Health committee  Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Let me start with the question of accountability. I know I mentioned previously there would no longer be a requirement for an annual report, but that certainly doesn't mean there is not a requirement for public reporting on what's happening within the commission.

Health committee  I think perhaps there was a misunderstanding in what I said earlier. I was saying in 1988, when it was originally established, there was concern on the part of industry that Health Canada would not be able to keep its information safe and secure. Thus, there was a desire to see a separate, independent body hold their confidential business information holdings.

Health committee  Indeed, provinces and territories were made aware so those who sit on both the council—

Health committee  That's a good point. Actually, they both were. They were made aware immediately. As soon as the department was aware, we heard in the budget what was happening, we contacted the current council of governors. In addition, Health Canada has another stakeholder group called the Intergovernmental WHMIS Coordinating Committee.

Health committee  There is currently an advisory committee under the current—

Health committee  The only difference is that within the Department of Health, or within a department, we can't have an independent advisory board. We would need to have a legislated advisory board, so we took the steps we could to make sure there was as much strength to that advisory board as possible.

Health committee  No. The intention is that the roles and the functions of the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission, as they transfer to Health Canada, will remain the same. I think folks have indicated before that the one benefit of that change is they are going to be consolidated with the group that runs the national office of WHMIS, the group that already has responsibility within the Department of Health for setting out the criteria and the requirements for protecting worker health and safety.

Health committee  Sure. I believe Shannon mentioned it briefly. Essentially as a stand-alone agency, there is a whole set of requirements that need to be met, including annual reporting requirements under the Financial Administration Act, and other pieces of legislation. In addition, there's a requirement to have full-time human resources help, full-time communications help, full-time financial help.

Health committee  Certainly we have been working with both staff and stakeholders, letting them know about the changes along the way, consulting them as much as possible. Staff had been made aware of the changes. I think for the most part they seem to be supportive of the changes and see the possibility for opportunity within a larger organization.

Health committee  Taking a step back again, to reiterate, the chief screening officer is delegated within the statute and the functions and duties under the act don't change, of course. Again, they would be designated. An employee within the new directorate would be designated to take on that role.

Health committee  Thank you very much for the question. I'm going to break it down into pieces. I think there was a question around the council and how that will operate. There was a question around the independence of the boards, and a question around consultation. There was your first question of why it was set up as an independent commission and why it would no longer be required to be a stand-alone agency.

Health committee  Presumably so, but I'm laying out the changes as they are in the new act, right? With regard to the independence of the boards, I think you raise an important question. Let's start with the designation of the screening officer. The designation of the screening officer within the current council is done by the president of the council.

Health committee  Suzy McDonald.

Health committee  Thank you very much, Madam Chair, members of the committee. My name is Suzy McDonald. I'm with Health Canada. I thought I'd begin today by providing a brief explanation of the roles of both Health Canada and the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission, which I'll refer to as the commission, in protecting worker health and safety as it relates to hazardous materials in the workplace.