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Results: 1 - 15 of 22
View Gabriel Ste-Marie Profile
BQ (QC)
Yes, that answers my question. Thank you very much.
My next question is more general in nature.
What is your government's position on health care funding from Ottawa? In your opinion, is the federal government doing enough right now and is the current budget sufficient?
View Gabriel Ste-Marie Profile
BQ (QC)
Okay.
From what I understand, there is a consensus among all the provincial governments to ask Ottawa to fund 35% instead of 22% of health care costs. The Prime Minister stated that he is open to the idea of talking to his counterparts, but only after the pandemic. From our perspective, the sooner the better, given that we are currently in a health crisis.
Thank you for your response. Would you like to add a comment?
View Luc Thériault Profile
BQ (QC)
View Luc Thériault Profile
2021-05-03 11:45
Dr. Perrault said that recurring investments in health care are absolutely necessary. Do you agree with that?
View Luc Thériault Profile
BQ (QC)
View Luc Thériault Profile
2021-04-30 13:28
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome to our witnesses.
Madam Minister, I'm sure you have no doubt about the topic I am going to discuss with you. I am going to ask a little question about what you said in your speech.
You said that you are keen on investing in research. However, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research have seen a reduction of 22.6%, whereas we know very well that messenger RNA vaccines are the result of decades of basic research on RNA.
How do you justify that reduction, when we should be doing completely the opposite to make sure that we retain our best minds and continue to be leaders in research?
View Luc Thériault Profile
BQ (QC)
View Luc Thériault Profile
2021-04-30 13:30
In 2020-2021, the figure was $1,619,967,785. The funding is now $1,253,906,530. That is a reduction of 22.6%. If you want to champion basic research, you should at least make provision for the same budget and not repeat the errors of the past.
We could go on arguing for ever but I don't want to waste time. The figures have been published and come from the analysts of the House and the Library of Parliament. The figures are good.
Officials from the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec and the Canadian Medical Association, cardiovascular surgeons, hematologists, oncologists, gastroenterologists and radiologists have all come to tell us that dark clouds are gathering on the horizon.
You have provided money to deal with the pandemic. You often talk about an amount of $19 billion for COVID-19 patients. However, non-COVID-19 patients are going to end up in a precarious situation.
All those doctors came to tell us that, in the next 10 years, we will see the results of the offloading and the lack of diagnostic tests, and that the mortality rate will increase by 10% per year. From a medical point of view, they are talking about the two most frequent causes of death in Canada, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
From an economic point of view, costs are going to explode. If recurring investments are not made starting immediately, which is the very reason for the health transfers, we are going to be paying a lot more tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, not to mention the human drama that will ensue.
What are you waiting for to do your share? The provinces are investing $200 billion and the federal government is investing $42 billion. What we are asking from you is an additional amount of $28 billion.
You spent $340 billion last year. This year, you anticipate spending $154 billion. Are you not tempted to transfer those $28 billion as a matter of urgency, so that we can immediately start dealing with the patients who do not have COVID-19?
View Luc Thériault Profile
BQ (QC)
View Luc Thériault Profile
2021-04-30 13:34
Madam Minister, this is not the time for conversations. This is what people have come to tell us. There are impacts on people's lives and on the quality of their lives.
A colonoscopy costs $1,000. Early detection of cancer is critical. In Québec alone, 155,000 patients are on waiting lists. If nothing is done, 200,000 patients will be waiting by the end of the year.
If recurring investments are not made now, lives will be lost and the costs of the system will explode. It's not logical from a medical point of view, an economic point of view, or a budgetary point of view.
View Tony Van Bynen Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our witnesses for taking the time to meet with us again.
All of you have been very busy leading us through the pandemic. I wanted to let you know that your time is valued and appreciated.
Leading us through this pandemic has required using science-based evidence from the start. Dealing with this new virus meant that as we learned more about it, our approach and our response changed and adapted accordingly. That is science and that is what using science-based evidence requires.
Canada is home to world-class scientists and public health experts, some of whom are with us today. Their research has played, and continues to play, a vital role in building and evolving our understanding of COVID-19. There's no doubt that we need to continue to support and invest in our scientific community.
