1st Session, 37th Parliament,
49-50 Elizabeth II, 2001

The House of Commons of Canada

BILL C-95

An Act to establish the Department of Health and to amend and repeal certain Acts

      Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Department of Health Act.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT

Department established

2. (1) There is hereby established a department of the Government of Canada, called the Department of Health, over which the Minister of Health, appointed by commission under the Great Seal, shall preside.

Minister

(2) The Minister holds office during pleasure and has the management and direction of the Department.

DEPUTY HEAD

Deputy head

3. The Governor in Council may appoint an officer, called the Deputy Minister of Health, to hold office during pleasure and to be the deputy head of the Department.

POWERS, DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE MINISTER

Powers, duties and functions

4. (1) The powers, duties and functions of the Minister extend to and include all matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction relating to the promotion and preservation of the health of the people of Canada not by law assigned to any other department, board or agency of the Government of Canada.

Particulars

(2) Without restricting the generality of subsection (1), the Minister's powers, duties and functions relating to health include the following matters:

    (a) the promotion and preservation of the physical, mental and social well-being of the people of Canada;

    (b) the protection of the people of Canada against risks to health and the spreading of diseases;

    (c) investigation and research into public health, including the monitoring of diseases;

    (d) the establishment and control of safety standards and safety information requirements for consumer products and of safety information requirements for products intended for use in the workplace;

    (e) the protection of public health on railways, ships, aircraft and all other methods of transportation, and their ancillary services;

    (f) the promotion and preservation of the health of the public servants and other employees of the Government of Canada;

    (g) the enforcement of any rules or regulations made by the International Joint Commission, promulgated pursuant to the treaty between the United States of America and His Majesty, King Edward VII, relating to boundary waters and questions arising between the United States and Canada, in so far as they relate to public health;

    (h) subject to the Statistics Act, the collection, analysis, interpretation, publication and distribution of information relating to public health; and

    (i) cooperation with provincial authorities with a view to the coordination of efforts made or proposed for preserving and improving public health.

Inspectors and analysts

5. The Minister may designate any person to be an inspector or an analyst for the purposes of any Act for which the Minister has responsibility and sections 22 to 29 and 35 of the Food and Drugs Act apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to the persons designated pursuant to this section.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Fees for services or use of facilities

6. (1) The Minister may, subject to any regulations that the Treasury Board may make for the purposes of this section, fix the fees to be paid for a service or the use of a facility provided by the Minister, the Department or any board or agency of the Government of Canada for which the Minister has responsibility.

Amount not to exceed cost

(2) Fees for a service or the use of a facility that are fixed under subsection (1) may not exceed the cost to Her Majesty in right of Canada of providing the service or the use of the facility.

Fees for products, rights and privileges

7. The Minister may, subject to any regulations that the Treasury Board may make for the purposes of this section, fix fees in respect of products, rights and privileges provided by the Minister, the Department or any board or agency of the Government of Canada for which the Minister has responsibility.

Fees in respect of regulatory processes, etc.

8. (1) The Minister may, subject to any regulations that the Treasury Board may make for the purposes of this section, fix fees in respect of regulatory processes or approvals provided by the Minister, the Department or any board or agency of the Government of Canada for which the Minister has responsibility.

Amount

(2) Fees that are fixed under subsection (1) shall in the aggregate not exceed an amount sufficient to compensate Her Majesty in right of Canada for any reasonable outlays incurred by Her Majesty for the purpose of providing the regulatory processes or approvals.

Consultation

9. (1) Before fixing a fee under section 6, 7 or 8, the Minister shall consult with such persons or organizations as the Minister considers to be interested in the matter.

Publication

(2) A fee that is fixed under section 6, 7 or 8 shall be published, within thirty days after it is fixed, in the Canada Gazette and by such appropriate electronic or other means that the Treasury Board may authorize by regulation.

Reference to Scrutiny Committee

(3) Any fee fixed under section 6, 7 or 8 shall stand referred to the Committee referred to in section 19 of the Statutory Instruments Act to be reviewed and scrutinized as if it were a statutory instrument.

Power to make regulations

10. The Treasury Board may make regulations for the purposes of sections 6 to 9.

REGULATIONS AND PUNISHMENT

Regulations

11. (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations to give effect to and carry out the objects of this Act.

