Mr. Speaker, I rise today to challenge the government on its decision to unconditionally spend $65 million on a health services research fund.
I have heard from Canadians from coast to coast who are incensed to learn of the existing Health Canada research funding priorities or lack thereof. For instance in 1994-95 the federal government spent some $43.4 million on the AIDS strategy, yet in the same year it spent a mere $4 million for breast cancer.
All illness traumatizes individuals and families and all death is tragic. However, a total of 10,700 HIV cases with 7,400 deaths since 1980 does nothing to answer to the feeling of abandonment in 1995 alone of the almost 18,000 families affected by breast cancer or the 5,400 who buried their loved ones on account of this epidemic disease.
Clearly this government has demonstrated no supportable criteria for the allocation of precious health care and research resources. How can we trust it with a new arm's length research sinkhole of precious tax dollars?