Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to elaborate further on my question in the House on February 13. It pertains to the whole Brazilian beef episode. It refers to the treatment of Health Canada scientists. Most significantly, it pertains to the very serious matter of mad cow disease in our society today.
Without going into great detail about the whole Brazilian beef fiasco which is unfolding as we speak, suffice it to say the entire issue has highlighted the adequacy or inadequacy of Canada's food safety system. It has raised serious questions about the ability of our government to protect Canadians from mad cow disease.
The question I raised on February 13 followed the fact that two senior Health Canada scientists spoke out in early February suggesting that there was no sustainable argument for singling out Brazilian beef products ahead of those from other countries. It also referred to the fact that the government chose to gag the scientists who had spoken out.
Whatever the sequence of events, the critical issue scientists have raised for all of us is: What is the state of our food safety system? Are there reasons to be concerned? What is the process that the government has in place for ensuring a completely fail-safe science based system to protect Canadians from mad cow disease?
Various questions have been raised. The scientists themselves have asked why Brazil. What about the beef we get from other countries such as Australia, Argentina, India and so on?
Other reports talk about the fact that, contrary to the minister of agriculture's assertion, Canada did import beef products and bone meal products from Britain at the very time that it knew about mad cow disease.
Recent reports have come out of the United States, in particular from a biologist associated with the U.S. consumers union, suggesting that Canadians may be at risk of contracting the human form of mad cow disease from domestic beef because current testing is inadequate. Those are the questions behind the whole issue.
The scientists chose to speak out. They were the same scientists who had spoken out about bovine growth hormone and were subsequently intimidated and gagged by this government. However, they pursued that case through the courts and won the right to speak out whenever they felt the public interest or the public good was in question.
Today we face the same situation, a repeat of that sad chapter in our history, and yet the government has not come forward with any explanation for gagging those scientists, let alone assure Canadians it has a fail-proof, science based system in place.
The questions today for the parliamentary secretary are: Will the government come forward with precise details about how to protect Canadians from mad cow disease? Will the government tell Canadians whether the precautionary principle is truly at work and whether scientists with expertise in the area of research on beef products will be included in the review of the area?
Canadians must be absolutely confident that the beef they buy in supermarkets is safe and that there is no reason for concern in terms of this very serious and dangerous disease.