Michael John Savage

[Christmas Full of Caring Dinner, December 9th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend the 10th annual Christmas Full of Caring Dinner was held in Dartmouth—Cole Harbour. This event, which raises money for Feed Others of Dartmouth, a community group that feeds the homeless, started in 1994 and sprang from the compassionate and productive mind of Neil Black, inspired by long-time patrons John and Margaret Savage and carried on this year by Paul and Mary O'Regan and an army of dedicated volunteers that has for a decade made this event a staple of the Christmas season.

The late Fred Marsland and the great Pat Connolly and Bill Carr have given freely of their time, as have so many others. Today, Doug Livingstone, Hector Muise, Debbie Norris, Marg Scott, Peggy Landes, Susan MacKay, Karen Goudie, Kim and Joyce McGinn and Elaine and Paul Robinson, as well as many others, put countless hours into this project, which is devoted to providing comfort and dignity to the least advantaged. This year's event was the most successful ever.

This event is what Christmas is all about. I know all members will join me in commending this great committee.

[Dartmouth Choral Society, December 7th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, this past Saturday the Dartmouth Choral Society continued its 50th year celebrations with its annual Christmas concert. The society was founded 50 years ago. It is the longest running continuous community choir in Atlantic Canada, and certainly one of the best.

Today the choir consists of 70 voices, individuals, married couples and two-generation family members, and is ably directed by Mr. Shawn Whynot with Pamela Burton as accompanist.

The choral society is an important part of the community of Dartmouth. It receives revenues through membership fees, fundraising and paid performances. It uses profits to support local charities, such as Feed Others of Dartmouth.

At this time of year music takes on an even more special meaning for us. We particularly appreciate great organizations like the Dartmouth Choral Society.

[Forestry, December 6th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. In 2000 the brown spruce longhorn beetle was detected in the Halifax region. CFIA has been working to eradicate the pest, and a quarantine zone has been established.

Hurricane Juan turned this problem into a disaster for woodlot owners and residents whose wood is losing value and causing a fire hazard with no recourse to get their wood out. Many are seeing their financial future destroyed. Other members from Halifax West and from Sackville--Eastern Shore, with whom I have discussed this on numerous occasions, are aware of this issue and share my concern.

What is being done to help landowners to get--

[Organ Donations, December 2nd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Kristopher Knowles. Kristopher is a courageous and determined 14-year-old boy who is waiting for a liver transplant. Not content to sit on the sidelines, Kristopher initiated a walking tour of Canada. He has visited over 200 communities to speak with young people in order to raise awareness about the need for organ donors.

Today Kristopher spoke before the health committee and shared with us his passion for life. Kristopher is an inspiration for all of us. We wish him well in his quest. He is with us today. On behalf of all members of the Standing Committee on Health, I want to express my support for his efforts and encourage all hon. members to learn more about organ donation. We thank Kristopher.

[Family Physicians, November 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, this is Family Doctor Week in Canada. It is also the 50th anniversary of the College of Family Physicians.

The family doctor has been called the pillar of health care in Canada. As we strive to ensure the sustainability of our cherished health system, we need to make certain that we have a system that recognizes and supports the vital work of our GPs.

As the son of a family doctor, I know the burdens placed upon them. They work tirelessly on our behalf and they are the face of health for most Canadians, but the burdens on our family doctors are significant. The workload is staggering and the compensation has not kept up with the times. We must do more to ensure that these key caregivers are supported. We must ensure that more are trained in our medical schools.

We are privileged in my riding to have some of the most capable health professionals as family doctors. I am speaking of people like Dr. Jake O'Connor, former Canadian family physician of the year, and Dr. Louise Cloutier, chair of the board of the Canadian Medical Association, both of whom are actively involved in their community and in the fight for better health for Canadians.

We thank our family doctors for their commitment and their service.

