Thank you.
Congratulations, Madam May, on this initiative. I was pleased to second it in the House of Commons, subject to some amendments, which we've discussed today and previously.
When I first got involved in the subject, I was also pleased to see that our government has been active on the file since 2006. The Public Health Agency of Canada is working to support the provinces and territories. Our government's invested $4.5 million to date for research related to Lyme disease. They made it a reportable disease as well, so they're tracking it. The improved surveillance is going to be helpful. We've actively engaged with provincial and territorial partners in monitoring the spread and development of the disease.
I first became aware of the disease, and we've discussed this, when my friend Janet Mitchell, who's a former Oakville town councillor, had Lyme disease. She was misdiagnosed for years. They told her she had MS and would be in a wheelchair for life. She didn't believe them and did her own homework. She got on the Internet and she did her own research.
They gave her the ELISA test in Ontario, which is a failure for Ontario patients. It's not reliable. She and her husband went down to the States. She paid for it herself and she got the Western blot test, which proved she had Lyme disease. Then she took a nine-month course of antibiotics. The bacteria is no longer in her system; she's pursuing one other possibility.
But the ELISA test is not reliable. This is a case where the provinces have let down Canadians, the health care system, and the doctors. The neurologists were saying she couldn't have Lyme disease, we don't have Lyme disease in Canada, as if ticks don't go on deer and birds and fly across the international borders.
But it's happening now. I did some research recently, just two weeks ago. I called around the GTA to find out—I looked on the Internet—where someone can get this reliable test, this Western blot test, in Canada. There was one naturopath's office in Thornhill, Ontario. I left a message to learn more and never got a call back. I guess they're swamped with calls. Two days later they finally called back and said they were only doing it on Monday and they had to get the doctor's permission, etc. There are two offices of naturopaths in Ottawa where someone can go and get this reliable Western blot test.
That is not good health care. When you think the provinces will have to pay for a nine-month course of antibiotics, they're willing to pay that much money, but not willing to pay the money to get a reliable test where a patient might only need a 10-day course of antibiotics. It just doesn't make sense.
Could you please tell the committee what you've heard from the medical profession on your bill and if you've heard any similar comments from them?