Citizenship and Immigration committee  The answer is no, sir.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Obviously, the same products are available for everyone. Are they always reimbursed by plans at the same rate? It can vary from plan to plan. If everyone had the same coverage everywhere in Canada, obviously it would be much simpler for pharmacists.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I can't comment on that. I presume that the Canadian government wants to pay the people who are covered, but I don't know how to answer that question, madam.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  When we make an agreement with a group or an insurer, each of the 1,800 pharmacists in Quebec are bound by the agreement that was signed. They are legally obligated to respect the agreement. Obviously, when there's a problem, they can turn to us for help resolving it. They often

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In fact, it helps everyone. Obviously, the turnaround is quick. Medavie Blue Cross validates the transaction through the system. Once Medavie Blue Cross has validated the transaction, the pharmacist knows that the product is covered, that he'll be paid and that he'll receive his

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We get information on all the programs, like the number of people covered and the volume, from organizations with whom we have existing agreements. So, the information comes from Health Canada, for example, or other organizations. We would not be at liberty to distribute that inf

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As far as I know, these are the same drugs. Based on what I learned last Monday at our meeting with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the drugs provided to the refugee population are the same as those provided to Quebeckers through the list and the Quebec provincial plan. There

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Some drugs may not be covered by the Quebec public system and be covered for refugees. Each program has its own particularities and each program covers certain products. For example, for the Canadian Forces, certain programs are put in place to cover over-the-counter drugs that

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, absolutely. That's the case, and I can understand the concern about refugees. For now, the problem is taken care of because, under the interim agreement with CIC, services will be provided the same way they used to be. That doesn't mean that there won't be problems for pharm

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The system supplier isn't always the same, but the systems are coordinated. When we negotiate an agreement, we sit down with the computer services supplier, present the agreement, explain what's involved so that the supplier can do the programming and it can be launched afterward

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No. There has been no request—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  There was only one request to meet from departmental officials. The goal was for us to become aware of the situation and the problems facing refugees. But we were well aware of that because we had already discussed it with them every day for a week. The situation was described to

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I am not sure I understood your question. You talked about private companies—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Health Canada for the first nations, the RCMP, the Department of Veterans Affairs—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, like in all professions and in all the provinces.