My initial concern with the TPP was the private tribunals, that corporations would be allowed to sue the Canadian government if they passed laws that would help us, the people, with health, climate change, environment, and inequality. But a greater tragedy has since affected my family.
When Emily was in grade school, she was in a class of high achievers. She was picked, among all the people in her class, to go to a leadership training camp. At her grade 6 graduation, she was given the award for best student. In high school, her teachers told me, you have to keep her in science. She's a model student. In university—we didn't even apply for a grant—she was given grants. She was given a scholarship. In her last years of university, she was, again, awarded a private scholarship. She's 29.
Last year she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. She has to take medicine for the rest of her life. What is happening to her body is it's attacking the healthy cells. She could end up crippled. Even the drugs she's on have horrific side effects. We're barely able to make the payments. I don't know if she's going to be able to work part-time or full-time. We just don't know what the future holds.
This TPP is telling me that these multinational corporations can decide if my daughter is going to have drugs for her illness.
Can you guarantee me that Emily and my family, and people all across Canada, will continue to get the drugs they need for their diseases? They did not choose to have this. Can you people on the committee guarantee this? Can you pass something like this, knowing there's a possibility that people... I'm from generations of Canadians. I can't remember when my ancestors came to Canada. Can you guarantee me that you will not pass this?