Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
National Finance
Issue 18 - Evidence - October 8, 2014
OTTAWA, Wednesday, October 8, 2014
The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance met this day at 6:45 p.m. to study the expenditures set out in the Main Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015.
Senator Joseph A. Day (Chair) in the chair.
[Translation]
The Chair: Honourable senators, this evening, we are continuing our study of the expenditures set out in the Main Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015.
[English]
From the Public Health Agency, we are pleased to welcome Dr. Theresa Tam, Branch Head, Health Security Infrastructure Branch, and Carlo Beaudoin, Chief Financial Officer.
From Correctional Service Canada, we welcome Commissioner Don Head and Liette Dumas-Sluyter, who is the Assistant Commissioner, Corporate Services, and Chief Financial Officer.
From Veterans Affairs Canada, we welcome Bernard Butler, Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy, Commemoration and Communications. It's been a busy year or two for commemorations. We also welcome Maureen Sinnott, Director General, Finance Division, and Acting Chief Financial Officer.
We thank you all for being here this evening. You know that what we're studying is the Main Estimates, but we're also aware that there has been one set of supplementary estimates and another one coming. So if you want to make mention of those, we understand what they are as well. We're trying to get a feeling for why you are seeking the appropriations that are here and how things have changed year-over-year if you could comment on that. Once you finish with your opening remarks, there may well be senators who ask for clarification or who would like to pose some questions.
Let's begin in the same order in which I introduced you. We'll start with the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Branch Head, Health Security Infrastructure Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada: Honourable senators, good evening, and thank you for this opportunity to discuss the Public Health Agency's Main Estimates and activities for 2014-15. With me today is Carlo Beaudoin, our Chief Financial Officer, and at the back we have our agency branch heads and our chief audit executive to provide further information if needed.
[Translation]
In February of this year, Dr. Gregory Taylor appeared before you as deputy chief public health officer to speak about last year's Main Estimates. I am pleased to inform you that, on September 24, Dr. Taylor was appointed Canada's Second Chief Public Health Officer. I know that you join me in congratulating him on his appointment.
[English]
The Chair: Probably because appeared before our group, right?
Dr. Tam: Yes, last time, in February.
Before I provide you with a summary of our Main Estimates for 2014-15, I would like to update you on the activities we have undertaken in the last while to support our mandate to enhance and protect the health of Canadians.
Public health involves the organized efforts of society to keep people healthy and to prevent injury, illness and premature death. In Canada, public health is a responsibility shared by all levels of government, in collaboration with the private sector, non-governmental organizations, health professionals and the public. The agency has put in place programs, services and policies that protect and promote the health of Canadians through three core business lines. These are: health promotion and disease prevention; public health infrastructure; and health security.
Under the health promotion aspect of our first business line, the agency is working to promote positive mental, social and physical health and to develop healthy communities. This includes activities to not only increase levels of physical health but also to promote mental health and to prevent injury.
Through nearly $20 million in annual investments, we have been advancing a multisectoral partnership approach to promote healthy living and prevent chronic disease, which involves focusing on the common risk factors — unhealthy weight, physical inactivity, poor nutrition and tobacco use — that underlie the major chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Very fruitful partnerships have been developed under this approach. One of these partnerships was announced by the Minister of Health during the Olympics and involves Canadian Tire, LIFT Philanthropy Partners and the CBC. It's called the Play Exchange. This initiative has already allowed us to enjoy the success of this approach. The Play Exchange invited Canadians to submit innovative ideas for enhancing the health of Canadians. The top six ideas have been selected and will be showcased on national television in January 2015. Canadians will be able to vote online to choose the best idea.
Another partnership, one with Air Miles and the YMCA, is testing an incentive-based model that encourages Canadians and their families to adopt a physically active lifestyle. The results so far have exceeded our initial optimistic targets.
[Translation]
Dementia is a concern for our aging population, and we are working with the Alzheimer's Society of Canada to help make communities dementia-friendly.
[English]
Our program to equip all recreational hockey arenas with automatic external defibrillators is ahead of schedule. One thousand nine hundred applications for a defibrillator have been approved and 7,500 people have already been trained to use them. The Heart and Stroke Foundation is working to install these life-saving devices as quickly as possible.
Under the disease prevention aspect of our first business line, the agency continues to take concerted actions to make Canada less vulnerable to infectious diseases by providing prevention, treatment and control advice through guidelines and other expert advice documents; by providing outbreak management and surge capacity; and by housing laboratory, science and technology expertise and services.
Our second business line, public health infrastructure, enables Canada to detect and respond to public health treads and threats. The agency's leadership in public health science, surveillance and research provides a solid foundation for public health in Canada.
Under our third business line, health security, the agency plays an important role in ensuring public health security through emergency preparedness and response, border health security, and enabling science and research through laboratory biosafety and biosecurity and the regulation of pathogens and toxins.
As you know, the agency is responsible for responding to public health emergencies, including infectious disease outbreaks. Many of you are aware that the agency manages the health portfolio's operations centre, which serves as the hub to coordinate response activities to significant public health events such as the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
Mr. Chair, the agency has been extremely busy over the past months, on both the international and domestic fronts, responding to the Ebola crisis. I was honoured to be invited to be a member of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on Ebola to provide advice to the Director General of the World Health Organization on the crisis. I have also been involved in the expert consultations on Ebola vaccines and treatments, along with a couple of other colleagues from the agency.
[Translation]
We have been working with other countries and humanitarian groups to respond to the outbreak. Canada has contributed over $35 million to groups like the Canadian Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières and the World Health Organization, to provide health, humanitarian and security support to those involved in the united effort to treat afflicted people and to prevent the spread of this devastating disease. Canada has also offered between 800 and 1,000 doses of an experimental vaccine for Ebola to the WHO and has made available over $2.5 million in personal protective equipment.
[English]
Since June 2014, the agency has deployed a mobile laboratory staffed with rotating teams of Canadian scientists and stocked with supplies from the National Microbiology Laboratory to Sierra Leone. The agency recently deployed a second mobile laboratory and sent three more scientists to join the team in the field in Sierra Leone. One laboratory team will continue to provide rapid diagnostic support to help local health care workers to quickly diagnose Ebola. The second team will work with Médecins Sans Frontières to monitor effectiveness of infection prevention procedures such as hand-washing stations, face masks and disposal sites, to prevent the further spread of the disease.
On the home front, Canada is well prepared to protect Canadians within its borders with a number of systems already in place to identify and prevent the spread of serious infectious diseases like Ebola. They include: screening for travellers from affected countries; laboratory diagnostics; information dissemination; communication networks that link levels of government and health care workers; hospital environments with technology, equipment and isolation protocols; and education and legislation that support border services and quarantine officers to respond quickly to travellers presenting with symptoms of serious infectious diseases.
[Translation]
The agency continually updates its website with accurate information about infectious diseases and advice about the precautions Canadians should take. Canada Border Services Agency officers are trained to screen for ill travellers, and the Quarantine Act, which is in effect 24/7, allows quarantine officers to isolate travellers who present with symptoms of an infectious disease. In response to the Ebola crisis, the airlines have been informed of the symptoms and are required to report any traveller who appears ill.
[English]
In addition, at the recent meeting of the federal, provincial and territorial Health Ministers in Banff, all ministers endorsed the Multi-lateral Information Sharing Agreement, or MLISA. This agreement will improve our ability to deal with urgent public health events like Ebola and plan for the health and safety of Canadians by allowing the timely sharing of public health information across jurisdictions.
