Tony Clement

[Health, June 7th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, or should know, the document that was released was a series of talking points. It was not a scientific investigation. It was not a scientific document.

I will tell hon. members in this House, and I hope the hon. member agrees with me, that we should make the decision based on science, based on the advice of the best experts to protect the health and safety of Canadian citizens. That is what this side of the House agrees with. Certainly, we do not agree with rhetoric. We agree with action to protect the health and safety of Canadians.

[Health, June 7th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell the House that certainly the initial investigation reveals that a document was inadvertently sent out. We continue the investigation.

Let me agree with the hon. member that it is unacceptable to send out documents that are not meant to be sent out and we will continue the investigation.

[Health, June 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell the House that in budget 2006 we have been very supportive of the 10 year deal on health care, which includes transfer funding at an unprecedented level for the provinces and territories to meet the health care needs of their patients and constituents.

That includes long term care and home care. If the hon. member feels that strongly about it, perhaps she should run in the provincial election in Nova Scotia.

[Health, May 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to tell the hon. member that no medical device, including silicone gel breast implants, is approved or authorized for sale in Canada if the health risks exceed the benefits. That is our government's position. We support women's health.

[Health, May 18th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, there has been great progress in wait time guarantees. Right off the mark, the government of Quebec announced its own wait time guarantee program. We are initiating discussions with the other provinces.

The hon. member is misinformed when she cites the previous Liberal government's support for this.

Indeed, this government, in budget 2006 by my hon. colleague next to me, indicated a $5.5 billion fund to address wait times and an extra $1.1 billion this year alone in transfer payments to the provinces to assist them in health care.

That is leadership on this side of the House.

[Aboriginal Affairs, May 17th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell the House that we intend to fulfill our promises that were based on budget 2006, promises to aboriginal Canadians from coast to coast to coast, which the hon. member and her caucus voted against.

[Aboriginal Affairs, May 17th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General has expressed a tale of mismanagement that has a direct impact on the health and safety of aboriginal Canadians. We do not have to make any excuses but we will be part of the solution rather than the members opposite who have been part of the problem for the last 13 years.

[Health, May 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, we are in the middle of a process that was started in 2004 with the provinces and territories to undertake a review of a national pharmaceutical strategy. I cannot stand in my place today and jump the gun on that. I am going to wait for that process to continue.

When it comes to private clinics, as the hon. member mentioned, I welcome her advice on that and particularly from the leader of her party, who seemingly attended a private clinic in Toronto and did not know about it until he was asked about it by the media. Perhaps we have some things to learn from them.

[Health, May 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I have been called a lot of things in my life, but never a Liberal. I do not think that this is one of my worries.

I too am mystified by the lack of enforcement by the previous government. I do not know what its strategy was for increasing accessibility to health care in our country. I know on this side of the House, in this government, we do have a strategy. We are working with the provinces and territories to institute the wait times guarantee.

For the patients, regardless of where they reside, this promise means we will have a plan in place to ensure that they get the medical attention they need, as close to home as possible.

[Health, May 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, in my colleague's budget on behalf of the Government of Canada, there was $1 billion earmarked for pandemics and pandemic planning.

To prepare for the pandemic, $600 million is going to go to various government agencies designed to cooperate not only with other provinces and territories but with the world to ensure that we have the surveillance necessary, we can react very quickly, we can contain any particular pandemic and then eradicate it from our midst.

That is the challenge we face and that is the challenge that we have as a result of this foresighted budget.