Steven Fletcher

[Committees of the House, March 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I was just about to reflect on the fact that the previous member and his party have been aware of this issue since 1992. In their 13 years of government, the issue was not dealt with in any substantive way. In fact, it could be argued quite easily that the issue has become worse under those 13 years of Liberal government. For the member to say that there was any concrete action under the previous government I think is very misleading. That is why this issue is very important and why we need to address it today.

I want to take a few minutes to talk about the report and its content. Members will see that what I am about to say goes a lot further. It is a broad approach with specific action items and it is far more extensive than that member's suggestion of simply putting labels on alcohol containers. The previous speaker's solution to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder was labels on alcohol. Even his own party members rejected that at health committee time and time again. I note that he was not able to get that bill passed through the previous government at all.

Thank goodness we have this government, because we are going to take real action to deal with this completely preventable and terrible disease. The term “fetal alcohol spectrum disorder”, or FASD, refers to a range of lifelong disabilities caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol. It is a leading contributing factor to childhood development delays in North America and a major cause of preventable birth defects.

Before discussing the government's response, I feel it is important that we acknowledge the committee's hard work on this report. This is a committee made up of all members of Parliament. The committee's report represents an important contribution to the national discussion on how best to prevent and mitigate the impact of FASD and how best to improve the overall health, social and economic outcomes of those individuals' families, caregivers and communities affected by this issue.

The hard work of members from all parties in preparation of this committee's thorough analysis of the issues around FASD underlines the commitment we all share in preventing new cases of FASD and mitigating the impacts of existing cases. As a member of the Standing Committee on Health, I am proud of the accomplishments represented by this report and of the committee's ongoing efforts to improve the health of Canadians through endeavours such as this. The government has considered the committee's analysis and recommendations and will continue to consider them as we move forward.

I would like to underline that the government's response to the committee's report presents a holistic and integrated approach to this issue. FASD is not simply a health issue. It has implications for individuals' quality of life, for families, for caregivers and for communities, implications that make it a much larger issue, both socially and from an economic perspective.

As such, the government approaches FASD in a manner that is holistic and emphasizes collaboration and cooperation between all players. Led by the health portfolio, efforts to address FASD will engage departments across the federal government as well as provinces and territories, aboriginal communities, organizations and all of society. Provinces and territories have called on the federal government to assume leadership on FASD.

In 2003 the Government of Canada led some consultation, but obviously it was not nearly enough.

We have looked at an interjurisdictional collaborative approach by all governments and stakeholders to prevent the occurrence of new cases of FASD and to improve the outcomes for those who are already affected.

For example, budget 2006 provided $3 million for the fiscal year to mount a healthy pregnancy public awareness campaign. Three million dollars is a lot more than the previous government provided, I have to say. This includes moneys for first nations and new and specific programs.

Another example is the development and dissemination of diagnostic guidelines for FASD published as a supplement to the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2005. This ambitious undertaking involves consultations with practitioners and extensive expert peer reviews. It is an important tool for health professionals to--

[Committees of the House, March 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak today to the government's response to the report of the Standing Committee on Health on the issue of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

I would like to take a moment to again reflect on some of the comments made by the previous speaker and say that when this issue came up in 1992, the previous government was obviously aware of the terrible nature of FASD. That member continues--

[Committees of the House, March 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the issue of fetal alcohol syndrome is very important. I was intrigued to hear the pseudo outrage of the member opposite. The reason I put it in that way is that he talked about a health committee of 1992. Since then we had 13 years of Liberal government and nothing, using the member's own logic, was done.

The member's criticism of the health report does not mention the fact that his solution of merely putting labels on alcohol was rejected by members of his own party in the last Parliament at the health committee because it was not effective and because a more thorough comprehensive program was needed. That is what the report reflects. Unfortunately, the member, in the 13 years of his government, had all that time to bring forth solutions, recommendations and legislation and yet nothing was done.

When the member talks about this issue he should acknowledge his own government's inaction and have some humility when he raises this important issue because the trail goes back to his government. It is a shameful record. I would encourage the member to apologize and then bring forward some constructive suggestions rather than just complain.

[Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, March 1st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to ask all my colleagues in the House to give special recognition to a colleague in the other place, Senator Dr. Wilbert Keon.

Senator Keon, who is also a cardiologist, is among five outstanding individuals for 2007 chosen to be inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. These inductees have forever changed the world's health care landscape.

The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame is the only national organization dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of Canada's medical and health science heroes.