Punishment

(2) Every person who contravenes a regulation is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

PROVINCIAL JURISDICTION

Provincial or municipal boards not affected

12. Nothing in this Act or the regulations authorizes the Minister or any officer or employee of the Department to exercise any jurisdiction or control over any health authority operating under the laws of any province.

TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

Positions

13. (1) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the status of an employee who, immediately before the coming into force of this subsection, occupied

    (a) a position in the public service of Canada in the Department of National Health and Welfare, other than in a portion referred to in clause (a)(i)(B) of Order in Council P.C. 1993-1488 of June 25, 1993, registered as SI/93-142, or in clause (a)(i)(B) of Order in Council P.C. 1993-1489 of June 25, 1993, registered as SI/93-143,

    (b) a position in that portion of the public service of Canada in the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs referred to in Order in Council P.C. 1993-1491 of June 25, 1993, registered as SI/93-145, and known as the Product Safety Branch, or

    (c) a position in those portions of the public service of Canada known as the Family Violence Prevention Division, the Children's Bureau and attendant Brighter Futures programs, the Community Action Program for Children, HIV/AIDS Research and Development and the Seniors Independence Research Program, and referred to in Order in Council P.C. 1993-1667 of August 11, 1993, registered as SI/93-167,

except that the employee shall, on the coming into force of this subsection, occupy that position in the Department of Health.

Definition of ``employee''

(2) In this section, ``employee'' has the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Public Service Employment Act.

Transfer of appropria-
tions

14. Any amount appropriated, for the fiscal year in which this section comes into force, by an appropriation Act based on the Estimates for that year for defraying the charges and expenses of the public service of Canada within the Department of National Health and Welfare and that, on the day on which this section comes into force, is unexpended is deemed, on that day, to be an amount appropriated for defraying the charges and expenses of the Department of Health.

Transfer of powers, duties and functions

15. (1) Wherever, under any Act of Parliament, any instrument made under an Act of Parliament or any order, contract, lease, licence or other document, any power, duty or function is vested in or may be exercised or performed by any of the persons referred to in subsection (2) in relation to any matter to which the powers, duties and functions of the Minister of Health extend by virtue of this Act, that power, duty or function is vested in or may be exercised or performed by the Minister of Health, the Deputy Minister of Health or the appropriate officer of the Department of Health, as the case may be, unless the Governor in Council by order designates another Minister, Deputy Minister or officer of the public service of Canada to exercise that power or perform that duty or function.

Persons

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the persons are

    (a) the Minister of National Health and Welfare and the Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs;

    (b) the Deputy Minister of National Health and Welfare and the Deputy Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs; and

    (c) any officer of the Department of National Health and Welfare and the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs.

RELATED AMENDMENTS

R.S., c. A-1

Access to Information Act

1992, c. 1, s. 145 (Sch. VIII, item 1) (F)

16. Schedule I to the Access to Information Act is amended by striking out the following under the heading ``Departments and Ministries of State'':

Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs

    Ministère de la Consommation et des Affaires commerciales

Department of National Health and Welfare

    Ministère de la Santé nationale et du Bien-être social

17. Schedule I to the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order under the heading ``Departments and Ministries of State'':

Department of Health

    Ministère de la Santé

R.S., c. E-9

Energy Supplies Emergency Act

18. Paragraph 34(4)(d) of the Energy Supplies Emergency Act is replaced by the following:

    (d) provide that a permit issued pursuant to the regulations may be revoked or altered by the Minister of the Environment or the Minister of Health if, in the opinion of the Minister, the report of a public hearing warrants that action.

R.S., c. E-10

Department of the Environment Act

19. Paragraph 4(1)(e) of the Department of the Environment Act is replaced by the following:

    (e) notwithstanding paragraph 4(2)(g) of the Department of Health Act, the enforcement of any rules or regulations made by the International Joint Commission, promulgated pursuant to the treaty between the United States of America and His Majesty, King Edward VII, relating to boundary waters and questions arising between the United States and Canada, in so far as they relate to the preservation and enhancement of the quality of the natural environment;

R.S., c. F-8

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements and Federal Post-Secondary Education and Health Contributions Act

20. Paragraph 40(f) of the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements and Federal Post-Secondary Education and Health Contributions Act is replaced by the following:

    (f) respecting the determination of any matter that under this Act is to be determined by the Minister, the Minister of National Revenue, the Secretary of State or the Minister of Health;