Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the people of Surrey Central and on behalf of all my colleagues to respond to the government's proposal to replace the Medical Research Council and create the Canadian institutes of health research.
The objective, as I understand it, is to create new knowledge and then translate it into improved health for Canadians. Before I go into the details, I would like to extend my appreciation for the work of Dr. Henry Friesen, who is the president of the interim governing council, and other members of the council who have cared about the importance of cutting edge research and who have worked hard to put this idea together.
We want, of course, to provide Canadians with more effective health services and products from a strengthened health care system, not a weak system as the government has made it.
I hope the Liberals can do this with Bill C-13, which is one of the major pieces of legislation they have proposed before the House. I have some problems with what they say they can do, what they will actually do, and what they will cause to be done. These are the three different things I am concerned about.
Before I go into the details, I have many questions in my mind that I would like to have answered by the government members. Why are we not extending the mandate of the previous organization, the Medical Research Centre? Why are we not putting it on the right track? Why do the Liberals not give the current institution the vision and the tools to get the job done? Why are the Liberals reinventing the wheel? Perhaps it is cash-strapped because of the $23 billion the government cut from our health care spending. Maybe it is because of the lower morale and the confidence of the health care providers in the system. Maybe.
Is the Medical Research Council failing because of the brain drain that the government has caused? Are doctors, nurses, scientists and researchers leaving our health care system and research facilities in such large numbers that we are falling behind in research? Maybe.
Is it that the researchers and scientists cannot afford the technology necessary and the tools required in order to conduct their research?
All these questions have remained unanswered so far in this debate. I have been listening very carefully.
Why would the government allow that to happen to our research? Did it destroy our research capabilities in order to balance the budget? Maybe.
How much democracy is going to be created with this new institute?
The government members should be answering these questions during the debate today. Canadians want to know the answers to these questions. Canadians want accountability in our research system. The Medical Research Council has 85 employees and it costs about $14 million per year. However, instead of creating a new entity, why do the Liberals not work with the 85 scientists we already have in the system and give them the tools and the technology they need to get their work done?
The Liberals will have 20 directors to appoint if this bill passes, 20 patronage-ridden appointments which shows from their record. Will they be awarding these positions based on merit? Will these positions be advertised? I doubt it, that is important.
There is much work to be done on the bill and many considerations to be made. There has been very little time to consult with the various scientific communities. Who will co-ordinate, integrate and focus the research? How will this be handled? Will the applicants themselves, the people allowed to do the research, direct the bulk of the research, or will the nature of the research be directed by the advisory board forcing applicants to apply for funding in areas dictated by a central body?
Again, there are many areas that the health committee of the House will want to investigate. Witnesses will need to be called in to clarify certain aspects of the bill.
I recently received a letter from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada asking to appear before the health committee of the House. They are looking forward to appearing before the committee because they want to express their support for the bill. They also have concerns that they want to put on the table. They want to bring the foundation's unique perspective to the work of the committee.
The represent Canadians in the cardiovascular community: doctors, nurses and patients. The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada speaks for many Canadians, including those who have died from cardiovascular diseases. We hope they will be allowed to give testimony before the committee, unlike the Nisga'a hearings in B.C. As we see, the government stacked the witnesses on the list.
The Liberal dominated committee makes it very difficult for us to work with it. We on this side of the House want to help the Liberals. We know they cannot see they do not have vision. We know they do not listen to Canadians. We will hold the flashlight for them and give them direction in their darkness. We will try to help them do the government's committee work. However, it is very difficult to work with the partisan-ridden committee system that we have in the House.
We would like to support this bill. We would like to support whatever we can that will improve, develop and facilitate medical and health research in Canada because we know that is very important.
This bill could address the concerns of the brain drain. It could be used to attract and retain Canada's brightest young researchers. It is going to be hard enough to keep them in Canada because they are overtaxed. It is shameful that many successful young medical science graduates would go immediately to the U.S.A. to make some serious money and pay very little tax on the six-digit salaries they make there. It is going to be difficult for the Liberals to convince our finest young minds to stay in this overtaxing country. Maybe Bill C-13 could be used to expand what we have to accommodate our scientists.
Another issue is that Bill C-13 promises a clear and concise statement in a yearly plan that promotes the development of research in health and science. We know that the auditor general is continually calling on the government to be more transparent in its reports to parliament. There are many examples of the government not being overly forward in terms of providing the House and Canadians with the facts and figures concerning many initiatives.
The performance reports that the Liberals offer as supplementary budget estimates on a semi-annual basis are not all they are cracked up to be. They are a sham.
Let me give the example of CIDA. Parliament is quite far removed from its operations. CIDA is left running wild, out of control, while the government provides parliament with as little information as possible about the mismanagement and lack of—