Madam Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this topic, and I welcome the chance to put some facts on the record, so let us look at the facts.
The fact is that PrescribeIT was launched by the previous government in 2017 after extensive consultation with provinces and territories. To create the program, the previous government worked with Canada Health Infoway, an organization that has received funding and support from Conservative and Liberal governments alike since its creation in 2001.
It is also a fact that any program like this needed to begin at the federal level. If we look at similar countries that transitioned to e-prescribing, whether the United Kingdom, Australia or New Zealand, these systems were launched through federal governments or national agencies. Of course, in Canada, provinces and territories are responsible for health care delivery, which is why PrescribeIT was built with the idea of it becoming self-sustaining, with the provinces and territories taking on their share.
Another key fact is that PrescribeIT may have worked as a technology solution, as we have heard, but it did not have the support from provinces and territories financially, nor did it achieve the ideal uptake for the program to be self-sustaining. I am sure the member opposite will agree that it is important for both to happen.
That is why our government took the step of announcing back in February that we were ending the funding for the program and working with Infoway on the next steps, and we are already seeing results on this front. Last week, Quebec came to the table with Infoway and signed an agreement to transition to PrescribeIT using provincial funding, exactly as the long-term model envisioned. We also know for a fact that other provinces and territories are watching how the deployment unfolds because they all recognize the value of modernizing our health data infrastructure and making sure that prescribers and pharmacists have the best tools available to serve their patients.
What is disappointing is that instead of engaging seriously on these issues and topics, Conservatives continue to focus on rhetoric and procedural games rather than the broader issue of how we modernize health care for Canadians. We have before us the opportunity to study urgent public health crises, including the public health emergency declared for HIV in Manitoba, but it has been delayed by that member from Manitoba through partisan obstructions.
At the same time, I commend my hon. colleague the member for Winnipeg West for standing up for vulnerable Canadians.
There are many important issues before us: strengthening public health preparedness, responding to infectious disease threats, supporting health workers and improving digital health systems across the country. I ask the member to join us on this front.