Health Committee on Dec. 2nd, 2009

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

--is effective and useful for Canadians.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North, MB]

A point of order, Madam Chair.

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

I can say that in terms of speaking with the provinces and territories in Manitoba, we all agreed to come back to the table to evaluate how we have done in responding to this pandemic.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Dr. Butler-Jones....

Yes, Ms. Wasylycia-Leis.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Chair, just on a point of order, before we have another long-winded answer that doesn't answer my question, I would simply ask if this government would be prepared to agree to an independent inquiry into this pandemic once it is all through. It's a normal request made by many scientists in this community and many Canadians.

I would just like an answer of yes or no.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Dr. Butler-Jones, I think you had a couple of things you wanted to add to that.

[Dr. David Butler-Jones]

First of all, we review all events. We will be reviewing this, working with the provinces and territories, with experts and with others. We will continue to do that. We've already learned lessons from the first wave. We've applied them in the second wave, and we'll continue to do that.

In terms of all of the questions, actually, the bottom line is that we work very closely with the provinces and territories. These decisions are joint decisions. The issue of having a domestic contractor for vaccine was supported by all provinces and territories; it was reviewed just before the pandemic. We have that in place. It has given us the most secure supply in the world. It's the same with the issue of access to the unadjuvanted vaccine. That was a request from the provinces that we, working with the manufacturer, were able to oblige.

On the risk categories, that is also done jointly with provinces and territories. It was something they agreed to; it was their view. It did not delay any delivery of vaccine.

All of these things are being done all along the way, jointly with provinces and territories. The best public health expertise in the country is trying to address each of these issues as we move forward.

The confusion has not been among public health. The confusion has resulted from drawing on claims and expectations from others who really don't understand or don't have inside knowledge on what's actually happening and what we're able to address.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you, Dr. Butler-Jones.

Now we'll go to Dr. Carrie and Ms. McLeod.

You're sharing your time. Who wants to begin?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

I'll start. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I'd like to start by thanking you for being here today. I want to congratulate you and your officials on a very busy session, particularly in leading the world in the handling of H1N1.

You said something in your opening comments that got my attention. I was recently back in Oshawa doing my Christmas shopping, like a lot of parents, out at the Oshawa Centre. I have three small kids. The good news for parents is there's lots of really cool stuff out there. The selection is huge. But we've recently seen large recalls for cribs and strollers.

I know, Minister, you have a toddler who's very curious, walks around, and puts things in his mouth.

Parents are concerned--Canadians are concerned--because they want the gifts they're buying to go under the Christmas tree for their kids to be safe. Can you explain to Canadians what you're doing to protect against unsafe consumer products, especially since parents are out there right now buying all kinds of toys and things for their kids to put under the Christmas tree?

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Madam Minister.

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to thank the member for that question.

This legislation we've introduced, Bill C-6, on the safety of consumer products, is long overdue in Canada. The legislation we're dealing with is 40 years old. The legislation introduced that is before Senate as we sit here will allow Health Canada to do mandatory recalls when we discover unsafe products in the market. It will allow us to work with industry when there are complaints about products or incidents with products—cribs and so on. It will allow them to report incidents of that nature to us so we can monitor at a national level which products may be unsafe.

As it is right now, we do not have the authority to do that. We do not have the authority to do mandatory recalls. In fact, we have to beg, negotiate, and consult to remove unsafe products from our shelves. So I hope the senators will think about the young children out there.

I have a son, as you said. My concern is to ensure that parents have the confidence that the products they buy from the shelves, particularly around Christmas, are safe and there is no lead, and so on.

This legislation would allow Canada to also catch up to other countries like the United States that have mandatory reporting and recall. In fact, we would not have learned of the crib recall had we not received the information from the United States. It's important that we catch up to other countries to ensure that the products coming into our country are safe, and that we protect the health and safety of Canadians.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

If you want to share, Dr. Carrie, maybe Ms. McLeod should have a chance now.

Ms. McLeod.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I actually also want to offer my congratulations. Actually, you look remarkably chipper, because I'm sure you've spent many, many months being very busy with the tremendous responsibilities you've had.

Through your remarks, Minister, there were two comments that really sort of perked up my interest. One was when you talked about your tripartite agreement with first nations and INAC. I'm wondering if you could share a little more about what that agreement was meant to accomplish.

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Through my meetings with first nations leader Grand Chief Atleo, as well as Minister Strahl, we agreed on the importance of coming up with an agreement on shared interest to communicate to the population and to the first nations communities. We signed that agreement in early fall; it was Minister Strahl, me, and Grand Chief Atleo. That is a protocol on communication, and to launch that we had the virtual summit with first nations communities across the country, to be able to respond to questions from people in remote communities on H1N1. Along with Dr. David Butler-Jones and Dr. Gully we were able to hear firsthand from first nations individuals and leaders in their communities what some of their issues and challenges were in responding to the pandemic plan.

Naturally, that will go beyond H1N1, on shared interest with the Grand Chief and chiefs across the country, and through Minister Strahl's office, to able to communicate with the first nations in isolated communities. I think it's the first of its kind in this country to be transparent in communicating information to the population that we serve, so I'm quite proud of that. The virtual summit was a good example of the importance of communicating correct information, based on science and so on, when you're dealing with a pandemic. That really demonstrated that.

Thank you.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

So out of difficult and challenging times we perhaps made some very positive improvements in terms of our relationships and how we do business.

Through the virtual summit, were most first nations communities able to actually connect in? Was it video or telephone or...? It sounds like it was a new way to connect.

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Yes, it was through television. In the communities, people can actually sign on to the website and communicate in an interactive discussion with Dr. Gully and Dr. Butler-Jones.

The one thing I want to say, in terms of tripartite discussions, is that we are in a discussion with first nations in British Columbia and Saskatchewan on how we can better deliver health care in those jurisdictions within the first nations communities. That discussion has been going on for some time, in terms of how we can better serve and integrate services within the provinces and territories, in those jurisdictions, B.C. and Saskatchewan.

Again, in those discussions the importance of communication has been raised time and time again in the areas of prevention, not only within H1N1 but by getting the information on public health messages to the first nations remote communities.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you.

I think time is up, Ms. McLeod.

Minister, I know that your time is very valuable and that you have another meeting to go to. I want to thank you so much for coming here and giving these very insightful comments that help us all out, as a committee.

I'm going to suspend the committee for two minutes to allow the minister to depart, then we'll go on with the officials.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Dr. Bennett.

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

Somehow, in all the moving of times, we have missed our H1N1 briefing this week in terms of the due diligence.

I'm not sure whether we should ask for a phone briefing for later this week or whether the committee would prefer to have the regular briefing next Wednesday.

Maybe Dr. Carrie could find out from the department what the procedure will be over the holidays for the committee to be able to have a weekly briefing, or what would be suggested as we move into a....

It could be good, could be bad, but.... It's our job.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Dr. Carrie.

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

I'd be happy to do that for the committee, and I could probably report back to you next week.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you, Dr. Carrie.

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

Can you remind us what's on for next Wednesday?

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Next Wednesday is HHR, Dr. Bennett. You have the calendar, or you should have it. It's HHR and the H1N1 briefing.

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

Are we having any witnesses at the H1N1, or is it just the briefing?