Health committee  We will get back to you within three weeks to tell you what we're doing on it.

Health committee  I believe it's $50 million that's flowing to the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control, $1 million to Health Canada, and $1 million to the Public Health Agency.

Health committee  I hope so.

Health committee  I'm not aware of that document, but I would be pleased to get a copy of it so that we can check it. There are no rules or principles at Health Canada. It depends on the nature of the translation or of the drafting of the document. A document may be originally prepared in English or in French, then translated.

Health committee  Yes.

Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. In the health products and food branch, there is a bit of an ebb and flow. There are some amounts that are decreasing. Certainly one of the amounts that are increasing is an additional $6.1 million for strengthening the safety of drugs, medical devices, and other therapeutic products.

Health committee  The rate the departments were required to use for 2007-08 main estimates was adjusted down to 18.5%. That will explain the reduction.

Health committee  With respect to the benefits, I believe so.

Health committee  Mr. Chair, as we understand it, the Treasury Board Secretariat provides departments with the rate at which to calculate employee benefit plans. This is a rate that's a percentage of each department's personnel costs. The rate the departments were required to use in the preparation of the 2006-07 main estimates was 19% for personnel costs.

Health committee  The only other thing I'd say is that generally speaking we would always be trying, first of all, to keep our eye on the main objective, which is the health and safety of Canadians. Within that overarching objective, we also want to find ways of being as efficient as possible in doing our work.

Public Accounts committee  I want to thank the committee for their interest as well. We will be back to you with an action plan by the end of the month.

Public Accounts committee  I would choose to improve operational planning and to provide a budget planning framework that would give our managers clear directives regarding the principles and rules to follow in determining priorities and carrying out audits, including documentation relative to decisions.

Public Accounts committee  If we provide the action plan to you by the end of the month, then midway through this next fiscal year, which should be around September, would be a reasonable time, and then another one at the end of the year.

Public Accounts committee  I think that the report shows that even if the core funding was cut, the funding from all other sources has generally remained the same. On the other hand, the report raised the following question that we are dealing with in our departmental planning. We want to know whether a specific activity is sufficiently funded by budgets from all sources and if we are carrying out our responsibilities adequately.

Public Accounts committee  The first thing you would do in any program, I think, is ask yourself whether you have the flexibility within that program, within other programs in the same branch, and then within the same department to manage, before you go to the Treasury Board. Because if you didn't do that, the Treasury Board would send you back to look at your own--