[Supply, November 23rd, 2004]

Mr. Chair--

[Supply, November 23rd, 2004]

Mr. Chair, it is always wonderful to join a debate when it is getting good. I will be splitting my time. I have two questions, which I figure will take 10 minutes maximum of my 15 minutes, and I will cede my last 5 minutes to my charming colleague from Thornhill.

My first question, although I will leave to the discretion of the minister, I would suggest is for the Minister of State for Public Health. It follows on a discussion that the member for Brampton—Springdale had asked on the issue of health promotion. I would not suggest that the Minister of State for Public Health does anything but provide concise answers, but I want to get to my second question as well.

I want to talk about chronic and preventable disease. We have a public health department and I think all Canadians have great confidence in the minister and that department. However, it is very important that we not forget, while we get consumed by SARS and West Nile and the issues that come up in public health, that chronic disease is the biggest killer by far in Canada, such as cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, arthritis, diabetes, which I think people would concede is virtually epidemic, emphysema. They all contribute to many of the cancers.

I want to talk about one specific idea that I have. I think the country is ready to move to action on chronic disease. We need a test market and I have the perfect test market in the province of Nova Scotia. Let me explain why.

We have a department of health promotion that involves Dr. Hamm, our premier, Dr. Tom Ward, our former deputy minister of health, who we unfortunately lost but who was a pioneer in many aspects of health, and Scott Logan, who heads the department in Nova Scotia. We have a very good team working on health promotion, and I believe we are the first health promotion specific department of government in Canada.

It would not be the first time either that Nova Scotia has been used as a test market. There is a famous study, called ICONS, which is improving cardiovascular outcomes in Nova Scotia. It used Nova Scotia as a test market for it about seven or eight years ago. We also have a high incidence of chronic disease. We have a nice round number of people, around a million. We have a nice mix of urban and rural. We have a university presence. We have strong research.

We also have strong stakeholders in the community. We have the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society and a number of other organizations that are very involved in the promotion of healthy living in Nova Scotia. As well, being part of Atlantic Canada, we have among the highest incidence of chronic disease in Canada.

On April 15 of this year I had the opportunity to invite the Prime Minister to a round table meeting in my constituency, held at Cole Harbour Place. Stakeholders from across the breadth of the health promotion community were present, such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Cancer Society, the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Lung Association, the provincial department of health promotion, the regional health board, the community officer from the local health board, Recreation Nova Scotia, Sport Nova Scotia, representatives from a number of physical activity organizations like the Sportsplex and Cole Harbour Place and consultants in health promotion.

After the meeting, the Prime Minister indicated to me how much he thought the meeting was useful. He also indicated it was the first time he had been in a specific meeting in a community that talked only about health promotion. He said that he had found it refreshing as well as enlightening. Nova Scotia would be the perfect place to do a pilot project on health promotion.

I know my hon. colleague from West Nova, who is a perfect example of community health in action, would support me in this. We need to get the schools involved. We need to get child care facilities, hospitals, sports organizations, recreation groups, coaching associations, non-profit health charities, universities and researchers involved. Some great work is being done through CIHR in Nova Scotia on rural health and on all aspects of population health. We need to get public health nurses involved.

People in Nova Scotia know this minister very well and have great faith in her. She has been down on a number of occasions.

Federal, provincial and municipal governments, with non-profit charitable organizations and stakeholder groups, need to set some standards and achieve some outcomes on nutrition, physical activity in school, smoking, alcohol abuse and stress management. We could do it through education, programs, incentives and regulations. We could set some timeframes. We could set some checkpoints.

I have had the opportunity to talk directly with Scott Logan of the department of health promotion in Nova Scotia. I am sure that he would be very interested in being involved in this type of project.

We have great community leaders in health promotion in Nova Scotia; Jane Farquharson, Bill VanGorder, Dawn Stegen of Recreation Nova Scotia, Mike Lagarde, Anne Cogdon. I think we need a test market for a real attempt to measure and set targets to improve the health of Canadians. I believe we can start it in Nova Scotia. That is my short preamble.