In turning to the 2014-15 Main Estimates for the agency, we're estimating budgetary expenditures of $614.7 million, which constitutes a $35.5 million increase over the budgetary expenditures for 2013-14. This increase is a result of a combination of transfer payments of $42.7 million, statutory items of $10.9 million, operating expenditures of $17 million, and capital expenditures of $1.1 million. The amounts for transfer payments and statutory items have increased from last year's amounts, while the operating expenditures and capital expenditures have decreased.
A large portion of the agency's total funding increase is due to a one-time increase of $49.7 million to make the final payment under the hepatitis C health care services program, which is designed to provide persons infected with hepatitis C through the blood system with better access to health care services.
In addition, an investment of $6.2 million will allow the agency to continue to enhance the ability to prevent, detect and respond to food-borne illness outbreaks through improved technology and outbreak response.
As well, a $3.1 million investment will support the installation of a new influenza fill line — that's an influenza vaccine fill line — and the ID Biomedical Corporation in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, to secure, protect and improve ongoing domestic vaccine capacity for seasonal and pandemic influenza.
Total funding decreases of $42.1 million are mainly due to $32.2 million in savings related to the Economic Action Plan 2012 spending review, to be achieved through efficiency measures and program reductions that align resources to the agency's core mandate. The additional $3.6 million in savings is due to the sunsetting of the short-term replenishment of the National Antiviral Stockpile for influenza.
The agency's spending review savings come from business improvement and efficiency savings in the back office. These savings will not impede the achievement of the agency's strategic outcomes.
Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to provide an update on the agency's activities and to give a brief summary of our Main Estimates. We will be happy to take your questions.
The Chair: Dr. Tam, thank you very much.
We will go on to Mr. Head now, from Correctional Service Canada.
Don Head, Commissioner, Correctional Service Canada: Good evening, Mr. Chair and honourable senators. As you know, I'm here today to speak about Correctional Service Canada's Main Estimates for the 2014-15 fiscal year and to respond to any related questions that you may have. With me tonight is Ms. Dumas-Sluyter, Assistant Commissioner Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer. For context, I will start by providing you with an overview of the public safety portfolio agency for which I am responsible.
Correctional Service Canada contributes to public safety by actively encouraging and assisting offenders to become law-abiding citizens, while exercising reasonable, safe, secure and humane control. The agency's responsibilities are derived from the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and the related regulations.
As outlined in our Report on Plans and Priorities, Correctional Service Canada's priorities are safe transition to and management of eligible offenders in the community; safety and security of staff and offenders in our institutions and in the community; enhanced capacities to provide effective interventions for First Nations, Metis and Inuit offenders; improved capacities to address mental health needs of offenders; efficient and effective management practices that reflect value-based leadership; and productive relationships with increasingly diverse partners, stakeholders and others involved in public safety.
These organizational priorities provide specific focus for the service's direction, programs and initiatives. Every day, our dedicated staff members across Canada manage correctional institutions for men and women, mental health treatment centres, Aboriginal healing lodges, community correctional centres, and parole officers for supervising offenders who are on conditional release. Correctional Service Canada's responsibilities include the provision of correctional services for offenders receiving a sentence of two years to life, across the country in large urban centres with their increasing already diverse populations, in remote Inuit communities across the North and at all points in between.
Our staff members have challenging jobs to perform within the context of an offender population with complex needs, aging infrastructure and reduced operating budgets. Despite the challenging environment, Correctional Service Canada has worked hard to find more effective and efficient ways to deliver services while providing good public safety results for Canadians.
With that said, I will now move to the topic of tonight's session. The total funding sought in Correctional Service Canada's Main Estimates for 2014-15 fiscal year is $2.335 billion. This represents a reduction of $262.9 million, which constitutes a 10.1 per cent decrease over the previous year. This can be explained by a $91.6 million reduction in operating expenses and a $171.3 million reduction in capital expenses.
Honourable senators, the decrease is mainly attributable to two major factors. The first element is additional savings of $125.2 million identified as part of Canada's Economic Action Plan 2012. The second factor is a return of funds in the amount of $119.5 million related to projected inmate population growth that did not materialize.
Regarding our staff complement at this time, Correctional Service Canada plans to utilize a total of 18,721 full-time equivalents in the current fiscal year. Approximately 72 per cent of Correctional Service Canada's budget is dedicated to salaries and wages, and about 85 per cent of our staff work in institutions or in the community. Correctional Service Canada's workforce reflects the variety of skilled employees needed to operate our facilities: health professionals, correctional officers, parole and program officers, trades personnel, human resource and financial advisers, administrative support staff, and the list goes on.
In conclusion, I will underscore that Correctional Service Canada continuously strives to achieve administrative efficiencies through a streamlining of its operations and program delivery. These and other related initiatives will optimize available resources for our key priorities and core mandate, and ensure the organization continues to deliver strong public safety results for Canadians.
At the request of the chair, I will explain the Office of the Correctional Investigator. The Office of the Correctional Investigator is a separate office and is a watchdog for the correctional service. The Correctional Investigator is empowered under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act to receive complaints from offenders and to examine our operations. So at times, there is confusion as to whether the Office of the Correctional Investigator is linked to Correctional Service Canada. It's linked such that the Correctional Investigator can review our operations, but they are not part of Correctional Service Canada.
With that, Mr. Chair and honourable senators, I look forward to responding to any questions that you have.
The Chair: Mr. Head, just to complete that overview of the Office of the Correctional Investigator, does your appropriation cover the cost of that office, or is it a separate appropriation?
Mr. Head: It is a separate appropriation, Mr. Chair.
Bernard Butler, Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy, Commemoration and Communications,Veterans Affairs Canada: Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is a pleasure to be here with you and the honourable senators to speak to the Main Estimates and respond to any queries you have. In a little change of format, I will turn to the Acting Chief Financial Officer, Maureen Sinnott, who will give some formal opening remarks.
Maureen Sinnott, Director General, Finance Division, and Acting Chief Financial Officer, Veterans Affairs Canada: Thank you. Good evening, Mr. Chair and committee members. It is a pleasure to be here to discuss the latest Main Estimates for Veterans Affairs Canada.
The department's mandate is twofold. It is responsible for providing benefits and programs to veterans, Canadian Armed Forces personnel and their families in recognition of service to Canada; and ensuring achievements and sacrifices are honoured and remembered through commemorative activities.
The department is proud of the dual mandate it has, just as it's proud to continue to do everything in its power to enhance the programs and services that are important to Canada's veterans and their families.
VAC's planned spending for this year totals about $3.6 billion, which is an overall decrease of $60.9 million, or 1.7 per cent, compared to last year's Main Estimates funding levels.
As Main Estimates will show, our first priority is to make sure that veterans and their families have the support they need when they need it and for as long as they need it. For the younger veterans, this often means ensuring they are able to successfully transition from the military to civilian life. That's why the largest portion of the proposed spending increase is an additional $82.5 million for veterans accessing our programs under the New Veterans Charter.
The largest chunk of this new funding — $61 million — is for the Earnings Loss and Supplementary Retirement Benefits Program, which provides income support to eligible Canadian Armed Forces veterans participating in Veterans Affairs' rehabilitation program. This benefit also provides income replacement for survivors and orphans of Canadian Forces veterans whose deaths are related to military service.
Another $16.9 million is earmarked for an increase in disability awards and allowances that are intended to recognize and compensate Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans for the non-economic effects of a service- related disability. This includes pain and suffering, functional loss and the effects of permanent impairment on their lives and the lives of their families.
