Forwarded from the Ontario Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance is a copy of
yesterday's front page article in the Winnipeg Free Press announcing the
location and funding of the new national public health agency.

CLICK4HP readers may recall the message I posted last Friday, quoting the
weekly ebulletin "Health Edition" article on the public consultations about
the national public health agency. I noted that participants in one city
were concerned about health promotion in public health.  That city was
Winnipeg, the new site of the national public health agency - to be
co-located with the federal infectious disease lab.  Interesting politics!

Alison Stirling, co-facilitator Click4HP listserv
health promotion consultant, Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse
email: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]
WWW: http://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/click4hp.html
Tel. 1+416-408-2249x226 Fax. 1+416-408-2122


WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
 THU MAY.13,2004
PAGE   :       A1
CLASS   :       Canada Wire


HEAD:           City wins health HQ 'Big day for Winnipeg' brings 100 jobs,
HEAD:           $35-M lab upgrade

Paul Samyn Paul Samyn OTTAWA -- Canada's new public health agency will be
headquartered in Winnipeg and initially directed by city scientist Dr. Frank
Plummer, who will be named as the country's acting chief public health
officer. Senior government sources last night told the Free Press that not
only will Winnipeg's federal virology lab become the hub for infectious
diseases, but also the command-and-control centre for the national network
the Martin government is establishing.

In an announcement to be made Monday, Treasury Board President Reg Alcock
and Public Health Minister *Carolyn Bennett* will also confirm the city's
National Microbiology Laboratory, the highest-security lab in Canada, will
receive $35 million in upgrades.

Plummer, scientific director of the Winnipeg lab, has played a critical part
in the country's response to everything from SARS to West Nile virus to
anthrax scares.

The long-awaited unveiling of the country's defence network for disease
control and emergency response -- which comes on the eve of a federal
election call -- is loaded with political symbolism and economic advantages
for Winnipeg.

For Prime Minister Paul Martin, who has promised to tackle Western
alienation, choosing Winnipeg as the new network's headquarters over Ottawa
sends a strong message to voters.
The move seems aimed at serving as a salve for Western alienation, which has
been brewing in Manitoba since 1986, when Brian Mulroney's Conservative
government awarded the lucrative CF-18 fighter jets maintenance contract to
a Montreal company, overlooking the superior bid of Winnipeg's
BristolAerospace.

It also gives crucial momentum to the dream of Winnipeg's scientific and
business community to create the so-called "BioMed City" -- a
vision for creating around the Health Canada lab a cluster of other
facilities for training andcommercialization.

"It will be a big day for Winnipeg," said one senior government source.
"This reinforces what we already know about the lab and its importance to
the medical community. It will expand its presence and capabilities and will
serve as a base for other economic opportunities in the biotechnology area."

The long-awaited unveiling of the country's defence network for disease
control and emergency response -- it's dubbed CDC North after the
world-renowned Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga., -- will also
make the Winnipeg lab the communications centre for any crisis involving
infectious diseases.

"Canada needs to do a better job co-ordinating its response to national
emergencies," said one top government official. "It is important that we
have a co-ordinated response in a national emergency. We saw that in SARS
and in this world where the threat of terrorism is growing, it will be
comforting to know that we have a high-quality, rapid-response capability in
Winnipeg."

As the Free Press has previously reported, Winnipeg's federal disease lab
will tap into a $165-million fund to expand its operations and establish an
emergency operations centre as the Martin government begins building a
national public health agency.

Bennett said the federal budget commitment to the lab will include $32
million for a new communication centre for infectious disease response and
$3 million for a collaboration centre.

While naming Winnipeg as the network's headquarters is expected to result in
the transfer of only about 100 jobs from Ottawa to the city, there had been
an intense political battle over where to base the country's new public
health officer.

In one corner was Alcock, along with other Western Canadian ministers like
Winnipeg's Rey Pagtakhan. In the other corner were Bennett and Dr. David
Naylor, the dean of the University of Toronto's medical school, who wrote
the report which led to the agency's creation.

The infighting on Parliament Hill had already led to the cancellation of a
planned May 7 announcement about the future of Winnipeg's lab.

Dave Angus, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, said the
importance of the decision to Winnipeg's future should not be
underestimated.

"People from around the world will want to come to Winnipeg because this is
where the leading-edge science ishappening."

A spokesman for Premier Gary Doer said the Manitoba government is encouraged
by reports concerning Winnipeg's lab but will await official confirmation
before commenting.

"I think it's a wise decision that makes sense, to have both our national
microbiology lab and our centres for disease control in the same city and
preferably in the same facility," said infectious disease expert Dr. Donald
Low, a Winnipeg native who lent his support to the campaign to place the
headquarters inthe city.

Low said the headquarters will set the tone for the new agency, regardless
of how many jobs are located in Winnipeg.

"It still provides a nucleus of people which are going to direct, going to
provide the vision and the direction for this new centres for
disease control. So even though it may only be 100, it will be 100 key
people which will be responsible for... the future of this."

Glen Murray, who stepped down as mayor this week to run for the Liberals in
the upcoming federal election, said he met with Bennett for three or four
hours a couple of weeks ago to make the case for Winnipeg.

At the time, she wanted the chief public health officer to be based in
Ottawa to be closer to political decision-makers in times of crisis.

"I found her extremely open-minded," said Murray, who told Bennett
biomedical research has been one of Winnipeg's top three
economic-development priorities for the last five years.

The former mayor said Doer and Alcock worked together seamlessly with him to
address Bennett's concerns.

Dr. Joanne Embree, head of medical microbiology at the University of
Manitoba, said Winnipeg has significant expertise in many areas
besides infectious disease that will be important for the new agency. She
cited aboriginal health, diabetes, smoking prevention, genetic
diseases, the effects of aging and cardiovascular research.

Acting mayor Dan Vandal said he could not confirm the decision, but he said
Terry Duguid, the former head of the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission
who is now a Liberal candidate, has shown tremendous leadership on the
issue.

Duguid co-authored a recent report on BioMed City.

Bennett is set to announce a posting for the country's chief public health
officer with likely candidates including: Plummer; Dr. David
Butler-Jones,former head of the Canadian Public Health Association; Dr.
Perry Kendall, chief medical officer of health for British
Columbia; Dr. Richard Masse, head of Quebec's public health agency; and Dr.
Paul Gully, senior director general of Health Canada's
population and public health branch.

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