Health committee  One of the institutions that does do regional reports at times is the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Health committee  Thank you very much. We have, in the past, had some consultations and we have responded to them. They go back a way. As we've indicated in our response to the Auditor General's recommendations, we plan on doing that again in this calendar year. It is not a large population in Canada that has had a real interest in health indicators.

Health committee  There are many ways in which we work with the provinces. If you'd like to pursue that, I would. However, in terms of reporting and accountability, as Mr. Malo has said for Quebec, most of the provinces are in the same mindset that they will report to their residents on their progress.

Health committee  We take measures that we have the authority to take. As your colleague Mr. Malo noted, and as the Auditor General noted in chapter 1, all jurisdictions have their own responsibility, their own accountability. That's one of the issues with the Healthy Canadians report. In 2002 and 2004.

Health committee  We collect information, as I said, from a wide variety of sources. We fund the Canadian Institute for Health Information, at $81 million per year. CIHI, as it's otherwise known, works with the provinces as well and has developed a very credible, solid reputation as a collector and publisher of health information.

Health committee  Thank you for the question. Health Canada, as you've noted, does provide a range of health care programs and services to first nations and Inuit. We don't provide all health care services, and much of the difficulty in collecting data is the fact that we don't provide all services.

Health committee  We have added 19 comparable indicators for the Canadian population but not for first nations and Inuit populations. At this point in time we do not have the data to allow us to do that.

Health committee  I'm just checking with my colleague, who has more direct responsibility.

Health committee  As the Auditor General noted in her report, and as we've discussed, we have not just the report Healthy Canadians in order to report on the health accord. The intent of Healthy Canadians has been, and has continued to be to this day, to report on the comparable indicators that were agreed upon by federal, provincial, and territorial ministers.

Health committee  Thanks very much. Again, when you go beyond comparable indicators to trends and progress about health care, Health Canada provides up to $10 million every year to the Health Council of Canada. In the accord, the Health Council of Canada was mandated to do the overall reporting on trends and progress from the health accords.

Health committee  As we've noted, Healthy Canadians is one of the ways in which we fulfill our reporting obligations under the accords.

Health committee  There is an agreement in the accords that the comparable indicators would be common and agreed upon by federal, provincial, and territorial ministers of health. That 2006 report has 17; for 2008, we've more than doubled it, including another 19.

Health committee  Thank you. Madam Chair, members, I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to be here with you this afternoon. I am here to talk about two important aspects of the Auditor General's report—federal funding and reporting, as related to health care. The federal government has demonstrated its commitment to health care by increasing transfers to provinces and territories, including growing support for health.

Industry committee  It's our experience in pesticides, where we're doing joint reviews, that every country has come to the same conclusion.

Industry committee  No, each country, to this time, has maintained the authority to make their own decision.