Health committee  It is the lifetime cost.

Health committee  We'll have to look at that in terms of capacity and focus and other activities the government is engaged in.

Health committee  Certainly I would be pleased to engage in that conversation to whatever extent is useful for the committee. In terms of a chief medical officer report, that's a timing issue that I can't predict at the moment. I'm sure the committee would like to report probably in advance of when I could do that.

Health committee  The situation differs from province to province. Their capability and approach are very different. For the provinces and territories, the notion of leadership by the federal government includes a process of facilitation and collaboration so that they have assurances that diagnosis and approach will be the same.

Health committee  It's a joint federal-provincial strategy. That's our contribution. Federal activities are a complement to provincial and territorial activities. Those activities depend on the jurisdiction in question, on capability and on other stakeholders working in the collaborative effort.

Health committee  It's a collaborative effort. We allocate funding to federal activities, and the provinces allocate funding to their activities. There isn't a single strategy imposed by one order of government on the other. The various strategies complement each other.

Health committee  Well, I very much appreciate the offer. It is, as I reflected earlier, a matter of policy and financing of cabinet and others and their authorities, so I'll defer to them, but certainly we will engage in the conversation that will lead to whatever this government might choose to pursue.

Health committee  Certainly, and I'll pass it over to Kathy in just half a minute. Certainly the service delivery at the provincial level is challenged by that. We also, in a complementary way with the provinces, fund local projects that work with communities and engage the individuals, as you've talked about.

Health committee  The role is somewhat of a combination of the role of the Surgeon General, in terms of its public role, and the head of the Centers for Disease Control. In terms of the role of the agency itself, there are many players. In public health, it isn't any one. Going back to tobacco control—because I've been around this for a long time—it was the municipalities and local health units.

Health committee  Quite honestly, at this point, as it's articulated in the legislation, certainly my role is key adviser to governments and of the agency as a key focal point, but to have everything under one I don't think would do it. I think there are elements and expertise that lie outside of the agency, and we need to find ways to ensure that there is a coherent voice.

Health committee  Empires usually don't work well.

Health committee  Our sense and our clear mandate is that we are the lead. The Public Health Agency is the lead on this file and other departments look to us in terms of the overall strategy. As I say, we don't currently have a policy or funding to address some of those elements. In terms of the role of the Chief Public Health Officer in the legislation, which we discussed the last time we met, the dual role of deputy and to speak independently is actually taken seriously.

Health committee  There is an interdepartmental committee, and, yes, there has been training, work with RCMP, police, corrections, lawyers, judges, and people operating homeless shelters. So there are activities that have been ongoing to this point. On the issue of surveillance, as Kathy referred to earlier, we now have diagnostic guidelines, so we now have a standard upon which we can develop surveillance systems over time, hopefully, and have baseline data in order to be able to track it, as well as recognize and evaluate what works and what doesn't work and in what settings.

Health committee  Just quickly, it is a multi-department, multi-disciplinary approach to healthy environments. In Health Canada, we from the epidemiological or research side, as well as CIHR, support that work. I think the kind of questions that the minister alluded to--what do the numbers actually translate to in terms of health--is really key in some of our big research and understanding challenges into the future.

Health committee  It is a program that was established in the last century. We are currently conducting a review of the country’s programs. The CAPC program and related budget have been extended until 2008-2009. It is currently a flat-lined budget.