A further $7.1 million is for vocational and health-related rehabilitation services. These include medical rehabilitation to stabilize physical and psychiatric conditions and restore basic function; psycho-social rehabilitation to restore independence and adapt to disability; and vocational rehabilitation to identify and achieve their vocational goals.
Through these funding levels, we continue to ensure that Canada is there for the men and women and families who are there for Canada.
The estimates we are reviewing today also reflect the significant change in demographics that are occurring with the men and women and families served by Veterans Affairs Canada. These estimates, for example, will illustrate the reality that we're losing hundreds of traditional war veterans each month. In fact, the number of surviving war-service veterans has dropped below 100,000, and that's probably the first time that's happened since World War I.
Indeed, the projected 1.7 per cent decrease in our overall spending this year is attributable to the declining numbers of veterans we are supporting through programs and benefits, exclusive of the New Veterans Charter programs. For example, we are forecasting a net decrease of about 9,500 war-service veterans and survivors who will be receiving benefits this fiscal year from Veterans Affairs Canada. This is the single largest reason for the expected $96 million drop in pensions for disability and death. Just eight years ago, Veterans Affairs Canada was providing benefits and services to more than 220,000 men and women and families. Today, that number is less and 204,000.
In spite of the declining number of traditional veterans, the Main Estimates will show a $5.9 million increase in the War Veterans Allowance Program. The increase in that program stems from the Manuge court decision, as the government no longer offsets disability pension benefits against its other programs. This also impacts the Earnings Loss Program and Canadian Forces Income Support Programs.
Declining traditional veterans are also impacting our workload and the size the department. As you can see, these Main Estimates will show a decrease of $23 million as compared to the previous year in funding for operating, in addition to the $4 million decrease in statutory funding from decreased employee benefit plan requirements.
Budget 2012 savings and transformative measures, which were part of Minister Fantino's ongoing Cutting Red Tape for Veterans initiative, are the other drivers for this decreased funding requirement. By simplifying VAC's policies and programs, by streamlining business processes, and by introducing new technologies, we are reducing the number of hands required to serve veterans and their families.
Yet we still serve better and faster and in modern and more convenient ways. The Veterans Independence Program is a case in point. As you may know, we moved to two annual upfront payments for those individuals receiving housekeeping services and grounds maintenance services through the VIP. This single change has greatly reduced the demand on veterans who once had to obtain receipts, hold on to them, submit them to Veteran Affairs and request reimbursement for everything from cleaning their homes to shoveling their walkways to having their laneways plowed. Now they get the funding up front, which also gives them freedom in choosing where and how they wish to spend their money.
As you will see in the Main Estimates, we are committing a total of almost $269 million in funding for housekeeping and grounds maintenance programs for veterans, which is actually an increase of $16 million over last year's Main Estimates.
Secondly, the $16 million increase in turn is offset by a $48 million reduction for the Veterans Independence Program because reimbursements under the old program are now almost finalized and that money is no longer needed.
Most importantly, however, by switching to upfront payments, we have eliminated millions of routine transactions. This single change means we can put most of our resources into providing value-added work that only our employees can perform with their experience and expertise.
As Minister Fantino has said, he believes veterans and all Canadians want to know the department is doing everything it can to support all veterans and their families, including finding efficiencies to serve veterans better with an even greater share of funding going directly to the men, women and families that Veterans Affairs serves.
As you can see from our Main Estimates, this year approximately 90 per cent of Veterans Affairs Canada's budget, or $3.26 billion, will flow directly to veterans, their families and other Canadians served by Veterans Affairs Canada.
Mr. Chair, thank you for your time. Mr. Butler and I will be happy to answer your questions.
The Chair: Thank you very much.
For honourable senators present and those watching, can you tell us the definition of ''war veteran?''
Ms. Sinnott: We refer to war-service veterans as our traditional veterans. Internally, that would be WWI, WWII and Korea veterans. We refer internally to the veterans of the New Veterans Charter as modern-day veterans, who are younger and have fairly different needs than our older veterans.
The Chair: Do those who were in Bosnia fall under the New Veterans Charter or under the previous one?
Mr. Butler: It depends on when they apply. Basically, any veterans subsequent to Korea would make application for benefits under the New Veterans Charter. The modern-day veterans are those who are not considered part of the traditional veteran cohort. The term is used for recognition purposes, but the term in and of itself does not carry with it any eligibility criteria. One must look to the programs, to the legislation to determine what benefits an individual is eligible to receive.
The Chair: It is good to clarify that before we start our questions.
Senator Eaton: Dr. Tam, my first question is to you. I see under Health Promotion and Disease Prevention your estimate of $350 million is up from 2013-14. Obesity is considered a huge problem by most people I talk to. It leads to diabetes, heart disease, bone fractures and a whole lot of infections. Would we have the money for a campaign to help people eat more carefully or more wisely, like we did with the no-smoking campaign? The no-smoking campaign was in your face all the time. You have several initiatives to get people to exercise, but those are certainly not in my face. I wonder if they are in anybody else's face around here. I don't think we hear enough about how much we are overeating in this country. I look at kids on the street coming out of schools and it's nice if you see a child who is at a healthy weight. Have you thought about that?
Dr. Tam: Thank you very much for that question.
There are a number of programs we describe under our Healthy Living programs and our children's program. I agree they may not be in your face as much as and we could always do better. There is a suite of programs under Healthy Living that addresses the common risk factors of being overweight and poor nutrition. We have a significant amount, $20 million annually, devoted to that stream. We are able to leverage $19 million more from our partners, which is quite significant. We welcome your suggestion.
Our children's program is particularly successful in that the Community Action Program for Children as well as the Canadian Prenatal Nutrition Program target over 3,000 communities in rural and urban locations. Under those programs, nutrition obviously is a very key part of what we do with the funding. The whole amount of our children's program community base is $115 million.
In our Aboriginal Head Start programs we have $31.5 million. These education and school readiness programs include health promotion and nutrition. Those are the key areas where we're focusing on tackling the underpinnings of the risk of being overweight and obese.
Senator Eaton: I won't harangue you further, but I think obesity is a bigger danger to Canadians than Ebola. We seem to be spending more time and worry on Ebola right now than on obesity. I hope you continue to think about that.
Dr. Tam: Absolutely.
Senator Eaton: Mr. Head, I've read some of your past things about what kind of continuum of care models we're giving to the First Nations and the Metis populations, which seem to be the populations that are increasing in our correctional institutions. I've looked at your estimates. Is there a separate line for that or is it swallowed in the whole of your estimates? Can you break the costs down for us?
Mr. Head: I don't have the separate costs here, senator, but we have specific expenditures related to Aboriginal offenders overall — First Nations, Metis and Inuit. As an example, the operation of our healing lodges specifically targets Aboriginal offenders. The healing lodges we operate in the Prairies and British Columbia are specifically resourced. As well, we have the provision of elder services and funding for various spiritual and cultural activities to help offenders, specifically Aboriginal offenders, to get in touch with their history.
Senator Eaton: Do you have any data? We had people from Central Mortgage and Housing here last week who told us they have funds for Aboriginal First Nations communities, but they have no way of knowing how well the housing is doing in those communities because it becomes First Nation business. With this continuum of care that you have in corrections, do you have data on how well they are working? Are they helping to reduce the populations or helping in rehabilitation? Are you getting good cooperation from First Nations?
Mr. Head: We have extensive performance measurement indicators to help inform us as to whether the initiatives we are putting in place are making a difference. We notice that over the last couple of years we have started to close the gap. Aboriginal peoples overall, as you are probably aware, are overrepresented in all the wrong categories. The work and effort we have been putting into the system specifically targeting Aboriginal offenders is starting to close that gap, but we still have a lot of work to do.
