Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Social Affairs, Science and Technology
Issue 1 - Evidence
OTTAWA, Tuesday, April 25, 2006
The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology met this day at 8:04 a.m., pursuant to rule 88 of the Rules of the Senate, to organize the activities of the committee.
[English]
Ms. Josée Thérien, Clerk of the Committee: Honourable senators, we have a quorum. As clerk of your committee, it is my duty to preside over the election of the chair. I am ready to receive nominations to that effect.
Senator Cochrane: I nominate Senator Kirby.
Ms. Thérien: Will there be any other nominations? It is moved by the Honourable Senator Cochrane that the Honourable Senator Kirby be chair of this committee. Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Ms. Thérien: I declare the motion carried. In accordance with rule 88 the Honourable Senator Kirby is elected chair of this committee.
The Chairman: Next we need a motion for the vice chair. Are there any further nominations? Then I declare Senator Keon elected deputy chair. Finally, we need a motion to nominate a third person.
Senator Fairbairn: Senator Pépin.
The Chairman: Senator Pépin is nominated to be the third person on the steering committee. Are there any other nominations? I declare that carried.
You have in front of you, starting with number 4 — this is to save me having to read them all out — a motion to print the committee's proceedings. Can we pass that? Number five is the authorization to hold meetings and to print evidence when a quorum is not present. Are there any objections to that one?
The next is a financial report. This is the first report, on the expenditures of last year. I presume we will also report that, since the money is already spent; is that correct? I will table that in the chamber this afternoon.
Number 7 at the top of page 3 is the one that Howard does not get to vote on because in it we ask him to continue acting as our chief researcher. We do not want to give Howard a vote because we are afraid he will vote against it. Are we agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Number 8 is the authority to commit funds and certify counsel. It gives the authority to the steering committee and the clerk to spend money that we are given under the budget. Is that one all right?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Then there is the travel one, which allows the steering committee to designate people to travel on behalf of the committee. So far, we have not really used that, but I suppose it is one that we ought to put in there. Is everybody okay with that one?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: Number 10 deals with the issue of whether you are away on official business or not. The way this committee has operated for a decade or so has been that it is decided between the chair and the deputy chair. If people are away on business, giving a speech on behalf of the committee or whatever, all they need to do is phone my office or Senator Keon's office and we have a process to inform the clerk. Therefore, you are marked as being away on Senate business rather than public business. Are we agreed on that one?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chairman: The one on travelling and living expenses of witnesses is the standard motion relating to people we have invited to come to speak.
Regarding the electronic media coverage of public meetings, as you know, this committee was the first one in the Senate to have a blanket authorization that if CPAC wants to cover us, they can do so. Lots of times they do not; lots of times they do. Originally, we had to go back to the chamber each time and ask. That did not make sense because sometimes we would have witnesses that suddenly CPAC wanted to cover. This is the blanket authorization on media coverage, if we want to do that. Are we okay on that?
The final point is that the time slot for our meetings has not changed. It is Wednesday afternoon and the latter part of Thursday morning.
There are two other items to talk about on the mental health report. Now that we have been officially created, we will have pacified the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Therefore, we can pass Senator Keon's motion this afternoon, the one referring back to the committee the mental health reference from the last two times we have had a session. We will get that through this afternoon.
Then we will meet tomorrow. Let us talk about that for a second. Except for Senators Eggleton and Forrestall, all the rest of you were on the previous committee. As you know, we have gone through and signed off on the mental health report due to be released on Tuesday, May 9. The only item on the agenda tomorrow — hopefully it will be just a 60-second item — will say that we have approved the final text of the report. Everybody on the old committee has gone through it repeatedly and signed off on it, including people like Senator Gill who are no longer on this committee. There has been a slight change. The process will require that we meet tomorrow to formally adopt the committee report. That will be the only agenda item. Senator Keon will be in the chair. I am chairing a mental health meeting in Toronto all day tomorrow and tomorrow evening. Since we all signed off on the report, I am assuming that is not a problem.
Let me raise just a couple of other issues on communications with respect to the report. Thank goodness it is getting out. The pressure from the mental health community has been enormous.
We are doing much of what we did last time. We will have an op-ed piece. I know the Atlantic senators signed one collectively and sent it to all the papers. You will receive calls from my office about trying to visit the editorial boards in each of your respective provinces, to the extent that you can.
We have done some overheads that will be available to everyone who wants to make a speech. We will give you a text if you need it, but you can just use the overheads. There is a general set, but we will give you an additional piece if you are talking to a children's audience or a seniors' audience or a workplace audience. We have one that deals with the overall report, and then you slot in the target piece for the particular audience. People want to know the overview plus the particular items. The overview piece is available; and as soon as we know you have a speaking engagement with a particular type of audience, we will give you those.
My guess, on the basis of the requests we have had so far, is that all of you will have to pick up some speaking engagements because two or three of us just cannot do it. The number of people in the mental health community in various positions who want to hear first-hand from somebody on the committee is large. We have an obligation now to get out and get it done.
Finally, you will recall that the Canadian mental health commission, which had been approved by the provinces and territories and the federal government previously, has also been approved by the current government. The Canadian mental health commission will, in fact, be created exactly along the lines that we have talked about. Are there any questions?
Senator Trenholme Counsell: Did the government agree on the mental health commission?
The Chairman: What they will do with that is what they have done with CIHI, the Canadian Institute of Health Information. They are sending an official observer to act, de facto, as a person on the board, but they will still say they did not recognize it. The only reason for that is they argue health is a provincial responsibility. On the other hand, the Minister of Health and the Assistant Deputy Minister of Health both told me they agree absolutely with the terms of reference.
De jure they are not members, but de facto they are. Since we were not asking them for any money, it is not an issue.
Senator Pépin: This book is from Dr. Yves Lamontagne. It deals with the health system and making a decision on health systems. I received it just this morning.
The Chairman: I spent yesterday with Michel Claire, who did the Claire commission's report in Quebec. We were on a panel together. His views are identical to ours, including on what needs to be done in mental health. He is a smart man.
I think the answer to your question is that we will play the game. The answer is that formally, the Quebec government has not signed on. Informally, they will be as active participants as they are in the other national health groups. Every other province and territory is onside.
Senator Keon, is there anything we need to add?
Senator Keon: The minister asked us for a list of names for the commission.
The Chairman: Yes. If you send the names to my office, I will compile a list. I have a thick pile of letters that were sent unsolicited to my office. If you send me names, I will break them out geographically and by area of interest.
I think that anyone who is asked to be on this commission will agree to serve. The level of interest is high. This is not a case where we will have to twist arms to get people to do it. The problem is that we will have 300 people for 12 spots.
There is a woman in Manitoba nominated by Ed Schryer. He has a son who has schizophrenia, which I did not know. He sent me a personal note saying that he would be more than glad to do anything he could to assist. The person he nominated has nothing to do with politics; it is just someone he knows. The previous Conservative Premier of Manitoba sent me the same letter, so we know it is not political. It is amazing what you learn as you go down the road.
We will pass Senator Keon's motion this afternoon and have a brief meeting tomorrow here at the adjournment of the Senate. Senator Keon will be in the chair. You will receive all the material from my office next week so that you will have it in advance to review.
The clerk will distribute copies of the final report. Regardless of Senate procedures, I did tell the federal, provincial and territorial ministers of health that I would send them a copy in the middle of next week so that they are not blind- sided.
Senator Cook: You are sending a copy to our Minister of Health?
The Chairman: Yes, and to the deputy. What will they do if this lands on their desks and a media person asks them about it? It is a courtesy. They are embargoed; they are used to dealing with them.
The committee adjourned.