Mr. Chair, the minister is prepared and she has her officials here, but I still disagree with some of what she said.
Following September 11, the Americans passed what they called the public health security bioterrorism response act. Having that passed was one of the reasons that the Centers for Disease Control was able to come to Canada and assist us; it was simply because the United States passed that act in a speedy fashion. Here in this place, still languishing in Parliament, as the article in the National Post tells me, we have the Canadian public safety act, which would allow us to deal with bioterrorism or diseases like SARS in the same capacity that the United States can, will and does.
As evidence of how inconsistent the government is on this and where the message still does not appear to have come through, I am looking at page 30 of the minister's own estimates for the year 2003-04. I would like the minister to take a look at it and respond. It is under the heading in section 4, “Priority: Protect the health of Canadians by enhancing emergency preparedness and response capability”.
That is pretty clear, is it not? Let us look at the budget for that. This year, 2003-04, it is $432.9 million. I believe we are talking millions. In this world of ours is it not something to think that we have come from the pipeline debate when C.D. Howe was in trouble in this place for saying “what's a million” to now saying what is a billion? We are looking in this case at $432.9 million. It is interesting with this plan that the minister has in the making that it appears as if the department in the year 2004-05 is going to be spending less, not more, and in the year 2005-06 less still, at $307 million.
How can the minister stand in her place and tell us that we are going to be doing more when she has less money to do the very thing that she is talking about under the heading of emergency preparedness? Can she explain that one?