Health  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the House that during the past weekend I have announced, on behalf of Canada's new government, that we will invest $7.4 million in the next two years, and an ongoing amount of $5.2 million thereafter, to develop a program for cardiovascular issues and to coordinate prevention and treatment.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I mentioned yesterday that there are more than 2,500 scientific articles on this topic. A number of scientific experts have given their opinion, and I support this science based decision.

Health  Mr. Speaker, this issue was discussed by experts. Obviously scientific experts do not all share the same opinion. However, I want to reassure the House: the use of breast implants is subject to strict conditions, and these conditions must be met. This is a Health Canada decision, and I support it.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I should tell the hon. member that scientific experts have reviewed more than 65,000 pages of documents, including more than 2,500 scientific articles. They are confident of the safety of the approved products.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I can tell the hon. member and the House that the Public Health Agency of Canada has been in constant contact with officials from around the world, including the United States, on these issues. The initial cases, once it was clear what was going on, were isolated. As soon as we knew that there was a direct causation, that information was shared.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, one of the most obvious factors in determining health is the environment. Our government is the first government at the federal level to recognize this. In fact, the Canadian Medical Association said yesterday: --the government appears to be on the right track....that reason, the Clean Air Act could prove to be a significant first step in improving the health of Canadians.

Health  Curiously, Mr. Speaker, while the previous Liberal government was doling out money to its friends, it forgot and it cut the funds in March 2005 for the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program. Help is on the way. In budget 2006 this government will provide funding of $400,000 per year for the next five years for this important program.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I would be pleased to answer that question. Indeed, last week I announced $348 million extra in funding for health research projects, including in the area of wait times, pandemics and cardiac health. In the 2006 budget we increased the budgets for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research by $17 million, an initial $21.5 million over five years for pandemic preparedness.

Government Programs  Mr. Speaker, there is no evidence for the contentions of the hon. member. When we look at programs we look at them to deliver results and that they are delivered effectively, responsibly and accountably. In this particular case, there is no evidence of that. However, if there is any member of any first nation or any citizen of Canada who has a better plan to deliver real results for the reduction of tobacco use by first nations people, we are all ears.

Health  Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member well knows, there is a process by which provincial health ministers deal with these issues. In fact the British Columbia case that she referenced is being dealt with by the British Columbia minister. I am no expert--

Health  I am not a medical expert. Mr. Speaker, I would advise the member that she not get too much out of control on this issue as she might get a hernia and then she would be behind Jack Layton, who used private hernia services when he needed--

Health  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak on this issue, as I have been doing all summer. In fact, there has been great progress made throughout the country when it comes to reducing wait times, as a result I might add, of the commitment of this new Conservative government to increase the pot for transfer payments for health by fully $1.1 billion and to increase the escalator for health care funding by 6%.

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, obviously nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, we have increased spending for our first nations communities and we will continue to do so, I am sure. The question before this House is, can we deliver more effectively, can we deliver more responsibly and more honourably?

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the hon. member and the House that spending for aboriginal health care under the new Conservative government went up by 12% in budget 2006 to $1.985 billion to protect the health of our first nations and aboriginal peoples. That is the commitment of the government and the commitment is to ensure that every dollar we spend is spent effectively, responsibly and accountably.

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. We have invested in maternal child health. We have invested in diabetes prevention. We have invested in human health resources for aboriginal people. We have made those new investments precisely because we want to have better health outcomes for aboriginal people throughout the country.