Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Welcome everyone to the committee's last meeting. Madam Minister, thank you for being here. Welcome. I would also like to thank all of your officials who are here with you today.
I want to begin by reading an excerpt from page 165 of the main estimates for 2011-12. It describes the votes for this year. I will read you the two paragraphs that outline the main estimates under the heading of Assisted Human Reproduction Agency of Canada:
The Assisted Human Reproduction Agency of Canada is estimating expenditures of $10.6 million in 2011-12. Of this amount, $9.9 million requires approval by Parliament. The remaining $628.6 thousand represents statutory forecasts that do not require additional approval and are provided for information purposes.
The last paragraph is where it gets interesting:
In total, the department is estimating an increase of $31.2 thousand, or 0.3% from previous Main Estimates.
Madam Minister, could you please explain why the main estimates for the Assisted Human Reproduction Agency of Canada have increased for the upcoming year, when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of Quebec on December 23, 2010 with respect to its challenge of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act? The judgment states that the federal government does not have the right to regulate human infertility research or medical practices.
Madam Minister, why did the person who calculated these votes for the Assisted Human Reproduction Agency of Canada not take into account the Supreme Court of Canada ruling? Why have the estimates gone up?