Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague from Mississauga West.
I am pleased to participate in today's debate concerning the Canada Health Act and to deal with the issue of enforcement.
The federal health minister is responsible for monitoring provincial and territorial health systems to ensure that they adhere to the criteria and conditions of the Canada Health Act.
Canada's publicly funded health care system is a partnership. In terms of the federal government, Health Canada is responsible for the administration of the Canada Health Act, while the provinces and the territories are responsible for the organization and the delivery of health care services in their respective jurisdictions. This shared role requires us to work in close co-operation with one another.
The Canada Health Act contains nine requirements that the provinces must fulfil to receive their full share of federal funds, which are provided to the provinces and territories in the form of tax points and cash under the CHST. These include the five program criteria of public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability and accessibility, which apply to insured health services.
In addition to the five criteria, there are two conditions of the act, information and recognition, which apply to not only insured health services, but also extended health care services.
As members may know, insured health services are medically necessary hospital and physician services. Extended health care services are nursing home intermediate care services, adult residential care services, home care services and ambulatory care services. Finally, there are the extra billing and user charge provisions, which only apply to insured health services.
The Canada Health Act provides sufficient flexibility for the provinces and territories to restructure their health care systems so that they continue to respond to the individual needs of their populations.
Changes to Canada's public health care system can occur without violating the principles of the Canada Health Act. We all know that the time has come for a national effort to renew and strengthen medicare. All governments believe that the status quo is no longer an option. The changes required can and should occur within our public health care system. The principles of the Canada Health Act are broad and flexible enough to allow for innovation while building on the strengths of our single payer system.
The federal government's commitment to maintaining the principles of the act is to ensure that the integrity of one of the best health care systems in the world is not jeopardized and that Canadians continue to have access to a comprehensive range of medically necessary services on the basis of their need, not on their ability to pay.
Many potential issues of non-compliance with the Canada Health Act criteria or conditions over the years have been resolved without resorting to CHA penalties. In these instances, discussion and negotiation at the official level were instrumental in bringing these matters to a satisfactory conclusion.
In the event that discussions and negotiations between the federal and provincial officials prove ineffective in reaching a resolution, the Canada Health Act provides a process by which suspected violations can be investigated and resolved, or indeed penalized.
When the federal health minister receives information and is of the opinion that there is a suspected violation of the act, the minister must undertake consultations with provincial and territorial counterparts. Only after these consultations does the minister proceed to invoke the penalty provisions of the act, if the facts of the matter under investigation confirm that a CHA violation has occurred.
Under the Canada Health Act penalties for violations of the criteria and conditions are financial. The government uses moral suasion and financial penalties under the CHST to persuade the provinces and territories to take corrective action.
While the government is prepared to act if there are violations, let me reiterate that it is always our hope that we do not reach that point, that issues of potential non-compliance can be resolved through discussions and negotiations, without resorting to penalties.
There are broad, fundamental challenges which are facing the health care system in Canada. The federal government is committed to working with the provinces and the territories to meet these challenges. We would always prefer to build on the co-operative relationship we have shared with provinces and territories over the years, and to build on the creativity and innovation which created our public health care system that is the envy of the world.
In response to the auditor general's concerns about Health Canada's capacity to enforce its responsibilities vis-à-vis the Canada Health Act, the federal minister made a statement to the House of Commons on Thursday, May 11, announcing a budget increase of $4 million to the existing $1.5 million for the Canada Health Act division. This will allow for an increased enforcement capacity to monitor and assess compliance with the act across Canada, as well as to investigate potential non-compliance issues on a proactive basis.
As well, the announcement of the realignment of the administration of activities at Health Canada on April 17 will strengthen the department's regional presence and increase the policy and analysis capability in the regions to strengthen Health Canada's ability to monitor Canada Health Act compliance on the ground.
Information is an essential tool for the federal government in administering the Canada Health Act. To that end, Health Canada is developing an improved information gathering framework that will assist the federal government in improving its monitoring, assessment and reporting of provincial and territorial compliance with the criteria and conditions of the Canada Health Act.
Health Canada's response to the auditor general's report, and to Alberta's bill 11, will result in the development of a process which will ensure a comprehensive and fair approach to the administration of the Canada Health Act. This new approach will take time to implement and requires the support of our provincial partners. This is why the government is working closely and collaboratively with the provinces and territories on all the issues related to the Canada Health Act.
Our goal is to ensure that the underlying principles of our health care system are protected for the benefit of all Canadians. By working with the provinces we are putting a much needed emphasis on making the co-operation and administration of our cherished, publicly financed health care system more transparent and accountable to Canadians.
In closing, I want to reaffirm the government's commitment to working with the provinces and territories to ensure compliance with the principles and conditions of the Canada Health Act. The changes that are needed to see us into the 21st century are possible within the public health care system, and are fully consistent with and supportive of the principles of the Canada Health Act.