Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-13 concerning the Canadian institutes of health research. I am pleased for many reasons, but I would like to take members back a bit.
In November 1998, when this concept was first being looked at through a task force, I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Howard Dickson who was the scholar in residence for the Medical Research Council of Canada. We discussed this concept in quite some detail.
I also received correspondence later from Dr. Paul R. Murphy of the faculty of medicine at Dalhousie University in my home province of Nova Scotia and from Dr. Timothy H. Ogilvie, the acting dean of the Atlantic Veterinarian College at the University of Prince Edward Island. They were also interested in supporting this particular concept of the Canadian institutes of health research.
In November 1998, I wrote to the Minister of Health saying:
The concept of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research is a nation-building initiative, bringing together the best of Canada's researchers to work in harmony for a better health care system. It certainly seems to merit consideration for appropriate funding in the upcoming federal budget. In fact most, if not all Canadians, would support health care as the number one budgetary priority.
I am respectfully requesting that you give appropriate consideration to the need for investment in health research in Canada, and seek proper funding in the upcoming federal budget, in response to the concept presented by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Task Force.
I am very pleased to see that the concept has moved beyond the point of just studying it and that legislation has now been brought forward in the form of Bill C-13. I am sure that most, if not all Canadians, will agree with the principle that I mentioned in the letter to the minister that health care is one of the number one concerns of many Canadians. It is in fact the top concern for many people living in our country.
I can tell the House of a personal experience. Just a few weeks ago, my 83 year old mother-in-law had a fall. She ended up going into the hospital because she broke her pelvis in two places. The sad part is that she ended up on a small cot in the the hospital hallway and for a couple of days or more was unable to be admitted into a proper room where she could be cared for. Imagine the indignity for a person her age lying out in a hallway on a small bed that she could hardly move in. These are some of the conditions that exist in our hospitals across the country because the health care system is still in a state of much needed repair.
Let us put the bill in context. I want to talk a bit about some of the background and indicate where we stand with respect to the bill.