You claim to be in no hurry to adopt the bill, but the process takes very little time. The bill was referred to the committee last week. If we do not hear from any witnesses...The witnesses needed to analyze the bill's context. Some were not able to travel on such short notice, since they are often busy wrapping up other matters. The process is fairly quick and we'll go ahead and adopt the bill anyway. That doesn't mean that we'll vote in favour of the proposed legislation, but we will go ahead with the clause by clause study.
First, however, there's something I'd like to say. We're opposed to the bill's underlying principle, for several reasons. It clearly infringes on areas under provincial jurisdiction. Quebec has its own Health and Social Services Act and the preamble to the bill is virtually identical to the preamble of the Quebec legislation.
Mr. Charbonneau, the provincial opposition critic, queried the Minister of Health and Social Services about the bill. The Minister wasn't familiar with all of the particulars, but one things is clear: Mr. Couillard would oppose any strategy that would infringe upon fields of provincial jurisdiction and result in duplication, just as he did when regulations respecting assisted reproduction were enacted. This matter is currently before the Court of Appeal. In addition, the Minister has distanced himself from all national strategies respecting cancer, mental health and health promotion.
The concerns of the Bloc Québécois are similar to those of Quebec politicians. The bill sets out a number of federal initiatives. It opens the door to federal interference in the health field. It does not contain a special clause targeting Quebec. Nor are the federal government's intentions in terms of collaborating with other levels of government clearly defined.
For all of these reasons, we will be voting against this underlying principle, and hence, against the bill in general. The committee can now proceed with its clause by clause analysis.