Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member is a new member and I want to welcome him to the House.
I sat here this morning and listened to the member from the Bloc Québécois talk about the significant number of individuals working within the Public Health Agency of Canada who are devoted to the health care of our first nations peoples. That is a very positive step. Perhaps the member could look into those figures. I believe it was in a neighbourhood of 1,500 to 1,700 employees dedicated to first nation health and certainly a lot of work will be done both on and off reserves.
The member is concerned that the Chief Public Health Officer would not have standing or authority on reserves. In fact, the Chief Public Health Officer, under this bill, would be a deputy answering to the Minister of Health. I will give the member perhaps a couple of different scenarios.
Ultimately, the Minister of Health will have responsibility for what happens in terms of health care on reserves, such as in the case of an emergency, quarantines or containing a pandemic. The Minister of Health would do that, I would guess, in cooperation with the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. The Chief Public Health Officer, as a deputy, would work with other deputies within the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to address the health care concerns of our first nations people.