Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my hon. colleague from Mississauga South. As members know, he produced the book The Ethics and Science of Stem Cells which took a tremendous amount of research and commitment and for which those of us deeply interested in the issue are extremely grateful.
With regard to the issue he raised, according to many scientific and ethical experts there are not only problems with the supply and availability of embryos to effect significant research. The key issue is that we have one possibility that presents deep ethical and moral problems for many people including those in the scientific and medical world and other segments of society, and an alternative that is surer and safer. The alternative is both potentially and practically more successful because it has been used in many cases already. It presents no risk of tissue rejection. Surely the answer is to avoid the ethical and moral dilemmas and go with the sure thing. That is what we are saying.
We are for stem cell research, positively so. However let us avoid the traps and pitfalls. Let us avoid the moral and ethical issues represented by embryonic stem cells.