House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2019, with 26% of the vote.
Health October 4th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, our concern is always the health of Canadians. A special access program gives doctors access to medicines that is not available to Canadians. When a doctor makes an application under the program, Health Canada is in contact with that physician within 24 hours. However, the first step is for the physician to make an application to Health Canada and within 24 hours the department will respond to the physician.
Health October 3rd, 2012
Mr. Speaker, our government cares about families who are dealing with rare diseases and disorders.
Canadians dealing with rare diseases often have difficulty in accessing the information and medication they need. That is why today I was pleased to announce that our government will introduce a new approach that will improve the development and authorization of drugs for rare diseases. These changes will benefit patients and their families by making it easier to access treatments for these diseases.
Our government will continue to show leadership and take action on issues that are important to Canadians.
Questions on the Order Paper September 17th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is committed to protecting the health and safety of Canadians. To this end, Canada has one of the most stringent and rigorous regulatory systems in the world. Under the Food and Drugs Act, Health Canada is responsible for provisions related to public health, food safety, and nutrition. This includes the establishment of science-based policies and standards to ensure that all foods, including genetically modified, GM, or genetically engineered, foods are safe and nutritious. The Novel Foods Regulations require that notification be made to Health Canada by the company wanting to sell a novel food product, including food that is genetically modified or genetically engineered, prior to its marketing or advertising. This pre-market notification ensures that the safety of each novel food is assessed and verified before it can enter the Canadian marketplace.
GM foods are only approved after Health Canada’s scientists are satisfied that the data provided by the applicant addresses all health and safety concerns and meets regulatory requirements. The safety assessment includes exposure estimates based on consumption of all food products derived from the GM variety. In the case of GM corn, this includes normal routes of exposure such as direct consumption of kernels. Should evaluators determine that the data is not sufficient, additional information and/or testing would be requested from the applicant in order to fully demonstrate the safety of the product. Only when all the scientists evaluating the GM food product agree that there are no safety concerns would the food be permitted in the Canadian marketplace. To date, all GM foods that have been approved in Canada, including all of the approved GM corn varieties, were found to be as safe and as nutritious as their non-modified counterparts.
The specific criteria for the safety assessment of such foods are outlined in the Health Canada publication Guidelines for the Safety Assessment of Novel Foods. These guidelines are based upon scientific principles developed through expert international consultation with agencies such as the World Health Organization, WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , OECD. This approach is also consistent with other regulatory agencies around the world including those of members of the European Union, Australia/New Zealand, Japan, and the United States.
It should be noted that sweet corn is from the same species as field corn, i.e., Zea mays. It only differs from field corn in that it has been bred to contain higher sugar content. Field corn, which usually undergoes processing prior to consumption, e.g., manufacturing of cornstarch, constitutes the majority of GM corn varieties approved in Canada. However, once a GM corn line has been approved in Canada, plant breeders may use the GM line in their breeding programs. Therefore, it is not unusual to transfer traits from field corn to sweet corn, given that they are the same species. However, if a “new” novel trait is introduced when an approved GM corn is bred with other corn varieties, including sweet corn, the developer is required to contact Health Canada; in other words, when the crossbreeding results in changes to characteristics that fall well outside the agronomic, nutritional, and compositional range expected for that variety. The onus is on the developer to ensure that no novel traits have been introduced into the plant, and to notify Health Canada in the event that a novel trait is produced as a result of their breeding programs. If such a trait were found, the new variety would need to undergo the pre-market assessment process as described above. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency ensures compliance with the Food and Drugs Act and its regulations including that only those foods, in this case, derived from GM crops, that satisfy the requirements of Division 28 of the Food and Drug Regulations, i.e., approved by Health Canada, are available for sale in Canada.
Health Canada takes any new information related to regulated products very seriously. Scientists in the department are continually reviewing published studies to ensure the continued safety of the Canadian public. The decisions that the government has taken to date have stood the test of time. Since these products were introduced on the Canadian market, over 18 years ago, there has been no evidence which has necessitated a change. Please be assured that should Health Canada review any study or become aware of any information that demonstrates a health or safety concern with these products, we would take immediate action to ensure the safety of the Canadian food supply, including revocation of Health Canada’s approval should the scientific evidence support such a decision.
Health June 20th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, as I have stated before, we have been working with the provinces.
We have increased the transfers to the provinces, which the Liberal Party cut back in the day. The $40 billion will be invested in areas of priority by the provinces and territories.
In addition to that, we have made significant investments in areas of health research, aboriginal suicide prevention, physical activity, tobacco reductions, diabetes and much more.
Health June 20th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, we have made progress working with the provinces and the territories on wait times, but there is obviously still room for improvement in the health care system.
To help the provinces and territories make even more improvements, we are increasing the federal health transfer funding to record levels, reaching $40 billion by the end of the decade. More than that, we are investing significantly in health research and innovation that we hope will help people avoid the hospital altogether.
