Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, I would defer to Mr. Yeates, who has more detailed knowledge on this than I do, if that's okay.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, perhaps I could ask my colleague Mr. Yeates to answer that since it's his area that is most affected by the fee structure.

Public Accounts committee  Those were Susan Fletcher's people.

Public Accounts committee  It's been since December 2004.

Public Accounts committee  Yes. Those were the toxic chemicals.

Public Accounts committee  As the Auditor General says, what we're talking about here are management frameworks. That's what she was looking at. I think this has been a slow process of evolution that continues within the government to get sound management practices into place, to be clearer on what priorities are--not only to be able to be clearer on a process for allocating resources internally and outside the department to those priorities, but also to be able to measure whether you're actually meeting your priorities, and then to do the whole thing again, because the environment we're in is a very quickly changing environment.

Public Accounts committee  I will try to answer, but I might have to ask one of my colleagues to elaborate on my answer afterward. Yes, I agree that we can improve our planning and funding system, and we are doing that. No doubt, we can do better. However, let us take some examples. If we look at the results, we have fewer safety-related drug product withdrawals than in the United States, for instance.

Public Accounts committee  From an overall standpoint, I would say we do have enough. In cases where we find that there is more risk, there are risk management processes in the department that allow us to make adjustments.

Public Accounts committee  From my understanding of our challenges, I would say that we have adequate resources. But we will continue to assess whether, in the context or the environment, there are other risks. If so, we will ask to be able to reallocate resources within the department or, if necessary, request new resources from the government.

Public Accounts committee  Yes. I intend to table this detailed action plan that will be ready by the end of February.

Public Accounts committee  It is about operational planning and a budget management framework. We want a better coordination of branches at the departmental level. In addition, the branches are making great efforts to achieve this. I could ask my colleagues who are present here, that is the assistant deputy ministers of each branch, to give you some more details on what is being done in their branch.

Public Accounts committee  Yes. For example, last year we followed a process on the Cox-2 inhibitors, namely Vioxx, Celebrex and other such drugs. A group of experts was created to investigate the matter. Up to then, it was customary to have experts discuss matters among themselves and then make recommendations to the department.

Public Accounts committee  To begin with, I would like to say that there are certain activities that are ongoing, and international comparisons by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris show that Canada's performance is very good compared with that of other countries that regulate the same areas.

Public Accounts committee  That does not mean that there are no resources. There are resources. However, it is a question of whether they properly reflect the scope of the challenges being dealt with. I believe that, generally speaking, we do carry out our mandate. That said, it is always possible to improve the way we do things.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On behalf of Health Canada, I'm pleased to be here today to speak to chapter 8 of the Auditor General's report from last November. We thank the Auditor General for her report. We're pleased she has recognized that we've already made progress in this area that we're here to talk about, which is regulatory programs.