HESA Committee Report

DISSENTING OPINION
in reply to Even one is too many: A call for a comprehensive action plan for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Tabled by the Bloc Québécois members
Christiane Gagnon — MP for Québec
Nicole Demers — MP for Laval

1.            Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: a major issue

The Bloc Québécois is aware that alcohol consumption can have adverse effects and recognizes that Quebecers and Canadians need a greater awareness of the risks of inappropriate alcohol consumption.

Alcohol use by pregnant women is a problem for Quebec and Canada. It has been scientifically proven that drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause congenital defects in the fetus. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) has social and economic costs that put evident pressure on the healthcare systems in Quebec and the other provinces.

These facts are acknowledged by all the members of the Standing Committee on Health. The Bloc Québécois MPs, however, feel that leadership in this field should come from the governments that provide healthcare services to the people—the governments of Quebec and the provinces.

2.            A question of jurisdiction

Under the Constitution (sections 92(7) and (16) of the Constitution Act, 1867), health and social services are areas of exclusive jurisdiction of Quebec and the other provinces. This is why the governments of Quebec, regardless of which party is in power, have all denounced federal intrusions into the healthcare field.

In this light, it is clear to the Bloc Québécois that solutions to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder must be implemented only by Quebec and the provinces. It is Quebec and the provinces that have the expertise, the resources and the structures that allow them to manage public health issues such as FASD.

Moreover, Quebec has its own mechanisms for increasing awareness of and preventing the effects of alcohol consumption, one of which is Éduc’alcool, an independent, not-for-profit organization established jointly in 1989 by the alcoholic beverage industry and parapublic institutions to “implement information, education and prevention programs designed to help young people and adults make enlightened, responsible decisions about drinking.”

The Bloc Québécois believes that the impetus for an FASD strategy must come from Quebec and the provinces. As the Chair of the Romanow Commission concluded, more federal funding is needed for the healthcare systems in Quebec and the provinces. In this regard, the main problem is the under-financing resulting from the fiscal imbalance that prevails in Canada. This situation deprives Quebec and the provinces of the income necessary to carry out their health and social services responsibilities. With adequate federal funding, Quebec would be in a much better position to tackle FASD—something which the federal government could never hope to do.

3.            Focus federal government intervention on the target groups for which it is responsible

The federal government is responsible for providing healthcare services to specific target groups, such as First Nations people, Inuit, members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP, as well as inmates in federal penitentiaries. Although the data is not yet conclusive, FASD seems to be particularly prevalent in these groups.

However, it appears that the federal government has shown little initiative in dealing adequately with the problems of FASD among its own target groups. It has not yet managed to reduce the incidence of FASD significantly in the populations for which it is responsible. Rather than trying to extend its area of intervention, the federal government should concentrate on the fields that concern it and that are under its responsibility. Agencies in the health portfolio and the other federal partners must make it a priority to find concrete solutions to the problems caused by the high rate of FASD in client groups for which the federal government is responsible.

There is no point in the federal government’s becoming involved in areas of jurisdiction that belong to Quebec and the provinces, as they already have the medical expertise required to manage FASD-related problems. The Bloc Québécois is of the view that the federal government should focus its actions on the client groups for which it is responsible. Furthermore, these are the client populations that are at particular risk of FASD. This is why Health Canada’s leadership should be exercised only on the populations which have the greatest need of it.