Madam Speaker, that is an excellent question. I wish to thank the hon. member for such a perceptive question.
Briefly, this government, with a cowardice rarely seen, with a complete lack of sensitivity, which caused an outcry right across Canada, decided not to compensate hepatitis C victims who were infected before 1986 or after 1990.
Anyone who reads the Krever report—I have read it from cover to cover—can see perfectly well that the government has a responsibility. What is the first recommendation of the Krever report? What does this report say? I do not want parliamentarians across the way to forget this, because it is a question of compassion, of helping others. I am ashamed, it makes me sick to think that this government, with a surplus of $95 billion, was not able to compensate hepatitis C victims.
What did the Minister of Industry do for these people? What action was taken by the member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, normally so vociferous, so outspoken in the House? These people hid behind a mask of insensitivity—