Mr. Chair, could I seek the consent of the House to ask a question or two of the kind parliamentary secretary?
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2008, with 50% of the vote.
Supply November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Chair, could I seek the consent of the House to ask a question or two of the kind parliamentary secretary?
Supply November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Chair, with all due respect to the minister, he is acting like a crown prosecutor. He did not answer my question.
I asked him whether his government intends to keep money earmarked for certain pathologies, such as prostate cancer or diabetes, or whether he wants to have a comprehensive approach to public health.
I was told that some officials from his department were pressuring him to have a comprehensive strategy for public health, without funding reserved for certain pathologies. I believe this would be a mistake.
Supply November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Chair, earlier I asked the minister a question about the Canadian diabetes strategy. I could have asked him the same question about the prostate cancer strategy.
Am I right in understanding that senior officials at Health Canada are asking the minister to no longer reserve funds for particular illnesses, and that it would be a mistake not to reserve funds specifically for diabetes or prostate cancer?
Can the minister assure us that there will still be funding set aside for certain, very carefully identified pathologies?
Supply November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Chair, all premiers, no matter what their allegiance, formed a coalition to ask the federal government to contribute 25% to the costs of the system.
Can the Minister of Health tell us now what is the percentage of the federal government's contribution to the health system in Canada?
Supply November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Chair, the Standing Committee on Health, one of the best committees here, tabled a report last year asking the government to increase the budgets of the Canadian AIDS Strategy, to raise them to $100 million and to do so quickly. I am very disappointed that the government did not act on this issue, since we are not in a situation where the AIDS epidemic is under control.
Could the minister tell us what he intends to do to follow up on the recommendations that the Standing Committee on Health made to him on May 13 of last year, on my birthday?
Supply November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Chair, in 2001, Justice Sharlow rendered a decision concerning the minister's power to oppose placing a drug on the patent register.
Previously, the Minister of Health had the power to establish the relevance between a patent and the product. Unfortunately, the federal court did not recognize that the minister had this power. Is he concerned by the fact that he is now deprived of this power? Also, would he agree to support an excellent bill that would make it possible to rectify this situation?
Supply November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Chair, as regards the issue of virtual drug stores, I know that the minister is considering a few options. Of course, this is a reality that has a major impact in Manitoba. I am told that there are 80 such drug stores in operation in Canada, including more than 50 in Manitoba. Quebec is not affected by this phenomenon.
Can the minister give us an outline of the options that he is contemplating? Also, does he not believe that the federal government has a duty to take action regarding this issue?
Supply November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Chair, the federal government set up a program called the community actionpProgram for children, or CAPC. This program is useful to children in our communities. However, there has been no budget increase over the past number of years. This means that stakeholders are limited in their ability to act, because budgets are stagnating. Again, I am referring to the CAPC, the community action program for children.
Can the minister tell us whether or not he intends to increase the federal contribution to organizations that do so much good in our communities, particularly in my riding of Hochelaga, where there are many such community groups?
Supply November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Chair, I have two short questions on tobacco.
First, can the minister tell us when his government intends to ratify the convention of the World Health Organization on tobacco control?
Second, what is his government's position on the labelling for light products that give false information to consumers? Minister Allan Rock had pledged to prohibit advertising for light cigarettes. Does the government intend to act on this commitment?
Supply November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Chair, a few years ago, the federal government announced $480 million over five years for the federal anti-smoking campaign. The amount of $210 million has been earmarked for national prevention campaigns.
We have been told that this $210 million had been administered by the PMO, because of the sponsorship program.
Can the Minister of Health tell us whether the $210 million for national smoking prevention campaigns has or has not been used by the Department of Health? Can he deny that the PMO has picked up that money for use in the national sponsorship program?