Mr. Speaker, I have listened very carefully to the debate today and to question period and I have yet to hear from any government member or from the minister whether they accept the fact that all those who contracted hepatitis C because of the blood system will be compensated.
If that is not the position of the Government of Canada, and it seems to me that it ought to be a prerequisite to attending any meeting of ministers, then why is it attending the meeting? Why is the Minister of Health agreeing to go to the meeting? Does he intend to go to the meeting with cap in hand?
Mike Harris, the premier of the province of Ontario, was challenged to put up or shut up. He put up, up to $200 million. I suppose it is now up to the Prime Minister to put up or shut up. How much more money is the Government of Canada prepared to put into the package?
It keeps boasting about the $800 million that it has already put into the package. We all know the reason the federal government agreed to pony up $800 million. It is not because of a sense of compassion for the victims, it is because of legal liability. That was very clear listening to the Minister of Health, given his Bay Street background. He was not writing the cheque because of compassion, he was writing the cheque because he knew that if the money was not put on the table the courts would have found in favour of the plaintiffs and the government would have been required to put up the money.
Would the hon. member, for whom I have considerable respect, agree that the time has come to accept the principle that all those who contracted hepatitis C because of the blood system, through no fault of their own, ought to be compensated?