Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take part in this budget debate today and to support my colleague's fine budget because it takes a number of historic steps, including reducing the tax burden in Canada. A number of hard-working families in my own riding of Parry Sound--Muskoka are going to reap the benefits of this particular budget approach. I want to congratulate my colleague on that.
You do not have to take just my word for it, Mr. Speaker. I know that you are sometimes a little skeptical about what politicians say in this House, but I just happened to be looking at the Parry Sound Beacon Star the other day and will read for members what Andy Blenkarn had to say about this particular budget. Some people remember the name Blenkarn but I am not sure what the relationship is.
This particular Blenkarn owns a marina in my riding. He said about the budget, “I think its a big win for seniors, a win for working families with children and, I think, a win for lower income families”.
That is what I am getting from my constituency. As a matter of fact, that is the kind of thing we are getting throughout this country.
The other thing about the budget is that it restores the fiscal balance between the federal and provincial governments, and that is so important, particularly to Ontario. A lot of focus has been on other provinces, perhaps, but I can tell members that Ontario feels this budget is one that is fair and it is one that recognizes provinces that need a bit of help. It also recognizes the important economic engine that is Ontario.
There are a number of new and important commitments to Canadians in this budget—beginning with our expanded efforts to encourage and enable provinces and territories to develop patient wait times guarantees.
This budget is also about health care. Putting the emphasis on patient wait time guarantees, a more modernized health care system and more excellent research of course will make a difference for patients in Canada.
My hon. friend, the hon. Minister of Natural Resources, with whom I am splitting my time, will also be talking about particular aspects of the budget.
Let me focus on health care. Health care means more information technology. It means making sure that patients are the centre of our health care system. It means providing provinces and territories that are willing to work with the federal government the opportunity to deliver on some very important promises.
On this note, I am very pleased to tell members where I was this morning. I was in Halifax. I am very pleased to say that Halifax has joined patient wait time guarantees for this country. Just today, Premier MacDonald's government has committed to develop a guarantee in cancer radiation therapy. That is for all of Nova Scotia, but it was announced in Halifax. In doing so, Nova Scotia joins the province of Quebec, which has already committed to developing a guarantee for joint replacements and cataract surgeries.
As I said this morning in Halifax, in Canada we now are in the world of patient wait time guarantees, so I ask members to stay tuned, because there will be more announcements in the very near future.
That comes out of a couple of different funds in the budget, one of which is the $612 million patient wait time guarantee trust fund. Of that trust fund, $500 million will be allocated on an equal per capita basis to provinces and territories that can commit to developing guarantees, and then we have a base funding model for each of the provinces and territories, based on $10 million per province and $4 million for each territory.
There is also another component of the budget related to patient wait time guarantees. That is the continued commitment of the government to Canada Health Infoway. Our government is investing an additional $400 million through Canada Health Infoway on top of the $1.2 billion that has been provided in years gone by. That funding will expand the work of developing health information systems. It will support the development and implementation of electronic health records. Quite simply, it will make possible progress on the technologies that are critical to achieving patient wait time guarantees.
There is a third component in budget 2007: a $30 million fund over three years for patient wait time guarantee pilot projects. I want the House to know that in my travels across Canada, and in my discussions with my provincial and territorial counterparts, I have been very impressed with the kinds of innovations going on in our health care system right now. Those innovations are helping us drive the movement toward patient wait time guarantees. The funding of these pilot projects will help us get more of those ideas into action sooner.
As announced this morning in Halifax, Nova Scotia will be getting a total of up to $48 million out of all these funds for health care in Nova Scotia. More provinces will be able to access this kind of funding.
Really, when we look at it, we see that this is about putting patients first, of course, but it is also about ensuring the accountability of our health care system. People in Canada want to see the results from government spending in general, and that is what the budget does, but they also want to see results in health care. This budget does that as well by adding $22 million a year to our support for the Canadian Institute for Health Information, otherwise known as CIHI.
CIHI has been a key contributor in helping to achieve patient wait time guarantees. It has been involved in some of what is perhaps the finicky work in developing those indicators and gathering and sharing information across our country so that all departments can rely on that information when they report to citizens and make public policy decisions respecting health care.
We need more of that. The new money from budget 2007 will enable CIHI to build on its activities related to patient wait times and access to care. It will support work on health data systems coverage and the development of comparable health indicators.
Again, that is just the tip of the iceberg. This budget is known for many things. It is known for helping hard-working families and taxpayers. It is known for continuing to reduce our national debt. It is known for ensuring that we have the environmental resources available to make a huge impact on our environment.
However, it is also a health care budget. When we look at some of the other health care issues included in the budget, we can see why.
First, some of the most important impacts are sometimes from the most simple things that we can do. I will give an example. We are allocating $2 million to the Canadian MedicAlert Foundation. We are happy to accelerate that work to implement the No Child Without program. That program is proving free MedicAlert bracelets to children across Canada who have serious medical conditions.
As the president and CEO of MedicAlert recently stated about our budget, “Today's announcement will make an important difference for children with chronic or potentially serious medical conditions”.
The budget also opens the door for more private donors to help people in need beyond our borders. It does so by providing a tax incentive for companies who take part in international programs that donate life-saving medications to combat diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis in the developing world. This is a very positive program and it means that Canadian companies, just like Canadian individuals, are showing how they care about the world around them and how we as a country can make a difference in the fight against HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, malarial diseases and so on.
Another initiative I want to highlight from budget 2007 is a landmark investment in protecting Canadian women from the threat of cervical cancer. That cancer is the second most common form of cancer facing Canadian women between the ages of 20 and 44. It is a form of cancer that now can often be prevented through a newly approved vaccine.
We want to see that vaccine put to work. That is why budget 2007 provides $300 million to support provincial and territorial partners from coast to coast in protecting women and girls from cervical cancer. I have a quote from Dr. Gail Beck, president of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada, who said, “With this new budget, the federal government is showing true leadership with respect to women's health”. That is the position that this government wants to be in for sure.
Let me go on to talk a little about how these initiatives are more than the work of our government. In fact, they build on the record of commitment and cooperation among federal, provincial and territorial governments. The fact is that we are listening to stakeholders across the health care sector.
Of course that involves our provincial and territorial partners, but we have been listening to other stakeholders as well. When the Prime Minister announced the national cancer strategy, for instance, that to me was a very proud day, because that was about a bottom-up approach to fighting cancer in our country. It means that it is not just bureaucrat X-14, politician X or politician Y deciding what is best for cancer. It means that from the bottom up we decide these things together.
I am proud to be part of Canada's new government as Minister of Health, where patients and their loved ones come first.