As a matter of fact, at a previous appearance before a Senate committee, I indicated that it will probably take us about 10 years before we close the gap in a significant way. We have significant indicators to show us as it relates to that correctional continuum whether we are moving in the right direction. For the first time, we are starting to see more Aboriginal offenders participate in programs, complete those programs, go out into the community, and stay in the community longer than they had before coming into conflict with the law. We still have a lot of work to do.
Senator Eaton: Mr. Chair, may I ask for any figures that Mr. Head might have on the money spent on the continuum of care and any data on some of the successes?
Mr. Head: Most definitely, Mr. Chair, we will make that available to the committee.
The Chair: Are you thinking Aboriginal expenditures in particular?
Senator Eaton: For Aboriginal Inuit. It would be lovely to see that the money is actually producing good work.
The Chair: Do you have those figures broken out for us?
Mr. Head: Yes, we can pull that together, Mr. Chair.
Senator L. Smith: You were talking about health promotion and your programs with Canadian Tire and CBC. Do you have a relationship with Participaction? The Participaction brand, as you know, is one of the most powerful brands developed in Canada between 1967 and 2000. It went out of business and then came back. They had tremendous support for a period of time and built their brand up again as probably one of the most recognizable brands to promote healthy living.
Having spent time on the board of the Canadian Olympic Committee, I'm aware of the Canadian Tire relationship, but it's not nearly, from a penetration perspective, at the level Participaction was at. If you are looking at health promotion and major branding for health, I'm not sure where at all there is a relationship. I know that Participaction's funding was reduced, but it would seem not a great move to reduce funding to the most popular brand that we have seen in our country over the last 40 years to promote healthy living styles.
Maybe it is an opportunity, if you're not aware of exactly where the relationship is at, to gather more information. Maybe you have all this information and you made a conscious decision not to go there. When we talk about branding, we do need to increase it because it would appear right now that the promotion of healthy living is scattered. It needs to be brought together, and obviously bringing more partners together would be beneficial if the government is going to do something to a greater extent. Maybe you already have so it might be a redundant question.
Dr. Tam: For the very specific question about Participaction, I will ask my colleagues or one of the ADMs to address that.
Kim Elmslie, Assistant Deputy Minister, Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada: Thank you very much for that question, honourable senator. I'm pleased to tell you that, yes, we support very much the work of Participaction and are very well engaged in terms of the programs it provides.
What we are finding in the work we are doing on healthy living is that it's very important for us to diversify our partnerships and bring more partners into the objective. That's why we've started to work with Canadian Tire and other private sector organizations that share a common objective, but not at all to, as you said very eloquently, detract from the work that Participaction is doing to bring the brand of their good name and physical activity to Canadians. We see these things going hand in hand and are very supportive of the work of Participaction.
Senator L. Smith: As some supporting information, Participaction is a not-for-profit organization that lives through getting people to support it. Effectively, when you go to Canadian Tire, you are cutting off a potential source for Participaction because their money comes from corporations that do what I call a sub-branding strategy, which is getting involved in the community. It's critical for them. If they were getting $5 million from the government and are down to $2 million now, effectively they lose 50 per cent of their funding from the federal government, and then it is harder for them to generate new funding because their success factor is being diminished. All I'm saying is that you have a brand that works. It would appear that you want to bring in other partners, but you can bring all those partners into your group and have a partner that has leads the messaging, and then you have the other partners, but then it becomes an ego game between the partners. It is just an idea.
It appears at one point in time in the last 24 months there was a real drop-off in terms of advertising that they had on the major networks. With all due respect for CBC, its market share is so small in terms of over-the-air television that it's hard for them to compete against the big players like CTV, Global and some of the other players. I'm not sure where you're at with it, but like you mentioned, segmentation is an interesting concept, but segmentation without critical mass is not necessarily as effective as it possibly could be if the job is to build up that awareness with Canadians. The percentage of kids who are in good shape is what, one in eight, or two in eight or three in eight. Is it five in eight obese? It is a staggering figure.
Ms. Elmslie: That's exactly why the approach we are taking is very much a leveraging approach.
You are absolutely right on the partnership side. We are not about cutting anyone out of partnership or reducing the amount of available resources. We're trying to bring people together. One of the roles we see ourselves playing more and more is exactly that convening role so that everybody brings their assets to the table and everybody wins, primarily Canadians, because they are getting the message about physical activity, healthy eating and prevention. That's exactly what we're trying to accomplish.
Senator L. Smith: I'm not sure whether the messaging is as clear and as powerful as you possibly could have it.
Turning to Veterans Affairs, where are you now with the divestiture of the St. Anne's veterans' hospital? Because of the declining number of veterans, I think it's down to 350 beds left occupied in a hospital of about 800 beds, and the average age is 93 in that physical plant. It's an opportunity, when it's transferred, to become a leading centre for dementia and Alzheimer's.
Where are you with the transfer, and what will Veterans Affairs do long term in terms of the support? Maybe it's a tie-in with Health Canada as to developing that expertise with dementia and Alzheimer's, which is an opportunity that would leave a great mark from our government. Maybe you could give me some feedback.
The Chair: Maybe you could, at the same time, include the fact that post-traumatic stress is a concentration at that particular hospital.
Senator L. Smith: I believe St. Anne's is probably one of the only physical places where they have a dedicated traumatic stress wing. It has a capacity of 90 veterans, I believe, and veterans have to come from across Canada to this facility; but that will keep going, if I understand correctly.
Maybe you can talk about those two issues.
Mr. Butler: Mr. Chair, essentially the Government of Canada has been engaged in active negotiations with the Province of Quebec. Those continue, and tentatively there has been a target date for transfer in 2015. That continues on track.
In terms of the centre of expertise for post-traumatic stress disorder, Veterans Affairs has a residential treatment clinic at St. Anne's for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and we also have a centre of expertise associated with that. You are absolutely right. That will continue beyond a transfer date.
It's clearly an opportunity. Veterans Affairs is very committed to the notion of developing and expanding our expertise in the area of mental health. We work with a range of partners to achieve that end. We are actively engaged in various elements of research with partners, with DND and so on, and all of that will continue well beyond post transfer of the hospital.
Senator L. Smith: There have been concerns raised in the public domain as to accessibility for veterans in terms of their claims, and the minister has talked about reducing red tape. What specific steps have you taken to make it easier for those veterans in the New Veterans Charter to get access to the services and funds they require to survive?
Mr. Butler: You are absolutely right. The minister has been very forceful in his commitments to cut red tape in terms of processing disability benefits, as with all other elements of that. The department has worked very closely with its partners. We've taken direction clearly from committees such as ACVA and from the Senate in terms of how best to proceed. We have been very much involved with stakeholders in trying to find ways and means to provide those services on a more timely basis. As an example, we are involved with an exercise right now to simplify some of the key forms that we use for making applications so that it will be simpler for veterans who complete them.
We have a very strong service network across the country where we have staff that can help veterans complete forms as required. Our partnership with Service Canada has expanded our points of service across the country to facilitate information sharing, the completion of these types of forms and so on. There has been a lot of work done in terms of eliminating the administrative burden on the applicant, on the veteran, in terms of making applications.
At the same time, there's been a concerted effort on the part of the operational side of the department to expedite the processing of claims at its central operational centre in Charlottetown, in particular.
