Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for St. Paul's for bringing forward this valuable motion to the House to further debate the concerns of victims of hepatitis C.
I want to correct a misconception from the previous two speakers. Canada already has a hepatitis awareness month, which is the month of May. I am pleased to say that I had a private member's bill which was drawn and debated in the last parliament. We tried to make it votable but unfortunately the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of health said no. However the minister, who has his own concern, announced at the hepatitis conference in Montreal that from that day forward the month of May would be known as hepatitis awareness month.
Even though the motion deals just with hepatitis C, those who follow the concerns of hepatitis know that there are seven different strains which have infected close to 740,000 Canadians from coast to coast to coast, with hepatitis C infecting over 300,000 Canadians.
I know the hon. member for St. Paul's has done a lot of work on behalf of people afflicted with hepatitis C. She should be congratulated by all members of parliament on both sides of the House for her continuous effort in this field
To reiterate, the month of May already recognizes the seven strains of hepatitis. The member for Yellowhead said he would like to bring forward recognition and awareness of hepatitis year in and year out. I encourage him to do so in his householders, mail outs, in his town hall meetings in his riding or for that matter throughout the country.
I know three individuals who have worked closely on the hepatitis file. They are Joey Haché and his family from Ottawa and two people from my riding specifically, Mr. Neil Van Dusen and Mr. Bruce Devenne. All three have hepatitis C. All three fought hard, not just for themselves but for all Canadians afflicted with hepatitis C, for some sort of financial assistance from the government. However the minister made a decision to make the window between 1986 and 1990. Unfortunately, anyone who contracted hepatitis C outside that window was not entitled to any kind of compensation or assistance in that regard.
I do thank the provinces involved for picking up some of the slack, but unfortunately people who have a disease of that nature are unable to work. While that kind of funding was welcomed, it was not enough to assist them. Canadians, and especially the Minister of Health and the government in charge, need to promote health wellness wherever we can.
The contraction of hepatitis C over the years has not just been through operations in hospitals and blood transfusions. It also comes from needles and other interactions that Canadians involve themselves in on a daily basis. We need to bring awareness to unsuspecting Canadians who may involve themselves in activities of that nature. We need to make them aware that whatever decisions they make may have dire consequences on their long term health or some may even die as a consequence.
I am not just talking about HIV-AIDS, which transmitted sexually or through needles. I am also talking about hepatitis which is very serious and contagious disease that can be contracted through various forms. One of those ways is through needles.
I encourage all Canadians who are listening to tell everyone, including their municipalities and health boards that more awareness of this very serious disease would go a long way toward the education of Canadians. Thus hopefully we can eradicate the disease from not only the face of the country but from the planet as well.
The New Democratic Party definitely supports the motion. Again, I thank the member for St. Paul's for bringing the issue to the floor of the House of Commons.