Public Health Leaders Roundtable Report

In Ottawa, the Minister of State met leaders of The Canadian Coalition for Public Health in the 21st Century, along with delegates from the coalition's member organizations.

They advised the Minister to consider the following factors in building a public health Agency of Canada.

1. Regarding a Mandate for a Public Health Agency

• The Agency and Chief Public Health Officer should be a focal point for federal leadership in public health, domestically and internationally;
• The Agency should be linked to two kinds of advisory committees:
  • One focused on governance, with federal, provincial, territorial and stakeholder representation; and,
  • Another public health forum of experts in a wide range of health and health-related disciplines.
• While the Coalition does not have a position on the preferred location for the Agency, several individuals expressed support for locating the head office in Ottawa:
  • Several people encouraged an early decision on location so that efforts can then be focussed on implementation.

2. Regarding Operational Strategies for a Public Health Agency

A public health Agency should consider:

• Finding innovative ways to encourage more people to specialize in public health. This includes:
  • Dual training;
  • Flexible training; and
  • Workplace improvements.
• Ensuring other specialists are educated in the principles of population health; and,
• Beginning an inventory of research and training on public health across the country.

3. Investments

Participants urged a public health Agency to focus on the following priority investments:

• A commitment to local level programming, especially related to prevention;
• A commitment to Health Human Resources, including:
  • Building on current education and training;
  • Instilling flexibility in training and in cross-training programs;
  • Identifying core public health competencies;
  • Obtaining better information on resources available (human and financial); and,
  • Building surge capacity without detracting from ongoing programs.
• Public health funding must be:
  • Adequate;
  • Sustained;
  • Flexible to allow for carry-over into future years; and,
  • Flexible to support the broadest definition of public health functions.

4. Chief Public Health Officer

• The Chief Public Health Officer should be a focal point for federal leadership in public health, both domestically and internationally;
• The Officer should be Deputy Minister equivalent and report to Minister of Health;
• The Officer needs a strong, independent public voice; and,
• Canada's Chief Veterinary Officer should be considered as a potential model for the Chief Public Officer of Health.