Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members.
On behalf of Health Canada, I am pleased to appear before you to discuss the proposed changes to spending from what was previously outlined in the main estimates. Today, I am sitting here with Mary-Luisa Kapelus, the director general of strategic policy—I am going to get the full name wrong—for the first nations and Inuit health branch of Health Canada.
I am Jamie Tibbetts, the chief financial officer and assistant deputy minister for finance at Health Canada.
Allow me now to provide you with a quick overview of the supplementary estimates that were tabled on May 10, 2016. The department has put forward several important initiatives, which will result in an increase in funding of $165.2 million. This means that Health Canada's total budget will now be about $3.9 billion for the current fiscal year. These are outlined in the supplementary estimates, if you have them before you, on pages 2-26 and 2-27.
Most of the items included in these supplementary estimates are related to measures announced in budget 2016, particularly around infrastructure spending initiatives. In terms of specifics, the department is seeking, in voted appropriations, increases of $94.9 million for affordable housing and social infrastructure projects. This includes $82 million to support community health facility infrastructure, consisting of nursing stations; health centres; acute care facilities, known as “hospitals”; and drug and alcohol treatment centres on first nation reserves. That $94 million also includes $12.8 million to repair and retrofit existing infrastructure associated with the aboriginal head start on reserve program.
Another key item we have put forward in the supplementary estimates, related to budget 2016 infrastructure spending, is $25 million to renew and enhance the public health components of the first nations water and waste water action program. We continue to provide public health services related to water and waste water in 395 first nation communities across Canada. This falls under the category of public transit, green infrastructure, and existing programs mentioned in the budget.
Another increase the Department of Health is seeking is $25.4 million, again from budget 2016, for the initiative called “Addressing Climate Change and Air Pollution”. It is a renewal of funding. It allows Health Canada to continue to provide scientific research, under the clean air regulatory agenda, on how air pollution impacts health.
Health Canada is also seeking $12.7 million for infrastructure spending initiatives to support a variety of infrastructure improvements, such as upgrades to the security of federal laboratories to address failing structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, ventilation, and fire systems, etc. These are in various regions in the country.
Another request is for $2.4 million for this fiscal year for the federal contaminated sites action plan. It is related to budget 2015, and it is phase III implementation of the federal contaminated sites work.
Finally, there is $600,000 to maintain critical food safety activities, which is, again, a renewal of funding that had sunsetted in the prior fiscal year.
I will cut off my comments here.
Thank you, once again, for inviting us here today. We look forward to answering your questions.