There's much going on in this regard to try to reduce the administrative burden for veterans to ensure that we get more timely decision making. As you know, there's currently a service standard of 16 weeks for processing first applications for disability claims, as an example, and we are working hard to bring that down even further.
Senator L. Smith: Accessibility to Service Canada was an issue in the public domain, and it would be interesting to see whether you folks could provide us with information as to the specific things you've been able to accomplish in terms of increasing your service level for veterans with Service Canada. If you have information on that, that would be helpful to our committee.
What do you think, chair?
The Chair: You're quite right. There has been a lot of maybe public misunderstanding or concern about Service Canada taking over and the closure of various Veterans Affairs offices across Canada. Is the same level of service there? I think that's the issue.
Mr. Butler: I can certainly speak to that. Maureen was formerly a director general for the operational side of the house. I'm sure she would like to weigh in as well.
I can tell you that with the closure of the eight Veteran Affairs district offices, which certainly has been the subject of much attention for sure, Veterans Affairs undertook that because of the fact that the volume of work in those areas was reduced. In order to ensure not only that we maintain the same service levels but actually increase the service levels across the country, those eight district offices were closed. We ensure that at the Service Canada sites in proximity to those offices, we do have VAC personnel in those offices. They are in fact able to deal directly with veterans who came into those sites for service.
We have the training that has been given to Service Canada staff, and at the same time we've absolutely ensured that any of the veterans who were being case managed out of those various sites where those offices were closed, those veterans continued to receive case management services, albeit from a different location. So we still have Veterans Affairs staff at the nearest district office travelling out to pay home visits on those case managed veterans, and providing the same services that they were receiving prior to the closures.
As I indicated earlier, through our arrangements with Service Canada, we have actually expanded the points of service across Canada for veterans so that they can indeed access Veterans Affairs programming much closer to home and in a much more effective and efficient way.
Senator L. Smith: Have you had any measurements and results that show progress over the last six-month period or in the period that you've addressed the issue? It would be really helpful to our committee so we have an understanding.
Mr. Butler: Absolutely.
Senator L. Smith: Because there are people who have talked to senators around the table every day about some of these issues. If we can communicate some of your messaging, we may be able to help you.
Mr. Butler: Mr. Chair, perhaps what we could do is undertake to come back. I don't have those statistics with me at the moment. We are handing out to you an infographic which has a number of important issues there for your consideration.
As an example, I would bring to your attention slide entitled ''Veterans and their families have access to more support than ever.'' It's not numbered, but if you move through the document, it's halfway through. You'll see in that infographic a reference to all of the many sites now. In that infographic you will see a map of Canada and the distribution of some 650 points of service. That includes not only the Service Canada locations but also our offices, obviously.
It also reflects the arrangement we have with National Defence where we have multiple service sites now on bases. We have over 100 hundred VAC staff co-located on Canadian Forces bases across the country working side by side with Canadian Armed Forces staff to provide counselling, advice and assistance to veterans or members in the releasing process.
That infographic is helpful because it gives you a really clear sense of how broad the reach is now of Veterans Affairs Canada across the country.
The Chair: Thank you. We'll look forward to receiving any other information you can provide to us.
Senator L. Smith: Your points of contact are very important and it's a great step, but points of contact is one of the steps along your success in enabling people to have access inside. You don't have to give us lots of information, but it would be very interesting to see you take a couple of measurements because you have a huge network. How do you monitor and measure your network? If we could get some of that information, it would be helpful for us in reinforcing our understanding.
It's great to say 90 per cent of your $3.6 billion goes directly to programs and services, but how you get that money for those people on a timely basis? That is an issue. With you giving us that powerful reinforcement information on measurements, it could help us.
The Chair: Thank you.
[Translation]
Senator Chaput: My first question is for Dr. Tam. In your presentation, you mentioned a meeting of the federal, provincial and territorial health ministers in Banff. You said that all the ministers had endorsed the Multi-Lateral Information Sharing Agreement. In what year did that meeting take place?
[English]
Dr. Tam: That meeting just took place this year.
[Translation]
Senator Chaput: They endorsed the agreement. Did they go as far as to discuss the type of information that would be covered by the agreement and the way in which it would be shared?
Dr. Tam: Thank you for that question.
[English]
The Multi-lateral Information Sharing Agreement deals with both of those aspects. It deals with what kind of information and how the information is exchanged, managed, stored and secured. Other than the main body of the agreement, there will be additional annexes that specify the data that will be shared amongst provinces, territories and the federal government. It's not just between the provinces, territories and the federal government; it's amongst the different provinces and territories that are signatories to this agreement.
[Translation]
Senator Chaput: How will the information be shared? Who will participate? Who will be responsible for providing the information? Will there be any coordination? Will there be someone in charge? We know quite well how it works, given that you appeared before the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, which I am a member of. In that committee, we have often talked about the lack of information, or conversely, the fact that when information is available, it is not in the proper format. This is a system that was designed for Canada where the information would be shared. What type of information will be covered and how will it be shared?
[English]
Dr. Tam: At this point in time, the agreement speaks to infectious disease information. That includes any information pertaining to public health emergencies of concern to Canada and internationally. That's primarily the content.
Each jurisdiction, each province, territory and the federal government, and in this case the Public Health Agency of Canada, and also Health Canada is part of this information-sharing agreement.
There were many reports in the past that Canada's public health system, while we're all very happy to share information, lacked the formalized agreements and the frameworks that should be in place. So this was quite exciting for us because finally we have an actual agreement that lays out precisely how this information will be exchanged.
[Translation]
Senator Chaput: Do you have a timetable? What is the objective as far as the information being shared by each province and territory is concerned? Have a timetable and objectives been set? In other words, have you said, for instance, by next year, we want to have reached objective X? Is there anything in place that would allow that to happen?
[English]
Dr. Tam: Thank you very much for the second part of this question.
The provinces and territories and the federal government already exchange information, but it's not formalized. So the structure and the specific data requirements are not essentially laid down in a structured way.
The agreement begins as soon as four jurisdictions have obtained all the signatures, and that will actually be October 8 of this year. It really formalizes what we are already doing, in fact, so I don't want Canadians to come out of this thinking we have not been exchanging information. We've been exchanging a lot of information, but this is a willingness to share as opposed to formalized approaches.
[Translation]
Senator Chaput: Will the information be available to the public or only the institutions?
[English]
Dr. Tam: That's a very important part of the agreement. It will lay out the schedules of the data sharing, not only to collect the information but how fast you turn it around, the approvals that have to take place amongst the people sharing, and the actual publication of that information. So that is part of that.
[Translation]
Senator Chaput: How will the information be published, on the Internet or in other formats?
[English]
Dr. Tam: It takes place in multiple ways, certainly on websites where things happen. The federal government, for example, has an open data strategy now. Once everybody agrees that this is how we're going to share the information, the idea is to make it public so that people can utilize it as fast as possible.
Senator Wells: Thank you, panel.
Dr. Tam, you drew the short straw today; you get questions from everyone.
In the Main Estimates, it notes that the funding is now on an equal per capita basis. Does that replace the conditions for payment program, or was it always per capita?
Carlo Beaudoin, Chief Financial Officer, Public Health Agency of Canada: Can you tell me which page of the Main Estimates you're talking about? Are you talking about the Public Health Agency or Health Canada?
Senator Wells: I'm talking about the Canada Health Transfer, the $30.28 billion.
Mr. Beaudoin: The Canada Health Transfer is not us.
Senator Wells: Okay. I won't ask my second question on that.
