Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
  • Listen to CMAJ podcasts
News

Tony Clement appointed as Canada's new health minister

Wayne Kondro and Barbara Sibbald
CMAJ March 14, 2006 174 (6) 754; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.060180
Wayne Kondro
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Barbara Sibbald
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Former Ontario health minister Tony Clement, once dubbed „two-tier Tony” for his oft-stated belief there must be „more choice in health care,” was appointed federal Minister of Health in the new Conservative government on Feb. 6.

Figure

Figure. Clement's first priority is to move forward with a Patient Wait Times Guarantee. Photo by: Canapress

Clement's duties include responsibility for public health, a junior-minister position that was axed in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's streamlined cabinet.

Clement's appointment is „quite shocking,” said Mike McBane, executive director of the Canadian Health Coalition, an advocacy group for a public health system. „It sends a very clear signal, that the Prime Minister would appoint someone who is ideologically committed to privatizing the delivery of the public health care system, someone who was aggressively involved in dismantling the Ontario health care system, in firing nurses and shutting down hospitals.”

During his tenure as Ontario's health minister from February 2001 to October 2003, Clement supported privatization and deregulation of long-term care facilities and the creation of for-profit hospitals in Brantford and Ottawa.

Clement also oversaw Ontario's handling of the 2003 SARS crisis, during which he was lauded for his able administration and candid admission that the public health system was „close to collapse.”

The new minister's top priority will be to implement the Conservative election promise to develop a Patient Wait Times Guarantee, Clement told reporters.

CMA President Ruth Collins-Nakai says unlike previous federal ministers of health Clement already has an extensive knowledge of Canada's health care issues. „This is a significant plus,” she told CMAJ. „We don't have to spend as much time briefing him... we can discuss the issues.” Topping the agenda are wait times and health human resources, she added.

Harper's decision to abolish the Ministry of State (Public Health) position, established in December 2003 to oversee the creation of a Public Health Agency of Canada and other public health programming, „goes against what I think a lot of the provinces have learned,” says Dr. Carolyn Bennett, the out-going minister.

Having a separate minister with the time to bring a public profile to health prevention and profile is critical in combating the „other epidemics” of diabetes, cancer and heart disease, and working with the provinces to improve determinants of health, she said.

But Collins-Nakai says „the fact that the Public Health Agency remains in place gives us comfort in Canada's ability to have a strong public health system.” Having the agency reporting directly to the minister of health is also more „workable ... at least in raising issues,” she added.

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Medical Association Journal: 174 (6)
CMAJ
Vol. 174, Issue 6
14 Mar 2006
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Tony Clement appointed as Canada's new health minister
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Tony Clement appointed as Canada's new health minister
Wayne Kondro, Barbara Sibbald
CMAJ Mar 2006, 174 (6) 754; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.060180

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Tony Clement appointed as Canada's new health minister
Wayne Kondro, Barbara Sibbald
CMAJ Mar 2006, 174 (6) 754; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.060180
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Views of medicine as a profession
  • Inconsistent position on SSRI ads.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Saying goodbye to CMAJ News
  • National survey highlights worsening primary care access
  • How Canadian hospitals are decreasing carbon emissions
Show more News

Similar Articles

Collections

  • Topics
    • Canadian government
    • Health care coverage

 

View Latest Classified Ads

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • CPD credits
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Advisory Panels
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions
CMAJ Group

Copyright 2023, CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of these resources in an accessible format, please contact us at CMAJ Group, 500-1410 Blair Towers Place, Ottawa ON, K1J 9B9; p: 1-888-855-2555; e: [email protected]

CMA Civility, Accessibility, Privacy

 

Powered by HighWire