Evidence of meeting #3 for Health in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was number.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch, Department of Health
There have been no deaths, but the sites have responded to over 65,000 overdoses, and they've been visited more than 5.3 million times.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Winnipeg West, MB
Can it be a reasonable assumption that, had these people been consuming drugs in places other than a supervised consumption site, they would have had a significantly higher chance of dying?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch, Department of Health
If there were not the supports needed, such as naloxone, to save the individual, then that could be the case.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Winnipeg West, MB
Thank you.
There have been reports of people saying that there are things like crack pipes or discarded needles found near these places.
At a safe consumption site, when someone is using a needle, do the people take these needles with them, or are they disposed of on site?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch, Department of Health
There is safe disposal on site.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Winnipeg West, MB
Thank you.
Is there any estimate on disease prevention? We do know that reusing needles can increase the risk of transmission of diseases like HIV, hepatis B or hepatitis C. Is there any data or evidence on what the supplying of clean needles to people using at these sites.... What is the burden of disease that would have been prevented at these sites?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch, Department of Health
Yes, definitely, the burden of disease is reduced. The actual origin of supervised consumption sites a few decades ago actually originated around the time of HIV and also infectious disease.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Winnipeg West, MB
Thank you.
Ms. Hamzawi, regarding mitigation of outbreaks, there are various estimates in the medical literature on this. The public health actions taken during the pandemic were controversial and not accepted by a lot of people. Is there an estimate of the number of lives that were saved in Canada by these public health measures that were take in Canada?
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
I do not have the specific number handy with me now, but I can get back to you with the number of lives saved.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Winnipeg West, MB
Am I correct in understanding that the relative mortality due to COVID in Canada during the pandemic was one-third that of the United States?
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
It was significantly less. That was thanks to the largest vaccination campaign in the history of Canada; 152 million vaccines were distributed across Canada.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Winnipeg West, MB
Thank you.
We were talking about the measles outbreak and how it's increasing. I'm seeing yet another headline from Manitoba yesterday of another large outbreak that's happening. That's my home province. Do we have any strategies on how we can better improve vaccine uptake in Canada?
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
Just on the measles in particular, I'll note that this is an area of active collaboration with provinces and territories. This is all hands on deck, and in fact the deputy and I were meeting with our deputy counterparts last week in Edmonton, where we did have a discussion around measles and how all governments are seized with this issue. We are working together to make sure that we're bringing the best available information to Canadians.
The vaccinations are being delivered particularly, for example, to populations that are particularly vulnerable, to make sure they have the information they need so that they can make proper decisions for themselves.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Winnipeg West, MB
Thank you.
I've been hearing claims that some of the measles outbreaks and other newer infectious disease outbreaks are due to increased immigration in Canada. Is there any data to support that?
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
I'm not aware of any data to support that.
As I noted earlier, 93% of cases are individuals who are unvaccinated.
Liberal
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Winnipeg West, MB
I don't think I can ask a meaningful question in that time.
Thank you very much.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
We'll now go to the Bloc Québécois.
Monsieur Thériault, you have six minutes, please.
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Good morning, everyone.
Ms. Hamzawi, I'd like to start by congratulating you on your new position.
In early September, you indicated that you were going to cut 320 positions. You also said at the time that this would lead to you re-establishing priorities, streamlining certain programs and, in some cases, shutting down certain activities altogether. Are there priorities that you're going to abandon? If so, which ones? What activities are you going to shut down?
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
Thank you very much for the question.
I want to emphasize that we were very serious about making decisions to adjust programs at the agency, which was created in the wake of a pandemic crisis. Our priority is health security.
Our cuts focus more on staff reductions, and we will maintain the agency's range of activities. For example, the health promotion and chronic disease prevention branch will continue its regulatory activities. Based on the lessons we've learned from the COVID‑19 pandemic, we're going to build our capacity in a few areas, such as waste water surveillance and genomics. Those are capacities that we didn't have before the pandemic. There will be cuts in a number of areas, but as of now, the agency isn't going to shut down any specific activities.
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
You can't tell me today, then, which activities will cease or which priorities will be abandoned.
By the way, I appreciate your speaking in French, but if you're more comfortable in English, I can have access to the interpretation. I don't mind. That might speed up the pace of our conversation and give me more time to ask my questions.
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
I'll try to speak faster in French.
The focus is on health security. We aren't going to abandon any priorities; we're going to adjust our staff across all our activities.
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
What I understood was that all the cuts applied to all the programs, and that this could also affect the activities of the national microbiology laboratory. As far as I know, the laboratory's work is quite essential in terms of research, diagnostic tests, surveillance and disease containment. It also plays a crucial role in national, and even international, biosecurity.
Why cut jobs there? How do you guarantee that we won't find ourselves in the same prepandemic movie where a government—not the last one, but the one before it—had cut programs and put us in a situation where the pandemic hit us hard? How can you assure us that Canadians won't be put at risk when an organization as essential as that one will be subject to cuts?
President, Public Health Agency of Canada
The budget cuts aren't the same in each branch. For example, the national microbiology laboratory branch was the least affected one. It had a 4% reduction, which focused on areas where there were efficiencies or areas where university research was being done as opposed to applied research. It was the least affected branch within the agency.
The 320 positions represent 10% of our current workforce. For example, in branches like the group that supports me and Canada's chief public health officer, there's been a 50% reduction. We tried to make cuts on the oversight and administration side to avoid touching the programs that are crucial for Canadians' health.