Dear Stakeholder:

The Government of Canada has launched an on-line consultation on Open Government and is inviting all Canadians to participate. The consultation will continue until January 16, 2012 and can be accessed from the Open Government web site at: http://www.open.gc.ca/index-eng.asp. I encourage you to participate in this important initiative.

Launched in March 2011, the Government of Canada is pursuing Open Government through three main streams:

· Open Data: offering Government data in a more useful format to enable citizens, the private sector and non-government organizations to leverage it in innovative and value-added ways.
· Open Information: proactively releasing information, including information on government activities, to Canadians on an ongoing basis.
· Open Dialogue: giving Canadians a stronger say in Government policies and priorities, and expanding engagement through Web 2.0 technologies.

Thank you in advance for your interest in Open Government. Your insights will help guide the Government of Canada’s future actions in this area.

Anne Lamar
Assistant Deputy Minister
Public Affairs, Consultation and Communications Branch
Health Canada

Note: if you are unable to access the Open Government Consultation website, please cut and paste the link into your browser. Also, given the high level of interest in this activity, you may receive multiple copies of this email. That being said, we invite you to further distribute this email within your own network.

Below is Senator Peterson’s statement to be made in the Senate Chamber today.

Marie Russell
Executive Assistant to / Adjointe executif à
The Hon. / L’honorable Robert W. (Bob) Peterson
The Senate of Canada / Le Sénat du Canada
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A4
Room 800-VB
(613) 995-4220
Fax: 995-4229

www.liberalsenateforum.ca – Canada’s Original Think Tank

Senator Peterson’s speech in the Senate Chamber – Brain Injury Awareness Month (pdf)

I am pleased to share details of the federal budget tabled today. Below please find excerpts from the budget related to issues of interest to the Neurological Health Charities Canada (NHCC) and the Brain Injury Association of Canada (BIAC). Full budget details

SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES & COMMUNITIES:
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In order to improve Canada’s productivity, enhance our economic competitiveness and increase our standard of living, our Government will continue to make targeted investments to promote and encourage research and development in Canada’s private sector and in our universities, colleges and polytechnics. It will look for ways to support innovation while ensuring that federal investment in research and development is effective and maximizes results for Canadians.
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Our Government’s plan also recognizes the tremendous time and resources required of family caregivers. Many individuals and families have added responsibilities in caring for infirm parents or relatives. These family caregivers make special sacrifices, often leaving the workforce temporarily and forgoing employment income.

The new Family Caregiver Tax Credit will support those who care for a dependent family member who is infirm. In addition, our Government will remove the cap on eligible expenses that caregivers can claim under the Medical Expense Tax Credit.
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Canadians want and expect their health care system to be there when they and their families need it most. Canadians want better results from the health care system, at the same time as an aging population is putting unprecedented pressure on the system’s ability to deliver.

Our Government is committed to respecting provincial jurisdiction and working with the provinces and territories to ensure that the health care system is sustainable and that there is accountability for results. It will maintain the six percent escalator for the Canada Health Transfer, while working collaboratively with provincial partners to renew the Health Accord and to continue reducing wait times. As has been done before, our Government will enter into a separate agreement with the Government of Quebec regarding the implementation of the renewed Health Accord.
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Read the full speech

Hello all,

With the government officially defeated, an election is in full swing. The NHCC has incorporated shared messaging about the need for a national brain strategy into BIAC’s election messages. For your reference, our key messages include:

Key Messages

• approximately 5.6 million Canadians live with a neurological condition and 5 million Canadians live with a mental illness today – that’s 1 in 3 Canadians living with a brain condition
• by extrapolating data from Ontario where 25% of the people living with a neurolgical condition are brain injury survivors, one can note that there are approximately 1.4 million Canadians living with an acquired brain injury
• regardless of diagnosis, people living with brain conditions share remarkably similar needs and challenges
• Canada’s neurological health charities have been working together to address these common needs
• we have developed a 7-pillar framework for a national brain strategy that when implemented, will improve the quality of life for millions and millions of Canadians
• the 7 pillars of the national brain and brain injury strategy are:

1. - research
2. - prevention
3. - integrated care and support
4. - caregiver support
5. - income security
6. - public education
7. - genetic privacy

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The Brain Injury Association of Canada (BIAC) is pleased to see the positive movement with the government’s investment of $5 million over two years to support injury prevention initiatives that reach Canadian children and youth in the communities where they live and play. The measurement of the success of this investment should be seen when the OECD rankings appear over the next five years and Canada moves up from 22nd out of 29 in preventable childhood injuries and death.

