Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health spends nearly $1 billion annually on health care for native peoples. If the hon. member has details on this situation, I would be very pleased to examine them and answer in detail.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 56% of the vote.
Health May 16th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health spends nearly $1 billion annually on health care for native peoples. If the hon. member has details on this situation, I would be very pleased to examine them and answer in detail.
The Environment May 16th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the member may have heard my response to the previous question. We are grateful for the report we have received today and grateful to the committee members for the hard work they have done in putting it together.
We will carefully examine the recommendations and the evidence that they have pulled together, and we will respond after we have had an opportunity to do that.
The Environment May 16th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, we are grateful for the report we just received today. We will of course examine it in detail and the government will respond once it has had the opportunity to do that.
The Environment May 16th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank the distinguished chair and the hardworking members of the environment committee for their report which was received today and is a result of many weeks of hearings and research by the committee.
I want to assure the member and the committee that the government will carefully take into account the recommendations and the observations in the report.
Health May 15th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the member will know that Health Canada has already acted in the sense that money was made available for important community services including a resource centre. We have worked with the community groups to identify how that additional money is best spent. Most important, we are participants in a three government partnership, federal, provincial and municipal, to address these very complex and tragic problems. Our interest continues. We are working very closely with those other governments. If the member has specific suggestions, we would be happy to receive them.
Genetically Modified Organisms May 15th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, all genetically modified foods have to be submitted to Health Canada for evaluation and determination of whether they are as safe as other foods already on the Canadian market.
Recently we set up a committee of experts to examine Health Canada regulations and ensure that we are acting appropriately. For us, the most important objective is the health of Canadians.
Health May 15th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I will tell the member what has happened since that letter was sent. We asked the Alberta government to amend bill 11. Indeed, allowing charges for enhanced services in private for profit facilities in combination does create a circumstance that we feel imperils the principle of accessibility.
Alberta did not amend the act. That danger is still there. For that very reason I said in the House last week that we will be watching on the ground, monitoring to ensure that the danger we are concerned about does not occur. If it does, we will step in and use our powers under the act to protect the principles of the Canada Health Act.
Health May 15th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I suppose that is the philosophy of the NDP, hurry up and do something. It is a little shy on exactly what it is it will do before the proclamation of the act.
Canadians do not have to wait for this government's commitment to the five principles of the Canada Health Act. They do not have to wait to know that we will do what is necessary to make sure those principles are respected in Alberta and throughout the country.
As I made clear last week when I made my statement in the House, we will ensure that the principles of the Canada Health Act are respected throughout the country.
Health May 15th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, in relation to each of the audits in question, including the one referred to by the hon. member, managers have taken remedial steps. We will ensure that all dollars are accounted for and are spent for the health benefit of those intended to receive the benefits.
Health May 15th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member, of course, misreads the report, misunderstands the conclusion and misstates what really happened.
The facts are quite clear. The audit uncovered some areas of difficulty and remedial steps have been taken by managers to make sure they are put right. Every dollar is properly accounted for and we will ensure that it is spent in the public interest.