Health June 19th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, Health Canada introduced new warning labels on cigarette packages and, as health minister, I was proud to announce today that tough, new and bigger labels must be on all packages. Our government is proud of this work and is refocusing our anti-smoking efforts toward populations with higher smoking rates, while continuing to invest in initiatives that have seen great success over the years. We have also passed new laws to ban flavoured little cigars, which were clearly targeted toward our children. These initiatives will continue.
Questions on the Order Paper June 13th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), implementing operational efficiencies as described below will deliver expected savings for the non-insured health benefits program of $6.7 million in 2012-13, $10.6 million in 2013-14 and $11.3 million in 2014-15 and ongoing.
With regard to (b), while looking for potential savings, the priority was to protect front-line health services for first nations and Inuit communities. As a result, opportunities to create efficiencies were identified in non-service delivery areas and through simplification of internal operational processes and structures, such as reducing and restructuring the size of the first nations and Inuit health branch headquarters office to better support regional offices and their focus on front-line service delivery to communities. As these areas identified for savings did not deliver health care services to communities, no direct services will be affected.
Services provided to first nations and Inuit through the non-insured health benefits program, such as prescription drug coverage and dental care, will not be reduced. By simplifying internal processes, Health Canada will make the non-insured health benefits program more sustainable.
With respect to the non-insured health benefits program, all savings identified are based on internal administrative, operational and policy changes that will not negatively impact access to benefits for eligible first nations and Inuit clients of the program. For example, Health Canada will gradually centralize review and processing of dental health claims and improve the coordination of benefits where clients have third party insurance coverage.
With regard to (c), simplifying internal processes and structures will eliminate five positions.
Health June 12th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, palliative care is all about making individuals comfortable and providing quality care in their final days. That is why I announced today $3 million that will go toward taking care of people near the end of their lives out of a hospital setting.
It is my hope that, through work with the provinces and the territories and palliative care experts, we can respond to the specific needs of people with life-threatening diseases and their families.
Health June 12th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, Canada's economic action plan confirmed our government's commitment to deliver stable, sustainable, record high transfers to the provinces and territories.
Our government has increased transfers at every opportunity, from $19 billion when we formed government to $27 billion this year and up to $40 billion. To call these significant increases a cut is a clear attempt again by the NDP to mislead Canadians.
Questions on the Order Paper June 8th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the 2012 economic action plan proposes changes that will give Canadians quicker access to drugs that have gone through Health Canada's rigorous scientific drug review process. This new proposed approach will not impact the safety and efficacy of drugs in Canada. All drug submissions to Health Canada will continue to be subject to rigorous safety, efficacy, and quality assessments prior to approval.
With respect to the questions (a) to (d) above, and subject to parliamentary approval of any required legislation, with regard to (a)(i), (a)(ii), (a)(iii) and (a)(iv) there will be no impact.
With regard to (a)(v), for the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board, PMPRB, there are no changes planned for the price review process. By 2014-15, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board’s financial resources and human resources will have been decreased, as explained below.
First, the special purpose allotment to be used for external costs of public hearings will be reduced by $630,000 from a budget of $3.1 million. To date the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board has not used the full amount in any given year. Any unused funds at the end of the fiscal year are returned to the consolidated revenue fund. The reduction of $630,000 will not limit the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board’s ability to conduct hearings.
Second, funding of studies on non-patented prescription drug prices will be reduced by $374,000, including three positions. This may not necessarily result in layoffs of employees, owing to potential vacancies and internal budget re-allocations. The PMPRB will retain capacity to undertake research, including on non-patented prescription drug prices if required, through the national prescription drug utilization system program.
With regard to (a)(vi), patent register, drug product database, notice of compliance and the progressive licensing project will not be impacted.
With regard to (a)(vii), the therapeutic products directorate will be impacted, as described below in the responses to (b)(i) and (b)(ii).
With regard to (b)(i), the proposed removal of the requirement for a regulatory amendment to schedule F and maintaining the list of prescription drugs administratively would result in the following decreases in financial resources: $32,000 for 2012-13; $270,700 for 2013-14; and $388,400 for 2014-15 and ongoing.
With regard to (b)(ii), there will be a reduction of four positions in the therapeutic products directorate from 2013-14 and ongoing.
With regard to (c), there was no value-for-money assessment conducted for the drug approval process as there were no reductions in this area.
With regard to (d), as per the above, the 2012 economic action plan had no direct impact on drug regulation, with the exception of proposed changes to the Food and Drugs Act for schedule F.
With respect to the government's financial allocation plan regarding drug regulation, Health Canada updated its cost recovery fees for drug review and approval of drugs in April 2011. These fees were increased to reflect rising costs and will increase annually by 2% to help ensure that sufficient resources are available to support these activities.
Revenues from revised fees will provide stable, long-term funding for Health Canada's core regulatory activities, including efficient drug product reviews, enhanced drug safety monitoring and inspections. Revenues have also been invested in hiring new scientific experts, replacing antiquated IT systems and improving business processes and systems.