Thank you very much. Good morning, Madam Chair and members of the committee. It is a pleasure to be here today to discuss the supplementary estimates (B) and how these funds will be used to help Canadians improve their health.
The funds we will be discussing today will be used for a variety of important programs, many of which have been in place for years and have been proven effective.
Health Canada is seeking a net funding increase of $48.1 million in the following areas: aboriginal health programs, Nutrition North program, tobacco litigation, and medical isotopes.
Most of the increases are strategic investments for us that were announced in budget 2010. Much of this additional funding will allow Health Canada to continue to provide support to Canada's aboriginal people by delivering valuable programs, some of which are provided in partnership with the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.
With respect to the first nations health programs, $32.8 million is being sought for the Indian residential schools resolution health support program. As committee members may be aware, this program provides emotional and cultural health support services as well as professional counselling to former students and their families throughout all phases of the Indian residential schools settlement agreement. Some services are provided directly through local aboriginal organizations, and others are provided by psychologists and social workers who have experience working with aboriginal people.
This investment ensures that Health Canada can fulfill its commitment to provide culturally appropriate mental health and emotional support services to residential school survivors and their families.
Another notable item is $5.5 million for additional health programs in the areas of maternal child health, mental health and addictions, and community capacity for two Innu communities in Labrador.
Additional funds are also required to help in the transition from the outdated Food Mail program to the new Nutrition North Canada program.
Nutrition North Canada will support improvements to ensure that northerners benefit from improved and increased access to nutritious food throughout the year. Nutrition North will also support improvements such as education initiatives intended to increase awareness of healthy eating while developing skills for selecting and preparing healthy products from stores along with traditional or country foods. Health Canada is allocating $1.5 million this fiscal year and $2.9 million for 2011-12 for nutrition and education initiatives.
Among our additional investments in these supplementary estimates is the provision of $10.3 million to support the defence of the Government of Canada in ongoing tobacco litigation.Three million dollars over two years is also being sought to support non-reactor-based production of medical isotopes, to look to optimize the use of the existing supply, and to support the development of new medical imaging technologies that do not use isotopes.
In closing, the resources requested through the supplementary estimates (B) will be used to help Canadians maintain and improve their health in these very specific areas.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to answering any questions the committee may have.