House of Commons Hansard #93 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was federal.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government must use threats of expulsion and arm-twisting to impose its incomplete and unfair compensation program for hepatitis C victims on its own members.
Does the government not understand that it is on the wrong track and that its attempts to use threats to impose its views on its own members are plunging it further into unfairness and insensitivity towards those who are the victims of its negligence?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, we took a government stand. It is a question of government policy and, tomorrow evening, government caucus members will be here to vote against the Reform Party motion.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, I am very surprised to hear the Minister of Health say that members will be here tomorrow to vote against the motion. That is perhaps the problem.
Has the Prime Minister not handled this very clumsily by turning the Reform Party motion into a government confidence motion, thus forcing members of his party to choose between the government and what is fair?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, this agreement has the support of the Government of Quebec's health minister, Mr. Rochon. Does the Bloc Quebecois think that Mr. Rochon is not being fair?
It would be strange for them to speak against their friend, Mr. Rochon, in the House.
Michel Gauthier Bloc Roberval, QC
Mr. Speaker, the president of the hemophiliacs' association said that it was absolutely disgraceful that the Prime Minister was turning the vote being held tomorrow, Tuesday, into a vote of confidence in the government.
Instead of turning tomorrow's vote into a vote of confidence, should the government not instead make it one of conscience and allow members to vote in accordance with what they really think with respect to hemophiliacs?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we do not think that Mr. Rochon's views in this area of policy are disgraceful. I reject the point of view expressed by the Bloc Quebecois.
Michel Gauthier Bloc Roberval, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister is well aware that the reason we are questioning the federal government is because it has primary responsibility for Canada's blood supply.
Having first been the victims of the government's incompetence, are hemophiliacs now going to be victims of the Prime Minister's stubbornness?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, stubbornness on this point also extends to the Government of Quebec and to Mr. Rochon. I think the hon. member should address his remarks and his concerns to Mr. Rochon and not just to the Government of Canada.
Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, the government is finally, if feebly, acknowledging that more needs to be done to compensate hepatitis C victims.
Will the government commit now to do the right thing as Krever recommended and compensate all victims of hepatitis C, or is this simply a new spin aimed at shoring up support to get the government through tomorrow's vote?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, the position of the government has not changed. We spent time with the provinces and arrived at an agreement by which compensation is offered to those who were infected at a time when governments could have acted and did not.
We are compensating avoidable harm, in the words of the Prichard report of 1990. That was our position last week, it is our position this week and it is the right decision.
Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely absurd for the health minister to say, as he has, that fair compensation is a threat to medicare. The minister himself fought for full compensation at the cabinet table.
It is absurd for the Prime Minister to declare tomorrow's vote a matter of confidence. This is a theatre of the absurd.
Is it not true that this government will say anything no matter how absurd to avoid looking hepatitis C victims like Jo-Anne Manser in the eye?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, during my many personal meetings with victims of hepatitis C, both before and after 1986, I have explained the approach taken by governments to this issue. I have explained it, as Premier Romanow did last Friday when he was here in Ottawa. The premier is of the hon. member's own party, the New Democratic Party of Saskatchewan. Premier Romanow said that it was a tough decision on a difficult issue.
However, as Premier Romanow said, reflecting the view of all governments in Canada, this is the right thing to do. If we are going to preserve a publicly funded health care system we should compensate in cash those who were harmed in a way that was avoidable had governments acted properly.
Elsie Wayne Progressive Conservative Saint John, NB
Mr. Speaker, on February 6, 1998, the Minister of Health wrote to Mrs. Eleanor Nelson of Ottawa regarding hepatitis C compensation.
The health minister wrote and stated “I wish to assure you that I have no desire to see Hepatitis C victims spend precious time navigating a maze of litigation”.
Why is the minister now forcing those victims to hire lawyers in order to be compensated? This is absurd.
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, because of the conviction which was expressed in that letter, I convened a meeting of provincial ministers. I had officials work hard getting at the facts of this case. The federal government provided the leadership necessary to pull together an agreement among all governments in this country.
As a result of those efforts and that commitment some 22,000-plus Canadians will not have to go to court if they accept the offer that we have made in compensation.
André Bachand Progressive Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
Mr. Speaker, in the past 48 hours or so we have seen that the Liberal government is opening up a bit to more assistance to the hepatitis C victims.
