Health Committee on April 23rd, 2026

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

My next question is for Ms. Donaldson.

From your perspective, what are the biggest supply chain vulnerabilities for Canada right now? What should the government do to improve those?

[Christine Donaldson]

The vulnerabilities today can be addressed through a national coordinated policy and framework. As I mentioned in my remarks, there is an opportunity to focus on critical and vulnerable medications. Health Canada has had some leadership in this area.

We have a vested interest here, as a provider to hospitals and health care organizations, as many of the products on that list are injectable medications and are life-saving. When you think about it, why do you present to an emergency room? It's because nothing else will help you get through the acute or life-threatening illness you're facing.

We have a very opportunistic time to collaborate to look at what information we have, the experiences we can share and the data. The government could really help us with coordinating and pulling together the key stakeholders that can provide intel on the data we own today. That can point us in the right direction to strategize and invest in the smart procurement strategies.

I always like to say that we use procurement as a gateway. We can use it as a really important economic reason to make the right decisions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

Now I'm going to the Bloc, with Monsieur Blanchette-Joncas for six minutes, please.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I welcome the witnesses who are with us today.

Mr. Leclerc, first of all, I want to acknowledge all the work you are doing with your organization. In just a few months, you have accomplished a great deal. You have provided some very concrete examples. You have demonstrated that in Quebec, we are capable of developing expertise and know-how, as well as strategic capabilities of the highest level. You have provided concrete examples of what your team is capable of developing.

In your opinion, what is currently missing to make this capability sustainable and self-sufficient?

[Denis Leclerc]

It's not complicated; what's missing is funding. The expertise has been there for a long time. Funding a drug in Quebec has helped consolidate this expertise and foster collaboration. However, all of this makes sense only if this funding is maintained. Ultimately, that's how we'll reap the benefits of this investment. If we continue to support this kind of initiative over decades, we'll really see significant benefits emerge for Canadians, and organizations like VaxSynergy will eventually become sustainable and able to fund themselves through their activities. Scaling up this type of initiative will allow Canada to move forward quickly and distinguish itself from other G7 countries.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

I completely agree with you.

I'll approach the issue from the other side. Obviously, I am an ally in supporting your funding efforts. However, without predictable and structured funding, what do you think Canada specifically risks being unable to do? What are the risks of not funding you?

[Denis Leclerc]

The risks are enormous. We cannot work together to address these issues and operate according to good laboratory practices, as I mentioned earlier. It requires a great deal of rigour, but there are costs involved. All of this needs to be implemented. The work of an industry is very different from that of the academic world. Government investment is absolutely essential to implement these initiatives. It's really important.

From what I understand, Canada isn't the G7 country that invests the most in research and development. So there's a significant shortfall. It's no secret: talented people are leaving the country because funding is easier to obtain elsewhere. If we want to keep our best minds here so they can work and develop new technologies, we absolutely have to put money into it.

I speak with some perspective: I've been in this field for over 30 years now, and that's what I've observed.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

I'd like to pick up on what you said.

Canada is certainly not the leading investor. It's the only G7 country that, over the 20 years from the early 2000s to 2020, and even up to the present, cut back on R and D investment. We have a lot of potential, but it takes investment because this environment is very competitive, as you know.

Beyond product development, you also talked about your role in training. Without ongoing support, is Canada also at risk of losing strategic capacity to train highly qualified personnel?

[Denis Leclerc]

Yes. Everything is interconnected, and I think that's what makes it strong.

Let me tell you about Quebec City.

Expertise in the vaccine sector grew in Quebec City for a long time, fuelling vaccination initiatives there. It's no coincidence that the GSK production facility was built in Quebec City. Four or five people who were trained in my lab work there. The same is true of Aramis Biotechnologies, which is also in the vaccine sector.

In order to attract multinationals to set up shop in our country, we need to train people in the vaccine sector. That means doing research and training students. They also need to be taught good laboratory practices. They have to learn to speak the industry's language. When these people get into the industry with this training, I'm proud to say, they very quickly become autonomous and effective.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

I would like to draw on your experience. You said you've been in the field for many years.