Minister, could you tell us about the work that the federal government is doing to support COVID-19 research and our scientific community here in Canada?
View Luc Thériault Profile
BQ (QC)
View Luc Thériault Profile
2021-04-30 14:08
Dr. Strong, let us agree on the figures.
The proposed budget for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research has been reduced by 22.6% compared to last year. It is true that that reflects an increase of 4.3% compared to 2019. However, why not maintain the budget at the 2020-2021 level, a little more than $1.6 billion, knowing that we have to support research, because it is critical for the years to come?
View Luc Thériault Profile
BQ (QC)
View Luc Thériault Profile
2021-04-30 14:09
I understood that, Dr. Strong, I am going to let you answer but I do not have a lot of time.
I am well aware that you have reduced certain expenses. I am not asking you which ones or to explain to me how things work. I am actually asking you why, given the situation that we are experiencing, you did not keep the budget at the same level by injecting that difference into basic research, which is so important for the years to come. That's my question.
View Luc Thériault Profile
BQ (QC)
View Luc Thériault Profile
2021-04-30 14:10
You are actually giving me a civil service answer, and I have no problem with that.
What I know is that the government decided to spend $1.6 billion last year, but this year it's only going to spend $1.2 billion, in round numbers. You are telling me that additional expenditures were targeted to respond to the pandemic. However, we are still in the middle of the pandemic and basic research has always been the poor cousin in terms of investments. We have lost a lot of good minds over the years, and we must not repeat the errors of the past.
I was not trying to find out how the budget is broken down, but why there is no recommendation or inclination in favour of basic research. Why not have maintained that budget at its previous level, especially since we are still in the middle of the pandemic?
I suspect you will give me a civil service answer and I have no need for it.
View Luc Thériault Profile
BQ (QC)
View Luc Thériault Profile
2021-04-30 15:05
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Madam Minister, before the first wave, healthcare networks were already fragile and under a lot of pressure because of chronic underfunding. With the passage of time, the pandemic will have harmful, long-term, collateral effects on patients who do not have COVID-19. According to representatives of various associations, 94,000 patients in Quebec are being seen beyond the required timeframe. In oncology, we know that a delay of three or four weeks increases the mortality rate by 8% to 10%.
You have reached agreements and you have showed us the breakdown of the $19 billion you have allocated for patients with COVID-19. However, why did you not make the political choice to immediately inject money into the networks so that they can not only look after patients with conditions other than COVID-19, but also fill the breach and stop the bleeding caused by the exodus of employees, our human resources, because they are sick or they decide to change careers?
Soon, we will be losing trained people who have gained expertise in their areas. People are going to die. All because you made the wrong political choice. All the experts are saying that this is not justified either medically or economically.
Why did you make that choice?
View Luc Thériault Profile
BQ (QC)
View Luc Thériault Profile
2021-04-30 15:06
I did not say that you have not injected money, Madam Minister. I said that the money you have injected through agreements with the provinces is strictly for the fight against COVID-19. You have added nothing in terms of health transfers. The misinformation at the moment is coming from you, not from me.
View Luc Thériault Profile
BQ (QC)
View Luc Thériault Profile
2021-04-26 11:42
In addition, we have not yet addressed the waiting lists in orthopedics, which also have an impact on people's cardiovascular health in the medium term. The longer the wait for patients who have difficulty moving, walking or being active, the more likely their need to see you.
Dr. Perrault, the government is currently telling us, in the midst of a pandemic, that it will take care of COVID-19 patients first. It is telling us that it is injecting money on an ad hoc basis and that it will inject substantial, predictable, recurrent and long-term funding into health transfers only after the pandemic.
Do you see this as a medically defensible decision?
View Luc Thériault Profile
BQ (QC)
View Luc Thériault Profile
2021-04-26 12:57
My question is for Dr. Legault.
Dr. Perreault, Dr. Bélanger, Dr. Champagne and Dr. Shabah told us that COVID-19 would have an impact on patients other than those affected by COVID-19 and, more importantly, that the costs to deal with the situation would skyrocket over the next 10 years.
I imagine you agree with them. If we don't invest in the health care system now, it will cost us a lot more later.
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