The determinants of health are found in well designed programs to meet the needs of a specific clientele, infants in this case. I repeat, it is between the ages of 0 and five that everything comes into play. This is when the brain develops. This is when we learn to take in information and to create meaningful relationships with people, which will last a lifetime. This is what determines our intellectual directions.
There is no need for me to tell members that I had the good fortune of belonging to the category of children receiving a lot of intellectual stimulation. I thank all those who have made the process possible, especially my mother and my twin brother.
In my early childhood, while we were not rich, we were not lacking for affection. We lived in fairly close proximity. My identical twin, René, and I have fairly different characters. He is active in sports. My only sport is jumping to conclusions, but I do train a bit at the gym. I must say I was very happy then. I remember those moments with great joy. He went to École Victor-Doré, because he had cerebral palsy, and I went to a regular school, but at the end of the day, we kept each other abreast of the day's events.
I think that contributed a lot to my intellectual development. It is in fact my intention before June to invite my twin brother René and to introduce him to my colleagues, even though some have thought that people are not quite ready for two Ménards in the same political party.
I will continue by saying that the health research institutes will reposition research. It is extremely important to make sure that the areas to be covered by health research information will indeed be covered.
A strategic repositioning will take place in health research to solve major medical issues. While we are pleased about the progress made in science, we are aware that some answers have yet to be found.
Since my two colleagues are here, I am taking this opportunity to stress that one area of research in which we will have to invest in the coming years is that of heredity, genetics, the human genome.
The timing is good, because later on I will explain how Quebec has a number strengths in research. I mentioned biomedical research. There is, of course, cancer research. Quebec has very definite strengths.
There is also AIDS research. Quebec was one of the first provinces, one of the first nations to conduct research on AIDS. I am thinking about Dr. Weinberg's expertise. Dr. Weinberg is a member of the international institute for research on AIDS. He is the chair of that organization.
I know that the hon. member for Jonquière will make an eloquent presentation on genetic engineering, which is a strong sector in Quebec. This is why my colleague—who is incidentally an excellent member of parliament and a hard worker who keeps on top of her files—is very involved in making sure that the riding of Jonquière, which she represents here in the House of Commons, will get a health research institute specializing in genetic engineering. I do not want to anticipate on this topic, because the hon. member will be addressing it. She has a much better grasp of what is going on in this area than I do.
I have no doubt that the government will be won over by the arguments in favour of selecting her region as the hub of all genetic engineering research, because the institutes in question are not physical structures. We are not talking about mortar and brick, but about virtual structures.
Those of us here know something about the meaning of virtual because very often, during oral question period, we have the impression that the answers the government is giving us are virtual too. So we can speak with authority about matters virtual. The future CIHRs will be virtual; they will not have a new physical location, but will bring people together in a network. We are speaking of establishing networks. I will give an example of the region my colleague, the member for Jonquière, comes from. If it is decided to establish a genetic engineering research institute, research will be concentrated in this region, but there may be information from Saskatoon or Halifax, because all researchers will be able to access the network, and the most up-to-date information will be available to all members of the research community with similar concerns.
I must admit that this is the great thing about the institutes being proposed in Bill C-13.
Research will thus finally be broadened—I use this word deliberately—and decompartmentalized. Wherever researchers are concentrated, they will be able to stay abreast of what is being done by their counterparts elsewhere. This will, we hope, create a vigorous environment that will benefit the public and contribute to the development of researchers.
If I understand what the government intends to do, funding for these institutes will follow the normal curve. I think we used to learn in statistics—perhaps not so much in law—that the normal curve of distribution is bell shaped. I understand that investments in the Canadian institutes of health research will peak at $500 million. One has to admit that it is not a mere pittance. Indeed, it is a considerable amount. It will allow an increase in our capacity by investing in the development of researchers.
Incidentally, I would like to draw attention to a fact which the minister glossed over, but which I believe is worth mentioning, and that is the fact that the Medical Research Council will be abolished. This bill contains transitional clauses. There are basically four main granting agencies in Canada: the Medical Research Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Natural Sciences Research Council, and the National Research Council, the latter being involved in supporting industrial research in the private sector.
If this bill is passed—and I understand that it is reasonably well received, although I will comment further on this later on, because the Bloc Quebecois is motivated by its search for excellence as it has always been—we will have the opportunity to move amendments which I dare hope will be supported by the government.
The Canadian institutes of health research will promote interdisciplinary and integrated health research. This is important, because very few research fields are self-supporting. When research in genetics is carried out, it obviously can have some impact on research on populations. For instance, research on diabetes can change our understanding of health determinants.
It all hangs together. One of the merits of the Canadian institutes of health research would be to promote greater interdisciplinarity. As I said on many occasions because I feel it is quite crucial, this will encourage exchange of information between researchers. It will also encourage innovations in the field of research and, to conclude on this particular issue, it will further advance health research application in Canada and in Quebec.
Earlier, I referred to the interim governing council made up of 34 eminent Canadians. If need be, I could easily list them; there are quite a few celebrities among them.
I am thinking of Dr. Friesen of the Medical Research Council of Canada, which will be abolished. There was also Mr. Bryden, from Ontario. One of the most eminent members to whom I want to pay tribute today is Michel Bureau, of the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec, the FRSQ, the main granting council in the province of Quebec. He played a key role in drafting this bill. I believe I am correct in assuming that the FRSQ will appear before the committee.
I could also talk about Ms. Nadeau, associate professor in the department of psychology. Psychology is certainly one field where more knowledge is needed and it is certainly something politicians should know how to use.
