Health committee  On the general issue of health human resources, it should be noted that according to data that's been released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, progress has been made in increasing the supply of physicians and nurses since the 2004 accord. The number of practising physicians in Canada reached 62,307 in 2006, an increase of 4.9% since 2002, which is a rate of increase over the population growth, which is at just 4%.

Health committee  First, I would like to point out that the 2004 accord specifically recognizes Quebec's desire to take responsibility for planning, organizing and managing health care services within Quebec. With respect to wait times since November 2007, is there an improvement? No, I don't think we'd have any information on an improvement over the last five months.

Health committee  I'll start, and I'll start by talking a little bit about patient wait times. Yes, five areas were noted as key areas in the accord. I think people can tell that progress has been made in those five areas. The patient Wait Time Alliance came out with a report card today with some marks.

Health committee  Good morning, Madam Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to provide an overview of the progress on a wide spectrum of health care reform initiatives as set out in the 2004 health accord. In my opening address today I would like to take about the nature and purpose of the accord and the progress made by Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada on fulfilling the commitments made in the accord.