Mr. Chair, may we wish the hon. member for Hochelaga--Maisonneuve a happy birthday.
First, Mr. Chair and hon. colleagues, I do want to introduce my officials who are here this evening because this will be a long night for all of us. Let me introduce Ian Green, my deputy minister; Ian Shugart, assistant deputy minister of health policy and communications; and Patrick Borbey, assistant deputy minister of corporate services at Health Canada. I thank all three of them, as I know my colleagues do, for being here this evening.
This is an opportunity to focus on issues of profound importance to every one of us: our health and our health care system and the role Health Canada plays in protecting and sustaining both those things.
We know that Canadians are strongly committed to their health care system and they have told us that they care deeply about the basic values at the heart of this system: equity and fairness. Therefore, any actions we take must be measured against these values. This is what Canadians want and this is what the Government of Canada, working together with the provinces and territories, must achieve.
I will start with a description of the context within which the government addresses health issues in general, and will then move on to the key components of our strategic priorities for this fiscal year.
The point of departure is the mandate of Health Canada, which consists in helping the people of Canada to maintain and improve their health.
As we all know, this is not a role that we can fulfill alone. All levels of government have important and complementary responsibilities in health, as do communities, the people working in our health system, primarily those on the front line, and individual Canadians.
Before I go on, I would like to take a moment to thank the many doctors, nurses and other health care professionals who have worked tirelessly without hesitation and in some cases at great personal sacrifice during these past two months. Their heroic efforts have helped ensure that SARS has been brought under control in Canada. Since this week is nurses week, I would like to say a special thanks to Canada's more than 100,000 nurses for the significant contributions they make every day to our quality of life.
Let me also highlight the excellent work of Health Canada's scientists, microbiologists, epidemiologists and others working in Ottawa and across the country. The crucial work of scientists at Health Canada's National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg toward identifying the SARS associated coronavirus and in isolating genetic material from the virus was essential to the subsequent sequencing of the genome by the Genome Sciences Centre. I cannot overstate the importance of the contributions of Health Canada scientists working with their outstanding colleagues across the country.
The Government of Canada has clearly defined responsibilities in health which are anchored in collaborative work with others. Health Canada carries out these responsibilities through five broad roles. Let me take a moment to review these roles before speaking more specifically about some of Health Canada's priorities.
In relation to time, and I realize that there are undoubtedly questions my colleagues want to ask, I will not go into a lot of detail in terms of our roles. First, clearly we are a leader and a partner and this is demonstrated in part through Health Canada's responsibility to administer the Canada Health Act.
Second, we also have the role as funder. As we know, the federal government is a major contributor to health care through the Canada Health and Social Transfer. In 2003-04 transfers for health and social programs will total almost $38 billion.
Third, we have a combined role of guardian and regulator. Health Canada has been mandated by Parliament to protect Canadians against risks to health presented by health products, food and consumer goods. Furthermore, the department is now taking into account the broader smart regulation strategy that seeks to enhance Canada's place as a home for innovation while maintaining our standards for safety and stewardship.
Fourth, we have a service provider role. Health Canada is responsible for delivering health promotion, disease prevention and health care services to Canada's first nations and Inuit, making the Government of Canada the fifth largest health care budget in the country.
Fifth, we have a role as information provider. Canadians expect their federal government to provide reliable health information that they can use to maintain and improve their health.
As hon. members here this evening will have noticed from Health Canada's report on plans and priorities, we have identified five corporate priorities for the next three fiscal years. These priorities respond to current and emerging health issues as well as to government wide commitments. They are: health care system renewal; first nations and Inuit health; safety and health protection; balancing the health agenda; and improving accountability to Canadians. Let me briefly turn to each and discuss some of their major elements.
We spoke already this evening about health care system renewal. Our medicare system reflects some of the basic values of Canadians: the belief that all Canadians are entitled to quality health care based on need and not ability to pay; the conviction that no one should risk losing his or her life savings because that person becomes ill; and a determination to share the cost of health care through a publicly administered system.
These values are fundamental to the Government of Canada, as well as to the governments of the provinces and territories. Governments agree that our medicare system needs to change to reflect new challenges and new opportunities. That need was at the heart of the first ministers' health accord of last February. We have already talked about aspects of that, so I will reiterate that as a result of the accord Canadians will see fundamental structural changes to Canada's health care system over the next five years. Canadians will see improved accountability and they will witness firsthand how their money is changing and improving the system.
