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Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP): Mr. Speaker, the minister’s assurance ring very hollow when we consider that the Conservatives eliminated the funding specifically targeted at reducing wait times. It has gone.

    The Wait Time Alliance report card reveals that Canadians are waiting far longer for emergency care than people in other comparable countries, and 4.4 million Canadians have no family doctor.

    Instead of working with the provinces to address these challenges, the government has abandoned them.

    Why will the minister not come to the table with the provinces and work with them to improve health care for Canadians?

    Hon. Rona Ambrose (Minister of Health, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I am happy to work every day with the provinces and territories on the delivery of health care, and it is, of course, their responsibility and they work very hard at it.

    I would just point out to the member that in fact the Canadian Institute of Health Information saw 2012 as the highest level of physicians per capita in Canada in the history of Canada, so there is a lot of progress being made there.

    As well, if we look at comparing ourselves to other countries, last year the OECD noted that Canada had the lowest medium wait times for cataract surgery and the second lowest medium wait times for hips and knee replacements compared to countries like Finland, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K., so we are making progress.

    Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP): Mr. Speaker, it is not only a jurisdictional question for the provinces and the territories, it is a federal issue as well.

    Commitments were made by the federal government. Most times, outcomes speak louder than words, and wait times in fact, according to this report card, are not improving. In fact, Canadians are now paying a very high emotional, physical and even financial cost for the long wait times.

    According to the report today, the cost to the economy of lengthy waits for just five procedures is $15 billion a year.

    Why will the government not honour the commitments that were made and become an active partner in reducing wait times for Canadians?

    Hon. Rona Ambrose (Minister of Health, CPC): Mr. Speaker, we are an active partner in reducing wait times, and the member knows we provided $1 billion for the provinces and territories to establish the wait times guarantees in their own priorities areas.

    Importantly, they were able to choose those areas that were priorities for them in their own health systems.

    We have seen concrete results with, as I said, priority procedures in provinces meeting nearly 80% of time targets, including radiation therapy and other procedures.

    We are working with the provinces and territories in many other ways to help them reduce wait times, whether it be things like electronic health records, and also working with them on a national strategy for health human resources to help reduce wait–

    The Speaker: Order, please. The hon. member for Toronto Centre.

    

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Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP): Mr. Speaker, the facts are that the government had been investing $4.5 million a year for a number of years in ParticipACTION, which is a very necessary and important program, but now, without any warning, the Conservatives have slashed over half of the ParticipACTION budget.

    Slashing funding at a time when only 5% of children meet the physical activity guidelines just does not make sense.

    I would like to ask the Minister of Health how she can explain to Canadians that the government is slashing funding for a program that saves health care dollars and keeps people healthier? How can she explain that?

    Hon. Bal Gosal (Minister of State (Sport), CPC): Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, the member is wrong. It was our government in 2007 that relaunched ParticipACTION to promote sports and physical activity among Canadians of all ages. During this period ParticipACTION was given special funding and it was expected to leverage this financial contribution for many years while evaluating and attracting new money from the private sector. Federal funding will continue and we are pleased to see it has developed partnerships in the private sector and non-profit partners to share the load with the taxpayers.

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Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP): Mr. Speaker, last week frank
conversations were held across the country as part of mental health week, but
here in Ottawa the Conservative government is failing to do its part.

It has even refused to adopt the Mental Health Commission’s national standard. Anxiety, stress and depression are on the rise in the public service, and Conservative mismanagement and attacks are making things worse, not better.

As one of the nation’s largest employers, why is the government failing to take concrete action on mental health in the workplace?

Mr. Tony Clement (President of the Treasury Board): Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we have been working with public sector leaders to tackle this issue.

Currently 49% of all sick leave is attributable to mental health issues. The main issue, though, is that we have a sick leave system that is 50 years out of date and does not allow us to have the tools necessary to tackle

these issues in a modern, effective manner. That is the type of thing I want to see changed, and that is why I put in the shop window for our negotiations with the unions the sick leave system