Mr. Speaker, I commend the hon. member for Yukon on her initiative regarding this most worthwhile matter contained in Motion No. 376.
This morning the standing committee on health discussed this very matter, not in any great depth but with seriousness due to the subject matter. It was discussed from the perspective of what was being done in research in order to overcome breast cancer. We had before the standing committee this morning Dr. Henry Friesen, who is president of the Medical Research Council of Canada. Dr. Friesen commented that there has not been a cure found for this most dreaded infliction, which has indeed touched many families right across the country.
Perhaps the work being done by the standing committee on health can act as a coordinator to assist in carrying this forward so that the information will flow in the future.
Quite obviously, suffering from any illness brings an undue burden on anyone. Compounding it with the problem of lack of information is indeed unfair and unnecessary in this day and age. The hon. member's motion would ensure that women suffering from breast cancer are provided with all the information they may need and the counselling they may require. I suggest again that in this day in age that is only humane. When suffering from any illness, information regarding all types of treatment should be readily available and accessible to all. It should certainly be the patient's right to obtain any and all information and have immediate access to the same.
It is quite obvious in this case, as in many circumstances, that to have a support group, those who may have suffered or family members who have suffered in a similar fashion, can comfort, assist and indicate what might be expected in future days, weeks, and months, and can be a tremendous comfort to anyone suffering in this case.
Quite obviously a person cannot be expected to make such an important medical decision without having weighed all those possible alternatives that may be available. We are told that Canadians have the second highest rate of breast cancer in the world. It has hit, as I have mentioned before, almost every family in Canada in recent years, and that suffering continues today, day in and day out, from this dreaded disease.
The survivor led breast cancer support group would provide sufferers with an opportunity for the needed information and the support they so often lack. There is no question that this type of support group can be most helpful through their own personal experiences. It is time to realize that we must take action to help women with breast cancer in the best possible way while we wait for that cure to be discovered.
For this reason I am very happy to support the hon. member's motion this evening and I certainly to encourage my government to adopt a platform that will ensure that women diagnosed with breast cancer are provided with the information they deserve and need. We wait and hope for our ultimate goal of discovery of a cure to eliminate this dreaded suffering so that we need not have a group nor the suffering in the future. To quote from the Medical Research Council: "It is to promote, assist, and undertake basic applied clinical research in Canada in the health sciences and to advise the minister in respect of such matters relating to such research as the minister may refer to the council for its consideration".
We are certainly hopeful that through the research council and the work done through universities and other labs and tests here in Canada a cure for this dreaded disease will be found as soon as is feasibly possible. In the meantime, we certainly encourage all in the House to support the hon. member's endeavour in this particular motion to assist those suffering and to provide the assistance and expertise of support groups at the earliest possible date.