I did want to ask a question on the conditions that the federal government put on the provinces for transfers, and if you know the answer to this, I'd like to know it. Do you know if the conditions that were put on those transfers were successful? I know there were wait times for certain cancers or heart disease. Do you know if they were successful in reintroducing the wait times?
Dr. Tam: Again, that's not part of the programming of the Public Health Agency.
Senator Wells: I understand. Okay, thank you.
The Chair: I'll put you down for round two if you come up with another line of questioning.
[Translation]
Senator Hervieux-Payette: Welcome everyone. First of all, with respect to the $49.7 million for hepatitis C, I would like to know who the last payment went to. Second of all, people with AIDS very often also have hepatitis C. Will any money be earmarked for people with AIDS in Canada?
[English]
Dr. Tam: The $49.7 million makes very specific reference to hepatitis C itself, and it is a health care services program. It's designed to be provided to the people infected with hepatitis C for them to get better access to health care. The intent is for the individuals who are suffering from hepatitis C.
Senator Hervieux-Payette: That's what I considered.
Who is administering that program? You don't send nurses around the country to administer the vaccine or the treatment. You say that it's the last payment. The last payment to whom, and what is going to happen to the people suffering from hepatitis C afterwards?
[Translation]
Mr. Beaudoin: The payment stems from the agreement with the provinces that was reached in the wake of the tainted blood scandal and that was meant to help those who became infected between 1986 and 1990. A budget of $525 million was announced at the time, and every 5 years, a payment was made. So this is the last payment being made to the provinces based on the number of individuals who became infected in each province.
Senator Hervieux-Payette: When such an amount appears, either in the Speech from the Throne or in the budget, it is advisable to indicate what it is tied to, because nothing in the document indicates what it stems from.
I have a supplementary question. Are there any programs addressing hepatitis C, which primarily affects people with AIDS, or is the cost of those very expensive treatments all on the provinces?
[English]
Dr. Tam: We have some very specific funding dedicated to HIV and AIDS, and our specific program consists of what we call the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada. That consists of $40 million, and it's split up into grants and contributions of $22.8 million. Those generally go to community-based programs, where they're going to assist those communities in addressing this very difficult issue.
The rest goes into our laboratory testing, guidance to communities, hospitals and health care workers, and educational projects.
In our community projects, 240,000 individuals from vulnerable populations resided in communities that were reached by this program. That's just some of the demonstration of that specific funding stream.
We have a hepatitis C prevention, support and research program, and that's designed to enhance research and surveillance. Awareness and prevention strategies are community-based.
We also have an HIV vaccine initiative, which is a partnership between the Government of Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This public-private partnership is really continuing the search for an HIV vaccine.
[Translation]
Senator Hervieux-Payette: Mr. Head, many inmates within the correctional system have a mental illness. Do you think the quantity and quality of services is improving with time? Is it reasonable to hope that, after serving their sentence, these individuals will be able to function more normally and be less likely to commit a crime once they are released? They do, after all, represent a large percentage of your population. If you have the figures with you, what percentage of inmates have a mental illness?
[English]
Mr. Head: Yes. Thank you for the question.
Specifically, senator, about 13 per cent of the male population have mental health problems, and about 29 per cent of our women offenders have some form of mental health problem. Those range from minor mental health issues up to more severe and acute problems.
In total, we've been spending between $85 and $90 million each year on mental health over the last couple of years. We've made some progress in terms of addressing the needs of the offenders.
One of the biggest challenges for us — and you touched upon it, senator — is when we go to reintegrate offenders back into the community, we find that many of the community services are already overtaxed. Individuals that we take care of are double stigmatized in that not only do they have a criminal record and they're offenders, but they also have mental health problems. We find it quite challenging to find services to support offenders in their reintegration back into the community.
We've invested quite a bit of time and energy in terms of doing the assessments of offenders and discharge planning, but one of the more pressing challenges right now is getting those individuals lined up with services out in the communities. If individuals are returning to rural communities, as can you well imagine, those challenges are even more significant.
Senator Hervieux-Payette: Would you say that you have enough specialized resources in your department to address those who are in jail?
Mr. Head: The short answer, senator, is that there isn't enough money for us to address all the needs. We've had to prioritize the highest level of need. For those with mental health problems, but would be at the lower end of the scale, we have to make some tough choices.
Senator Hervieux-Payette: Do you consider those who are wearing these electronic bracelets as being part of incarceration at home? Who is handling that program and monitoring it?
Mr. Head: At the moment, we're in the process of looking at how we can use electronic monitoring for supervising offenders who are on conditional release, but we do not have that program at this very minute. When you hear or read in the newspaper about electronic monitoring occurring with offenders in Canada, those are with some of the provinces. Not all provinces use electronic monitoring.
Senator Hervieux-Payette: To have electronic bracelets, you must have somebody monitoring them. Who is doing that? Is it you? Is the RCMP? Who is doing the monitoring when the person is wearing it?
Mr. Head: When we go forward and we get to the point where we have the bracelets, we will have a dedicated monitoring centre to do that. The provincial correctional systems that use it now have different approaches. I can't speak to whether they have their own system of monitoring or whether they contract that out as part of the overall service.
Senator Hervieux-Payette: I'm aware of a case where the person is unemployed, staying home with that device and paying $2,000 a month for his own electronic bracelet. I spoke to people in other countries and they are not charging the person for electronic bracelet monitoring. It's a way of reducing the cost because I guess it costs more to keep them inside than outside. You said we're not there.
Mr. Head: No. If you're talking about someone in Canada, senator, that would be someone under provincial jurisdiction. I do know some of the states in the U.S. actually do a charge-back to offenders for use of the bracelet.
[Translation]
Senator Hervieux-Payette: Has a veteran necessarily gone to war? A considerable amount of time passed between the Second World War, the Korean War, the war in Bosnia and the war in Afghanistan, and members still served in the Canadian Armed Forces. Is everyone who retired from the Canadian Armed Forces considered a veteran even if they did not serve in a war?
[English]
Mr. Butler: As I said earlier, the term ''veteran'' is a term that traditionally we used in reference to World War I, World War II and the Korean War. In recent years there was a push to recognize all members who served in the Canadian Armed Forces — whether it was in Bosnia, or in Cyprus, or wherever — as veterans equally. Veterans Affairs Canada, for recognition purposes, refers to all of these individuals as veterans.
However, the important consideration for honourable senators is that the term ''veteran'' does not necessarily equate to eligibility for any particular program or benefit. One has to look to the legislation to determine whether or not the type of service given or rendered qualifies the individual for a benefit or a service.
For recognition purposes, senator, that is absolutely correct. For all of these individuals, the term ''veteran'' applies to them.
Senator Hervieux-Payette: What does ''recognition'' mean — that you have a medal or what? You say ''recognition.'' What I'm asking you clearly is that since there was a good period of time, thank God, without any war, we had people who were ready to serve but they could not go to war because there was no war.
I'm asking you this: If these people are sick and need medical treatment or are going through depression, would you provide them with services?
Mr. Butler: The simple answer to that question, Mr. Chair and honourable senator, is most definitely.
Let's take a currently serving member who has a service-related need. You're absolutely right. They come to Veterans Affairs Canada and there is a comprehensive suite of programs and services that they are eligible to take advantage of. That is encompassed right now under the terminology of the New Veterans Charter. It really is a collection of various programs and services to help the very members you're referring to transition back to civilian life and to carry on in their civilian life to support themselves and their families. The short answer is yes.
Senator Hervieux-Payette: Thank you.