Senator Keon was instrumental in the founding of the University of Ottawa's Heart Institute. Senator Keon, who continues his selfless efforts in the medical field and freely provides his expertise to many worthwhile health causes, is well-deserving of this special recognition.

I urge all parliamentarians to offer Senator Dr. Wilbert Keon sincere congratulations.

[Quarantine Act, February 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for her many years as chair of the health committee, including the time the committee looked at the Quarantine Act. I was the opposition health critic at that time.

The Quarantine Act, along with other legislation that is available to the government, does allow the government to take the necessary action to protect the public interest in a wide range of scenarios, not the least of which is what we are discussing today.

The problem with the legislation as it now stands is, for example, if a plane is flying over Canadian territory, let us say it is flying from London to Toronto, and there is a public health issue and the nearest port of entry is Goose Bay or St. John's, Newfoundland, technically that plane would need to land there rather than complete its trip and go to Toronto where there may be more appropriate facilities and resources to deal with the situation.

This is really a technical amendment to expedite a public health situation or a quarantine situation. In the spirit of ensuring that the public health of Canadians is protected, I hope the member and her party and the other parties in the House will support this technical amendment so the public health of Canadians will be protected.

[Quarantine Act, February 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I assume the member is talking about the virus C difficile.

In any case, the government has taken significant steps to ensure the public health of Canadians is protected. We have approved and expedited the Quarantine Act which was reviewed at the health committee in the previous Parliament.

More than that, we brought forward Bill C-5, the Public Health Agency of Canada Act, which I believe was the first bill the government voted on and approved. It brings into play many protections for Canadians, not the least of which is a chief public health officer who has the powers of a deputy minister and is the head of the Public Health Agency, as well as Canada's chief public health authority. He is able to provide direction, not only to government but to the public with a credible scientific background.

Moreover, the member raised the issue of SARS. We are very fortunate in this country to have a health minister who was actually the health minister in Ontario at the time of the SARS crisis. He also has a very unique background of being not only a provincial health minister but now the federal health minister. He certainly understands the issue of public health, the challenges of SARS and other similar potential public health emergencies.

The minister has been able to create an environment between the provinces, territories and the federal government that is very conducive to bridge building with all the communities and stakeholders necessary to ensure that Canada has the best public health protection possible.

[Quarantine Act, February 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to begin the debate in the House today on Bill C-42, An Act to amend the Quarantine Act.

The new Quarantine Act received royal assent on May 13, 2005 and recently came into force on December 12, 2006. It replaces existing quarantine legislation which contains many outdated authorities.

The modernization of the Quarantine Act addresses urgent issues with respect to the spread of communicable diseases in Canada and abroad. It modernizes existing legislation that dates back to 1872 by providing new tools to manage serious emerging public health threats.

It also represents a complementary step in a series of legislative initiatives to strengthen Canada's public health system which also includes the creation of the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Office of the Public Health Officer.

Due to the priority placed on this legislation, the Quarantine Act received royal assent with the understanding that a period of time following royal assent would be used to develop and put in place the implementation tools that would ensure proper application and enforcement of the act.

While trying to develop a regulation related to section 34, it became apparent that the section would not operate as intended. Section 34 obligates operators of commercial conveyances, such as marine vessels and air carriers, to report any death or illness of public health concern on board prior to arrival in Canada.

This advance notice is critically important to federal officials as it permits an appropriate response to health emergencies on board various vehicles. Further, it permits the minister to better assess whether to order the diversion of a conveyance to an alternate landing site in Canada if required to protect the health and safety of Canadians.

In its current wording, section 34 requires a report to be made directly to a destination authority situated at the nearest entry point in Canada.

As mentioned, the development of a regulation was necessary to support the designation of an appropriate authority.

The current wording of section 34 in the new Quarantine Act is problematic for three reasons.

First, in the event of a health emergency on board a conveyance, an operator may be unable to determine which of the many Canadian entry points is nearest at the time of reporting. In practice, this may lead to delays in reporting and hinder an appropriate and timely response.

Second, the authority designated by the minister may not actually be situated at an entry point. As defined in the new Quarantine Act, an entry point is a place where a customs office is located or a point in Canada designated by the minister.

The most appropriate authority to handle important public health information is a quarantine officer, a federal nurse or a medical practitioner with public health experience who is trained and designated by the minister. Like other authorities, they are not necessarily situated at every single entry point to Canada, which would include smaller ports or seaports and so on.

