Allan Rock

[Nuclear Testing, September 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I will take the question under advisement and determine what, if any, information has been put together and advise the member as soon as I have that information.

[Income Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 1998, September 24th, 1998]

moved that Bill S-16, an act to implement an agreement between Canada and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, an agreement between Canada and the Republic of Croatia and a convention between Canada and the Republic of Chile, for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

[Health, September 23rd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the process of renewing and strengthening the health protection branch is well underway.

During the summer we published discussion documents which set out the principles we want Canadians to consider. There are public hearings being held now across the country. Winnipeg tomorrow. Halifax earlier this month.

We are identifying a need for leading edge science in the health protection branch. We want to make the process is more open so that whether it is drug approvals or veterinary products Canadians will understand the process by which we consider, weigh risks and give approval or denial. We also appointed an arm's length science advisory board.

[Hepatitis C, September 22nd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the Reform Party is so profoundly out of touch with Canadian values that it does not know the way Canadians show their compassion is by their health care system. The hon. member has no idea that the way Canadians show their concern about others is through health care.

It is for that reason that we are now urging the provinces to join with us to ensure that those who have become sick because of the blood system, no matter when, have access to drugs and treatment they need. At the moment they have to pay out of their pockets in most parts of the country for interferon and important medical services.

We are saying let us put that behind us and make sure people have the treatment they need.

[Hepatitis C, September 22nd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member had at heart the real interests of those who contracted hepatitis C from the blood system he would support the proposal we have made. The proposal we have made is to ensure that persons who contracted hepatitis C through the blood system at any time will not have to pay out of their own pockets for medical services and drugs they need. That is what we propose. I call on the member to support us in that initiative.

[Questions On The Order Paper, September 22nd, 1998]

There are two types of fees:

1. Application fees to be paid for an examination of an application in respect of a pest control product (PCP). The fee payable for applications received after April 15, 1997 is determined on the basis of the data component(s) included in the application. The fee for the various data components range from $150.00 to $98,248.00. The fee payable for one application is equal to the sum of the applicable fees for all the components included in the application. The fee payable for a new technical active and an associate end-use product could amount to $228,832.00. The regulations also provide certain exemptions. As well reduced applications fees are offered to facilitate access to the Canadian market for low volume, niche products. To be eligible for a reduced fee, a registrant's revenue from sales in Canada of the pest control product(s) during the three years of the sales verification period must be less than ten times the applicable application fees.

2. An annual maintenance fee of $2,690.00 is charged per registered product (per PCP number) for the right to manufacture or sell a product in Canada. There are reduced fees for products with sales of less than $89,667.00. The reduced fee is 3% of sales. However, there is a minimum fee of $75.00.

[Questions On The Order Paper, September 22nd, 1998]

Cost recovery is a federal government policy established for deficit reduction. For the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, the level of cost recovery was set at $22 million by cabinet when the agency was created in 1995.

The government process to determine how cost recovery levels are set is a Treasury Board policy. The Pest Management Regulatory Agency implemented this Treasury Board policy under the supervision of Treasury Board officials.

Treasury Board Secretariat analysts provided input to costing of activities and different options on fee collection protocols contained in the Discussion Paper: Cost Recovery Analysis that was released on March 1, 1996. They confirmed that our proposed fees were based on cost of providing the service.

Representatives from Treasury Board Secretariat, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, Industry Canada, and Natural Resources Canada participated fully in the various impact assessments. Treasury Board Secretariat was involved in the planning of the business impact test conducted on the Pest Management Regulatory Agency cost recovery proposals. Treasury Board Secretariat and Industry Canada representatives attended the April 22, 1996 business impact test meetings with stakeholders. Representatives of the above departments attended the May 29, 1996 meeting of the Interim Canadian Pest Management Advisory Council to discuss the impact assessments. They also attended the September 23, 1996 stakeholder meeting in Toronto where the results of the impact assessments were presented and participated in the September 30, 1996 consensus-building process to develop a fee structure with stakeholders.

On September 20, 1996, Treasury Board Secretariat called an interdepartmental meeting, attended by the Privy Council Office, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, Industry Canada, Natural Resources Canada and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency in preparation for the September 23 and 30, 1996 meetings with stakeholders.

Re-engineering processes established by the new Agency provided savings which reduced the cost recovery portion of the budget to $15 million. This amount was further reduced by another $3 million for the next six years through grants from Health Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The total amount to be cost recovered as delineated in the regulatory Impact Analysis Statement of April 16, 1997, is $12 million.

Question No. 66—

[Questions On The Order Paper, September 21st, 1998]

Current estimates place the number of people still living who were infected with hepatitis C through Canada's blood system before January 1, 1986, at somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000. This does not include the 10,000 and 18,000 people who were already infected with hepatitis C before they used the blood system, but for a number of reasons many if not most of these cases cannot be distinguished from the others. Thus there are between 30,000 to 48,000 living people who might be considered as having been infected with hepatitis C through the blood system.

A working group of epidemiologists under contract to Health Canada developed these estimates using the latest data and information available. Health Canada invited key stakeholders to participate on an expert panel that reviewed the working group's findings. Participants included representatives from the provinces and territories, and consumer groups such as the Hepatitis C Society of Canada and the Canadian Hemophilia Society. The expert panel endorsed the working group methodologies and findings.

Question No. 102—

[Hepatitis C, September 21st, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, that is not true. Last Friday, we proposed specific measures with $525 million of federal money to help people who contracted hepatitis C from a blood transfusion.

This was the federal government's proposal to the provincial ministers, and I am awaiting Mr. Rochon's response.

[Hepatitis C, September 21st, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday as the Prime Minister mentioned, I put before ministers of health a proposal that included steps and suggestions that involve $525 million of federal money that will make certain that anybody who got hepatitis C through the blood system will have access to the needed medical services and drugs for treatment and care without paying out of their own pockets.

We believe that when people in this country are sick, they require treatment, not payment. We show our compassion through care and not through cash.