Mr. Speaker, this past weekend we learned that American researchers had successfully cloned an embryo from the nucleus of a human cell.
This scientific experiment took place in the U.S., where there had already been steps taken to prohibit the cloning of human beings.
As we all know, Canada is still waiting for such legislative measures.
On August 8, my leader, the hon. member for Calgary Centre, wrote to the Minister of Health asking him to intervene to ban cloning.
Four months later, no response is yet forthcoming and now we are faced with a fait accompli: science has jumper the gun on legislation.
I am not asking the minister to stop all biomedical advancement, but I am asking that it be properly supervised so as to ensure that Canadians may benefit from such advancement while being protected from potential dangers. The minister's silence on the question puts both of these objectives at risk.