:

(1) Does your party support earmarking a portion of the GST (and, in Nfld., N.B., and N.S., the federal share of HST) revenues collected on snack foods and soft drinks to fund independent nutrition counselling (perhaps under medicare) and nutrition education programs to offset the negative impact of the commercial promotion of junk food, yes or no?

(2) If so, how much?

NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY RESPONSE

The NDP supports preventive health care including public education programs and nutrition counselling to encourage all Canadians to eat a healthy, balanced diet. We would strongly support allocating funds to offset the negative impact of the commercial promotion of junk food. In the long term, disease prevention is a farsighted use of scarce health dollars.

CANADIAN ALLIANCE PARTY RESPONSE

The Canadian Alliance believes, with rare exceptions, in the general accounting principle of a consolidated revenue fund for the federal government. All revenue flows into the fund and all disbursements come from it. Earmarking too many taxes results in a loss of control over the government’s budget. However, rest assured that a Canadian Alliance government will continue to disseminate information and otherwise encourage healthy lifestyles.

PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE PARTY RESPONSE

The Progressive Conservative Party recognizes that an educated public is also a healthy one, an idea which has consistently been supported by various studies on the issue.

The Progressive Conservative Party recognizes that preventing disease and illness is as important as curing such things. Therefore, a Progressive Conservative government would work with the provinces and health professionals to encourage the development of a “Wellness Agenda” which stresses health promotion and disease prevention.

LIBERAL PARTY RESPONSE

In June 1991, legislation to establish the Debt Servicing and Reduction Account received Royal Assent. As a result, effective April 1, 1991, all GST revenues net of the applicable input tax credits, rebates and the low-income credit, along with the net proceeds from the sale of Crown corporations and gifts to the Crown identified for debt reduction, must, by law, go directly to the Debt Servicing and Reduction Account. The funds in this Account can only be used to pay the cost of servicing the public debt and ultimately to reduce the debt. The Account is audited on an annual basis by the Auditor General of Canada. A new Liberal government will continue to adhere to the provisions of the Debt Servicing and Reduction Account legislation. Therefore, we cannot earmark GST revenues for any other purpose.

At the same time, the federal government, through Health Canada, funds the Canadian Health Network (CHN), a national Internet-based health information service. Through this program, the Canadian public and health intermediaries alike can find excellent resources from health information providers across Canada. Healthy Eating is one of many topics covered by this resource.

BLOC QUÉBÉCOIS RESPONSE

No. In addition, nutrition education programs are a provincial prerogative and the government of Quebec, through its health regional centers, already offers services in that field.

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