Health Committee on March 28th, 2007

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

The other thing is that I see in the estimates they talk about the expensive drugs program. Could you tell me a little bit about that? I don't remember you talking about it when you—

[Dr. Alan Bernstein]

Sorry, I'm not quite sure what you're referring to.

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

It's in the main estimates. They talk about Fabry's disease and expensive drugs. But maybe it's the same thing, is it?

[Dr. Alan Bernstein]

Yes, it is the same thing.

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

All right, thank you.

Those were my only questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Thank you very much.

We have one further questioner, Bonnie Brown.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome, Dr. Bernstein.

In your four main sectors of research, where would projects that bring together environment and health fit? Do you have an accommodation for that?

[Dr. Alan Bernstein]

It's a good question. When Parliament created these four pillars, to some extent I think it's a construct. Ideally, what I'd like to think about, many of the things we do don't fall neatly into any one of those four pillars. I actually like that, and I think environment and health is a very good example of that. We don't have an institute, either, of environment or health, but we do have an institute on cancer research. We do have an institute on population and public health. So issues such as environment and health, and other major issues, such as a clinical research initiative we're developing at the moment, global health research, are initiatives that transcend those four pillars and also transcend our institutes. They are championed by one of our 13 institutes, but they don't necessarily fall into any one.

So many environment and health issues are population and public health issues. Some of them are biomedical issues, some of them are clinical issues, and some of them are health services issues.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Do you have any idea of how many projects, say, were funded last year that would fall reasonably within that description? In other words, they are not necessarily chasing the cancer answer, as Wendy Mesley puts it, but are looking for those connections between a variety of diseases and the environment in which we live.

[Dr. Alan Bernstein]

I don't have that number in my head, Ms. Brown. I'll have to get back to you on that one in particular, if I may.

The other thing I should point out, and Dr. Chartrand just reminded me, is that we're going forward, in very active discussions with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, with tri-council issues on environment and health, because, again, many of these issues are not neatly even within the health area. They spill over into the natural sciences or into the social sciences and humanities.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I understand, yes. There's a lot about behaviour and all that sort of thing.

We're aware of the $1 billion the government is looking for in savings for 2006-07 and again for 2007-08. Has CIHR been subject to the 2006 expenditure restraints? In other words, health has been asked to save $62.4 million. Has CIHR been asked to save a specific amount of money in the year we're still barely in and in the next year that's coming?

[Dr. Alan Bernstein]

I'll let my colleague Mr. Roberge answer that one.

[James Roberge, Chief Financial Officer, Canadian Institutes of Health Research]

The $62.4 million of savings is across the entire health portfolio, and of course we're a member of that portfolio. The Deputy Minister of Health, on behalf of the minister, is forming a working group to examine where savings can be found.

The focus is going to be on policy and corporate services across the health portfolio. No specific targets or amounts have been identified for CIHR or any other members of the portfolio at this time.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

So even though we're almost at the end of fiscal 2006-07, and there's a commitment to get $62.4 million out of health, nobody's been asked to come up with it, other than a working group. But how can you then save the money at the end of the fiscal year in a couple of weeks?

[James Roberge]

I can't answer that, except to say that for CIHR there's been no reduction. So I can only assume that it's in one of the other members of the portfolio, presumably in Health Canada, but I don't know that for a fact.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

If no plans have been made other than a working group in Health Canada, could it mean that health is going to be asked to take twice that in 2007-08? I don't expect you to know the answer to that, but this seems strange to me that it's announced that there's going to be $1 billion taken out of the budget, and that the health portion is $62.4 million, and in March, at the end of the fiscal year, there's only a working group.

Does that not sound strange to you, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

What I would suggest to you is that you're asking the wrong people. The minister is actually going to be here, I believe--

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mrs. Carmen DePape]

It will be on May 16.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

--May 16, which would be the appropriate time to ask, because I just don't think you're going to get the appropriate answer here.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I just have one more quick question for Dr. Bernstein.

I'm glad you alluded to the fact that you're starting to do this cross-work with the humanities and social sciences granting councils and all that sort of thing. What about addictions, which also kind of go across that spectrum? I know Dr. Quirion, who you mentioned in your presentation, is very interested in that field. Is he working on something like that now? Does he lead that institute?

[Dr. Alan Bernstein]

He leads that institute.

Just to remind members of the committee, the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction is really unique in the world in the sense that it's bringing together neuroscientists who work on the bench, who work in the lab, with people who are doing mental health research, including addiction research.

In the National Institutes of Health in the U.S., those areas are separated into four different institutes. I think the vision behind it, the reason we did that back in 2000, was a prediction, and I think it's a right prediction, that at the end of the day, all of this is going to come together under one science, if you will. So we are very committed to that.

For example, our tobacco prevention initiative is led by that institute. It's not led by the Institute of Cancer Research, because we recognize that as an addiction problem, just as one example.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Go ahead.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I had another question, but now I've forgotten it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

It couldn't have been too important, then.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Just let me say that of all the health researchers I've ever met, Dr. Quirion and the way his mind works and his vision is tremendously inspiring. So I want to make sure they get enough money to do what they're doing, because it's super-important.