Mr. Speaker, first of all I would like to compliment the member for Ottawa Centre for bringing this motion forward. It is a very timely and important issue. I would also like to compliment our critic for health, the hon. member for New Brunswick Southwest, who is a strong advocate for health care for those who need it and an activist in the whole industry.
This motion asks that chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and multiple chemical sensitivities be recognized as illnesses by the federal government. It is not complicated. There should be no doubt that these environmental illnesses have the capacity to disable Canadians, to rob them of their livelihood and their ability to lead a normal lifestyle.
This motion will ensure that many Canadians suffering from these illnesses do receive equitable treatment when they apply for various disability benefits under existing federal support programs.
Motion No. 468 asks that there be a harmonization in the way eligibility criteria are applied to federal disability support programs. Currently federal programs apply different eligibility measurements from one program office to the next within a department. The result is a checkerboard of vastly different decisions for applicants who have the same degree of disability for the same illness. It also creates a tremendous amount of frustration and antagonism, and whatever the situation is, whoever the patient is, it just makes it a lot worse.
We continue to see that while some Canadians are rightfully accessing the various programs by the federal government, others with the same degree of illness are denied. To eliminate this grave injustice it is necessary to have standardized eligibility criteria to ensure that it is applied in an equitable fashion.
In my own experience as a member of parliament, the most frustrating part of the job is Canada pension disability applicants who cannot prove their disabilities. They have not got an X-ray, they have not got a blood test, they have not got any diagnostic system to absolutely without doubt say the person is disabled. It is all subjective and it is very, very frustrating because these people have very serious disabilities and are just as disabled as somebody with a serious physical illness or injury.
It is estimated that the three diseases we are talking about afflict up to 15% of Canadians. Six per cent of all Canadians are reported as experiencing allergic and sensitivity reactions every single day. Of these, up to 2% are severely debilitated and are unable to work or even leave their own homes. Through timely access to specialized treatments, most sufferers can expect to return to health, community involvement and employment.
It is hard to imagine the hardship and the stress created within a family when one of its members is stricken with one of these illnesses. Even though they are already ill with the physical illness caused by this, the emotional stress and frustration can make it far worse as they go through the Canada pension disability system.
At present there is no biomarker, no blood test that has been sufficiently tested and validated to assist doctors in the diagnosis of these three illnesses. However, we are hopeful that research which is being facilitated by the Environmental Illness Society of Canada will be validated by a larger study conducted by the Environmental Health Clinic of Women's College Hospital in Toronto. If this research is successful, Canada will have discovered a diagnostic and screening tool that will benefit millions of people worldwide and will eliminate those frustrations that I mentioned before.
I would like to read part of a letter from Sandra Madray of Winnipeg:
At present, Canadians afflicted with Environmental Illness...have been placed in limbo because of the lack of support from virtually all government agencies at nearly all levels, the medical establishment, the workplace and insurance companies. The current lack of a definitive test to validate or disprove the existence of this illness and the fact that its etiology is not fully understood, further complicates the politics surrounding EI. However, this lack of understanding is no excuse for lack of action...the inescapable and horrible fact is that real people and their families are suffering while the medical community dismisses them as “psychos” having an imaginary affliction.
That is exactly what I deal with whenever I have appointments in my riding office. I deal with people who come in with Canada pension disability applications and are unable to get them through the system, through the series of appeals, the tribunals and further appeals because there is no system of diagnosis.
I hope a positive outcome will come from the motion. Canadians with these three diseases must be assured equal access to income support, tax relief and other already existing federal accommodation programs for the disabled. The Canadian government must take a leadership role and demonstrate a strong commitment to the socioeconomic well-being of those suffering from environmental illnesses.
On behalf of the member for New Brunswick Southwest, our caucus and myself, I urge the Minister of Health to refer the issue to the Standing Committee on Health.