[Translation]
Senator Rivard: My question is for Mr. Head. I would think that, in preparing your budget submissions for the following year, you would, in the past, go by the increase in the inmate population to determine the number of inmates. This fiscal year, we are seeing a $120-million decrease in the $263 million you budgeted because the number of inmates dropped.
Is there a cause and effect link with the laws passed by this government, described as ''hard on crime,'' that might discourage potential criminals, especially recidivists?
[English]
Mr. Head: I have a couple of comments in relation to the budget numbers, particularly in relation to the line where it talks about numbers that did not materialize.
Back in 2006, 2007 and 2008, some projections were made based on data that was three or four years old in terms of growth in the population. At that time there was significant growth in the provincial systems and there was nothing to indicate that there was going to be any change to that. Those numbers were then put into a projection model and a number was produced and that went forward through the normal budgetary cycle and submissions.
As various pieces of legislation started to come into play beyond 2008 — particularly in 2010 — those projections proved to be too high. Since money had already been appropriated for those higher numbers, we had to set those monies aside to be returned because the population numbers did not increase.
Having said that, between March 2010, when a lot of the significant bills were passed, and now, our population has gone up by approximately 1,200 offenders. There was a bit of rapid growth for a couple of years, but we've now seen it level out. We're running now approximately 15,200 offenders incarcerated and we supervise 8,000 in the community.
Part of the budget number that you are referring to, senator, is a return of monies for that projection that was way too high. The other part of the reduction is based on Canada's Economic Action Plan, where we had to find efficiencies within our operations.
[Translation]
Senator Rivard: Thank you for your answer. The fact remains that the adoption of stricter laws for criminals, especially those who reoffend, has an impact on the number of inmates, which has been growing consistently. Do you agree with that? As we say in Latin, ''The proof is in the pudding.''
Ms. Tam, with regard to the production of seasonal flu vaccine, you mentioned that the Quebec company ID Biomedical, which I know well, received an additional $3.1 million in order to be able to meet the need for vaccine so that we can prevent what you called this ''pandemic,'' and control it.
I believe I read in the newspapers recently that there was a problem. Has the problem been resolved? Because I think that when these companies plan to produce a vaccine, they feel that the bacteria that causes the flu could be countered by the production of those vaccines.
Was there some kind of projection error, or a mechanical breakdown that meant we had to invest more money to ensure that there would be sufficient vaccine?
[English]
Dr. Tam: The funding is for what we call a fill line. After you make a vaccine, you have to fill the bottles. It is one component of our seasonal and pandemic influenza preparedness. Having domestic capabilities is important.
Mr. Chair, I think the senator is referring to some of the issues that have been highlighted for some of the flu vaccine companies, which relate to what Health Canada does in terms of the inspection. I know that these companies are working very hard to address any of the concerns the regulator has highlighted.
I have to stress that an influenza vaccine against a virus — and it's not a live vaccine; it's a component of the virus — is a complex process. Every year, in each of these companies, difficulties or issues might occur because it is not a chemical but a biological product. Its growth, its ability to multiply and the way it behaves inside the manufacturing facility can actually vary from season to season. But Health Canada, as the regulatory authority, is there to ensure that things go well. If they spot issues, they will be asking the companies to address that.
[Translation]
Senator Rivard: May we nevertheless conclude that this winter, as in previous ones, we will not run out of vaccine to meet the demand? Can you confirm that there will be sufficient vaccine produced for all those who usually get vaccinated, and that we will not run out this winter?
[English]
Dr. Tam: The Public Health Agency actually facilitates a provincial-territorial table with Public Works to project how much vaccine and to collect that information. So the manufacturers already have the demands from the provinces and territories. We know that the influenza vaccine program will probably begin, and the projections of that will be to cover the ones who want to receive the influenza vaccine.
As I say, in every year and every company there are ups and downs in how things are going. At this point in time, the provinces are planning to carry out the influenza vaccine programs.
We don't put all our eggs in one basket. I don't know how to say that in Latin, but there is more than one influenza vaccine manufacture so that there is a backup should one or the other have any issues.
[Translation]
Senator Rivard: Mr. Chair, I would like to go back to the inescapable topic of Ebola. We heard that the first patient in the United States had unfortunately died today.
How is the virus detected in a person who arrives? I remember in 2010 when I went to Japan that when we arrived there was a device that took our body temperature. If someone had a fever, he or she was automatically quarantined and examined. The person who passed away in the United States only went to the hospital four days later, and by then it was too late. He died and probably contaminated other people.
So, how can we detect that a person is ill, whether they arrive by plane, boat or on land, and how can we determine whether they have Ebola?
[English]
Dr. Tam: We have different ways to rapidly detect Ebola at different points in time. Importantly, in the African countries affected, they have put in place exit measures; they are asking everybody who leaves the country whether they are feeling sick — they will measure the temperature — and ask them whether they have been in contact with someone who has Ebola and has been sick. Now, if someone does not know they have been in contact with Ebola or they deliberately don't tell someone and happen to be completely well when they leave, then there is a next opportunity to catch them, if you like.
In Canada, we've enhanced some of our border measures. Routinely, we have quarantine offices at the major ports of entry or the international airports. Canada Border Services agents act as a first line of defence.
There are not actually that many people that come from those three affected countries to Canada for various reasons, including the fact that there are very few flights now moving between Canada and those countries. Our Canada Border Services colleagues will be able to identify anyone coming from the Ebola-affected countries. They ask them questions and refer them to our quarantine service, where they may take a temperature, if they feel a person is at risk, whether they say they are sick or not.
Ebola is a disease that has a long incubation period, which means someone can be entirely well for 21 days before they develop symptoms. That measure also cannot capture 100 per cent of these people who might become sick, so making sure physicians are aware in every part of our health system is very key. We've been in daily contact with our provinces and territories to make sure hospitals and physicians are aware.
In Canada, we have some of the best laboratory detection systems, as well.
I can tell you that we are on quite a heightened state of alert. Every few days, usually on a Friday evening, we hear about someone who is being investigated. So far, there are no cases of Ebola in Canada, but we've tested around 20 people already and they've all been cleared. So we believe that Canada is quite well prepared for a potential introduction.
It's a layered approach.
[Translation]
Senator Rivard: You reassure me when you say that we are all protected in this country. I hope your predictions come true.
[English]
The Chair: The Library of Parliament would be interested in having an answer to something, and your chief financial officers are all here. We have been focusing mainly on the Main Estimates. Does your agency anticipate asking for more funds in Supplementary Estimates (A), (B) or (C) for this fiscal year?
Mr. Beaudoin: We have not asked for anything Supplementary Estimates (A).
Supplementary Estimates (B), we are looking at mostly transfers between organizations, so there is no new major funding.
It is bit premature at this point for Supplementary Estimates (C), but I do not anticipate a lot from the Public Health Agency at this point unless for some reason new funding was approved.
Liette Dumas-Sluyter, Assistant Commissioner, Corporate Services and CFO, Correctional Service Canada: It's pretty much the same for corrections. We had nothing in Supplementary Estimates (A). In Supplementary Estimates (B), there might be a minor transfer between organizations for partnerships in terms of environmental projects we have and the projects we have with the RCMP. Again, we are finalizing minor amounts.
It is premature in terms of Supplementary Estimates (C) to identify what might be the additional requirements.
Ms. Sinnott: For Veterans Affairs Canada I would have to say it's a repeat story. We have not asked for anything in Supplementary Estimates (A).
In Supplementary Estimates (B), we would ask for small transfers across programs.
We don't contemplate asking for anything right now in Supplementary Estimates (C).
