Mr. Speaker, it is important to understand that this is a machinery piece of legislation. The powers that this legislation would help streamline already exist under the mandate of the health minister. If we had more time I could explain it in more detail, but one way to look at it is it would be a different way of allocating responsibility to ensure that if a pandemic strikes, we would be able to act quickly as a nation, including the provinces.
It is unique in the sense that the chief public health officer would have the ability to speak directly to Canadians. The powers to which the member was referring already exist. There would be no extension of powers per se. The powers are already within the mandate of the minister.