Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to private member's Bill C-217 brought forward by the member for Fraser Valley. The bill would allow collection of blood samples so that we could protect our emergency workers. If there were to be a concern that in the line of duty there was a question of a communicable disease from contact with someone, a sample could be obtained so that the emergency workers would actually know what they would be dealing with. At present there is no legislation in the country that protects our police officers, firemen and emergency personnel in this situation.
We have to set priorities for who we are going to protect. Following the incident on September 11, which is so often referred to now in the House, we see just how heroic these frontline officers are who protect us each and every day. There were hundreds of firemen who immediately entered the World Trade Center towers to help people. Probably many of them knew exactly what they were going into when they entered the towers, that is, trying to fight a fire some 100 floors above ground.
It is remarkable that the instinct of these workers is to go in and protect people. We, as parliamentarians, should be giving the same type of dedication to them. We should not hesitate at all when a bill like this comes before the House. Emergency workers and police officers in the country have been asking us to pass legislation so that they would be protected in such circumstances. We should rise to the occasion as they did, as we witnessed on September 11. They did not hesitate or flinch. Their instinct was to do their job and protect people. We should not flinch either. We have an opportunity to show emergency workers in our country that we want to protect them and give them every advantage.
I applaud the member for Fraser Valley who brought the issue before the House. This goes to one of my earlier speeches where I talked about a bill coming before the House and how if it is a good bill it should pass, just like that. There should be no politics. We have just had a debate on the modernization of parliament and now we will have an opportunity to see if it actually means anything. All the members of the House will have an opportunity. Are they serious about changing the culture of parliament? That is what this is about: changing the culture.
Here is a perfect example. Members will have an opportunity to do what is right, not to flinch or worry about politics, about whether it is a bill from the government or cabinet, but to look at the bill and say that emergency workers deserve our protection. When they are out there on the front line, in the line of duty, they at least have a right to know if people they are in contact with have a serious virus or serious diseases such as hepatitis B or AIDS, which could have a huge impact on the frontline officers and their families. They need this information. It is absolutely critical.
If I can use the terminology, Mr. Speaker, this is a no-brainer. This one is automatic. This is one where parliamentarians should stand up unanimously to support this bill.
I will conclude by saying that I hope every parliamentarian will not flinch just as all the emergency workers who went into the World Trade Center towers did not flinch. We have an opportunity to show the emergency workers of the country how much we care for the work they do and how much we support them.