Thank you, Madam Chair.
I thank the Minister of Health for being here this morning to discuss supplementary estimates (C).
I would also like to thank her for having participated in the emergency debate suggested by my colleague Libby Davies, the debate which took place yesterday, on the drug shortage. However, the debate turned out to be rather sterile, since the government seems to want to avoid any responsibility in the matter. And yet, the Minister of Health stated that she wanted to work to accelerate the approval process for new suppliers, so as to help the provinces to make better decisions.
She claims to be proactive with regard to legislation, and yet the medication shortage is a recurring problem. In Quebec alone, according to data from the Institut national de l'excellence en santé et en services sociaux [institute for excellence in health and social services], in 2010, there were 116 shortages. So, we have a problem: there is no long-term plan. If there were one, it should include more regulation, which several provinces and health experts are clamouring for. Over the past few days, they have spoken to the media, both the anglophone and francophone media, from one end of the country to the other.
It is important to point out that in her opening statement, Madam Minister states that “providing Canadians with the information they need to make healthy decisions for their loved ones is key to optimum population health”. And yet, the blame is constantly being put on the provinces and on companies, whereas the federal government has the responsibility to protect health and ensure the safety of treatments, and find tools to “strengthen the health care system”. Once again, that is taken from the minister's opening statement.
Currently, the federal government does not oblige pharmaceutical companies to report their stock decreases. It is clear that the voluntary system whereby they provide information on stocks is not at all producing the hoped-for results, since we are once again facing a shortage.
We know very well that fires or technical problems can occur in any kind of industry. All companies do not release that information regarding their stocks. They choose what information they release. Consequently, several provinces and health experts are unable to obtain information on time. The proof of that is that it took several months before people in Quebec knew about the production slowdown at the Sandoz plant.
Madam Minister, it seems to me that the time has come to take preventive action, rather than doing crisis management to handle events that occur on a regular basis, even if they are spontaneous. It seems to me that there ought to be permanent coordination between the provinces, the federal government, health experts and the suppliers of pharmaceutical products, in order to guarantee continuity in the production and supply chain.
What concrete measures do you intend to take to prevent further shortages? Is it not time to show leadership—that is being called for by everyone, everywhere—and bring in a mandatory information disclosure system, as well as adequate regulation of drugs?