In regard to the comments of the honourable member, the fact is we supported the motion because we want it to be non-partisan and allow the member, Nicole Demers, to have the opportunity to have some confidence in the result.
I think it's fair to say that the sum of $56 million was not expected at all, and even if it was--what did you say, $5.5 million?--or $600,000, it still seems like a lot of money, especially when it's been reviewed by experts. But let me just share some facts about the cost of translation. I think all of the committee members would be very interested in them.
The estimate, as we all know, is $55.9 million to meet the request and the motion of October 31, 2006. As stated by the minister last week, the department is seeking means to comply with the motion adopted on October 31 and appeared in front of the committee on November 21 to answer questions.
The department has identified the studies and research that it considered in reaching its decision to grant medical device licences. In addition to the 65,000 pages of information provided by the manufacturers, Health Canada reviewed the existing scientific literature on the issue of breast implant safety, effectiveness, and effects on health.
This is the interesting part. The cost of translating the technical information is considerably more than for regular documents. Most translation services provide an estimate of 40¢ per word at a rate of four pages per day for technical information. This rate is applicable for the translation of the manufacturer's material, which averages about 500 words per page. The cost to produce a translation of the medical device applications alone would be more than $13 million.
The translation of scientific articles is more difficult again. The text is small and it often requires a technical expert in the area, as well as an experienced translator. To obtain an estimate for these articles, Health Canada sent a recent six-page publication to two services used frequently by the Medical Devices Bureau. The lower quote of $3,000 compared with $3,600 was used to calculate the translation costs and time estimates.
The scientific articles are copyrighted material. Thus, prior to the translation, they would need to be purchased and permission would have to be granted to use the translated version of the work. The cost of translating the scientific literature on silicone breast implants depends on which years the committee wishes to consider. Health Canada has reviewed the literature from 1950 onwards electronically, but has considered in detail the literature published after 1960. The cost to obtain and translate these documents would range upwards of $42 million.
In addition, not considered explicitly in the above estimate is the time involved in meeting the committee's request and any operational impact it would have on the Medical Devices Bureau, and so on, to review these documents and translate them accurately. I think this offers a more detailed explanation. We can move forward with the motion if Madame Demers wishes, but I think you get the gist.
Thank you.
