Rona Ambrose

[Health, October 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows full well that Canada has been at the forefront of the Ebola response since April, providing funding, expertise and capacity-building on the ground. We have two highly specialized mobile labs in Sierra Leone with Public Health Agency officials who are working every day to diagnose Ebola, which is obviously fundamental to containment.

In terms of the equipment, the only delay we experienced was not being able to find any commercial operators that were willing to take our equipment over. I thank the Department of National Defence for providing a Hercules so that we could get those face shields over. They have been delivered.

[Health, October 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, both the Minister of the Environment and I, as the Minister of Health, work with municipalities and provinces on drinking water standards. Canada is not only working hard with our counterparts on cross-border issues related to water quality, but we will continue to do work with the municipalities.

[International Development, October 9th, 2014]

No, Mr. Speaker. In fact, the member has her facts completely wrong. She is dealing with two completely different issues.

In terms of the commercialization of the vaccine, that company is working very hard to have clinical trials sped up, and they hope to see the vaccine commercialized by December and hopefully available to the general public, if needed. The doses we have given to the WHO are owned by us. They are in Winnipeg. We have generously given them to the WHO for use.

[International Development, October 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would recommend that the member get her information about the vaccine that was created here in Canada by the Public Health Agency directly from the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, who has told me directly that the vaccine supply we have, which has been given to the WHO, is in Winnipeg still, because the WHO has not decided when and if it will distribute it.

It has been very generously donated to the WHO, and we hope it is able to use it.

[International Development, October 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has been at the forefront of the Ebola response since early April. As the member knows, we have invested funds. We have provided expertise and equipment. We continue to be in contact with the WHO to respond to any particular needs. We are funding the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, and Doctors Without Borders to help build health capacity and improve the on-the-ground treatment and prevention of Ebola.

We, of course, have two very highly specialized medical labs in the area, with our Health Canada scientists, and we will continue to respond to the WHO.

[Health, October 8th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's preparedness is high. The Chief Public Health Officer is almost daily on calls with his provincial counterparts. I have spoken to all of my health counterparts as well on this issue. We have a very good public health system in Canada, whether it be for prevention, awareness, or treatment.

I have had the opportunity to speak with Canada's Chief Public Health Officer this morning on the matter of managing risks to the border. Of course, Canadians should know that international border crossings in Canada are monitoring 24-7, and travellers from the affected West African countries are identified, and they are asked about their health. Our government will be taking the additional step of doing targeted temperature screenings. We will do whatever is necessary to protect Canadians.

[Health, October 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that this is a pay consolidation issue and this does not in any way affect front-line services on health.

[Health, October 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague that Canada is at the forefront of fighting Ebola.

I am proud to confirm that the first shipment of Canada's donated protective equipment departed this morning on a Royal Canadian Air Force Hercules bound for Sierra Leone. We are able to do this only because of investments made by our government in our armed forces, including, of course, buying four C-17s and 17 Hercules aircraft.

I thank the Department of National Defence for making sure we can get this protective equipment over to the WHO so it can be used immediately.

[Health, October 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated just now, over the last year I have asked to be at the table with the provinces and territories to discuss using our expertise and our leverage to get more value and better savings for Canadian taxpayers on our bulk drug-purchasing plans with the provinces. We have been invited to the table, and I am very pleased. We hope to be able to save taxpayers a lot of money.

[Health, October 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased to discuss this issue with colleagues at our health ministers' meeting recently.

In fact, for the last year, I have been asking to have the federal government at the table to use our leverage and our expertise to help in-bulk drug purchasing plans. We have now been invited to the table. I am very pleased to see that, and of course, the Council of the Federation and the provinces have already seen hundreds of millions of dollars in savings, and we hope we can use our expertise and our leverage to find even more.