I'll move on to Professor Ryder and Professor Hogg. I specifically wanted to talk about the public health evil that this bill is trying to address. We've gotten a letter from the University of Toronto that's been signed by a host of genetic scientists, medical doctors, genetic counsellors, and innovators from this university. They have stated:
...in the absence of any protections against genetic discrimination, there is evidence of such discrimination that demonstrates that these fears are well founded....
We believe fears about genetic discrimination should not be a factor influencing a person’s decision whether or not to take a genetic test, particularly when their very lives could be at stake.
When previous Supreme Court decisions have looked at federal criminal law power, they've been reluctant to freeze the law in time and also to look at future cases. We now know very well that we are on the steps of a gigantic leap forward in what genetic testing can provide. Indeed the number of tests coming out every year is following a logarithmic pattern.
I would like to have your comments with respect to what the professors' fears have outlined and the way genetic testing is going forward and just how federal criminal law in this bill is designed to promote defence against a public evil, not just with respect to the insurance industry here and now, but also with respect to how these genetic tests could potentially be used by future employers and future contracts in a whole host of industries we may not even know about right now.