I would ask the Minister of Health what he thinks of this, and if he can assure this House that the door is not closed officially forever, and that the Liberal government might offer other types of compensation to the hepatitis victims.
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, the government's position has not changed. All of the governments in the country have reached a common accord.
We have adopted the same position , which is to say that we have offered compensation to those infected from 1986 to 1990, in order to reflect government responsibility. That is our position today, as it was in the past.
Jim Hart Reform Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC
Mr. Speaker, 66 year old Laurette Sylvester from my riding writes “In 1981 I had a lung removed and had a blood transfusion and was infected with hepatitis C. All I am asking for is just and fair compensation”.
Unfortunately there is nothing new for Laurette Sylvester today, not one thin dime. The government speaks of Canada pension plan disability benefits and home care benefits. Those are available now.
I want to know and Canadians want to know when the government will give equal and fair compensation to all hepatitis C victims?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, we have said that the position of all governments is that compensation should be paid when governments were at fault in the period when they could have acted.
I invite the hon. member to speak to his colleague from Macleod. Last Thursday during the debate on his motion the hon. member for Macleod agreed with our position. He said “I accept his point”, referring to me, “that government should not pay cash compensation to people who are injured when there is no fault. No fault, no compensation, I accept”. That is the position of the hon. member for Macleod. That is our position. That is the right position.
The fault was from 1986 to 1990. That is the period during which we are paying compensation, and I am glad my colleague from Macleod agrees with our position.
Jim Hart Reform Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC
Mr. Speaker, there was a test in 1981 to prevent the plight of Laurette Sylvester, and the government knows it.
The talk of a new deal by the government this morning is nothing more than the political spin doctors trying to convince backbench Liberals that there is a lousy deal on the table, and that is the one the government has come up with. It is a bad deal. Hepatitis C victims do not need Liberal spin doctors. They need compensation now.
When will the government stop the rhetoric and announce a real compensation plan for hepatitis C victims?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, the only spinning I can see from here is the hon. member trying to distance himself from his colleague from Macleod.
What we have done is to take the simple position. If we compensate people because they become ill, we will no longer be able to have a public health care system in Canada.
We have offered compensation for the period of time during which governments were at fault. The Red Cross and governments should have acted and did not. That is the principle, a principle with which the member for Macleod apparently agrees.
Louis Plamondon Bloc Richelieu, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister.
Francophones outside Quebec are threatened; everyone except the federal government can see it. Again last week, the president of the Fédération des francophones de Saskatoon sounded the alarm on behalf of his community, which is being assimilated at a rate of more than 70%.
Does the Deputy Prime Minister not find it outrageous that, instead of replying to his arguments, all the government did in response to Mr. Nadeau's cry for help was to try to undermine his credibility?
Francophones Outside QuebecOral Question Period
Glengarry—Prescott—Russell Ontario
Liberal
Don Boudria LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the members opposite are the ones who are systematically trying to undermine every francophone outside Quebec with their statements.
I recently heard the author Antonine Maillet reply to the leader of the Bloc Quebecois “They want us to assimilate with Quebeckers, while accusing us of already being assimilated”.
That is what the Bloc Quebecois said and what francophone leaders outside Quebec replied.
Louis Plamondon Bloc Richelieu, QC
Mr. Speaker, why does the minister, who is himself a francophone, not answer the Franco-Saskatchewanians' question regarding their survival instead of being the mouthpiece for such demagogy?
Will he continue to refuse to face the facts or is he prepared to recognize that francophones outside Quebec are the only official language minority whose survival is threatened?
Francophones Outside QuebecOral Question Period
Glengarry—Prescott—Russell Ontario
Liberal
Don Boudria LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I must admit that the hon. member is right to a point. It is true that the remarks made by the Bloc are typical of demagogues; I am the first one to say so and I agree with him.
With respect to the assistance provided to francophones in Saskatchewan, in 1997-98 for example, the federal government committed $4.2 million to the Official Languages in Education Program; $3.2 million to school management; $252,000 to French language services; and $2 million to the Canada-communities agreement.
This funding comes from the federal government, not from the Bloc Quebecois.
Monte Solberg Reform Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, Karen is a hepatitis C victim from Medicine Hat. She contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood in 1985, years after testing for hepatitis C was first available.
Under the imaginary new deal that was cooked up by the Deputy Prime Minister this morning, I am wondering how much compensation Karen will receive.