Health Committee on March 12th, 2026

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Minister, do you have a plan? You've been minister for a year. I didn't see anything about this in the supplementaries. Do you have a plan to address this problem that is in every province and that you're unwilling to call a crisis?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

As you know, I work with the provinces and territories. They are responsible for the health care system. We are there to support them according to their priorities.

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

You're the federal health minister. Would you agree with me that a federal document, the Canada Health Act, governs the delivery of health care in hospitals across Canada?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

We are all governed by the Canada Health Act. Of course we are.

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

You are the minister who regulates and has special authority under the Canada Health Act. Is that true or not?

[Shalene Curtis-Micallef]

The Canada Health Act provides a framework for ensuring that Canadians have public health care—

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

I'm sorry, but I asked the minister if she is the minister who oversees the act, and I'm shocked that she won't take responsibility.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Dan Mazier]

Thank you.

Ms. Sidhu, you have five minutes.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister and Health Canada officials, for coming in today.

My question is for the minister.

Minister, I want to talk about AI. It's quickly becoming a key driver of innovation in health care. We have seen it first-hand in Medtronic with some of the technologies being developed. We saw how robots are doing surgeries. There are many other technologies being developed everywhere.

With AI and innovation showing the greatest potential to improve patient care and strengthen our health system, looking ahead, how will the investment in budget 2025 and the proposed connected care for Canadians act help Canadian innovators and health providers bring these AI-enabled and innovative health solutions to more patients across the country?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Can you repeat the question?

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

How will AI have a good impact on health innovation and patient care across Canada?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

As you said, I just saw in Medtronic how AI and technology can change lives.

As I said before to another colleague, I feel, from what I see on the ground, that in a very few years, the health system will be completely different due to the use of those tools.

Our responsibility right now is to see how we can frame this. We need a frame, because right now there are a lot of initiatives on the ground. When we are talking, for example, about the connected care for Canadians act that just came up in the Senate, it will help release data. The thing is, we have a lot of data. We have a huge amount of data in Canada, but right now the fact is that it is not connected. Even on the AI side, people cannot share the technology.

When we pass the bill, it will be even stronger. It will be nationwide.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

My next question is about clinical trials, which play a wide role in helping patients access new and innovative therapies while also supporting research, investment and better health outcomes in Canada.

Health Canada has announced that it is working to modernize the clinical trials framework to make the system more efficient, more transparent and better aligned with innovation while maintaining strong protection for participants.

Can you speak about the work under way to modernize Canada's clinical trials, mostly for cancer research, and why this is important for patients and our health system?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

I will turn to you, Mr. Hébert, but I can talk about the regulation.

[Paul Hébert, President, Canadian Institutes of Health Research]

On the regulatory side, it should be someone else, but I can answer the other parts.

We've lost 3% of market share in Canada related to clinical trials. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's $2.5 billion a year and 20,000 jobs.

From an economic perspective, it's a really big deal for jobs in Canada, and it's the mechanism by which we get drugs and new devices to market. The reason this is a problem is all the slowdowns in the system. Part of it is ethics and contracts, which we are responsible for at CIHR. We can modernize all of this and speed it up. The other parts are the regulatory frames that Health Canada is helping with, modernizing and making faster. There are people in the room who can talk an awful lot more about it than I can. The other parts are getting the drugs to market once they're approved.

I hope that's helpful.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Minister, on the dental care plan and the expansion, I always had very good feedback. For the family net income under $90,000.... How many patients have we enrolled, and what is the outcome for this and the impact on families across Canada? Can you speak to that?

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Dan Mazier]

That's the end of the time. You're done.

Ms. Konanz, you have five minutes.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

I have a question for the minister.

You've heard this question before. One more time, is injecting fentanyl safe, yes or no?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

We have to look into everything. There's no one-size-fits-all in the drug—

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Sometimes it is safe, and sometimes it isn't. Is injecting fentanyl safe? That's why I was making it easy with a yes-or-no question. It's not very funny, because so many people have died at these injection sites.

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

This is what science shows, and this is why those sites were opened at one point. This is why provinces and territories are asking for the exemption that you don't like—

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

They are looking to you as a leader.

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

—because research shows that it saves lives.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Research shows that injecting fentanyl is safe. Is that what you said?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

I am talking about safe consumption sites. I'm not talking specifically on—