Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be able to follow my colleague, the member for Palliser who is the agriculture critic for the New Democratic Party. He is very informed and very concerned about the issue we are dealing with today.
As part of my introductory remarks I wish to thank the member for Brandon-Souris who has initiated the debate before the House this evening. I also wish to comment on the decision by the Speaker to allow for the debate, to ensure that parliament has an opportunity to address a matter of very significant public concern and a matter of considerable urgency.
There is not a person in the House who would dismiss the matter of foot and mouth disease as unimportant. We are dealing with a very critical and potentially dangerous problem for our nation. It is very timely for the House to address the concerns that we and our constituents feel right across the country.
There is a very important role for parliament to play in identifying potential problems before they become serious and critical matters. It is very important for the House to speak early to such issues. Many times it has been suggested to us that we should not raise an issue out loud before it becomes a problem, because that does more to spread fear, concern and anxiety than the situation warrants. We are all here this evening saying it is better to act now than to be sorry later. As the old cliche goes, it is better to be safe than sorry. That is the message we bring to the House tonight.
We recognize that the government has been taking steps to address the possibility of foot and mouth disease entering the country. We are here to show our vigilance, to give the government encouragement and ideas for ensuring that we are absolutely protected in the face of such a devastating disease spreading across the land.
Parliament has a role to play in this regard, not only as the Alliance has mentioned in terms of public awareness, and certainly that is one benefit of tonight's debate, but I believe Parliament's role is also to inform the debate and convey the sense of urgency to the government about the need to take the most significant steps possible and the most courageous actions imaginable in the face of the looming crisis facing the country.
Certainly colleagues in the House have mentioned the lessons we can learn from Britain. We have heard tonight about just how serious a crisis the United Kingdom is facing as a result of foot and mouth disease. That should impress upon us the need to take urgent action and to plan based on the worst case scenario.
It is certainly scary to read some of the statistics around the incidence of foot and mouth disease in Great Britain. Just yesterday we learned that 946 cases of foot and mouth disease have actually been identified in that country. As of yesterday, the number of animals slaughtered or to be slaughtered because of foot and mouth disease numbered well over one million. That represents about 2% of all the cattle, sheep and pigs in that one country.
We have also heard here tonight and from news reports how the virus has spread to France, the Netherlands and the republic of Ireland. We have also heard tonight how it can happen here. We may not have a case of foot and mouth disease in Canada today, and it is very likely that Canada has kept the disease out of the country for the last 50 years, but we also know based on the experience of Britain and other countries that a serious outbreak today would lead to the slaughter of possibly thousands of animals, would cost our agricultural industry dearly and would certainly cost our federal government billions of dollars.
The questions we have to ask tonight that need to be addressed by the government are around preparedness. Are we truly prepared and ready in the event this virus should enter Canada Some of the experts in the field have questioned whether we are prepared. I think our job tonight is to put on the record some of those concerns and to encourage the government to take those concerns very seriously.
For example, I think of a report just last week in the Ottawa Citizen that quoted one of Canada's leading veterinary professors, a person by the name of Otto Radostits. He is a farm animal veterinary professor at the University of Saskatchewan and has co-authored a textbook on the diseases of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and horses. This expert says:
There is no question, that if we have not been handling these kinds of crises in Canada, we are not as prepared as we should be.
He suggests, in fact, that the government must take this issue more seriously and put in place a far reaching plan in the event of this virus entering Canada.
We have also heard in the last couple of weeks from the president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, Mr. Steve Hindle, who suggested that there is a veterinarian shortage in the country today which could mean a risk of a foot and mouth disease outbreak. That individual said on March 13 by way of a press release:
The inability of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to address serious recruitment and retention issues within its veterinary community could endanger Canadian livestock.
He goes on to suggest that the outbreak of foot and mouth disease currently sweeping the United Kingdom and threatening Europe has led his union, representing some 500 veterinarians and other professionals at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, to question whether Canada is prepared to deal with a similar threat. I think this is a reputable source of information that needs to be taken seriously. That is the purpose of tonight's debate and I trust that the government will be listening to these concerns.
The member for Palliser also mentioned the concerns of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, as quoted in the Western Producer , indicating the belief that there is no emergency response plan available to all players which could go into effect within hours of disease detection. That is another serious concern being raised by a very reputable farm organization in the country. It needs to be taken seriously.
The question of whether we are prepared needs to be addressed very specifically by the government. Why are Canadians concerned and why are members of parliament registering concerns here this evening? There is no question about it. We know from reports by the auditor general that there are problems in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. There is an under-resourcing in that agency. We know we fall short of important inspection capacity. We know there are real questions about a dual mandate in that agency which could compromise speedy decisions in the interests of animal health and well-being and Canadians' health and well-being.
We know there are also sometimes concerns about openness and transparency with regard to the government. Those concerns have to be addressed because they is at the heart of this matter. Secrecy and silence breed suspicion and concern, not the other way around. It is by being open and transparent that we can deal with the concerns of Canadians and be more prepared than we are now.
I would like to point to one example. Often we raise concerns where a potential problem is arising and the government suggests we are only fearmongering and raising unnecessary fears. That has happened in the case of mad cow disease, where we have seen similar concerns raised and a similar reaction by government in terms of secrecy and silence and a tendency not to be totally forthcoming around problems identified or actions taken. Certainly we have seen that on the health front. I am quite familiar with some of the difficulties in that regard.
Tonight is an opportunity to open the doors, to lift the shroud of secrecy, to ensure that there is full public awareness and that the plans of the government with respect to foot and mouth disease are fully disclosed and outlined for the public. That way all Canadians can be prepared and every Canadian can do his or her share in ensuring that this virus does not enter Canada and is contained at all costs.