Most importantly, Canadians must realize that a concussion is a brain injury. Apart from medical consequences, there are often educational and career consequences particularly when the survivor hasn’t taken sufficient time for the symptoms to subside.
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Public Health Agency of Canada
Harper Government invests in sports and recreation injury prevention
Initiative to tackle head injury risks to children and youth in sports
March 16, 2011 (MONTREAL) – The Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of State (Sport), and Senator Larry Smith today announced funding to support injury prevention in sports and recreation among children and youth. With head injuries in professional sports in the news as of late, the Government of Canada is acting on a prevention strategy with a focus on young people involved in amateur sport. The announcement was made on behalf of the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health.

“Sport and recreation activities contribute to a significant number of injuries among children and youth, yet many of those injuries are predictable and preventable,” said Minister Lunn. “That’s why we’re investing in initiatives to reduce injuries while creating the conditions for active and safe play.”

“Everyone has a role to play in preventing injury and helping children and youth have the healthiest possible start in life,” said Senator Smith. “Reducing the number and severity of injuries that occur in sports and recreational activities is not only possible, it’s imperative.”

The Government of Canada is providing $5 million over two years to support injury prevention initiatives that reach Canadian children and youth in the communities where they live and play. With a focus on preventing major injuries such as concussions, drowning and fractures, this new investment will leverage the work and networks of non-governmental organizations to promote the safety of children and youth in high-participation activities such as hockey, snow sports, cycling and water sports.

“Hockey Canada applauds the government of Canada for this initiative,” said Bob Nicholson, President and CEO of Hockey Canada. “To keep our children engaged in an active lifestyle, we all have a responsibility to provide them with a healthy, safe and fun environment.”

Rebecca Nesdale-Tucker, Executive Director of Think First also celebrated the Government’s investment. “Increasing awareness of the risk of injuries in sports and recreation and ways to prevent them is an important step in helping children and youth participate safely, and brings us closer to diminishing the number of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries in Canada.”

The health and safety of children and youth is a priority of the Harper Government. Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RInC) program has invested $500 million in community recreational facilities across Canada over a two-year period. This national initiative has provided a temporary economic stimulus which has reduced the impact of the global recession while renewing, upgrading and expanding recreational infrastructure in Canadian communities.

Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Health and of Health Promotion and Healthy Living and Ministers responsible for Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation have endorsed a Declaration on Prevention and Promotion, agreeing to work together and with others to make the promotion of health and the prevention of disease, disability and injury a priority. Ministers have also committed to working together to make the environments where children live, learn and play more supportive of physical activity. Promoting active and safe play builds on these commitments to ensure the health and safety of Canada’s children and youth.

Media Inquiries:
Public Health Agency of Canada
Media Relations (613) 941-8189

Health Canada
Jenny VanAlstyne
Office of the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq Federal Minister of Health
(613) 957-0200   

Please find below an article to appear in the Forum section of the upcoming issue of Abilities Magazine. It’s a good summary of the productivity of the Ontario project to date.
Toward an Ontario Brain Strategy – NHCC Ontario work – Abilities Magazine

By Faiza Wasim, Canwest News Service April 15, 2010 6:02 PM

OTTAWA — Standing next to a mother who lost her daughter in a horrific traffic accident, a Newfoundland MP on Thursday introduced a private member’s bill meant to make heavy trucks safer.

Liberal Siobhan Coady’s Bill C-512 would amend the Motor Vehicle Safety Act to ensure that all vehicles in higher weight categories that are manufactured or imported to Canada would be equipped with side guards to keep people from slipping beneath them.

The bill has a deeply personal meaning for the parents of Jessica Holman-Price, 21, who was killed more than four years ago in Montreal.
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The Brain Injury Association of Canada – BIAC – would like to thank the Standing Committee on Health for their invitation to speak to and answer questions with regards to Helmet Certification on Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Brain Injury Association of Canada strongly urges the Standing Committee on Health studying Bill C-6 to support regulations requiring minimum standards for sport helmets, and in particular to include the contents of Bill C-289, a private member’s bill introduced by Dr. Hedy Fry. As well, within the legislation, BIAC would like to see provisions that would allow CSA helmet standards implemented in a far more timely manner once all CSA product testing has been satisfactorily completed. Health Canada staff should continue to take an active role during the standards development process; that they develop ongoing impact assessments on the implications and / or changes to the standard; and that Heath Canada staff consult widely with stakeholders during the process of standard development.
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