Health Committee on Dec. 2nd, 2010

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Health Canada continues to examine the renewal of the health warnings on tobacco packaging, including the possible addition of a pan-Canadian quit-line number. Our department does not consider the hard-hitting health warning messages on tobacco to be a stand-alone initiative. It is much broader than that. We're going to look at combatting tobacco.

Furthermore, the social environment has changed significantly since the health warning messages were introduced ten years ago. We did not have Facebook. We did not have Internet access for young people. We did not have texting. It's a good time for us to re-focus our efforts to ensure that the warning labels reach the largest possible number of smokers while remaining effective and efficient. We are examining innovative ways to complement existing strategies by strengthening our process, using the Internet and social media like Twitter and Facebook to target the highest number of people in the population.

We are examining all that. We have not said no to labelling, but we are taking a broader, silo-free approach to addressing tobacco.

[Luc Malo, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Minister, my question may have been simple, but you haven’t answered it.

When will you stop studying this question and begin to implement the strategy you have been talking about?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

I said we're looking at how we promote it. It's not a strategy per se, but we're examining what we're doing now and how best to promote prevention using the other social media networks that are in place, aside from labelling. I'll continue to review that, and hopefully some time in the new year we'll have a decision on it.

[Luc Malo, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

If I understand correctly, this will take another year, will it not?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

No, that will be in the new year. The new year is next month, 2011.

[Luc Malo, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Thank you.

Last week, I asked you a question in the House concerning compensating provinces, that is, financial compensation to off-set the additional costs brought about by the isotope crisis and you replied that the matter was under study.

I see, from the supplementary estimates, that no provision for this has been made. It seems then that you are still at the beginning of your thought process. On September 15th last, The Globe and Mail indicated that $33 million in compensation would be remitted to the provinces in relation to the isotope crisis.

Madam Minister, could you tell us where you are in your thought process and analysis of this question so that we can really get a handle on whether or not you intend to compensate the provinces in this matter?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you.

On the medical isotope situation, when we experienced it the last time, provinces and territories put in contingency measures that they agreed to implement in the case of a shortage of medical isotopes. We need to put that out there, because when we were dealing with the shortage, each jurisdiction was responsible for rolling out contingency measures to mitigate the shortage of medical isotopes and the supply chain of that particular product. So provinces and territories and I have had this discussion.

I'll show you a letter I received from Nova Scotia saying they didn't incur any additional costs, so they were not going to ask for additional money because they had implemented their contingency measures. Nova Scotia is the jurisdiction where we have the highest cancer rates in this country.

So if you want to put forward what you incurred I will be happy to review that information in the context of how you implemented the contingency measures we agreed on to mitigate the shortage of supplies. I'm still open to that. I have not received a formal request from any jurisdiction, and some jurisdictions have come forward to say they did not incur any costs so they're not coming forward with additional requests.

Thank you.

[Luc Malo, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

So, you are encouraging every minister of Health to write to you. That’s great.

Madam Minister, in your statement, you spoke of nutrition, and particularly of foods that are high in fat. As you know, your department has created a study group on the trans fat content of foods. We have noticed that, at the end of the delay allotted to different companies to significantly reduce the amount of trans fats in foods, much remains to be done.

I therefore wonder quite simply if, considering the importance of sound nutrition, either your government or you yourself intend to enforce regulations imposing limits.

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you for that.

I'd first like to highlight the great announcement we made in Toronto that was pan-Canadian with the food industry on the percentage of daily value labelling we introduced so Canadians can better make informed decisions on the sodium level and fat level of any product. We launched that in Toronto and it's now being rolled out on every package you see. It makes it clearer to Canadians what percentage of fat and sodium they consume in the products they buy. This is part of the initiative we're trying to address on transfats, sodium, and what not. Again, this is a first for Canada. It was announced in direct partnership with approximately 40 food industries.

We will continue to assess how effective those types of initiatives are in Canada. We will continue to provide information to Canadians to reduce their levels of consumption of transfat. We will monitor the progress we've made. Regulation is always an option if things are not working. But the approach we have taken here is to work in partnership with the food industry in the provinces and territories to educate Canadians and reduce the levels of transfat in the products sold in Canada.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you, Madam Minister.

We'll now go on to Ms. Leslie.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Hello. Welcome. It's good to see you all again.

My first question, Madam Minister, is about the federal initiative on HIV/AIDS. In 2004 the federal government promised to sustain funding at $84.4 million annually, and we're only at $72 million. When you last appeared at committee I asked a question about this, and you said that the investments were “substantially more than...$84 million”, but last week when Dr. Butler-Jones appeared at committee he confirmed that in fact investments are at $72 million.

Why did you say that we were substantially over $84 million, and when can HIV and AIDS groups expect this promise to be fulfilled?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

The information I shared with you was in fact correct. The total to date on HIV is $139 million.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Is that strictly with the federal initiative?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

There are federal initiatives through.... There's $72 million in historical allocations as well as the Canadian HIV vaccine initiative. That's $139 million.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Right. But with the federal initiative it was supposed to be—

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

It's more than $72 million.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

It's not with the federal initiative.

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

There are many federal initiatives. The Canadian institute has invested $40 million in research. The Canadian HIV vaccine initiative is another multi-departmental federal investment, as well as those made through Public Health Agency of Canada departments.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

So there is money committed to CHVI, money committed to the vaccine manufacturing facility, which we all know about, but Canadian grassroots organizations know and were expecting that over the course of five years the amount would go up to $84.4 million, and it's only at $72 million. When is this going to be ramped up to $84 million?

[Dr. David Butler-Jones, Chief Public Health Officer, Public Health Agency of Canada]

First of all, the discussion of the dollars was an idea; it was not a commitment. There were not the resources allocated for that. In fact, expenditure review meant that the allocations across the agency were reduced to address a whole range of programs. That was part of the work of the government of the day.

There is more money coming from us in terms of the federal initiatives for communities than there ever was. In 2004-2005 there was $47 million. Prior to that, in the previous five years, there was $42 million. That $47 million is now $72.6 million. So in five years there has been considerable.... In addition to that, there is the CHVI initiative, which has the greatest potential for actually addressing this disease.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Yes. So it was just an idea to get it to $84 million.

[Dr. David Butler-Jones]

Well, until you actually have the dollars in hand, it's still an idea.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

I would call it a government promise.

When it comes to the vaccine manufacturing facility, we know that $26 million was diverted from grassroots community organizations into putting together the vaccine manufacturing facility. Does the government intend to return that money to grassroots community organizations?

[Dr. David Butler-Jones]

There was no money diverted from grassroots organizations. They got more money than they ever had before. It was not taken away. It was an idea; it was a promise that never came through. We used resources in the CHVI initiative.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

I think civil society organizations certainly have a different perspective.