Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the hon. member for his professionalism. One can agree or disagree with certain points of view, but I would like to draw attention to the member's professionalism as far as his question is concerned. He is making sure that the real questions get asked.
As for the first question relating to stem cells, the parliamentary secretary asked me whether I knew of anyone who was opposed to such research. That depends on what we are talking about. I could give a goodly number of them if we are talking about embryonic stem cells. If we are talking about adult cells, I do not know of any. If we are referring to stem cells taken from aborted fetuses, then I could also list a goodly number. So it depends on what kind of research is being done on what kind of stem cells.
However, as I have already stated, I believe that the House is divided as far as embryos are concerned. The issue of aborted or stillborn fetuses has not even been raised. There is no legislative framework on this. So it all depends on the question.
Essentially, everyone agrees that research is part of what makes a society evolve, but we need to know what kind of research is being considered. That is the real question that has to be asked. On this side of the House, I must admit that there is division within my caucus as far as embryonic stem cell research is concerned. That is one of the reasons we want this to be a free vote.
As far as the matter of the number of embryos is concerned, the parliamentary secretary raises an important point. This involves survival of the embryo until such time as the stem cells can be extracted from it for research purposes. He is right. More than that, when a couple goes to a clinic in order to have a child, a percentage of the embryos survive, at the time of insemination for instance.
Some of them do not even make it past the sperm and egg stage, that is they are not embryos. However, as for the percentage of embryos that survive which the parliamentary secretary gives, I would say that yes many are lost. Is the figure 2%? That depends.
Some would answer the parliamentary secretary by saying that it is precisely to avoid having a success rate as low as 2%, 10% or 15%. This is why we must ensure that the number of embryos for research should be increased instead of limited to 2%. These figures may scare some people. Why perform research on embryonic stem cells when the success rate, in terms of quality embryos for research, is only 2%? Others would reply that we need to start by stepping up research so that we can indeed increase this rate.