QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Health

Good afternoon, minister.

As my colleague Senator Surette said, the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages published a very important report on equitable, safe and quality health care and health services in official language minority communities, but it is still waiting for a response from your government. The committee recommends that your government review the Canada Health Act to ensure that federal health investments adhere to the principles of the Official Languages Act and formally support health care services for official language minority communities.

Minister, how will you work with your colleagues to ensure that this important recommendation is implemented?

I am working with my colleagues on everything to do with health equity. Does that mean reopening the Canada Health Act and making changes? Perhaps not, or at least not in the short term. Let me be frank: I don’t really intend to make amendments to the Canada Health Act at this point for all sorts of reasons. I think that there are other mechanisms for achieving the same results, and we are working on them.

Minister, there are other mechanisms, but they’re extremely poor at delivering services in both official languages. The committee also recommends that you, as minister, support the implementation of the “Access to Health and Social Services in Official Languages” standard with all health partners across the continuum of health care and services.

How are you going to ensure that this standard is implemented in collaboration with the partners? What specific steps are you taking with the provinces and territories to do this?

Senator Cormier, as I’ve said from the outset, I’m not the one delivering services. So when I’m called upon as minister to present a topic, I don’t want to take positions that won’t produce results. The provinces and territories always have to be kept at the centre of the conversation and told about the challenges. I also think that organizations on the ground are helping by talking with their provincial governments. I’m here, and I can start the conversation and call attention to issues. However, delivering services is the provinces’ responsibility, and we have to engage with them on that all the time. The fact that I’m a francophone helps some provinces grasp this reality, because I raise it a lot, especially in regions where the population is truly bilingual.