Mr. Speaker, the last speaker has just indicated that he would like this to be a free vote in the House of Commons, but obviously there is not too much intention from the government side of the House to allow that, especially when we have just had a vote which will enable the government to ram this bill through, as it is so capable of doing and has done with so many other bills over the last 10 years.
Even though the bill has not received the full attention that it should, in my belief, it is going to be pushed through. I am quite certain that the members on that side of the House will not have a free vote. I wish they would, because I believe that this bill certainly is in the category where personal conscience is going to play a big role in making a decision on how to vote.
I am really disappointed that the bill was not split in two, as was requested. It could have been done. It would have been easier. It would have made a lot more sense to have two bills rather than this one all-inclusive bill. One of the bills should deal with the regulation of reproductive technologies and the other should address the more difficult issue of scientific research using human embryos. That indeed is difficult because of the various feelings of numbers of Canadians across the land on this issue.
I cannot help but ask the question I have asked a number of times in the last few years. Why in the world do we have a government constantly putting bills together in which where there are many points worth doing and worth pursuing, which should be approved because they are the right thing to do for Canadians, but then muddying them up with all kinds of clauses that make support difficult because they are not the right things that Canadians want to see in legislation? That is why this bill should have been split. This is definitely a real flaw in this entire process.
It has been going on for a long time and we have had a great number of debates on it, but the questions that need to be answered are not being answered. The future of what the bill can lead to needs to be thoroughly discussed so that we know what is in store for us down the road. We are not being allowed to, because we just took a vote that says this is the end of debate on this bill. Today it will be over and done with. The Liberals are going to ram it through. It is too bad that we cannot get the government to break that habit. I sure would love to be part of a governing body in the House that would break that habit of ramming things down people's throats every time we turn around.
It does not matter to them, but I have a hunch that we are going to be there sooner or later, that we are going to start doing things right. As for the fellow who is snickering across the way now, I wonder how much snickering he will do in those days when he really sees true democracy at work. He does not have the vaguest idea of what it is, nor do a lot of people on that side of the House. If they did, they would not ram these bills through, bring in closure over 100 times, and shove things down people's throats. They would do a little investigation in their ridings. They would get support from their people. They would get input. They would do the right thing. They would investigate and try to come up with solutions in difficult situations.
Instead, they do not care to do that. Unfortunately, there are too many people in the House who say, “What is going to happen will happen regardless of what I do personally and I am just going to let it go”.
Well, I am not going to let it go, and I am glad I have this opportunity to speak one more time. I would like some explanations from someone. I would like someone to tell me why this is, when I look at the documents that have come out of this particular work and in this field, when I see things that happen such as the case of a Montreal woman in summer 2002, newly diagnosed with leukemia, who received a stem cell transplant from an umbilical cord, the blood of her new infant daughter.
Seven months after the transplant the woman was in full remission and considered cured. That is great news, that through stem cell research, it has been determined that the use of stem cells from the umbilical cord of a new born child can be most effective in treatments. To me that would be just phenomenal news. The government should be jumping for joy thinking about what it could do with that.
In June scientists from the University of Minnesota Stem Cell Institute reported that it was able to transform adult stem cells from bone marrow into virtually every cell type in the human body and that it was very effective.
When these kinds of reports come out, then we get comments from various institutes and various doctors who are doing these studies. One is Dr. Abdullah Daar of the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. He said:
If this is absolutely true, I think it will change everything. Should adult stem cells ever prove to be as good as [embryonic] cells, thenwhy would anybody want to bother with embryonic stem cells?
Also commenting on the new findings was Alan Bernstein, president of the CIHR who said that aside from the ethical issues, if one could take one's own adult stem cell from bone marrow and use it to cure Parkinson's disease, one would not have to worry about immune rejection problems. He said that this would be a huge advance.
It looks to me like that is the direction in which we should move. There are examples of great successes and not once did they involve the use of embryonic stem cells.
With all the debate that goes on in the country on the issue of whether the embryo is a human life, we know where that debate has led through abortion talks and many other things. We know what is going on in the minds of Canadians. We need to be a lot more cautious than we have been in the past and than we are today. By passing the bill and allowing it to be rammed through, all Canadians will have to accept, whether they like it or not, that there will embryonic stem cell research. It really bothers me and it worries me that we possibly could be putting an end to human life by using these cells for this purpose, when we already have proof that other cells work.
I cited two small samples of many of the things that have been accomplished through adult stem cells. Why not see it through? Why not spend a whole pile of energy into developing that as a answer to this situation? Then when we read about the umbilical cord of a newborn child, that it can be used in this manner because of these cells, which have accomplished so much in so many cases. Why would we even want to consider creating embryos and destroying them for that purpose? Yet the government is going to ram through a bill that does not address that very serious concern, and that is a shame.