Mr. Chair, I take the hon. member's admonition seriously. His first question was not short. Let me deal with the second question first and then I will come back to his lengthier question because that will take me some time if he wants me to go through all the funds.
In relation to HIV-AIDS, the hon. member is absolutely right that our strategy at the moment is an annual amount of $42.2 million. In fact that amount has not been increased over these past number of years. I have gone on record whenever I have met with national or local HIV-AIDS groups, for example from my own province of Alberta and my own city of Edmonton, that there is no question after the evaluation is done, which is ongoing at this very moment, I will be arguing very strenuously with my cabinet colleagues that we must increase the amount of money that goes into our annual national HIV-AIDS strategy.
I simply think that we know more today; science has helped us understand more about pharmaceutical interventions that help people live better lives and help them live longer while suffering with HIV-AIDS. We know there are gaps in our strategy. We know that more research needs to be done. We know that we need to put more emphasis on community support networks and support for families when a family member is suffering from HIV-AIDS.
I do not have to be convinced that more money is needed on an annual basis for the strategy. That is clear. It is a case of making sure that we do the evaluation which is required by Treasury Board, but more important, which is required because the community groups themselves are involved in that evaluation in identifying the gaps and the omissions. We must build on the good work that has been done especially by community based organizations and move forward.
The health committee is looking at this issue. I look forward to any recommendations that its members have for me in relation to how they think the strategy should be enhanced and built upon for the next phase.
The hon. member in his question worked through a number of funds that were identified in the first ministers accord in February. I do not know whether he wants me to go through them all, but I will identify a few and the hon. member can tell me to stop anytime he wants and I can send the information directly to his office.
He mentioned health services and official language minority communities. There is $89 million over five years to implement a training and retention initiative for health professionals and a community networking initiative to improve health services to minority official language communities.
At this point I will take the opportunity to congratulate and thank the chairs of the two committees. Hubert Gauthier from St. Boniface General Hospital in Winnipeg chaired the francophone minority committee on behalf of Health Canada. Eric Maldoff chaired the English speaking minority committee in relation to the provision of health services. Their work and the work of colleagues within the government led to a budget provision that the member has rightly identified to assist both official language minority communities in relation to the areas I have outlined.
The member mentioned pharmaceuticals management. Budget 2003 provides $190 million over the next five years to improve the timeliness of Health Canada's regulatory processes with respect to human drugs as an element of the overall health reform package. Access to safe, effective, new human drugs requires timely, efficient and scientifically rigorous review in all phases of the product cycle, including reviews and approvals by Health Canada.
This is an area to which I personally am very committed. We need to assess our existing drug approval process. We need to figure out how we move forward to ensure we have a globally benchmarked drug approval process that is second to none in the world, not only in terms of timeliness but obviously in terms of effectiveness, safety and cost effectiveness. That $190 million will help us discharge those kinds of obligations.
The hon. member mentioned nine funds. I have details in relation to all nine, but I get the sense that the hon. member does not want me to go through all nine. I would be happy to send the information in writing to the hon. member's office for his consideration.