Health Committee on Feb. 5th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Good afternoon, everyone.

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 20 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders.

I would like to remind the participants of the following points.

You know them. I can repeat them for you. For those of you who are witnesses, raise your hand and let me, the chair, recognize you before speaking. For those participating by video conference, like Sonia, please make sure that you click on the globe at the bottom of your screen to turn on interpretation and that you click on “raise hand” if you want to speak.

For members in the room, as I said, you can raise your hand, and the clerk and I will try very hard to give the first hand up the first place, but that may not be possible.

I want to give you a bit of housekeeping before proceeding with the witnesses. Any proposals or amendments you wish to submit as part of the study of Bill C-15 must be forwarded to the committee clerk. The clerk will compile them and transmit them to the Standing Committee on Finance no later than February 27. Members have until February 26 to submit their amendments. Please remember that.

Pursuant to the order of reference for the House and the motion adopted by the Standing Committee on Finance on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, the committee will commence the study of the subject matter of clauses 400 to 456, division 25, of Bill C-15, an act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on November 4.

Today, we have the Minister of Health here for the first hour. The Minister is the sole witness.

Minister, welcome to the committee. You have five minutes to make your opening statement, and then we will have the questions and answers. You know the drill.

Please begin, Minister. You have five minutes.

[The Hon. Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Marjorie Michel]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Ladies and gentlemen, members of the committee, thank you for inviting me again today.

Thank you very much for the work this committee is doing.

Today, I’ll speak about the role of the health portfolio in supporting the Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1.

The economic and social benefits of a strong, universal public health care system make every one of us stronger and more resilient, both as individuals and as a country.

Before going any further, I would like to note that we introduced a bill yesterday aimed at creating a more connected health care system in Canada. Timely and secure access to personal health information is essential to save lives and improve care for Canadians.

This legislation is part of our government’s plan to strengthen and protect the health care system, and to give Canadians more control over their health. This is excellent news for Canadians, patients and doctors, and I look forward to working with this committee to move forward with the implementation of this legislation.

To have the future we want, we must start by building the communities we want. That’s why some of the most significant investments in budget 2025 focus on local infrastructure, including a new fund to build strong communities, totalling $50 billion. Of this amount, $5 billion is invested in health infrastructure. In many communities, hospitals built in the 1970s now serve double the population for which they were designed. This investment will help provinces and territories build more health care facilities, and renovate hospitals, emergency rooms, urgent care centres and medical schools.

In budget 2025, we are also investing in health research and supporting world-class Canadian talent, to build both a stronger economy and a better health care system. A resilient Canadian economy must advance research, in addition to attracting and retaining the best talent in the field, to drive growth.

Furthermore, we will conduct a comprehensive assessment of infrastructure and health care needs in the north, to improve access to health care for northern communities.

Our long-term health resilience also depends on having reliable access to life-saving vaccines and medications, because vaccines save lives. This is especially important in the event of a health emergency. Biomanufacturing is key, and that is why we are creating the conditions that will allow this industry to thrive.

While vaccine production is a health imperative, it is also an economic imperative. In addition to contributing to the health and safety of Canadians and being a driver of innovation, a robust biomanufacturing industry in Canada will boost our economy and create well-paying jobs.

The Government of Canada is helping this important sector grow with investments through the biomanufacturing and life sciences strategy. As a result, more Canadian scientists are at work in more labs across the country, doing research that will make life better and safer for Canadians, because better health care begins with better research and because in Canada, we believe in science and we value our scientists.

With this growth and an evolving threat landscape, new biosafety and biosecurity considerations have emerged. We now need to strengthen oversight to address these concerns.

In this respect, the budget implementation act proposes several amendments to the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act that allow us to more quickly address biosafety and biosecurity risks in the biomanufacturing sector.

In conclusion, as Canadian biomanufacturing continues to evolve, the way we oversee and regulate the industry must evolve with it.

I would now be pleased to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Minister. As you know, you can elaborate on what you want to say during the question-and-answer period.

However, before I move to that, I would like to introduce your officials, who are here to give you support if you need it. I'd like to introduce Shalene Curtis-Micallef, deputy minister; Jocelyne Voisin, senior assistant deputy minister of the health policy branch; Pamela Aung-Thin, assistant deputy minister of the health products and food branch; Matt Jones, assistant deputy minister of the healthy environments and consumer safety branch; Kendal Weber, assistant deputy minister of the controlled substances and cannabis branch; and Ryan Higgs, acting assistant deputy minister and chief financial officer.

From the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, we have Robert Ianiro, vice-president of policy and programs. From the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, we have Dr. Paul Hébert, president. From the Public Health Agency of Canada, we have Nancy Hamzawi, president, and Kimby Barton, director general of the centre for biosecurity in the regional operations and emergency management branch.

In the second hour, I will introduce Dr. Natasha Crowcroft.

Right now, Minister, we're ready for the question-and-answer rounds. The first round of questions is a six-minute round, and the six minutes are for the question and the answer. I will give you a little shout-out when you have a minute or 30 seconds left, so you can get in everything you want as soon as you possibly can.

I will begin with the Conservatives and Dan Mazier for five minutes.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

It's six minutes. Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I thought it was five minutes. I'm sorry.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Thank you, Minister and officials, for attending today.

Minister, in May, the Ottawa police chief sent a letter to your government raising child care safety concerns about the federally approved injection site on Nelson Street in Ottawa. Has your department briefed you on this letter? Answer yes or no.

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Yes.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Have you read the letter?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Yes.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

This letter stated that the Ottawa Police Service is “especially troubled by the unintended but serious consequences, such as the closure of nearby childcare facilities due to safety concerns, a situation that is without [precedent] in our city.”

Were you aware that a child care facility was closed next to this injection site because of safety concerns? Answer yes or no.

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

I am working very closely with the province on that specific matter.

We adjust to all regulations put in place by the provinces. When a province needs to renew a site, if a province wants to renew a site, we always work with the provinces.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

You obviously read the letter. In that letter, the police chief said that they were concerned about the closure of a site. To answer the question, were you aware that this child care site was closed, yes or no?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Was I aware that the...?

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

You said you read the letter, so you were obviously aware that the child care site was closed. Is that correct?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Yes.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Minister, law enforcement asked your government to move the injection site to protect children, but on November 28, 2025, you renewed the permit for this injection site. Why did you ignore law enforcement?

[The Hon. Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Marjorie Michel]

I’ll ask Ms. Curtis‑Micallef to answer the question.

[Shalene Curtis-Micallef, Deputy Minister, Department of Health]

The process by which the Government of Canada and Health Canada look at safe injection sites is multifactorial. That would have been a part of the considerations—

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

This question was for the minister. I'm aware of the process. The minister signs off on this—

[The Hon. Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Marjorie Michel]

No.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Health Canada approved these sites. The minister is the head of the department. At the end of the day, the buck stops with the minister.

I don't understand why you approved a site after.... The community and the chief of police were asking for you to reconsider the renewal and move the site, but you said no.

Why would you reapprove the site when everybody was screaming...asking for you to move the site?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I think the minister had referred to her official because her official understands the process by which sites are chosen.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

The minister doesn't?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

The minister does, but the nitty-gritty of a lot of these details can be answered by the official.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Can the minister just—