Federal Minister of Health to attend session

TORONTO, June 2, 2005 -- York University will host a roundtable meeting on public health on Friday, June 3 from 12:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Schulich School of Business. While participation is by invitation only, the event is a collaborative federal, provincial and territorial initiative to raise awareness about the importance of public health, with the goal of making Canadians the healthiest people in the world. Carolyn Bennett, Canada’s Minister of State for Public Health, is scheduled to join the roundtable in the afternoon to hear its conclusions.

 

The York roundtable is one of several events across Canada designed to solicit input from university researchers, advocacy groups, associations, public health stakeholders, elected officials and others.

 

At their September 2004 meeting, Canada’s First Ministers committed to a collaborative process to develop a pan-Canadian public health strategy, including the development of a set of public health goals. Federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Health have agreed to engage stakeholders and citizens to establish broad directional public health goals for Canada.

 

The first part of the process includes consulting with researchers and stakeholders to identify public health goals in roundtable meetings such as this one. There are also plans for a citizen engagement initiative that will allow Canadians to provide input through public meetings, written questionnaires and a web-based survey. A second stage of the process, tentatively scheduled for the fall of 2005, will bring together stakeholders, Canadians and governments to review and validate the results of the consultation. The goals will provide a framework for each jurisdiction to establish targets that reflect its own specific priorities.

 

The government has established the “HealthyCanadians” website to facilitate participation in the process by individuals and organizations.

 

Minister Bennett is not expected to make formal remarks, but will be contributing to the discussion. The event is organized and co-hosted by the Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation, the York Institute for Health Research and the Strategic Planning Group for Health Research.

 

WHAT:           Public Health Roundtable with Minister Bennett

 

WHEN:           Friday, June 3, 2005

                      12:00 pm to 5:30 pm

 

WHERE:         Schulich School of Business, Room N109

                      York University

                      4700 Keele Street, Toronto

 

For more information, the media should contact Jeff Ball, Media Relations, York University, 416-736-2100 ext 22086 or jball@yorku.ca