Finance committee  Thank you. Yes, indeed, I think everybody in this room knows that 40% of people will have cancer in their lifetime. Most of us have family members on whom it has had a major impact. It is a huge issue for our country. Particularly within the issue of an aging society, if we want to ensure that people have an opportunity to contribute, then preventing them from getting chronic diseases is important public policy.

Finance committee  Certainly in some very specific areas of prevention, such as prevention against UV radiation, Australia's the leader. There are certain countries. As an example, in New York City they're taking a lot of leadership in looking at healthy diets and nutritional labelling. We think there are best practices.

Finance committee  Good afternoon. Thank you very much for inviting us to speak today. As many of you know, the Canadian Cancer Society is a national community-based organization. We have over 170,000 volunteers across the country who work in communities, providing services. Our vision is to create a country in which no one fears cancer.

Finance committee  I agree with you. All parliamentarians are of the same view that this has to be stopped, and I just want to thank you very much for passing Bill C-32 unanimously by the House. It is a great piece of legislation. We have been talking to aboriginal groups. We have been talking to our colleagues in the United States.

Finance committee  I think the place to start with the compassionate leave benefit is to understand that if we don't support people to be home to provide care, those people will be in the hospital system and that will increase costs. So it makes sense to allow people to support loved ones at home.

Finance committee  Yes, and I would start with the existing program, which had $190 million set aside. In no year has more than 5% of that money been spent. Over the last five years, $600 million should have been provided caregivers and only $26 million went out the door. So the first thing is to work with the program, spend the money that's there, and get it to the people who need it.

Finance committee  Actually, what I would like to do is to send you a list of the drugs by province, their availability and the cost to access them. I don't have a specific drug in mind in the province of Quebec. We do know, for example, if we look at the overall class of drugs, the cost to a patient is basically zero in B.C. and Alberta; it's roughly $12,000 a year in Ontario; roughly the same in Quebec; $6,500 a year in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

Finance committee  I would be happy to send you a copy of a report we recently did on the disparity between Canadians in their access to drugs. It clearly shows that your ability to get the drugs you need is increasingly dependent upon how much money you have and the province in which you live. We've done a comparison based on the drugs, the provinces, and the costs.

Finance committee  We've looked at the issue of the patient, but also the family that supports the patient. In both cases the system does not allow for long-term financial support when you're suffering from a chronic disease. People with cancer are living much longer. It's episodic. You're right that we have to look at the employment insurance programs, but we also need to look at the support programs for families that need to take time off—it might be three weeks now or three or four weeks two months from now—to support a parent or child.

Finance committee  We certainly recommend that we go up to the highest standard rather than down to the lowest. Right now, all things considered, it would probably be the standard in British Columbia. We're recommending that no Canadian should have to spend more than 3% of their net income on drugs, which would make it equal to the standard in B.C.

Finance committee  Good morning. Thank you very much for allowing us to come and make our recommendations to this committee. At the Canadian Cancer Society our mission is to fight cancer and improve the quality of life for people living with cancer. We are the largest charity in Canada, with over 170,000 volunteers.