Ruby Dhalla

[Health, June 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, how can we appreciate or applaud a minister who has not done any work on the health care file when it is the number one priority for Canadians across this country?

The role of the Ethics Commissioner is to ensure that there is disclosure. That is how we have learned that there is a conflict of interest. It is very apparent that this conflict of interest is being promoted by Industry Canada. This minister is getting help from Industry Canada to have his drug company on its website.

Canadians want a health minister who is going to be promoting health for Canadians, not this minister's personal drug company, called Prudential. When will he sell his shares?

[Health, June 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister asked this minister to take over the health portfolio, there seems to have been some confusion. Instead of focusing on reducing wait times in this country, establishing a mental health commission, implementing catastrophic drug coverage or ensuring that aboriginals and seniors in our country receive the very best in health care, this minister has been looking after his personal investment portfolio.

Canadians do not want stock tips. They want a minister who is going to take action on health care. My question is simple. When will this minister just sell his shares?

[Points of Order, June 14th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I also wanted to clarify something that was stated by the House leader opposite during question period, when he stated that I owned shares for RD health consultants. Let me please remind the House leader that if had he done his research he would have realized that I have sold my shares in this consulting company.

I find it shameful, extremely disappointing and very meanspirited, in fact, that the member opposite has made these allegations. Last year I was not in cabinet. I was a member of Parliament on the side of the government and I did make all appropriate disclosures. Now, as the health critic, I do not have any holdings in any type of companies. I wish that he would advise his health minister to also sell his shares in Prudential.

[Health, June 14th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, at first it was the Prime Minister who was muzzling his MPs. Now it is a House leader who continues to muzzle his ministers.

Why does the minister continue to hide behind his House leader? Why does he not stand in the House, do the right thing, admit that he has made a mistake and sell his shares in his drug company?

Yesterday, the minister stated that he did not have to answer to the House. Let me tell the minister that Canadians want answers. They want the minister to get to work and start protecting public health care in Canada.

[Health, June 14th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have shown absolutely no leadership and made no commitment to reducing wait times in our country, to increasing the accessibility of doctors and to implementing a national pharmaceutical strategy.

Is it because, number one, the minister's 25% ownership in a drug company has compromised his ability to do his job, or is it, number two, because this is yet again another “harpocracy” where the Conservatives have no plan to protect public health care in our country, or is it number three, that the minister's real priority is to increase the profits in his drug company?

[Public Health Agency of Canada Act, June 13th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I know the member has had a great deal of interest in the area of health care and in ensuring his constituents are represented.

I am glad he asked the question. As we saw in the new budget released by the Conservative government, it outlined health care as one of its top priorities but no new money or investments were made to ensure the wait times guarantees would be achieved.

The Minister of Health has, unfortunately, told the provinces to get off the pot and get to work on implementation, but the minister--

[Public Health Agency of Canada Act, June 13th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, while I agree with the member that Quebec probably does have a superior health care system, it is important to recognize that this public health agency would not impinge on any other provincial jurisdiction. Rather, it would work in collaboration with the provinces and territories to ensure the country is prepared nationally for any possible future outbreaks, whether it be SARS, the avian flu or the West Nile virus.

We can talk about these great public policy initiatives but it is also important to invest in them, which is why I was quite disturbed, upon reading the budget put forward by the new Conservative government which mentioned health care and wait times reduction as being a priority, that it contained no new investments to ensure the implementation of these wait times guarantees.

We can talk about reducing wait times, about trying to increase the number of doctors, about having a national pharmaceutical strategy and about the fact that Canadians need to have the best in home care services, but if the new government does not put in the required resources, both the financial resources and the manpower resources, it will be difficult to address some of the issues that we face in health care.

I would urge the Conservatives to invest the money in the priority areas to which they have spoken because it will only be through investments and having an innovative mindset that we will actually address the many challenges in health care. We must start practising and thinking in the mindset of preventing and promoting health care and wellness.

[Public Health Agency of Canada Act, June 13th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I first want to comment on his comments in regard to the minister of state for public health, which I had mentioned in my speech. I did not, in my speech, mention that the position should be included within the bill.

However, after looking at the mandate and at the different branches within the Public Health Agency, including the infectious disease and emergency preparedness branch, the health promotion and chronic disease prevention branch, the public health practice and regional operations branch, and the strategic policy communications and corporate services branch, I believe it is extremely important to the public health strategy of this country to have a minister of state of public health who would work alongside the Minister of Health to ensure we have a pan-Canadian strategy to address issues of importance to Canadians, like cancer prevention, heart disease and other chronic diseases.

In regard to the member's question about the Bloc perhaps thinking that the Public Health Agency would impinge on provincial jurisdictions, I think what Canadians across the country are really looking for right now in the area of health care is leadership. Health care, sickness and disease know no boundaries and people want, I think, federal, provincial and municipal elected officials to put aside their territorial jurisdictions and ensure we do what is best for the Canadian public.

When it comes to the area of health care, Canadians from coast to coast to coast want to see all individuals work together to address the issues that are important to them, such as reducing wait times, ensuring we have wait time guarantees, ensuring Canadians have access to doctors, ensuring that when we bring in the best and brightest physicians from all over the world that those physicians have the opportunity in Canada to have their qualifications licensed and accredited so they can contribute successfully to the health work force.

Canada should be providing and taking an international role when it comes to addressing issues of pandemic preparedness, such as the avian flu and the West Nile virus. When it comes to the issue of emergency preparedness, we as a country and Ontario as a province have already been through the unfortunate tragedy of SARS in 2003. As a result of that, we have learned a tremendous amount and can provide the leadership that is required internationally to address other emerging issues, like the avian flu and the West Nile virus.

In that light, I would hope all parties will support the legislative framework of Bill C-5 for the Public Health Agency.

