HESA Committee Report

Section 25.9(1) of the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act provides for a parliamentary committee review every three years on progress in implementing the 10-Year Plan to Strengthen Health Care (10-Year Plan) endorsed by First Ministers in 2004. Section 25.9(2) of the Act requires that a report on the statutory review be tabled in Parliament within a three-month period following the beginning of the review, although an extension is possible. The federal government mandated the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health to undertake the first statutory review.

The Committee initiated the review on March 13, 2008 and completed the public meetings on May 27, 2008. In total, four hearings were held with witnesses including representatives from the federal government, health professionals, unions, pharmaceutical industries, Aboriginal organizations, and the academic and research community. The Committee also received evidence from the Health Council of Canada (hereafter the Health Council) and the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) both of which were mandated under the 10-Year Plan to publicly report on progress in strengthening health care. This report presents the Committee’s findings and observations on its review of overall progress in implementing the 10-Year Plan.