OTTAWA — If Canada wants to improve its health-care system, it should start by better organizing all the bits and pieces of crucial information that confound doctors, patients and administrators, says the Health Council of Canada. The council is responsible for monitoring progress on a 10-year federal-provincial health accord that infused provincial systems with $41 billion in federal money in 2004. In its latest evaluation released Tuesday, the council said that many provinces have laid the groundwork for better-quality health care in some areas. But progress is patchy, varying greatly province by province. Information on the system's health as a whole — let alone that of individual patients — is unreliable…The report is a call for a stronger federal role in health care, especially in pharmaceutical strategy, said NDP health critic Libby Davies. "The federal government has been absent," Davies said. "The report expresses concern about the patchwork effect. Some provinces have made progress on some issues, other provinces on other things. But what is it that holds it together? It's got to be the federal government."

OTTAWA – Opposition leader Jack Layton rolled out his starting lineup Thursday — a squad he says can compete against Prime Minister Stephen Harper's front bench…The NDP says its shadow cabinet mixes "new energy with experience," but the party is relying heavily on members of its old guard to manage high-profile positions. As House leader, Mulcair oversees the party's day-to-day operations in Parliament. With 59 MPs under his watch, the Quebec lieutenant is also co-deputy leader alongside veteran Libby Davies. Layton says Davies' health file is very important because negotiations for a new health accord are set to get underway in 2014.

OTTAWA- Canada's official Opposition has unveiled a 42-member strong front bench that features a large Quebec contingent, an impressive number of women and a mixture of old and new faces. Vancouver's Libby Davies stays on as an NDP deputy leader but will also be the new health critic… Moving a party stalwart such as Davies to health -it was relative newcomer Megan Leslie's beat previously -is indicative of the importance the position holds for the NDP. Layton said Davies will lead the call for more doctors and nurses and monitor negotiations surrounding the new health accord the government will need to strike with the provinces by 2014.