I could also mention a distinguished professor from the faculty of law whom I had the pleasure of meeting myself in my Montreal office. She is an ethics specialist. Members know how important ethics are in politics. It is even more so when one has to develop research protocols to ensure that, if humans are asked to take part in research, it will be done with all due respect.
I thank Bartha Maria Knoppers—I know she will recognize her name even though I am not pronouncing it correctly—for making herself available and for talking to me about what we should expect from the Canadian institutes of health research.
There is also Dr. Robert Perrault, medical consultant and heart disease specialist. He is the director of public health in Montreal.
This is an impressive group of people. They worked very hard. I thank them for what they did, as did the Minister of Health. I want members to know that they organized their work. The minister announced the establishment of the Canadian institutes of health research last February. They formed a number of committees.
They formed these committees to be more effective, and I would like to list them. They organized their work using as their starting point a legislation committee. One of their mandates was to advise the minister on enabling legislation. I will return to that later.
They also had a subcommittee on planning the institute, a third one on programs and a fourth very important one on peer review. Hon. members must realize that all committees that are to award fellowships must be governed by the principle of excellence. Fellows must be selected on academic merit, the intrinsic merit of the research is what determines a recipient, not political affiliation. That has nothing to do with it.
Peer committees are therefore important. Peers must be the ones to make decisions. They must examine the documents. Care must be taken to ensure that, in each sector in which a research institute is created, the most knowledgeable people at the leading edge of research in that sector are the ones to assess applications. That is what peer review is all about.
There was a fifth committee as well, focused on knowledge. Then there is partnership and marketing. I will take it upon myself to point out to hon. members, although I cannot imagine them not knowing this, that there are two major categories of research.
There is basic research, which deals with theory and has no connection with marketing. This is research for the sake of research, like art for art's sake.
Then there is applied research, which of course has a very specific goal. It is very often sponsored by the private sector. It is aimed at a very precise application.
The last committee, and I already touched on this, is the ethics and policy committee. It is concerned with people who will be taking part in the research as guinea pigs, let us not mince words. Its area of expertise concerns the need to respect their status, on the need for a policy of informed consent always and on the need to ensure that people taking part in research projects know the effects of the products tested.
Could the Chair please tell me how much time I have left? I think I have used up half of my time, but I want to make sure that I do not forget some critical elements. Anyway, if I have something to add, at the end of my 40 minutes, to fully cover the subject, I will ask for unanimous consent to have more time. But it would make things easier for me if you could tell me how much time I have left.
The institutes will be headed by a governing council and there will be a president and advisory committees. I believe that it is important to see a few things. I do not know if the cameras can close-up on this acetate, but that would be very instructive.
You are indicating that I have only six minutes left. I still have many things to say. However, I am confident that there will be unanimous consent to allow me to continue.
Each of the research institutes will operate as follows: there will always be a secretariat, and divisions on basic activities, on clinical activities, on health systems and on culture and health, which are to some extent the determinants. The same model will apply for everyone.
I would also like to speak—I did not realize it would go by so quickly—of a number of things, and, in particular, of one thing that must be considered. The government cut $21 billion in transfers to the provinces. That is a cut of nearly $7 billion to health care and social services. This was money the provinces were counting on.
Even though we are pleased about the Canadian institutes of health research, even though for all the reasons I have given we will support the project, would it not have been simpler for the government to allow the provinces to assume this responsibility? Before establishing the Canadian institutes of health research, should the government not first have returned transfer payments to their 1993 level?
I want all parliamentarians in this House to realize that the Government of Quebec was deprived of $1 billion in transfers. That is $1 billion annually to manage a department of health, as Pauline Marois is doing with vigour. I will show correlations and demonstrate in specific terms what the cuts mean.
If we take all the cuts made since 1993 in Quebec's budget, we are talking about 20% of the cuts in all the hospitals of Quebec, about the closing of half of Greater Montreal's hospitals, about hospitalization costs for 370,000 persons, about the salaries of half the nurses, about all the operating budgets of all Quebec's CLSCs and, lastly, about the cost of all the youth services offered by the health care system.
The government cannot ask us to discuss such a bill if we are not able to remind the government that it acted like a highwayman, like a common thief. It had no respect for the provinces; it deprived them of resources. This is a government, in health care, that did what the worst offenders hesitate to do, it misappropriated funds. I repeat, and there is a consensus among opposition parties, this is a government that has literally stolen from the provinces. It should know that anyone who does that is called a thief.
I hesitate to mention this, but I felt it was my duty to do so. This will not, however, prevent us from supporting the bill in principle.
We will be introducing amendments because, when I read the bill, I nearly had heart failure, and I am in good shape. In law, the preamble to a bill has an interpretative function. It is not insignificant.
It states:
Whereas Parliament recognizes the role of the provinces in health care and that the Government of Canada collaborates—
Does it not take some nerve to mention “the role of the provinces” in a bill?
Needless to say that the first thing we will do in committee is introduce an amendment emphasizing the central role of the provinces under the Constitution. Is there anything more well established, since the days of the Tremblay commission ordered by Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, is there anything clearer in the minds of Quebecers than the prerogatives of the National Assembly and the nine other legislatures when it comes to the health sector?
The very least we are entitled to expect of a bill such as this is that it would state clearly that the provinces have a preponderant role.
I note that my time is running out. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to speak for approximately five more minutes. If my colleagues agree to grant me an additional five minutes, I will be most grateful, because there are things I feel bound to share with the House and I think that, as a general rule, when I rise to speak, it is value added.
We are going to support the bill. We are going to work hard in committee. We have submitted a list of witnesses, but I would need another five to ten minutes to fully address the issue. So, if you would be so kind as to ensure, in a spirit of open co-operation, that I am not deprived of my time, I would be very grateful, Mr. Speaker.