Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to speak to Bill C-13. We know that this legislation will have an impact on every community and that it is about our quality of life.
Bill C-13 defines what the research institutes are and how they work, and states that they will replace the Medical Research Council. Some say that these institutes will have a broad research mandate and that it will reposition research in general. It will promote a new way of conducting research on biomedical projects, new ways of conducting research in social sciences. I believe it is an interesting opportunity for social sciences and health.
Some say that these institutes will not be centralized basic institutions. We know full well that the government tends to centralize a lot, but these institutes will not be centralized. Rather, they will be virtual, so that researchers, scholars, hospitals and research centres will be able to communicate with each other and to share information by computer. In other words, a centre in a particular region conducting research on a specific subject will be able to communicate the progress made in its research to all the other centres across Canada and even internationally.
We can only be glad that the data will be made available to all researchers in Canada and around the world. People's health should be one of our major concerns.
It is also important to know what is going on in the various fields of research. Let us take research on multiple sclerosis as an example. We know that various fields of research are involved with this disease, including neurology and psychology. It is good to have different perspectives on this awful illness.
No decision has yet been taken about the institutes to be created. Several themes have been mentioned. Those include ageing, arthritis, musculoskeletal development, cancer, molecular biology, the health of children and their mothers, clinical assessments, technology assessments, heart disease and strokes, peripheral vascular diseases and respiratory illnesses.
Funding proposals have been submitted for 150 research projects. We can only be pleased by the variety of projects that could get financial support from the government. These projects could start as early as the year 2000 and budgets could be tripled by the year 2001.
The institutes of health research could be set up, co-ordinated and funded by the federal government, in order to provide some help to the provinces. Provinces have sustained cuts of $7 billion in health care. It is important that we support each and every element of health care.
We have one criticism to make of the federal government. We know that the federal government has been dragging its feet for years with regard to funding for research. Quebec was always neglected when the time came to choose places for the establishment of research infrastructures. We know where the government chose to set up such institutions. Ontario was greatly favoured in the past and Quebec was often neglected in that regard.
The new bill will repeal the Medical Research Council Act and will set out the structure, mandate and operation of the institutes. The objective of these institutes may raise some ethical issues.
This is interesting, since we know that there could be a lot of debate in our society on the application of certain medical practices.
There are no institutes at the present time. The permanent governing council will be free to choose which type of institutes will be established. We, in the Bloc Quebecois, deplore the fact that a permanent governing council will have the freedom to make these kinds of decisions with regard to the type of institutes that will be established in various provinces and various regions of Canada and Quebec.
We know all about the centralizing vision of the federal government. The fact that the responsibility for establishing the various research networks will be given to the permanent governing council is cause for concern. The provinces have exclusive jurisdiction over health care and the federal government took or, should I say, stole $7 billion from them to build up its much talked about surplus, which the Prime Minister is so proud of.
I hope the provinces' different priorities with regard to health care and research will be taken into account.
I hope it is not another example of the federal government's bad habit of steamrolling the provinces. One need only think of the millennium scholarship fund. There are two opposite ways of seeing things, the federal government's way and the Government of Quebec's way.
We are happy to see that the research institutes will probably lead to an increased life expectancy. As we know, a man who does not smoke and lives a relatively healthy life will live to the age of 73, and a woman can expect to live to the age of 83. The new technologies are complex. The stakes are high. This bill deals with people's lives.
The Bloc Quebecois has always asked for more investment in research. This is why we are happy with the increased funds that will be made available in the area of research.
We know that Canada has often lagged behind relative to the financing of research. The OECD has often criticised the federal government for its lack of support to research. It can also be said that the fact that the federal government has slashed $7 billion in the health system has also contributed to a budget shortfall, which plays a major role in the provinces' ability to support the whole health care system.
The provinces were not involved in appointing the members of the governing council, which is said to be temporary and will become permanent. This council will take very important decisions. It will choose the fields of research for which health institutes will be created. Apparently, four fields of research will be favoured, four fields that are of special interest to Quebec. There is a lot at stake.
For example, 60% of the biomedical research is done in Quebec through research firms. Research on patent drugs is very specific to Quebec. The second field would be clinical research. The third would be research on health services and the fourth, research on a health and culture society.
As we know, we are not all born equal. This last field is of particular interest. There is also early childhood, from age zero to age six years, in terms of the impact of stimuli on personal growth.
I would make one cautionary note on all those aspects, since we know, for example, that we are unable to fund them within the health network in any of the provinces and in Quebec. It is certainly a step in the right direction to support researchers in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada so that there can be exchange of ideas.
However, we hope that the Canadian government will be able to reinvest in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada the billions of dollars it has cut since the Liberals came to power in 1993. This is of paramount importance. We must fund not only research but also direct patient care so to apply the results of research. If the health network is insufficiently funded, things will really go badly.