Would the Minister of State for Public Health consider this a reasonable idea? Specifically and more generally could she talk a little about the benchmarks or targets that she thinks are important to consider in the promotion of healthy living?

[Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act, November 22nd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I have a brief question for my newly discovered cousin from Ireland. I have met him recently, but I know from my brother his real passion and commitment to social causes. I commend him for that and I share that.

I have a specific question. Earlier we heard a member from the Bloc suggest that the best way to achieve some of our social goals was for the federal government to give money to the provinces and have it administered through the provinces. Homelessness, I think, was the example he cited. As we know, post-secondary education and education in general are provincial responsibilities.

Notwithstanding his comments and how he feels about the money that the federal government has put into things like post-secondary education and in particular homelessness, how do we ensure that the provinces will have an equal standard across the country and that the money gets used? Becapse there is great inequity.

My own Province of Nova Scotia has money sitting in a fund that it has refused to match or do anything with for homelessness. I believe it is in the order of $13 million to $15 million in Nova Scotia, which is significant. Also, now that we have hundreds of millions of dollars going to the province of Nova Scotia in the health accord and equalization and this offshore accord that offers my province 100% of offshore royalties shielded from equalization, now that we have money going to provinces for things like that, how do we ensure that the provinces will have an equal standard across the country in ensuring that the money gets used? There is great inequity. In Nova Scotia, for example, we have the highest tuition.

My question is very sincere. I would like to hear if he has any ideas. How do we ensure that the provinces are willing partners on these programs?

[Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act, November 22nd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I would be delighted to talk about that. In spite of my great passion for the colleges and universities in my area, I do not think I can speak for as long as the question was but I will do my very best. It was a learned question with a significant preamble.

One of the most exciting things that is happening in my constituency of Dartmouth—Cole Harbour is that we are about to become the home of our first post-secondary institution, the home office of the Nova Scotia Community College, which has been so ably led by Ray Ivany, one of the true scholars in Canada. What that means to a community is a vibrancy, an innovation and the creativity that automatically comes with students. On behalf of the people of Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, I want to thank Ray Ivany and the people at the community college, people like Robbie Shaw, for recognizing the possibility of coming across the harbour and setting that up.

Halifax is the home as well of Dalhousie University, St. Mary's University, Mount St. Vincent University, and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design which is close to establishing a beachhead on the Dartmouth side of the water that comes complete with all the benefits of having artistically creative students in a downtown area. Nothing adds so much to the life of a community, from a cultural point of view, a learned point of view and a vibrancy point of view, than universities, which is why I am very pleased to be on the caucus committee for post-secondary education.

My colleague who asked the question has established a reputation across the country as somebody who really sees the benefit of post-secondary education, the realities and challenges of post-secondary education and has been working to do something about it.

As the chair of our caucus committee on post-secondary education I look forward to following in his footsteps. I am delighted that my own community of Dartmouth—Cole Harbour is a great example of what universities and colleges can bring to a community.

[Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act, November 22nd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I have no doubt that my hon. colleague feels very passionately about the needs of Canadians but the simple fact is that not all Canadians have kept up with the overall success of the Canadian economy in the past 10 years.

We heard earlier that there are unemployed people in Canada. I think my colleague from Brant had mentioned that one person unemployed is too many. The fact is that we had an unemployment rate of I believe almost 12% just 10 years ago. A number of people had to make sacrifices as this country went from being virtually bankrupt to the point now where we are able to make investments in the most important resource we have, which is our people, particularly our children.

I would say that even in a time of significant economic distress, things like the Canada child tax credit was an innovation at a time when we were trying to, overall, get the economy under control. We have not slacked off in that need, even when the country did not have money.

Government is about making choices. We made it clear in the election and in the Speech from Throne that our priorities were health, homelessness, child care, reinvesting in our communities and reinvesting in our military. Homelessness is one that is very close to me and I am delighted that we have set aside $1.8 billion for that over the next few years.

I think we are doing pretty well, all things considered. We can always do better and we will strive to do so.