Press conference following a meeting with Quebec Health Minister Phillippe Couillard

Speech for
The Honourable Tony Clement,
Minister of Health and Minister Responsible for the
Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario
at

a Meeting with Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard

Quebec City
April 12, 2006

Check against delivery

Good afternoon,

It's a pleasure to be here today with my counterpart Minister Couillard. Since being appointed Health Minister, I have had the pleasure of speaking with Minister Couillard on a number of occasions. And just before this press conference we had an informative and constructive meeting. I would like to thank him for this opportunity to meet today, and for his hospitality. I look forward to continuing to work with him in my new capacity.

I am honoured to be back in the health portfolio which is how I first met Minister Couillard. I've learned many things as Ontario's Minister of Health that I believe will serve me well as federal Health Minister.

I understand the difficult job facing other health ministers such as Minister Couillard. I faced some big changes to the system. I encountered numerous challenges to health care, but I also saw some great progress and successes first-hand; as a result, I learned how things work on the other side.

One of the key lessons I learned, as Provincial Health Minister, was that governments can't make the kind of systematic change we want just by ourselves. We all need to collaborate – between federal, provincial and territorial governments and jurisdictions, with the health professionals and health organizations. Our shared expertise and experience is what will make the difference – and I believe this is exactly the approach that is necessary to reduce patient wait times for Canadians.

That is why our Government is moving quickly to follow through on its commitments as outlined in the Speech from the Throne. It is centred on the five priorities that Prime Minister Stephen Harper set out during the election – five priorities that have been our focus since forming a government:

• The Federal Accountability Act, which will be our first piece of legislation and a foundation of our efforts to restore accountability and regain the trust of citizens;
• Lower taxes for working Canadians, starting with reducing the GST by one percent;
• Tackling crime, and protecting Canadian families and communities from violent crimes – particularly from weapon, drug and gang-related crimes;
• Helping Canadian parents by supporting their chil care choices through direct financial support, and by encouraging the creation of more day care spaces;
• And one of my primary responsibilities is ensuring that Canadians receive the health care they need without suffering through unreasonably long wait times.

Too often, Canadians find themselves waiting too long for critical procedures, with no alternative but to wait even longer, often in pain or discomfort, and at some risk to their health. They want – and deserve – certainty that they will receive the care they need – when they need it, wherever they live and regardless of ability to pay.

We made a commitment to improve the quality of health care in this country and we will honour that commitment to Canadians.

We're ready to take the next step. As mentioned in the Speech from the Throne, we will work with provincial and territorial governments to develop and implement a Patient Wait Times.

The Patient Wait Times Guarantee will accomplish two important goals:

First, it will let patients know how soon they can expect to receive care, and what to do if their wait becomes excessive.

Second, it brings a new level of health care accountability, ensuring that patients will always receive timely medical treatment.

Since becoming Minister of Health, I have discussed wait times with Minister Couillard and with my other provincial and territorial colleagues. As well as with leaders of Canada's health care organizations. To date, I have been pleased with the discussions I have had and collectively we understand the value and importance of a Patient Wait Times Guarantee.

Ministers of Health have already agreed on an initial set of ten common benchmarks –or common goals for provision of medical treatments and screening services– in key elective areas for cancer screening and care, cardiac surgery, hip and knee replacements, and cataracts.

In addition, our Government is ensuring the funding needed for action. Canadians, through their governments, have already made significant investments in the system. We are on a track to put an additional $41 billion over ten years into the health care system, as proposed in the 2004 Health Accord.

We see the way to a Patient Wait Times Guarantee as being based on four key cornerstones:

• research;
• health human resources;
• information and communications technology; and
• Improved collaboration between jurisdictions.

Collaboration in health care is an essential component in order for us to implement patient wait times for Canadians. Canadians are less concerned about how quality health care is delivered and are more concerned with ensuring that timely and quality healthcare is available when needed. They want results. And we can attain them by learning from each other. We can do a better job of identifying and sharing best practices across the country, while improving health care delivery for the benefit of all Canadians.

It's only through working in partnership that we've recently reached some important milestones together.

For example, the federal, provincial and territorial governments demonstrated in their 2004 agreement how they can all successfully agree on health system reforms.

Governments are collaborating with the Canadian Institute for Health Information to develop uniform ways of measuring wait times. This will allow us to measure - and report on - wait times, consistently across the country.

I want to emphasize that it is this kind of joint partnership that will assist us in reducing patient wait times.

As mentioned in the Speech from the Throne, making our health system timely and sustainable requires innovation. All of these innovative approaches clearly demonstrate that patient centred innovation is achievable within our current public system. They show the common commitment to results that Canadians want, and that our Government will support and encourage.

In fact, as you know, Minister Couillard along with his government recently proposed its own guarantee for select services—the first province to do so. Our government welcomes this innovative approach that may well inspire other provinces to follow suit.

Quebec's proposed guarantee of access is an innovative approach to ensure timely access within the publicly-funded system, and is accompanied by safeguards to protect the integrity of that public system.

I would like to congratulate Minister Couillard and his government on their innovative plan. The Government of Canada welcomes this leadership, and we encourage all provinces to examine Quebec's model of a proposed guarantee of access.

Minister Couillard and I share the view that there are certain types of reforms that can be implemented within our universally accessible health care system that Canadians support.

Quebec's proposal demonstrates that provinces and territories continue to innovatively manage their health care programs, and allocate the necessary resources to their priority health care needs.

I would also like to commend Minister Couillard and his government for their measured and appropriate response to last year's Supreme Court decision.

Innovation is welcome. It must, however, be based on the principles that we value. One of those principles is a public health system that is universally and equitably accessible. Dr. Couillard's innovative solution adheres to this principle.

This demonstrates how innovation and commitment to our universal health care system can in fact create attainable results.

I am committed to further, on-going consultation between Minister Couillard and myself, as well as, our other provincial and territorial counterparts. I am honoured to have the opportunity to have met today with Minister Couillard to discuss patient wait times guarantees and how we will move forward together to find ways to make the transition – from thought to action.

I am committed to working with the provinces and territories to implement a patient wait times guarantee because quality health care is the foundation of Canadian priorities. The people of Quebec are counting on everyone working in the health field to improve that foundation and build a better health care system for all.

Thank you.