Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I want to welcome you to the health committee today.
I have to especially welcome our guests this morning. I am very pleased that you could join us today and that we'll have an opportunity to listen to your very insightful comments.
We have, from the Department of Health, Dr. Karen Dodds. She is the assistant deputy minister of the health policy branch. We have Ian Potter, assistant deputy minister of the first nations and Inuit health branch. Welcome.
From the Public Health Agency of Canada, we have Jane Billings, senior assistant deputy minister of the planning and public health integration branch. We have Dr. Arlene King, director general of the centre for immunization and respiratory infectious diseases.
From the Department of Finance, we have Krista Campbell, who is the senior chief. She is from the director's office of the federal-provincial relations and social policy branch. That's a very large title. We have Yves Giroux, director of social policy with the federal-provincial relations and social policy branch as well. That's another long title, but a very important one. And we have Jonathan Roy, senior policy analyst, health, justice, and culture, social policy, with the federal-provincial relations and social policy branch.
Ladies and gentlemen, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the motion adopted by the committee on March 13, 2008, and section 25.9 of the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, the committee today begins the first of four meetings on the statutory review of the progress in implementing the 10-year plan to strengthen health care.
We have with us the senior officials today, the Public Health Agency and the Department of Finance--those members I've just gone through.
Dr. Dodds, we will have your presentation now, for approximately 10 minutes, but seeing that you're speaking for everybody, we might push that forward a bit.
Dr. Dodds.