CMAJ: Feds target redundancies and waste at Health Canada - 0 views
-
The budget, unveiled Mar. 29 by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, will see cuts in health department spending to the tune of $309.9 million by fiscal 2014/15, some $200.6 million of which will be achieved through measures aimed at “enhancing coordination, consolidating operations and eliminating redundant activities” at Health Canada
-
“I'm hard pressed to see how that sort of money is going to come from consolidation of some services,” says Patty Ducharme, national executive vice-president for the Public Service Alliance of Canada. “With Health Canada, what can you consolidate that's not going to have a massive impact on the services that are delivered to Canadians?”
- ...4 more annotations...
-
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will similarly merge its back-office functions with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
-
As part of its new action plan, CFIA will overhaul how it monitors and enforces food labelling regulations
-
the government will introduce legislation to wind down Assisted Human Reproduction Canada, the regulatory agency created in 2006 to promote the safety, health and rights of Canadians using reproductive technologies. The agency, which is slated for closure Mar. 31, 2013, is “no longer justified” in the wake of the 2010 Supreme Court of Canada ruling that substantially reduced federal authority over assisted human reproduction (http://scc.lexum.org/en/2010/2010scc61/2010scc61.html). Health Canada will take over responsibility for remaining federal functions, such as compliance and enforcement.
-
All told, the spending reduction measures will trim $111.7 million from the health portfolio in 2012/13. Those savings will grow to $218.5 million in 2013/14 and to $309.9 million by 2014/15.