Mr. Speaker, I think the member may have a misunderstood. The agency does not create new powers, as the member has suggested. It is a re-allotment of powers that already exist under the Minister of Health.
The member talked about the agency being autonomous. The agency is not autonomous. Employees will continue to be public servants and there will be accountability through the Minister of Health.
The member talked about jurisdictional issues. Although I agree that the provinces have jurisdiction over health, and the Conservative Party is certainly very sensitive to that, there are some jurisdictional areas where everyone in Canada can benefit by working together. The Public Health Agency of Canada is designed to deal with such cases. For example, if there were, heaven forbid, a pandemic influenza we would need to have a coordinated effort throughout Canada to deal with the issue. In fact, we would need a coordinated effort throughout the world.
As we saw with SARS, it started in Asia, went through the vast transportation systems that now exist and came to Canada. Influenza knows no boundaries or borders and we need to be able to deal with it. If we extend the logic of the member, there would be no coordinated plan within Canada. The Public Health Agency has developed the framework for a coordinated effort, plus it provides an authoritative voice that is not political and has expertise to deal with public concerns.
The preamble of Bill C-5 enforces the collaborative efforts between provinces, territories and the federal government. Does the member honestly believe that a 1918 influenza or another type of disease, such as SARS, is only restricted by borders? Does the member not agree that we need to have a coordinated effort? If the member disagrees, I would respect her opinion, but the government would disagree with that opinion because we believe we need to work together for the collective good.