I would be remiss if I did not point out the important role that the Romanow commission, the Senate committee, the Kirby committee, and the many other studies that individual provinces commissioned in recent years played in the accomplishments found in the accord. The work of those commissions helped to clarify the direction government should take to meet Canadians expectations of an effective, efficient and accountable health care system.
I do however want to say a few words about the health council which in fact I know many hon. members are very interested in. My colleague, Nova Scotia's Minister of Health, the Hon. Jane Purves and I recently announced that an unexpected combination of issues, in particular the outbreak of SARS, have led to a short delay in finalizing the work surrounding the health council. Having said that, I want to reassure everyone in the House that we are making serious progress and I expect the announcement of the shape and work of the health council to take place within a few weeks.
Let me briefly turn to a second key priority for my department and that is first nations and Inuit health. Closing the obvious and troubling gap in health status between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians is a continuing priority for our government.
As I noted earlier, when it comes to expenditures, my department is the fifth largest provider of direct health care services in this country. That results in our having the same need to get the best results from finite resources that our provincial and territorial partners have within their own health care systems.
The first ministers' health accord recognized this role. The Government of Canada followed through in budget 2003 with $1.3 billion new dollars in funding dedicated to first nations and Inuit health programs. This will help ease the fiscal pressures on health services and programs for first nations and Inuit, and provide much needed new money for nursing and capital development on reserves. The funding will also support the development of a first nations immunization strategy for on reserve children.
Beyond these and other initiatives my department is working with our partners in aboriginal communities, other federal departments, and the provinces and territories to improve the quality of primary care, prevention and health promotion services. We will continue to be engaged with our partners through community based initiatives such as healthy child development and chronic disease prevention efforts.
I have talked about two of our priorities. The third priority is safety and health protection. Achieving positive health results for all Canadians requires efforts to protect Canadians against risks to health presented by consumer product and disease.
Accordingly, the third Health Canada priority is safety and health protection. There has been a great deal of attention to this area in the past few weeks as we have taken on the challenges of SARS and West Nile virus. The work here goes much further. For example, it includes our legislative responsibility to regulate the safety and efficacy of therapeutic products. This is a function that brings together varied commitments and responsibilities. We are working to respond to the needs of Canadians for quick access to new drugs, treatments and medical devices while at the same time protecting Canadians against the marketing of unsafe and ineffective products.
We are increasing our focus on emergency preparedness in a time that continues to be volatile so that we are prepared to respond to potential threats related to bioterrorism or an outbreak of an emerging or re-emerging infectious disease. This scope of responsibility is reflected in the wide range of activities undertaken in the federal government's response to the recent outbreak of SARS.
I want to say a few words about the work that Health Canada is taking in relation to West Nile virus. Health Canada was a key and instrumental partner with the provinces and local public health authorities in the fight against SARS.
Again, let me commend those on the front lines, especially in the city of Toronto, as we controlled and contained that outbreak and became a model for the WHO in relation to how other countries could go about controlling containment. However, in the world in which we live we now have a new challenge posed by West Nile virus.
In close collaboration with the provinces we are moving forward with national surveillance, attention to the safety of Canada's blood supply, and diagnostic testing. We continue to invest in public education, partnerships with first nations communities at risk, and the assessment of commonly used pesticides and insect repellants.
Let me briefly touch upon our fourth key priority in our three year business plan which is balancing the health agenda. This commitment is based on a simple reality that factors ranging from our living and working conditions to our community support networks and to our individual health practices all combine to affect the state of our health. The more we can effectively influence these factors and take action on disease prevention, health protection and promotion, the more we can improve the long term health of Canadians and reduce the burden on our health care system.
Accordingly, the 2002 Speech from the Throne included a commitment to encourage healthy living, physical activity and illness prevention. We are engaged in transforming that commitment into action with a particular focus on building a collaborative healthy living strategy. The resulting strategy will provide the support Canadians need to improve their health and reduce health disparities.
The final priority set out in the report on plans and priorities is improving accountability to Canadians. It is one that I have implicitly incorporated throughout my comments this evening. Accountability is critical in demonstrating to Canadians how well we serve them using their tax dollars.
The federal health agenda is based on partnerships achieving results. While there are clear and well known areas of direct federal responsibility in health, we are taking action across our agenda with a clear commitment to working with others: with the provinces and territories; with health professionals and workers; with colleagues in other countries; with researchers; and with communities and individual Canadians.
We have an ambitious agenda, but given the importance of health issues to Canadians and to the quality of life for everyone in this country, an ambitious agenda is precisely what we should have. I am confident that the plans and priorities described in this year's main estimates document will go a long way toward meeting the needs of Canadians.