House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2011, with 23% of the vote.
Child Care February 3rd, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the federal government is preparing to use this year's surplus to create a start-up fund for implementing child care systems.
Even if the other provinces are not ready to implement their systems, can the federal government assure us that, as soon as the fund is set up, Quebec will receive its share without conditions, since its network is already well established?
Poverty December 10th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, the report “One Million Too Many: Implementing Solutions to Child Poverty in Canada” was presented on November 24 by Campaign 2000. It comes 15 years after the government made a commitment to eliminate poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000.
This report clearly demonstrates that more and more people are using food banks and are victims of social exclusion. I am outraged; it is disgraceful. More than one million children live in poverty.
The report proposes concrete solutions: increase the availability of decently paid jobs, raise child benefits, create an adequate system of child care based on the Quebec model, expand affordable housing and increase the Canada social transfer.
The government needs only the courage to implement these recommendations because it clearly has the means.
Main Estimates, 2004-05 December 9th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I think that the hon. member who has just spoken about the reasons why we should maintain the amounts allocated to the Governor General has not really given the matter much thought.
When she speaks of the people who are so pleased to receive medals from the Governor General and to spend time in her presence, I can tell the hon. member that last year I received one of the most prestigious medals from the Governor General.
I would, however, have had no objection to eating ham sandwiches and drinking Seven-Up, instead of savouring wine and other things, if it meant the people of my riding could get enough to eat.
When we know that there are one million children who do not get enough to eat, that there are single parents without social housing, seniors not getting the guaranteed income supplement they are entitled to, I wonder how this member can think that $450,000 can make such a difference.
Will this mean the Governor General will not have a place to sleep? That she will not have enough to eat? That her aides will be able to travel only once instead of three times? No, every time the Governor General takes a trip, they get two or three, because they have to go there ahead of time to look into security matters.
The Governor General does not need that money. It can be put to better use, and I guarantee that, if the hon. member can look me straight in the eye and tell me that the people in her riding would rather see the Governor General have $450,000 more, rather than see it put into social housing, or—
Cercle des artistes peintres et sculpteurs du Québec December 7th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I want to pay tribute to Mireille Forget, a resident of Laval, who received the Médaille de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec. Ms. Forget was given this award in recognition of her work as president of the Cercle des artistes peintres et sculpteurs du Québec.
Ms. Forget has promoted cultural diversity for 20 years, without any financial assistance from the government. This Cercle is an association that gives artists the opportunity to exhibit their work, participate in workshops, conferences and competitions, and travel.
Ms. Forget has already received international recognition with a Médaille de l'Assemblée nationale de la République française in 1998. She has also won numerous awards and distinctions in France, Spain and Japan.
She works with dedication to help artists from Quebec and Laval gain international recognition and allow Quebec culture to take its place on the international stage.
Congratulations to Mireille Forget.
International Day of Disabled Persons December 3rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize the 13th annual International Day of Disabled Persons. This is a day to better understand the day-to-day lives of individuals with disabilities as well as an opportunity to pay tribute to their courage and perseverance.
There are 500 million disabled persons world-wide. They are actively involved in social, economic, political and cultural affairs.
This day, devoted to them, is an opportunity to acknowledge the gains disabled people have made, without forgetting the work that remains to be done to improve their lives and afford them truly equal opportunities.
I want to recognize and pay tribute to various organizations for the disabled in Laval, including the Regroupement des organismes de promotion des personnes handicapées de Laval, the Association régionale de loisirs pour personnes handicapées de Laval, the Corporation de personnes handicapées et de travail de Laval, as well as the Association lavalloise pour le transport adapté.
I thank them for their generous contributions.
Roy Overfors December 2nd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, today I want to recognize the passing of Roy Overfors, sergeant with the House of Commons Protective Services.
Mr. Overfors spent over 20 years of his life working here to ensure that we could go about our business freely. Unfortunately, there are thousands of people like him on the Hill who work in the shadows and who, too often, go unrecognized.
Mr. Overfors was a husband, father, son and friend. He performed his duties with professionalism and generosity. Every time I ran into him, he was smiling and friendly.
He was only 47 years old. When death strikes one so young, it is hard for our loved ones to accept. I wish his family and friends the strength and courage to find peace during this difficult time. We offer our sincerest condolences.
Food and Drugs Act November 29th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Oshawa and my colleague on the Standing Committee on Health for having presented so much evidence to back up this new bill before us today.
As we very well know, many people would like to have natural products become more accessible. I am very keen on them myself. I am convinced that four years ago, when I found I had breast cancer, the use of natural health products helped me, not to cure the cancer, but to receive the treatments I needed to cure it. Therefore I think it is very important to see natural health products be made readily accessible to the general public.
