she knows, and her predecessor in 1999. How does the minister respond to these criticisms and what will she do to ensure that finally we see some federal leadership in the important issue of establishing a national public health strategy?
The area of medical marijuana is an area in which many Canadians are absolutely disgusted at the fact that the government has recognized that some Canadians in fact do need marijuana for medical purposes and that marijuana actually helps them to relieve the agony and the pain of some illnesses. Yet the government is in many cases forcing these people to obtain their marijuana illegally.
Does the minister not recognize that? I have been contacted by a number of Canadians on this issue. Permits have been issued to allow Canadians to grow their own marijuana for medical purposes, but in many cases people have to obtain the seeds or the plants illegally.
I want to ask the minister very specifically, why has the government not introduced legislation to allow Health Canada to produce safe and legal marijuana with standard THC content for patients that need it or at the very least to allow them to provide patients with seeds or plants so they can produce their own and not have to get it illegally?
The minister knows this is a concern. Some people using medical marijuana actually thought that the marijuana that was being grown in Manitoba would be made available to them. We were told that this was for research purposes, so that was not the case. Therefore they go to the back alleys and to illegal sources for that marijuana. Why is the government not acting on this important issue?
I have two other brief questions, one is on genetically engineered foods. I asked the minister on March 25, why will the government not move ahead and agree to the concerns of over 80% of Canadians who want mandatory labelling? They want to know what is in the food that they are eating. It is time the government stopped shilling for the biotech industry and allowed for mandatory labelling.
In her response to me about genetically engineered food and mandatory labelling this is what the minister said:
In fact, we have voluntary labelling requirements. We were working very hard with the Canadian General Standards Board to see if agreement could be reached around mandatory labelling provisions.
The minister is completely out to lunch there. She said they are working with a board to see if we can get mandatory labelling and that we already have voluntary labelling. Could the minister clear that up and give some indication that she knows what she is talking about on this issue and explain why it is that, given the collapse of the voluntary process and they are trying again this week, she will not move ahead on mandatory labelling?
Finally, there is mental health. It is a scandal that mental health is not a government priority. The minister will know that there are only 10 professionals within Health Canada dealing with the issue of mental health. That is an outrage. Mental health should be a far higher priority. The minister knows that mental health problems result in the second highest hospital admissions after heart diseases and stroke. It is the top billing of general practitioners.
I want to ask the minister, when will she start taking mental health concerns seriously and when will she work with the Canadian Mental Health Association to put mental health issues front and centre in the health agenda in this country. I look forward to the responses.