Canadian Museum of History Act  We have Victor Rabinovitch, president and CEO of the museum for 11 years. George MacDonald, founding director from 1983 to 1988, said, “I was shocked to hear”, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, “claim that the Aboriginal Peoples are excluded from the displays in the Canada Hall”.

Canadian Heritage committee  Mr. Chairman, thank you for the question by the member. I certainly agree with the way you have put the problem. I also grew up in the 1950s. I can still see Davy Crockett and I had a coon skin cap. And I certainly know that the Americans won the War of 1812 because of what took place in 1815 outside a certain battle of New Orleans, and can sing that song as well.

Canadian Heritage committee  You must know that there are a lot of people here who are museum experts. I have permission to cite Dr. George MacDonald, who is here with us and who reacted to your comments when you said that the First Nations were not included. Let me tell you what he said: I just watched James Moore on his new web site in the clip on the 2nd reading of Bill C-49 and was shocked to hear him claim that the Aboriginal Peoples are excluded from the displays in the Canada Hall.

International Trade committee  I'll answer both questions together. Michael and I were heavily involved when we set up the U.S.-Canada free trade negotiations with the mandate of both governments. We set up strategy structures, so that in Canada some 15 industry groups were consulted. We did all kinds of studies, building on the Macdonald report, etc., which was an enormous help to our negotiators, seeing the impact industry by industry, sector by sector in Canada—and the same with the U.S.

Human Resources committee  Dr. King from Queen's University led a double-cohort study in Ontario that produced four different reports. His work showed that colleges like Algonquin were always focused on recruiting students in grades 10, 11, and 12. What became clear from Dr. King's studies was that these students are making these decisions significantly earlier than we ever thought.

Health committee  When you talk about a new body to oversee innovation, do you also see that there could be some kind of fund targeted to that, that would be the carrot in terms of encouraging provinces to get on board? The other question I have is, Dr. MacDonald, in the brief from the Public Health Association of B.C., I'm very impressed with how you focused on what appears to be the simple issue of transforming primary care, the six steps that you outline, and yet it appears so difficult to do it.

Committees of the House  I myself have already started consultations. I will quote what I heard from the United Way president and CEO, Dr. Lucy Miller, and its vice-president and chief operating officer, Heather MacDonald. They said that the government's focus on skills training is in line with the United Way's project called All In.

Health committee  I think that's what we're talking about. You've brought forward ideas for innovation in the delivery of health care. I must say, Dr. MacDonald, that you made an excellent case for what I think we've all been talking about for the last 50 years, which is the fact that 60% of disease is preventable and that if we moved to a prevention model we would be able to create healthier populations that wouldn't require health care, etc.

Health committee  Thank you, Dr. MacDonald. We'll go to Dr. Carrie now.

Health committee  Like Dr. Raza, we are an advocacy organization as well. It's a volunteer organization with a volunteer board. We have a very small budget. We do not spend any money on technological innovation. Our role is to promote and protect the health of the public, so we make recommendations around what we as an organization believe will make a difference in doing that.

Health committee  Thank you very much, Dr. MacDonald. We will now go to Dr. Raza from the Canadian Doctors for Medicare, please.

Volunteerism  This week is National Volunteer Week in Canada, and I wish to extend a heartfelt thanks on behalf of the Canadian government to everyone who volunteers. I am pleased to honour from my riding of Simcoe—Grey, David Sadlier, Sandie Macdonald, Dr. Don Paul and Major Jim Ellwood for their outstanding commitment to volunteering and for providing leadership in my riding. Their efforts certainly do not go unnoticed. I am also pleased to speak in support of the Prime Minister's Volunteer Awards, which are awarded to individuals, businesses and not-for-profit organizations from across the country that give back to their communities in many ways.

International Trade committee  I'm not an expert in CSR, and Pablo knows more about this than I do so I might pass it over to him, but basically I think we need to think about making them mandatory rather than voluntary.

International Trade committee  Well, I'm simply raising some questions here. I can't say necessarily that this would doom our relationship with Brazil, not at all. I'm not saying that, but it might harm our relationship somewhat with Brazil. I think they are not hostile relationships, but they're competitive agreements within the hemisphere and it may be that we can't have our cake and eat it too.

International Trade committee  I'm just making the point that they're having demonstrations in various Latin American countries against Canadian mining companies. There are legal cases being brought. It's just very controversial. I don't think you can deny that. There are different points of view. I'm just saying we should tread carefully here and recognize that there are some issues that we need to think about, and perhaps strengthen our CSR standards.