In the early 2000s, Quebec had the world's biggest biopharmas, many of them located in the greater metropolitan area. They didn't leave because it snowed too much one Saturday afternoon, though. From your perspective, why did we lose them?

[Denis Leclerc]

I think it comes down to political will.

Let's go back even further. Back in the days of Dr. Armand Frappier, we manufactured our own influenza and hepatitis A vaccines in Quebec. Armand Frappier's vaccine production facilities were shut down in the mid-1980s, I believe.

If we had kept those facilities open, they would have continued to grow and we would have continued to innovate. They probably would have expanded. I have no doubt that we would have been in a much better position to deal with the COVID‑19 pandemic we experienced in 2020. We probably would have been an international frontrunner in dealing with it.

With regard to research funding, the key to reaping the benefits is to keep that funding flowing over time. There's no point in investing millions of dollars in a hurry and tens of millions of dollars over a short period of time only to then cut off that funding. That doesn't work.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Monsieur Leclerc, you have 10 seconds left, so please wind up and finish what you're saying.

[Denis Leclerc]

I was finished. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

I'm going to Mr. Bailey for the Conservatives for five minutes, please.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair. Will you be giving me a one-minute warning?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I'll give you a warning, yes. I just don't give Mr. Blanchette-Joncas a warning. He told me not to.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Thank you to the witnesses for joining us today.

Mr. Thibeault, you started out by saying, “the duty of a nation [is] to protect its people.” That resonated with me because yesterday we learned that in the past 10 years, Canadians have paid over $275 million for health care for people who have had their refugee claim rejected.

Are Canadians experiencing longer wait times for specialist care and routine diabetes management across Canada due to the rise in immigration?

[Glenn Thibeault]

I don't have that specific answer, but what I can tell you is that across the country, we all know that we don't have enough health care practitioners from coast to coast to coast. Every provincial government and the federal government are working collaboratively to try to resolve that issue. If I had a magic wand, it would be great to solve it.

I am Sudbury-based, and there are people in northern communities in northern Alberta, northern Manitoba and northern Ontario who can't get access to the specialists they need, so we would encourage all governments of every level to work together to try to address that issue.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

The reason I asked the question is that physicians are charging a higher rate for some of these people. We're seeing it with pressure sores and certain things that people will come with from other countries, and they get better treatment than our own Canadians. That's why I asked you the question.

I'll go to another topic.

Diabetes often coexists with chronic pain. Has the opioid crisis compounded the pressure on the patient population?

[Glenn Thibeault]

Again, that's not data that I would have access to.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

I understand that. Thank you.

On pharmacare, Alberta has a really robust diabetes program. Can you tell us why Alberta was so adamant that their program was better than programs in other provinces?

[Glenn Thibeault]

I think every province that has not had a bilateral agreement just yet will tell you that they look forward to having one with the federal government.

The Alberta government has a number of medications on their formulary that put them ahead of other provinces and territories. Do they do some great things? Absolutely. Do they need to work on other things? Absolutely.

I think my friend from the Bloc would agree that Quebec also has a very good program that's very hybrid in its approach, and it's something we can continue to look at.

We're all-in in supporting universality when it comes to pharmacare. We think everybody in this country, no matter where they live from coast to coast to coast, should have access to the medications they need. We're just not sure if the single-payer approach is the right approach, and Quebec is an example to look at. With hiccups and warts and everything, there are opportunities to do things better, but pharmacare is the right approach in making sure that we can have universality for medicines.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Thank you.

Ms. Donaldson, has your industry been able to keep up with the increased demand for pharmaceuticals due to population growth?

[Christine Donaldson]

At this point, we look at all patients who present to our hospitals as increased demand. I would say that we always have a challenge when it comes to forecasting the actual demand, the true demand, against what we project.

There's a real opportunity here for us to look at any sort of population change or growth. Access to care is vitally important to us at HealthPRO Canada, because we want to be able to reach into the far edges of the provinces, coast to coast to coast, as my colleague here has been speaking about. There's an opportunity for us to make sure that we are actually addressing the pockets of need, wherever they are.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Very quickly, I recently learned that due to a commerce law, Quebec and Ontario are the only provinces that can produce generic medications. There's a company in Alberta that would like to, but they cannot. Can you elaborate on that for me?