Health Committee on April 25th, 2007

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Yes.

[Mike Tierney]

I can't speak to that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

I believe it's probably beyond the scope, unless somebody else wants to take a shot at it.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Well, somebody has to have an opinion on this. We spend buckets of money. This is half the staff of Health Canada that do this. So where would you suggest I find that information?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Okay, we have two who would like to quickly answer that. I'll allow the two quick answers, and then your time is actually well over.

[Dr. Jill Sanders]

I think, Dr. Bennett, really it's Health Canada that would answer that question. The question you're asking is around the regulatory process, if I'm not mistaken. In that case—

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Yes, I'm asking the provincial guys whether they can help us decide whether they think this is value-added.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

We're going to allow a quick answer from Mr. Nakagawa; then we will move on.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

That would be great.

[Robert Nakagawa]

My gut response is that I would be very surprised if there were a substantial difference between the Health Canada review and the decisions of other jurisdictions.

The timing sometimes is due to the time the manufacturer applies. The manufacturer doesn't apply to Canada at exactly the same time as to other jurisdictions. Then it just becomes the capacity of those individual systems to process within their mandates.

But I think it really is a Health Canada question, to be honest.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Thank you very much.

Now we're going to go to round two, and we have Mr. Batters. You have five minutes.

[Dave Batters, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The CDR makes decisions that impact upon patients, so patients deserve to know to whom the CDR is publicly accountable. My question is very simple: to which elected person or persons are you, or is the CDR, directly accountable?

[John Wright]

The CDR is directly accountable to the deputy ministers of health, who in turn are directly accountable to the ministers of health, who are in turn directly accountable to their legislative bodies.

[Dave Batters, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

What about the 30% of federal dollars that pay for the CDR? What's the accountability on a federal level, Mr. Wright?

[John Wright]

I can't speak to the federal government. I can speak to the provincial and territorial governments .

[Dave Batters, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Can anyone speak to the accountability at the federal level for the 30% of federal funding that funds CDR?

[John Wright]

I'm assuming, Mr. Chair, that's why we're here, for the 30% that the federal government does. I expect that the federal—

[Dave Batters, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

I'm asking at a federal level.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

I think the question is about—and I'm just looking for it—the accountability on the federal side, just as information.

[Dave Batters, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Is there any accountability at the federal level?

[John Wright]

The accountability mechanism would still be the same, in my opinion, Mr. Chair, which would be through the deputy minister, Mr. Morris Rosenberg, through to the minister, Mr. Tony Clement, through him to cabinet, and through cabinet into the legislative body.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Okay. Does that answer the question?

[Dave Batters, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Did you say Minister Clement?

[John Wright]

Yes, that's right.

[Dave Batters, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Which government auditors review CDR and evaluate whether there's value for money for Canadian taxpayers?