Health Committee on May 7th, 2026

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

There's a long list, and I will entertain everybody. I have been doing this for the last three or four meetings, since we have suspended. Don't you worry. Everybody will get their fair share, their fair time.

Instead of interrupting Mr. Mazier, I would love to go back to you, Mr. Mazier.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

I get your message.

I have another verbal motion.

Given that:

a) the Liberal government's PrescribeIT program spent $300 million in Canadian taxpayer money over ten years, reached fewer than 5% of Canadian prescriptions, and was quietly shut down in February 2026 with doctors still faxing prescriptions exactly as they were when the program launched;

b) David Fast served as Executive Vice-President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Canada Health Infoway—

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Mr. Mazier—

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

This is a verbal motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Do you want to bring in a motion?

[An hon. member]

It's a notice.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

This is verbal notice. Thank you. That's good language.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

You should say that first.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

I'm sorry. Thank you for keeping me on my toes, Chair.

I'll continue:

b) David Fast served as Executive Vice-President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Canada Health Infoway throughout the operation of the PrescribeIT program and was present at the November 12, 2025 board meeting at which the decision to wind down PrescribeIT was made, and is therefore among the most senior Infoway officials with direct knowledge of the program's financial management from beginning to end;

c) as Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Fast has direct responsibility for the financial controls, internal reporting, compensation frameworks, expenditure approvals, and fiscal oversight of an organization that received...$300 million in federal public funds for PrescribeIT, and would have been the senior executive most closely involved in the preparation and approval of financial decisions that this committee has been unable to obtain satisfactory answers on from other witnesses;

d) testimony before this committee on May 5, 2026 confirmed that prior to joining Canada Health Infoway, David Fast served as President of Agfa HealthCare North America—

My gosh.

—and that Michael Green, who served as President and CEO of Canada Health Infoway for over a decade, previously served as President and CEO of Agfa HealthCare—

Really....

—for the Americas region—meaning both men held senior leadership roles at the same private health technology company before together overseeing the PrescribeIT program;

e) testimony before this committee on May 5, 2026—

That was almost a month ago.

—further confirmed that Michael Green personally recommended David Fast for the interim CFO position at Canada Health Infoway, establishing a direct relationship between the two men that was never disclosed to this committee or to the Canadian public;

f) testimony before this committee on May 5, 2026 confirmed that the CFO position was never competitively posted; Mr. Fast was brought in on an interim basis, a process that bypassed the competitive hiring standards that apply to senior executive appointments at a federally funded organization, and he remains in that interim role to this day, more than two years after his appointment;

g) [when] this committee asked the Chair of Canada Health Infoway how much money Canada Health Infoway has paid to Agfa HealthCare since 2017, the witness could not provide any figure, leaving open the question of whether the organization shared a financial relationship with the company where both its CEO and CFO previously held senior leadership roles, and whether any conflict of interest declarations were made in relation to those payments;

h) when the former CEO of Canada Health Infoway, Michael Green, appeared before this committee on April 21, 2026, he refused to disclose his own compensation when directly asked by members, claimed not to have that information at hand, and left the committee without providing a clear account of the financial decisions made during his tenure; the person at Infoway best positioned to provide that account is the Chief Financial Officer;

I think we all remember that meeting and how we were all taken aback.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Just read the motion, please.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

I'll continue:

i) $10.2 million in additional expenditures flowed out of Canada Health Infoway after the November 2025 wind-down decision, with no complete public accounting of how that money was authorized, categorized, or spent; as CFO, Mr. Fast would have overseen or approved those expenditures and is in a unique position to account for them;

j) Infoway's own disclosures show that $167 million of the $300 million total was consumed by operations and overhead, of which $108 million was personnel costs—

That's $108 million in personnel costs. My God.

—representing a ratio of approximately $50 in administrative expenditure for every dollar of fee revenue—

That's 50:1.

—the program ever generated; no witness has yet explained to this committee how financial controls and value-for-money assessments were applied to those costs year after year, and that explanation must come from the organization's chief financial officer;

k) Mr. Fast has not appeared before this committee at any point during its investigation...with [his] direct knowledge of the financial decisions at the centre of this investigation, and his absence represents a significant and unacceptable gap in the committee's ability to fulfill its accountability mandate on behalf of Canadians;

l) The committee summon David Fast, Chief Financial Officer of Canada Health Infoway for two hours to testify on the financial mismanagement related to the $300 million PrescribeIT program, within one week of the adoption of this motion.

With that, Mr. Chair, I will stop.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you very much.

Honourable members, I want to tell you the committee rules. You might be wondering about this, because the same motion was brought forward by Mr. Bailey. Even though every member has a right to read a notice, the only member who will be able to raise it is Mr. Bailey.

Just a minute. I'm going to suspend for a few minutes. I have to check with the clerk.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

We're back to order. It's the same thing. I had a discussion with the clerk—

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

What did you just find out with the clerk?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

I don't need to tell you.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

You suspended the meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

I'm giving you the direction now. That's where I took the floor—

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Why did you suspend the meeting?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

I suspended the meeting to give you direction on this, because any member—

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

On what...?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Just a minute. Let me speak. Do you want to speak, to continue to speak?

If I have the microphone, let me speak, and then, if you have questions, you can raise your hand and I will intervene.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

I'm interested in your decision, Chair. That's why I'm asking.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

The decision is this: On the same motion, I wanted to, first of all, tell the members, because the members might be wondering.

The same motion was brought forward by Mr. Bailey. Mr. Mazier had the right to read the notice, but when it comes to debate or discussion, Mr. Bailey will take precedence. That's all I wanted to say.

Now the floor goes back to—

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

On a point of clarification, Chair, can we ask for unanimous consent on that motion, then?