MPs decry lack of leadership in calling for flu talks

OTTAWA – Members of the House of Commons health committee will gather Wednesday for a midsummer meeting at the request of opposition MPs who are critical of the government’s handling of the swine flu pandemic.

"We need to be able to raise a lot of questions and get a sense of where the government stands on a number of key issues," said Judy Wasylycia-Leis, the New Democratic Party’s health critic.

She is one of four opposition MPs who requested the committee undertake a study of the government’s pandemic plans. Procedural rules dictate the committee must be convened within five working days of such a request, which meant members were making last-minute travel arrangements to Ottawa, or finding other MPs to send in their place if they had previous commitments.

The meeting could prove to be a short one, depending on how the 12 committee members – six Conservatives and six opposition members – vote on the proposal to conduct an in-depth review of the pandemic plans. The meeting is expected to go ahead, however, and the committee has lined up several witnesses, including Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and chief public health officer Dr. David Butler-Jones.

Wasylycia-Leis, and her Liberal counterpart, Carolyn Bennett, have both been critical of the health minister’s leadership abilities.

Wasylycia-Leis said Aglukkaq "started off on a strong foot" when the pandemic began in the spring but that she has been "noticeably absent" since Parliament rose for the summer.

"We’ve got to have leadership from the government and I can’t say that I’ve seen that kind of leadership from Leona Aglukkaq over the last several months when in fact we should be at the height of planning," she said. "This should be the period of time when we put all efforts into both planning and keeping in touch with the public."

Bennett, who sent a letter to the health minister on behalf of the Liberals in July telling her she was being too silent, denied accusations from the chair of the committee, Conservative Joy Smith, that opposition members are "playing politics" with an important health issue.

"We are very concerned that this must not be seen to be any political game. We have a responsibility as parliamentarians to make sure we’re ready for the fall. We’re doing our job," said Bennett. "It is very worrying that anybody would think this is anything more than trying to be constructive and trying to go forward, and taking our responsibility very seriously."

Bennett said the committee is mandated to oversee the government’s pandemic preparedness plan and that holding a meeting when Parliament resumes in late September is too late to ensure plans are on track for the fall flu season when the pandemic is expected to worsen.

A spokeswoman for the health minister said the government is sharing information and that Aglukkaq has held 22 press conferences, developed public information campaigns, and shared guidelines with health-care workers.

"From the beginning of this pandemic, Minister Aglukkaq has made a point of publicly sharing information with the World Health Organization, provincial and territorial partners and the Canadian public," Josee Bellemare said in an e-mail. She also noted that more than 20 technical briefings have been conducted with opposition health critics to keep them informed.

"Minister Aglukkaq will continue to share and to co-operate with all partners," said Bellemare.

Wasylycia-Leis said the health minister is not purposefully keeping opposition members in the dark, but that "more questions than answers have been raised" and she’s not confident the government’s preparations for the fall flu season are adequate.

"We’re simply trying to do our job and hold the government to account on what could be one of the most serious incidents in our society in recent memory," she said.