I do think, however, that certain amendments should be made to this bill. We must be very careful and prudent. At present, natural products are classified as a sub-category of drugs, under the Food and Drugs Act. This classification causes certain problems for the natural products industry, because it is necessary to carry out obligatory and very complex clinical studies, just as for medicines. These clinical trials cost natural health product companies a fortune and thus cause increase the cost of these products.
Moreover, it should be noted that an average of 12 years may elapse between the first laboratory tests and the marketing of medicines. Thus it is clear that natural products must be tested to verify their harmlessness and their real beneficial effects on health.
Nevertheless, it would be a good thing to simplify the verification procedure, so as not to submit a product known to be harmless to a series of tests that would only delay its entry into the market.
I should also add that some experts have told us that the drug approval schedules of the drug regulations would exclude some natural health product already on the shelves.
What this bill proposes, classifying natural health products as foods, would not permit the monitoring of certain products with respect to good manufacturing practices, since the law governing foods does not require that good manufacturing practices be applied to ensure that the products actually contain what is indicated on the label. Thus, natural health products cannot be considered drugs, but we cannot and do not want to recognize them as foods.
Earlier, my hon. colleague said that we have to be careful with products like Aspirin and Tylenol, but there are warnings. Some natural products, such as essential oils can be very dangerous, if misused or used improperly. But there are more and more essential oils on the market. We really have to ensure that the legislation we pass will take these aspects into account. That is very important.
In fact, my hon. colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie has indicated that an amendment to that effect would be welcome. Such an amendment would create a third category exclusively for natural health products, as recommended in the report of the Standing Committee on Health in 1998. This third category for natural health products only would ensure that these products are controlled so that consumers can be sure that they are using safe and efficient products without their having to be subjected to screening that would deny the public access to them.
We are also in favour of keeping the current labelling regulations contained in the natural health product regulations. They allow consumers to know the product's name, the quantity, and the conditions of use and storage exactly. They ensure that consumers are informed about the product and its possible side effects, as well as the recommended dosage.
Clearly, Schedule A has to be reviewed, particularly subsections 3(1) and 3(2), because it is obvious that, when a natural health product meets the scientific inspection requirements, one should be allowed to list on the label what conditions it is good for. In addition, given the current problems in our health system, the time has come to focus on prevention rather than remediation.
In fact, we know that, in China, family physicians are paid only as long as their patients remain healthy. This means that bad physicians do not have much of a clientele.
Given the prohibitive costs of health care, we should promote not only preventive measures that include healthy eating, exercise and recreational activities, but regulations that provide access to natural products of high quality.
Of course, we have to take care not to put up too many barriers to natural products, but at the same time, we should not overdo it. The current natural products regulations look like they were custom made to prevent some natural products from competing with pharmaceuticals. We cannot stop people from looking after their own health the way they want to and from buying natural products. What we can do however is ensure that the products are of high quality and meet the required standards.
We will be voting for this bill, but we do hope that our hon. colleague who introduced the bill will remember the tacit understanding concerning the amendments my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie had brought forward to create a third category of natural products and ensure control over the manufacturing, scientific safety and labelling of the products, because we feel the labelling requirements found in the Natural Health Products Regulations are important and justified.
Creating a third category specifically for natural health products would dispel any doubt about the application of the regulations and assure consumers that good manufacturing practices were used to make the products they are buying.
Department of Social Development Act November 26th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for Winnipeg Centre for his speech. It was very interesting. I had the opportunity to visit his riding not long ago, during the symposium on child care. I found that, even though Winnipeg may be poor, it is a city where people are very welcoming and generous.
My riding is also very poor. There are people who, for the most part, are on welfare because they are not entitled to employment insurance benefits. We certainly wonder why the government wants to create a new department when it is not even able to meet the needs and demands of the people who are entitled to EI benefits because they have been paying premiums for years. This is insurance, not a program that the government is paying for. It is the people who are paying for this.
I wonder how my colleague can think that his province is unable to provide social and community services to its citizens, when the government that would want to do so, the federal government, is unable to manage its own programs or to solve problems such as mad cow disease, the softwood lumber dispute and scabs. These are very important issues that fall under its jurisdiction. How can the member believe that this government would be better than his own provincial government at solving the problems in his province?
Department of Social Development Act November 26th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is surely aware that a committee has already been struck to deal with the fiscal imbalance. Therefore, I am convinced that all the problems caused by the federal government's infringements will be solved.
Department of Social Development Act November 26th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, just look at the problem with child care. It is indeed a problem that concerns us all. There are also problems with the community agencies, as I was saying earlier, and with parental leave.
The list is so long that I could spend another 10 minutes explaining all the problems that have not been resolved because of the fiscal imbalance. There is a problem with employment insurance and everything that comes under Quebec jurisdiction, such as persons with disabilities, people with specific problems, education. The list goes on.
I thank my hon. colleague very much for his question. I will end there.