[Public Health Agency of Canada Act, June 13th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I stand here today to provide support for the third reading of Bill C-5, a bill to create the Public Health Agency of Canada.

In the previous Parliament this bill was introduced by the previous Liberal government as Bill C-75. However, due to the dissolution of the 38th Parliament, it died on the order paper.

Bill C-75, which was introduced by the Liberals in the last Parliament, was the initial step toward strengthening the ability of the federal government to protect the health and well-being of Canadians. I am glad to see that the new Conservative government has recognized this great piece of public policy initiative that was brought forward by the previous Liberal government and is now trying to ensure that we provide the necessary legislative framework for the Public Health Agency of Canada.

In September 2004 the Public Health Agency of Canada was established by an order in council, once again by the previous Liberal government. The agency's mandate was to strengthen Canada's public health and emergency response capacity, and to develop national strategies for the management of infectious and chronic diseases.

The Public Health Agency will assume the responsibility for the Canadian strategy for cancer control, an issue that is important to many Canadians across the country. Also as part of its key initiatives, the agency will develop an integrated pan-Canadian public health plan which will address issues of chronic diseases, including important diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

The need to improve and strengthen our coordination in the area of public health has been highlighted by the inadequate response to a national tragedy in 2003, the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, also known as SARS. After the SARS outbreak, the federal Liberal government appointed a National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health.

The National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health was given the mandate to provide a third party assessment of current public health efforts and lessons learned for any future infectious disease control. One of the many issues that the committee examined was how a federal public health agency could contribute to the renewal of public health, as well as how this new agency would be structured. The committee was chaired by Dr. David Naylor and hence the Naylor report was issued.

Given the objectives that the national advisory committee had, one of the main objectives was to ensure that there would be a chief public health officer who would serve as a national voice and a spokesperson for public health, especially during any outbreaks or other federal health emergencies.

The chief public health officer it was recommended would advocate for effective disease prevention and health promotion programs and activities, would provide science based health policy analysis and would advise the Minister of Health. Also when required the chief public health officer would advise and make recommendations to the provincial and territorial health ministers, would provide leadership in areas of health initiatives and would ensure that we increased the quality of public health practice in this country.

In November 2003 the report from the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology echoed the opinions that were issued in the Naylor report and agreed with the creation of a public health agency. The committee also recommended that the agency would enhance the federal government's ability to support local work in disease control and prevention.

In April 2004 our former minister of health, Anne McLellan, created a working group on public health that would work with the recommendations in the Naylor report and the standing committee report as well. A number of different witnesses appeared before the working group. They also recommended the creation of an agency that would concentrate and focus federal resources, that would enhance collaboration between the different levels of government and providers of public health services, that would allow for a faster and more flexible response to emergency situations and also would ensure that we improved and focused our communication efforts.

The committee stressed the need to take immediate steps for the creation of a public health agency. It felt, along with the many other stakeholders, that the agency should be responsible for emergency preparedness, immunization and chronic disease prevention.

The previous Liberal government was committed to public health in Canada. An investment of over $354 million was made to over 1,600 health research projects. The former Liberal government was also very committed to ensuring that Canadians received the highest quality of health care services in this country. Hence, an investment of $42 billion over 10 years was made to ensure that wait times were reduced in this country and also to ensure that Canadians received the highest quality of public health care service.

Budget 2005 by the former Liberal government invested another $805 million over five years in the area of health, including chronic disease prevention, pandemic influenza preparedness, drug safety and environmental health. A federal wait times advisor was appointed. In addition, the Canadian public health care protection initiative was further strengthened.

We believe it is very important that an agency be created and that the new Conservative government also make significant financial investments to ensure the effectiveness of this agency. Public health efforts on health promotion and disease prevention are extremely critical. As a chiropractor, I think it is really important that we start practising a model of wellness and prevention in our country.

Many of the chronic diseases that face Canadians, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, heart disease and diabetes are the leading causes of death and disability in Canada. The Liberal Party and many individuals in our caucus remain committed to ensuring that we protect the health and safety of Canadians. Health care is one of the most important issues to many Canadians across this country.

While I support Bill C-5, there is one element that is missing from the bill and the Conservative Party's agenda. The Conservative Party cancelled the ministry of state for public health that existed with the previous Liberal government. Health care is one of the most important concerns to Canadians. As a result, the Minister of Health has a number of obligations and responsibilities. One would want to see a public health minister in place in government to ensure that the health of Canadians was promoted and protected.

I strongly believe that the Conservative government should reconsider and reappoint a minister of state for public health to ensure that the leadership and innovation that is needed in the area of public health in this country is provided. Hence, I would request the reinstatement of the ministry of state for public health as a government department. The minister of state for public health could work with the Minister of Health, the Public Health Agency and the Chief Public Health Officer to provide the leadership and innovation that is needed in this area.

Some members who spoke before me are from Winnipeg, Manitoba which is where the headquarters for the Public Health Agency are located. As a former Winnipegger, I definitely hope that the Public Health Agency continues to have its headquarters in Winnipeg to ensure that it continues to provide the leadership in the area of public health across the country.

In conclusion, on behalf of my constituents of Brampton—Springdale and many members on this side of the House, we support Bill C-5 and the creation of the Public Health Agency. I would also hope that in the months to come the new Conservative government would once again reinstate the very important position of minister of state for public health. Public health is an issue that affects many Canadians across this country. I would hope that we could provide an environment of wellness and prevention to ensure that Canadians live their lives to the fullest.

[Public Health Agency of Canada Act, June 13th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the member opposite on the great work he has done along with me and other health committee members.

In his opening remarks he mentioned investments that have been made by the new Conservative government for the Public Health Agency and public health initiatives. Perhaps the member could expand on exactly what those initiatives are.