Health Committee on March 13th, 2012

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Madam Chair, while I'm speaking I would really appreciate it—

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

This is a debate; you do not have a point of order.

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

—if you would allow me to finish my sentence. If the chair is saying that I am not in order, then I would challenge the chair—

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Dr. Fry, could you state which standing order or practice you consider to have been breached right now for your point of order? Could you tell me what that is?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Madam Chair, this is not really about a breach of anything. It's about the principle behind your not allowing questions to be appropriately asked—

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

You do not have a point of order. You can't just talk right now—

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

You intervene every time a questioner is asking a question and you continue to stop the process from actually occurring—

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Dr. Fry, I'm trying to explain this to you.

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Well, I would like to finish my sentence, Madam Chair, because you speak over me, and I don't think that's very polite or appropriate—

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

That's because you keep going on and on without stopping, and everything is being held up—

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

When I make a point of order, I expect you to listen to my point of order. At the end of the point of order, you can then respond. That is how it works.

I would appreciate it if the chair would understand what she's doing by intervening every time someone wishes to clarify a question with the minister. This is an inappropriate way of dealing with the whole concept—

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Rulings are not subject to debate, Dr. Fry.

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

—of question and answer.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

We'll go to Ms. Block.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

As I was saying, you are probably aware that in the spring of 2010 an all-party parliamentary committee on palliative and compassionate care was formed after a private member's bill was defeated, which called upon the government to legalize euthanasia. Obviously, this committee was formed as a response to recognizing that. It was not enough to just defeat that bill, but we needed to take a look at end-of-life care and provide compassionate care to those who were in a palliative state. This past fall a report was published called Not to be Forgotten. It focused on palliative care, suicide prevention, and elder abuse.

My question for you, Madam Minister, is this. What is our government doing in regard to advancing palliative care for Canadians?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you for the question. Health Canada works with a range of palliative care experts and other stakeholders on initiatives to enhance Canada's capacity to provide quality palliative and end-of-life care. We're investing in the establishment and implementation of national quality standards for palliative care services. We're helping to ensure that all doctors, nurses, and social workers graduate with a core knowledge of how to care for people at the end of life.

We have also been investing money over the past decade to foster the promotion of knowledge sharing and public awareness, and we've invested significant funds through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to help build capacity for palliative care research across Canada. More recently, this government is pleased to provide a one-time funding of $3 million to support the development of community-integrated palliative care models. The provinces and the territories are primarily responsible for the delivery of palliative care.

While the federal, provincial, and territorial governments have their respective areas of responsibilities, our collective goal is to facilitate access by Canadians to quality palliative care services across a variety of settings.

Thank you.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Thank you very much.

You mentioned in your opening remarks the issue around the debate that's been taking place publicly about multiple sclerosis, and we know that Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world. I come from Saskatchewan, and I'm sure you're aware of the work that our provincial government is doing in providing some of the funding of clinical trials. I know you spoke to it, but you probably couldn't cover everything in the short period of time that you had to make your opening remarks.

I just wanted to give you an opportunity to expand further on the work that our government is doing, perhaps even on the monitoring system that has been initiated.

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you for the question.

Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is the most common neurological disease affecting young adults in Canada. Every day three or more people in Canada are diagnosed with MS. In fact, Canadians have one of the highest rates of MS in the world. Our government knows that action is necessary, and that is why we are funding research towards more effective treatment and ultimately a cure.

We have invested about $55 million in MS-related research to date. We are also investing more broadly in neurosciences and stem cell research—areas that are increasing our understanding of neurological diseases and expanding the potential for therapies.

We have made significant investments in neuroscience research and stem cell research in the last couple of years, and the funding is supporting our top health researchers, such as Dr. Wyse of the University of Calgary, whose fundamental research in the area of neural stem cell has been built upon by the neurological researchers, not just in Canada but around the world.

Based on the advice of scientific experts, our government decided in June 2011 to proceed with clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of the CCSVI procedure. CIHR is currently selecting the research team who will conduct this clinical trial. The funding for the study will start as soon as May of this year. We're also establishing a monitoring system to capture better information on MS patients, including those who go outside of the country for treatment. The monitoring—

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you, Minister. Sorry to interrupt you, Minister. We're running out of time.

Please go ahead, Dr. Sellah.

[Djaouida Sellah, NDP, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the minister and to the officials for appearing before the committee.

Given the issues raised by my colleagues, such as the drug shortage, which we discussed with the minister during her previous visit, and the well-known issues of salt reduction and the regulation of energy drinks, I have a great deal of trouble believing that public health is a priority with this Conservative government.

This government has always been clear: it has asked the various federal departments and organizations to prepare budget reduction scenarios of 5% and 10%. Each one of you has received various scenarios prepared by the government, and you are only waiting for the March 29 budget to know the extent to which your budgets and employees are going to be affected.

This committee has repeatedly heard testimony on health promotion and disease prevention, as well as the crucial role of the Public Health Agency of Canada in the prevention of several diseases and conditions, and I am concerned about possible cuts in your budget, Madam Minister.

In her testimony before our committee, Ms. Elmslie, from the agency, in fact referred to an excellent investment. She spoke about the Aboriginal Head Start in Urban and Northern Communities program, a program that seems primordial when we know to what extent aboriginal people are affected—more than the Canadian average—by chronic diseases.

Can you guarantee to the committee that the Public Health Agency of Canada will not have to truncate its programs after the tabling of the budget on March 29? Failing that, can you guarantee that it will be able to fulfil its mandate? The committee has heard several witnesses testify on the importance of prevention and the role the agency should play in that regard.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Minister, I'm sorry, but we're just about out of time. I know you have to leave at a quarter to, so could you respond to Dr. Sellah's question? Thank you.

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you.

I think our government has made it very clear to the provinces and the territories, which deliver health care, that we would not cut health transfers to respective jurisdictions. It was made very clear by the finance minister when he met with the finance ministers in British Columbia that health transfers will not be cut. In fact, they have predictable and long-term funding, which each jurisdiction that delivers health care can use to do their own planning in the future.

In terms of Health Canada, along with the federal departments and agencies, we have been engaged in efforts to support the Government of Canada's goal to return to a balanced budget. When we developed our cost-saving proposals for this government, we took a close look at how we conduct our business and how we can best continue delivering our core mandate of protecting the health and safety of Canadians. Departments were asked to provide the proposals. Again, the final decision will be made when the budget is delivered this month.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Minister, we all want to thank you so much for attending today and for your very thorough answers. I know that department representatives are going to stay and continue to answer questions, so I will just suspend for a minute to allow you time to get to your further duties.

Thanks again. We really appreciate it.

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

We'll suspend for one minute.