Health committee  Yes, so—

Health committee  What we said was that it was not adequate compared to our clinical practice guidelines.

Health committee  There has to be. We have to find the room to make sure that we continue to encourage innovation, research and development. As we're trying to make sure that, on one hand, we respond to the uninsured and the under-insured, on the other hand, we want to make sure that we continue to develop new treatments and new technologies that improve care.

Health committee  Rather, we chose to offer what we thought was a good list, and that's why the document that you all have in terms of the comparison of our clinical practice guidelines as well as the NIHB program—

Health committee  That's why we put in our second recommendation the principle of continued improvement of care. Our clinical practice guidelines change from time to time as we get new evidence, and we have to make sure that, as new medications come up we have a system that allows for it. It shouldn't be just a system of older medications, but it should have that capability.

Health committee  Thank you for the question. We talk with the governments regularly, mostly on the implementation of the framework. We did not talk before about the specifics of this bill.

Health committee  One of the things we talked about yesterday, which we've supplied to all the members, is a comparison between the list provided by the government and our clinical practice guidelines, to say that there's work to be done on this. We've also supplied all the lists of what's happening in each and every province.

Health committee  This is fundamental. We have to have patients at the table and fully involved in the discussions. That hasn't happened too much up to this point. With the limited debate, as a former politician, I'm concerned about limited debates, but that's the decision that was made. We have to get out in the community and we have to get concrete.

Health committee  Thank you very much for the question. The framework that I referred to actually has improved access for medications and devices as one of the six main components. Across the country the provinces are working, to their own levels, on implementation of the framework. I don't have time today to go into it, but I can certainly give details to the committee later on.

Health committee  At our meeting with the minister, those words were very reassuring because, when you take a look at the bill, there are a number of interpretations, which we heard about today, that cause a great deal of concern—excitement in some areas and concern in other areas—so the clarity from the minister is important.

Health committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Diabetes Canada has long advocated at the federal, provincial and territorial levels for improved access to medications, devices and services for the over four million people with diabetes. The goal of Diabetes Canada is to improve the quality of life for people living with diabetes.