Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to the bill on behalf of my caucus and specifically on behalf of our environmental spokesperson, my hon. colleague from Churchill River in Saskatchewan.
I thank the member for Simcoe—Grey for bringing the hazards of lead sinker and jig use to the attention of the House. He is quite correct that giving it focus at this level should create greater concern and moves to deter and ban the use of such products. I acknowledge that the bill has not been deemed votable and therefore will not see the results that it so desired. I was somewhat disappointed that he was willing to let the government bureaucracy run its course without a much greater fight. When it goes through the government bureaucracy that in many cases means no action and ultimately no concrete results.
Rather than getting into a number of the facts we have listened to this evening, I do not think there is any question from what we have heard that there is a problem with the use of lead in a number of products when they continue through the food chain, going through fish and birds and then on to humans, something that has not been mentioned this evening unless I missed it. There are consequences for animals and fish but they also travel through the food chain.
Let us get on with encouraging anglers to use other products and let us be clear there are other products. Bismuth and high density plastic products are available so it is not as if there is not something there. I recognize that anglers may see a minimal increase in cost and that some anglers prefer to make their own sinkers and jigs. In the whole context the hazards outweigh the benefits and we should be going to the other products.
I do not need a lengthy study to convince me of the hazards. I do not think we have to go through that whole process again with fish. When we see that a substance causes cancer in rats, do we try the product on humans or on other animals to see if it will cause cancer as well? I do not think so. Countless studies prove lead is a deadly toxic substance. As indicated previously, it has been removed from paint and other products including gasoline.
It is in the form of gasoline that I personally saw adults, young children and infants affected. Gas sniffing was a serious problem in some northern Manitoba communities. When lead was a gas additive the consequences were very apparent. A good number of members may not have seen four year old children die as a result of gas sniffing, all as a result of the lead in the gas.
I do not need to be convinced. I would encourage the committee to continue its review of this matter and encourage the environment minister to proceed with a ban of lead products. I am not willing to get caught up in the federal-provincial issue. I would find it hard to believe that provincial governments would not accept this as an environmental hazard and see it in the same light. I hope we pursue a ban at the federal level.