The Chair: That's helpful. Thank you.
Since we are focusing on Veterans Affairs, and I'm getting back to the Service Canada question that Senator Smith was asking earlier, do you transfer funds from Veterans Affairs to Service Canada in order to provide that service?
Ms. Sinnott: We have a memorandum of understanding with Service Canada to provide service for us and we pay for the services that they provide. They take telephone calls for us and we pay them an amount for that. We also pay for utilizing their office space and that sort of thing.
The Chair: I understand that Veterans Affairs officers were located in local Veterans Affairs offices within Service Canada offices, helping to train them for a period of time during the transition.
Ms. Sinnott: We provided training to Service Canada, who will provide training now. We provided all kinds of information so they are able to provide program-specific information to any callers to their network. Now they train their own officers.
The Chair: Mr. Butler, when you put together that package Senator Smith asked for, we would be interested in seeing a financial analysis of the savings in closing the eight offices, less the amount you have to transfer to Service Canada to perform the service.
Mr. Butler: Noted, Mr. Chair.
The Chair: Thank you. That would be helpful.
The final point of clarification is with respect to the public health. It's not entirely clear from the three lines where you described your business line of Public Health Infrastructure. There is a significant decrease in the amount of money that you are asking for this year over last year. Maybe I don't understand just what your infrastructure is with respect to public health. Could you help us with that and explain the reduction of $15 million.
Mr. Beaudoin: The biggest part of the reduction for this year was the last year of the Budget 2012 Economic Action Plan. That's basically $10 million of the $15 million. We have a decrease related to sunset for genomics research of $1.5 million; and we have internal reallocation of funds between the program activities, which is when you tend to move organizational units. There is a couple of million there. They are shifts of organizational units, not reductions to the agency's budgets, per se. It's a bit less in that one and a bit more in another. The bulk is the decrease in the economic action plan.
The Chair: Explain to us what you mean by ''infrastructure'' in this instance? I would normally think of a physical building, but not in this case, I guess.
Dr. Tam: I am essentially the head of that branch, so I will try to explain the key program areas.
It includes a laboratory and laboratory networks. That's one.
It also includes all of our provincial and territorial networks and that type of infrastructure — connectivity and networks.
It includes a program that you may have heard of, the National Collaborating Centres for Public Health, which were born at the same time the agency was created. The six national collaborating centres work complementary to the agency. They do knowledge synthesis and translation.
It also includes training programs. For example, the disease detectives that get trained at the Public Health Agency are part of that type of infrastructure, training and developing the type of competencies that the public health system needs.
It includes grants and contributions not only for the National Collaborating Centres but also for working with the Canadian Institutes for Health Research as we have applied public health chairs. We now have 14 applied public health chairs that do research and translating of public health intervention.
We are also the more horizontal area integrating all the different surveillance systems within the agency, and there are many of them. We have pulled those together under the type of frameworks that we think would make them more efficient and effective. The Multi-lateral Information Sharing Agreement comes under that type of infrastructure. They are really the enabling pieces that allow infectious disease programs as well as the health promotion and chronic disease areas to deliver their programs.
The Chair: I think that's a bit clearer for us. Do any questions arise from that? Then let's go to Senator Chaput on the second round.
[Translation]
Senator Chaput: My question is for the Correctional Service Canada representative.
In its 2012-13 report, the Office of the Correctional Investigator mentioned that the Correctional Service of Canada had decided not to renew part-time prison chaplain contracts, and that CSC had also eliminated the funding for the Lifeline program, that offered mentoring services to the inmates.
The current situation means that there are a growing number of inmates with different cultures, nationalities, beliefs and religious affiliations. Why then did you choose this particular time to not renew the contracts of these people who in my opinion were supporting the inmates' potential rehabilitation? Why did you do that? Did it generate savings? How much?
[English]
Mr. Head: We actually did not cut the money. We continue to spend $17 million on spiritual services. What we did do was come up with a different approach in terms of how we contract for the various services from various faith communities. Before, we had a series of different contracts with different faith communities — a lot of little contracts everywhere, so we went for a more efficient approach. We now have in place one primary contract with a service provider who provides access to the various faith services that we need. We did not eliminate faith services for offenders at all.
[Translation]
Senator Chaput: You changed the way in which you provide the services?
Mr. Head: Yes.
Senator Chaput: And you do so through a contract with the person you call a service provider. Who would that person be? Does that person hire other people?
[English]
Mr. Head: This is an organization now made up of individuals from the faith community who will then liaise with various faith communities and enter into arrangements for subcontracting with them but to provide us the services that we need.
As I say, the offenders have access to the various faith services they need, whether it be Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or the various Christian faiths. The access to those faith services continues.
[Translation]
Senator Chaput: Are you spending the same amount of money? Do you have as many staff on site?
[English]
Mr. Head: Seventeen million dollars. It has been relatively consistent.
Senator Chaput: As compared to?
Mr. Head: We're spending $17.2 million; we were spending 17.9, 17.5, 15 million. It has varied at different times, depending on the demand and need that existed. There was no outright reduction. It was a more efficient way to provide services. Actually, in some cases, we found by going to the one contractor that we, in some areas, gained more access for offenders.
[Translation]
Senator Chaput: So the person you deal with now is the one who manages the services and reports to you?
[English]
Mr. Head: That's right, yes.
[Translation]
Senator Chaput: In that contract, you have objectives. Do you do an evaluation? Are you providing services to as many inmates as you used to before? Can you confirm that with certainty?
[English]
Mr. Head: Yes, most definitely. What we have in place, senator, is a relationship with what we call the interfaith committee. The interfaith committee has representatives from a vast majority of faith communities across the country. We meet with them regularly. They are not part of the contract. They are separate, and through collaboration with them, we do several things. We assess the criteria that have been laid out in terms of providing the services. We look at opportunities for identifying areas for doing research, and, on an anecdotal basis, we review any issues that they hear coming up through their communities through access or types of services. We also, through the interfaith committee, get into discussions, for example, around how to best deal with the issue of radicalization in certain offender population groups.
The interfaith committee is a collection of various faith groups that we work with, independent of the contractor, to make sure at the end of day that the criteria laid out in the contract are being met.
[Translation]
Senator Chaput: Is that committee new? Has it just been struck? Who chose the members? Are they from different regions of Canada?
[English]
Mr. Head: The interfaith committee has been in place for quite a long time, more than 10 years.
[Translation]
Senator Chaput: Are they satisfied with how the services are now provided?
[English]
Mr. Head: Yes, this is a very specific issue, as you can imagine, that was on the agenda with the meetings with them. They had some reservations in the beginning because there was a lot of misinformation out there in terms of the media and people's interpretations of what they thought was happening. When we sat down with them and explained and had them involved in the process and, more specifically, involved in going forward with monitoring and evaluating, they themselves have indicated to us that we've actually moved the overall agenda forward.
Senator Hervieux-Payette: Is it a private or non-profit corporation?
Mr. Head: The one we are contracting with?
Senator Hervieux-Payette: Yes.
Mr. Head: It's a contractor, so they will make whatever money that they make.
Senator Hervieux-Payette: It's a for-profit.
Mr. Head: Like most contracts are.
Senator Hervieux-Payette: The churches, as far as I'm concerned, are not big enterprises.
The Chair: On that note, this concludes our session for this evening. On behalf of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance, I would like to thank you for the good work you are doing serving Canada, and keep up that work. Thank you for being here this evening to help us.
We have been hearing from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Correctional Service Canada and Veterans Affairs Canada.
(The committee adjourned.)