Madam Speaker, the mandate of the Health Protection Branch is to protect Canadians against current and emerging risks to health. These risks come from prescription drugs, medical devices, consumer products, food and water contaminants, air pollution, radiation, chemical hazards, tobacco diseases, and natural and civil disasters.
Risk management is a decision making process for dealing with health risks. The health protection branch uses a formal method called a framework that lists all steps in the risk management process.
I want to tell the member what these steps include: identifying and assessing risks; developing, analysing and choosing options for managing the risks; implementing the selected options; and monitoring and evaluating the results.
This approach is used by provincial, territorial, national and international health organizations. The risk management framework was adopted in 1993. It has helped to ensure consistency and thoroughness in the way that risks are assessed and decisions are made.
It also results in a more understandable and transparent process. It promotes the use of best available scientific and technical information. It clearly identifies roles and responsibilities. It ensures that those who are affected by risk management decisions are properly consulted.
The health protection branch is one of the department's organizations that contributes to the management of risks to the health business line. I would like to take this opportunity to reassure the member that the health protection branch has not been replaced by an entity called the management of risks to health.
Earlier this year the minister launched a process called transitions which includes improving the risk management framework for the 21st century. At the present time this is a process of review. It is open and transparent consultation which hopefully will lead to an era in the new millennium so that even the member will have confidence and stop saying such nasty things about the renewed health protection branch.