Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure that everyone understands that people are asking to take the responsibility themselves. Again, the issue is that they are not being given the tools to take responsibility.
In fact, I have been there many times over many years where people are laughed at or told no, there is no coconut in something when there clearly is coconut in something. This is not a joking matter. It is life and death. Fifty Canadians or more die every year.
The program that the parliamentary secretary has mentioned has been in place for some five years. At the time when it was done the manual said "take this seriously, folks, or we are going to have legislation". Here we are five years later, 250 more dead Canadians at least, and the government is not taking it seriously.
I challenge the parliamentary secretary to go with me to each and every restaurant within five miles of here and I doubt if we could even find one individual who knew that there was an allergy awareness program or knew what it meant. I was talking to a fellow who was serving roast beef. That has nothing to do with nuts. He could not figure out what it meant. This is a serious issue. People are asking for a tool.
I find it ironic, since the most common and the most deadly allergen is peanuts, that the only time the parliamentary secretary mentioned peanuts was with respect to peanut oil in packaged foods. We are talking about restaurants. We are talking about food service establishments which play with our lives each and every day. They are not giving us something we use externally. They are giving us something we use internally. This is serious. Give us the tools to make educated decisions.
Thirty-five per cent to 60 per cent of Canadians today are trying to avoid a substance in their food for a medical reason. It is not for cosmetic purposes. It is not for fun. It is not because they do not like it. It is because it is life threatening.
The parliamentary secretary is right that the minister takes this issue seriously. We are trying to work on additional initiatives together. However, it is not enough and it is not fast enough. Hon. members have an opportunity today to make a change for the benefit of all Canadians.
Restaurant owners must tell their employees that this is a serious issue. They must take it seriously and they must designate an employee or write the ingredients in a binder. The customer must be told: "This is serious. If this is life and death for you, you can make a decision by looking at this information or by checking out these packages".
It is not about disclosing recipes or quantities, it is about finding out if there is a hazelnut in the food or if the food has been near a hazelnut. It is about finding out whether it has been cooked in peanut oil. It is about finding out about sulphates and lactose and gluten, as the parliamentary secretary mentioned. It is about people's lives each and every day. It is about the Christian Taylors of this world who do not have the opportunity to ask those questions and who pay with their lives as a consequence of sometimes uncaring employees or people who do not realize the risks involved.
I ask hon. members once again for unanimous consent to make this a votable item. I would like the government to work in concert with employers and food service establishments across this country in ensuring that consumers have basic information.
We have not even begun to talk about the cost to our health care providers and the medical system to treat these cases. A physician called me to say that three times he has had to bring his child to the emergency ward of the hospital. A physician cannot even get accurate information for his child because restaurant servers do not take the issue seriously. Some of them are working very hard. They have a lot of things to juggle. They have to ensure that the right order gets to the right place. However, there should be someone who can say: "Table No. 6 has a child with a peanut allergy. How do we make sure this poor child does not die while in our restaurant?"
The hon. member for Oakville-Milton was absolutely correct. Surely owners should care whether someone is dying in their establishment. They should care what their patrons think about eating in their establishments. That has not happened.
It is costing money. It is costing lives. It is a simple matter of creating a preventive program which will ensure that people have access to information so they can take responsibility for their own lives.
Again I seek the unanimous consent of the House to make this a votable item. I thank all parties for supporting me in this initiative. Reform members, BQ members and my Liberal colleagues have been supportive in developing this legislation. If this is not made a votable item, even if it is the parliamentary secretary's job to ensure it is not, we can at least know that the public has had an
opportunity to hear more about this very serious issue. Perhaps it will prevent some children and adults from not meeting a horrible fate.