Health committee  I totally support what Dr. Smart said. When we speak about integration, it's integration that includes home care and long-term care. We saw during COVID that long-term care was like the poor cousin of the system, and it was just left there on its own. The integration has to be primary care, acute care, long-term care and home care.

Health committee  If I may, I like the innovation, I like the virtual care, but in that equation we also have to examine what the risks are. If we don't examine the risks, we'll never know if what we're putting forward in terms of innovation is actually going to be helpful and that we're going to have positive outcomes.

Health committee  Dr. Smart, do you want to go first?

Health committee  I totally agree with the position that Ms. Silas pointed out to you. I think that would be a way to address a component of the problem. My biggest fear is that you have a number of stakeholders here who all have interests with their stakeholders. I think it would be totally wrong, especially at this juncture, to do something that would only address certain components of the health care system when in fact I think that what we need to do as citizens and as governments is to start to rethink what kind of health care system we want and need for Canadians post-COVID.

Health committee  It's an excellent question. If you don't mind, I'll pass it on to my colleague Elaine Watson to respond.

Health committee  Mr. Davies, I'd like to ask Elaine Watson to respond to this one, if you don't mind.

Health committee  I would fully support that.

Health committee  You may have misunderstood my response. I think the brief that you mentioned is our pre‑budget brief, in which we agree that the federal government must increase transfers to the provinces when the time comes. Everyone is obviously in agreement on that issue.

Health committee  That's where the collaboration between the provinces and the federal government comes in. In some of our messages at HealthCareCAN, we have invited all the premiers and the prime minister to hold a first ministers' conference on health to try to assess the state of health‑related costs in the provinces.

Health committee  My closing point is that the stress is not just at the clinical level; it's across the system, from the front line right up to the leader of any institution. To answer your question, the government should be a facilitator and bring all of this information together.

Health committee  Certainly. That's an excellent question to be asked. Believe me that data across the country is not uniform at all. There's no standard plan as to what you're getting and what you're getting it for. I think the federal government's role would be to be a convenor, a facilitator, in getting that kind of data and working with the provinces, the regulators and the major national health associations that collect certain data.

Health committee  That is a very good question. I agree with what Dr. Soulez said a few minutes ago. There is a clear lack of funding in Canada to adequately help the health care system. I admit that the needs are enormous. My biggest concern, Mr. Thériault, is that if we were to provide funding without knowing what goal we want to achieve or what changes we want to make in the system, we may end up in the same situation as in the past, when funds would be allocated to sectors with virtually no results.

Health committee  I don't think that we have the right mix, and I'm not sure I have the answers to what the right mix should be. I think the message that we're trying to give today to the committee is that we need to review this very carefully, taking into consideration all of the professionals who work in the health system.

Health committee  Yes, I will.

Health committee  Mr. Chair, members of the committee, my fellow presenters, thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you today. I am joined by my colleague Elaine Watson, who is the chief human resources officer at Covenant Health in Alberta, one of Canada's largest Catholic health care providers.