Health committee  Chief Whitecloud has asked me to respond. The impact has been that the $1.3 billion that had been announced in funding--which included funding to stabilize the envelope but also included a $445-million envelope, I believe, for transformative change in the system, which would hav

Health committee  Exactly.

Health committee  I will begin with the question of the $269 million. Yes, the impact of those cuts will be felt more deeply over the next fiscal year. These reductions were announced in the 2005 budget. They therefore do not include the budget cuts in the Smoking Cessation Program that have just

Health committee  Certainly I think the point we've tried to bring forward to the committee is in the fact that we are facing a 3% cap on the overall health budget on April 1, 2007. There will be cutbacks and pressures, and budget resources will be oriented towards those critical services such as

Health committee  I just want to make a quick comment. I think what needs to be understood is the overall context of health care in our communities. For instance, 30% of our communities are located more than 90 kilometres from a GP. The nursing shortage in our communities, although the nursing sho

Health committee  You have asked why we are not offering detailed definitions of the components in a holistic approach. Our document provides a framework that contains fundamental components. The framework is based on an evaluation of programs that have been the most successful in our communities.