The Future of Canada's Health Care System

Speaking Points for
The Honourable Tony Clement

Minister of Health
and
Minister for FedNor

Indo-Canada Ottawa Business Council

TOPIC: "The Future of Canada's Health Care System"

October 26, 2006
Ottawa, Ontario

Check Against Delivery.

• This week Prime Minister Stephen Harper participated in the celebration of the great festival of Diwali, or the Festival of Lights as it is otherwise known on Parliament Hill. This is one of the great Hindu festivals celebrated by hundreds of millions of people around the world every year.

• Our government has been particularly active in helping Canada strengthen its relationship with India, the world's most populous democracy and an emerging economic power.

• We are building bridges between Canada's new government and the Indo-Canadian community.

• Since its birth, Canada has bound together individuals of varying ethnic and religious backgrounds in pursuit of a common goal - to build a peaceful, prosperous country rooted in equality of opportunity.

• The contribution made by the Indo-Canadian community to this endeavour has been particularly noteworthy.

• Fuelled by an unshakeable work ethic and commitment to family and community, Indo Canadians are helping to build a stronger, better Canada for all of us.

CANADA'S NEW GOVERNMENT

• Over the past eight months, Canadians have witnessed a government that has followed through on its promises and commitments.

• I am honoured to be part of the team and to play a role in delivering a new kind of government to Canadians.  I am especially honoured to serve as Minister of Health and Minister responsible for FedNor.

• As I visit the towns and cities throughout Ontario and across the country, it's become clear that Canadians know that this is a government that delivers on its promises.

• Our priorities are clear:

• Restoring Canadians' faith in the federal government by introducing the most sweeping accountability measures in Canada's history.

• Rewarding hard work and helping Canadians get ahead by reducing the GST.

• Protecting families, communities, and Canada's way of life by cracking down on guns, gangs, and drugs.

• Giving parents choice in child care by providing direct financial support and new child care spaces.

• Guaranteeing timely health care services to Canadians by moving towards Patient Wait Times Guarantees.
  

CLEAN AIR ACT

• We are also working to clean up our environment.  There are so many factors that influence and determine health.  And perhaps one of the most obvious of these factors is the environment.  
  
  
• Addressing the links between health and the environment is an important part of this government's mandate, and an important part of my portfolio.
  
  
• We are moving beyond simply paying lip service to the notion of addressing determinants of health.  In fact, we're beginning a process that will give focus to - and accelerate the work on - the fundamental factors affecting the health of all Canadians.

• The air we breathe is one such factor that has a major impact on our health.  Across Canada, outdoor air pollution contributes to at least 5,900 deaths from stroke, cardiac, and lung diseases each and every year. 

• Since 1978, the percentage of children diagnosed with asthma - the leading cause of school absenteeism - has increased from 2.5% to 12%.

• With Canada's Clean Air Act, we have set in motion the country's first comprehensive approach to tackle air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.  We have a plan that is going to replace rhetoric with results, a plan that is going to move from short-term headlines to long-term progress, a plan that is going to get things done on the environment.

• The proposed Clean Air Act will go a long towards improving the health of Canadians.  Even more important, it will protect the health of the most vulnerable: young children, elderly Canadians, and people who already suffer from chronic hearth and respiratory illnesses.

• The Clean Air Act will ensure that the government can gather the information it needs to identify indoor air quality problems, develop new air quality guidelines, and regulate air pollutants indoors.

• It's now been eight months since Canada's new government took office.  During its first session in Parliament, and continuing into the second session, our Government made significant strides in addressing each of these issues.
  

PATIENT WAIT TIMES GUARANTEES

• As Canada's Minister of Health, establishing a Patient Wait Time Guarantee and improving our nation's health care system is my top priority.

• We all agree, including the Supreme Court of Canada, that it is unacceptable, in a nation as wealthy and as modern as Canada, to have a health care system which permits unconscionably long delays and offers patients no recourse to alternate treatment options. 

• The status quo in health care is not acceptable and failure is not an option.  It is time to declare it unacceptable in a nation as wealthy and as modern as Canada to have a health system which permits unconscionably long delays and offers patients no recourse to alternative treatment options within the publicly funded system.

• This is not just my opinion.  It's the opinion of the 84% of Canadians who are in favour of wait time guarantees.  Millions of Canadians voted for wait time guarantees as one of our campaign commitments.  Doctors overwhelmingly support wait time guarantees.  And the Supreme Court of Canada itself has declared that our publicly funded system must offer patients timely care or it loses its monopoly.

• Canada's new government understands that Canadians expect all levels of government to work together to get things done for families and for taxpayers. They expect practical and properly managed healthcare programs. 

• I know full well there are many parts of our system that operate very well and many instances when it functions perfectly smoothly and quickly.   But we can, and must do better.

• That's why we are working with the provinces, territories and all our health partners to deliver a health system that will be more accountable to - patients.  Not processes.  Not providers.  But patients. 

• Canada's new government is committed to a patient-centred approach. 

• We will strive towards a system which is responsive to your changing health care needs, towards a system that is fair and transparent, and one that provides patients and their families with readily available information. 

• In 2005, all provinces and territories worked together to establish an initial set of benchmarks for acceptable wait times in priority areas. As they say in business, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it."

• With these benchmarks in hand, we can now measure against them in order to determine which areas of our system we need to make our focus for improvement.

• In Budget 2006, our new government committed to honouring Canada's health accord by continuing to transfer to provinces an additional $41 billion over 10 years, including $5.5 billion specifically earmarked to reduce Wait Times. And we also committed to a six per cent increase in funding in each of those ten years.

• Let me emphasize: each and every health ministry in every province and every territory can now budget to receive a six per cent increase every year through the Canada Health Transfer.

• So here's where we stand: over the summer, I had discussions with Health Ministers from every Province and Territory to obtain their views on the opportunities and challenges they see in reducing Patient Wait Times. 

• When we have a common goal, and when governments work together, we can deliver to Canadians the kind of health care they deserve.

• And while some people say Wait Times Guarantees are impossible to deliver. I say, we can do it, just as other countries such as Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom and New Zealand have.  Canada must learn from their experiences.  We must focus on timely and efficient delivery of healthcare, on research and development, and advances in heath care technology.  This winning combination will make our system the envy of the world, and one that we can all count on for our families, for ourselves, and for the future generations of Canadians.

• This fall, I am proposing that federal, provincial and territorial health ministers host a "Sharing Success" Conference, where they will have the opportunity to showcase provincial success and innovations in improving timely access and reducing Wait Times.

• We will work very hard to measurably improve performance. But, what we will not do is simply throw money at the system without achieving measurable improvement.  

CONCLUSION

• As I conclude my remarks this evening, I would like to leave you with a few final thoughts.  Establishing guarantees isn't just about getting in step with the rest of the world.  It's about getting in step with what Canadians want, what they expect and what they deserve.

• Some people will say I'll believe it when I see it.  I say we have to believe in it in order to see it.  I see a health care system that delivers certainty that delivers timely access and recourse.  I see a health care system that puts the patient first.  I see a health care system that is a world leader in effectiveness and achieving measurable results.  And I see a nation that is confident in its ability to protect the health of its citizens.

• Ladies and gentlemen we can accept no less, you must accept no less.  As long as we accept the status quo, the status quo will remain.  Canadians have the right to deserve better, to receive better health care for the money we spend, and today I pledge to you that I will not rest until we do.