Health Committee on Feb. 5th, 2026

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

You spent $900 million on health care for asylum seekers, and this type of advertising just balloons that problem. We, as Canadians, are receiving worse health care than people who aren't even from this country. Are you aware of that? Are you aware of the $900 million that was spent on asylum seekers?

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

Indeed, I know that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada receives money for asylum seekers. I know that. However, it’s not a file that I manage in my department.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

It's a big budget item, and it's something that really needs to be looked at. Again—

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

I have a point of order.

Are we allowed props in the committee? I believe the member just pulled out a prop.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

No, that's for the House. This is a piece of paper.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You're allowed [Inaudible—Editor].

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

I was just double-checking.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

I'd like to ask you a brief question on sealed vaccine reports and the access to information request.

A written request from a Conservative colleague revealed that an access to information request on vaccines and adverse drug reactions since 1998 has been pushed back for 15 years.

Are you aware of this?

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

Yes, I read that, obviously. I know my files. I read the briefings every morning when they come in. Yes, then, I was informed about that recently, when the access-to-information request was made. What I can tell you is that the requests are very complex. They’re enormous. The department is working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have 40 seconds.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

What would it take to get this request for documents fulfilled faster? Should we be asking for these documents at committee? We can do that if it would speed things up.

[Nancy Hamzawi, President, Public Health Agency of Canada]

I'm happy to provide additional clarity on that.

This request came in early in the pandemic, so we're a few years in, and the portfolio is not planning on taking 15 years to respond to this request. We anticipate that the response will come during this calendar year. We have been in close discussions with the requester to scope it so that we can move through the millions of pages of documents to make sure that we respond to our obligations under the Access to Information Act in as timely a way as possible and provide the information to Canadians.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

Your time is up, Mr. Bailey.

We now go to Ms. Chi for the Liberals.

You have five minutes, please.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the minister and all the officials for appearing today.

Minister, for years, Canadians have carried their health information from appointment to appointment, repeating their medical history, managing paper records and hoping that the systems would talk to each other.

It was exciting to see that the connected care for Canadians bill was introduced in the Senate yesterday. Could you let the committee know how this bill changes the day-to-day experience for patients and their families?

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

It’s good news for patients to have a connected health care system.

I’ll give you an example. I always tell the story about when I went to Val-d'Or and I got to see what it meant to have unconnected care. A doctor who was seeing a patient in one city and wanted to refer them for treatment in another city had to print out the file and give it to the patient, who then had to bring it to the other doctor in the other city. Furthermore, the pharmacist on the ground floor could not send his prescription just one floor up because the systems were not connected.

We talked to patients, and I had a lot of conversations with stakeholders like the Canadian Medical Association, and we realized that having connected care would really save lives. Indeed, it will prevent people from slipping through the cracks because their results didn’t arrive in time for them to receive the best care. I think it’s really going to improve health care in Canada.

I must also say that I discussed it with my provincial and territorial counterparts during my last meeting with them, in October, and they were generally in agreement on moving forward with this bill.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you, Minister. That's great to hear.

My next question is for the officials.

We know the pan-Canadian interoperability road map is under way, but the bill goes farther and faster.

Could one of you help explain how this piece of legislation accelerates connected care across provinces and territories?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

The minister is the witness here, Ms. Chi.

Perhaps you can ask the minister, and she can refer it to the appropriate official.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Absolutely.

The question is directed to the minister.

[Jocelyne Voisin, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Health Policy Branch, Department of Health]

Thank you, Chair, for the question.

The bill enables technology exchange among systems. The interoperability road map sets those standards voluntarily with vendors, provinces and territories across the country. The bill mandates that use.

It also prevents data blocking. This is a practice we see done by vendors, but it can also be done by health authorities or others who are unintentionally blocking data. It accelerates adherence to the standards, which are already international.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

That sounds good.

Further to that, how do you see this sparking innovation and technology in the field?

[Jocelyne Voisin]

Doing this unlocks the potential of data currently locked in electronic medical records—across the health care system and in hospitals—that are not being connected across health care settings.

It also does so for innovators who want to use synthetic data or anonymized data for innovations. The use of AI in the health care system has enormous potential, really, to transform how health care is delivered and provide better outcomes for patients.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you.

To your point, the bill would definitely establish a new foundation to support digital tools in health and responsible AI in health care.

I think you partly answered this: Why is it important to pair data sharing with innovation, and what kinds of breakthroughs could Canadians see as a result?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have 51 seconds left.

[Jocelyne Voisin]

One key objective is making sure patients have access to their own health data. In the same way as you have access to your bank account and can do your banking online, a patient would have access to their comprehensive patient record so that they don't need to repeat their story every time they go to a different specialist.

That's one of the key objectives, but it would also be a more efficient health system.

Then, of course, it would also enable innovation.

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you so much.

Minister, one concern Canadians often raise—