Thank you for that question, Mr. Thériault.
Basically, we can look at this issue from two main perspectives.
The first is how to deal with the impact of the pandemic in the short and medium term. The different health care systems across the country will certainly need to operate at higher capacities than they did prior to the pandemic to make up for the backlog in surgery but also in cancer screening. To do this, they will certainly need new resources. Increasing capacity includes hiring staff, upgrading equipment and creating new infrastructure. So new resources are needed for the different cancer departments across the country.
Then we can also look at the issue in the medium and long term, considering the aging population and the increase in the number of cancers. It's often said that nearly one in two Canadians will be affected by cancer. A concerted approach with a long-term vision and predictable funding is needed to address these future challenges so that Canadians can enjoy the best possible quality of life and health care systems can reduce their costs, including through better prevention and screening.
We certainly encourage the federal government to take a concerted approach involving all governments, charitable organizations, the private sector, researchers, and even citizens, in order to find the best possible solutions to develop this long-term vision and predictability.