Finally, the current wording in section 34 implies direct reporting. It does not take into account intermediaries who may have a role to play in receiving and transmitting important public health information on behalf of a conveyance operator. For example, a pilot will likely call the company dispatch centre first before a report is formally made to the responsible public health authority.

For those very reasons, there is a need for a minor and technical amendment to the current wording used in section 34. The new wording for section 34 requires operators of conveyances in the air and marine community to report an illness of public health concern or death on board as soon as possible to a quarantine officer before the conveyance arrives at its destination in Canada.

At this point in time it does not bind the operator of land conveyances to the same advance reporting obligation. If necessary, the new wording offers the minister the flexibility to preserve other conveyances. This would most likely happen in the event of a large scale outbreak that escalated in a way that was not necessarily predictable.

Limiting reporting obligations to the marine and air community supports a risk management approach.

First, approximately 94% of international flights arrive in Canada through six international airports where there are established quarantine stations and the presence of a quarantine officer. They are Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax, though there are other airports as well.

Second, it is easier for conveyance operators of a bus or train to have a sick traveller disembark in order to attend the nearest medical facility before the conveyance reaches the Canadian border. In addition, issues of a public health concern may be captured at points of entry when sick travellers and conveyances are processed for admittance into Canada.

Under the new act, travellers would have a duty to provide certain public health information and to answer any questions posed by a screening officer, such as a Canada Border Services Agency official or a quarantine officer. It is also important to note that under the previous quarantine legislation there was no requirement for land conveyances to report in advance. Thus, the new legislative framework maintains the status quo for the scope of advance reporting obligations.

While the bill is before Parliament to address a technical issue with the current wording in section 34, this government committed to bringing the new act into force without section 34. This approach provides federal officials, screening officers, quarantine officers and environmental health officers with access to new and strengthened authorities.

Now that the new act is in force, existing quarantine regulations have been repealed with the exceptions of sections 12 and 19. These two sections maintain existing advance reporting obligations to be met by conveyance operators. In essence, this is a stop gap measure until the bill completes the parliamentary review process.

Given the simple nature of this wording issue and the importance of having a complete and comprehensive act in place, it is essential that all parties cooperate to ensure that this minor and technical amendment passes swiftly through both Houses.

Moving forward with this bill in a timely manner reaffirms this government's commitment to public health renewal and the ongoing pandemic planning efforts. Furthermore, it underscores the priority this government has placed on the safety and security of all Canadians.

[Harold Lessard and Thomas Nichols, February 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on February 4, 2007, our country lost two great Canadians, Captain Harold Lessard and Captain Thomas Nichols of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

Today in Winnipeg, thousands of Canadians and firefighters from across North America gathered to honour these men. These thousands were joined by millions more watching on their TVs and observing moments of silence. This tragedy reminds us once again of the risks our firefighters take every single day to protect our homes, our businesses and our lives.

Few can understand the grief Captain Lessard's wife, Lynn, and his children, Christine and Bryan; and Captain Nichols' wife, Linda, and his children, Kelly and Kimberley, are feeling. We can only hope they will accept the sincere condolences of a grateful nation.

I hope all of us in the House will join our fellow Canadians in honouring Captain Lessard and Captain Nichols in our thoughts and prayers.

[Courage in Public Policy Award, February 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to offer my congratulations to one of my colleagues, the hon. member for Parry Sound—Muskoka who is also the Minister of Health.

On Saturday, February 3, 2007 the minister received the very first Courage in Public Policy Award from the Canadian Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute of Canada to recognize his leadership in the creation of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer Initiative.

The Canadian Cancer Society started to advocate for a coordinated approach to fight cancer in 1999. Year after year the previous Liberal government steadfastly refused. This Conservative government has once again shown leadership and got the job done.

Dr. Barbara Whylie, CEO of the Canadian Cancer Society said that the Minister of Health's “singular dedication was instrumental in seeing this project to fruition”.

As the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health I am very proud to be associated with such an effective minister and government.

[Aboriginal Affairs, February 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I think the member would agree that the condition in which the previous government left the first nations across the country was deplorable and that work needed to be done.

I am happy to assure the member that the government is doing everything possible to ensure that the citizens in all first nations communities can exist in a safe and friendly environment.

I want to make it clear that INAC officials are reviewing the Alan Pope report of November 8, 2006, where he makes a number of recommendations on how to improve the situation on Kashechewan. We are looking at--