Mr. Speaker, on October 15, I asked the health minister to act immediately to expand the hepatitis C compensation to victims outside the 1986 to 1990 group with the surplus that we now know exists in the hepatitis C compensation fund. If the minister does not intervene to expedite this process, hepatitis C victims who contracted that disease prior to 1986 or after 1990 will not see any money until some time long after June of next year when the next actuarial report is due to be released.
The answer from the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health was completely unacceptable. He refused to admit that the fund has a surplus. He said that the minister was looking at the situation with the other partners, and that expanding the fund to cover pre-1986 and post-1990 victims was only one of several options being considered for this money.
On October 18, the minister said the same thing, although this time he gave more explanation about the nature of his stalling tactics. He listed three different consultation processes that he intends to pursue before making a decision. This is an extremely demoralizing response for hepatitis C victims after the years of suffering and impoverishment that they have already faced.
I quote the minister who would only say that there was “potentially” an actuarial surplus in the fund. He said that the court would have to determine whether or not there was in fact an actuarial surplus. He then said that the federal government would have to work with the provinces and territories and would have to talk with the lawyers of the plaintiffs. Of course we know all that. That has to be done, but for the health minister to frame these points as a stalling tactic and to use them in that statement amounts to an evasion rather than a clear statement of commitment to address this issue very speedily for the sake of hepatitis C victims who are suffering miserably through no fault of their own.
Even while the health minister says that he is ready to reconsider the rules for access to that compensation fund, he has yet to give any details of the government's plan. It would be cruel to muse about this publicly with no intention of delivering. Given the government's record when it comes to doing right by hepatitis C victims, I am not going to be satisfied until details for compensation are made public. The government does have a history of talking big, particularly on this file, but delivering very little. I hope this is not one of those situations and that we get some resolve here this time.
It is rather shocking to hear the current health minister stalling like this. When he was attorney general in British Columbia in 1998 he supported opening the fund to all victims. How can he justify his about-face on this vital issue now?
We know from the annual audited reports that the hepatitis C compensation fund sits at $1.1 billion. Last year the fund earned $56 million more in revenue than it actually distributed on claims and expenses. Instead of the 20,000-plus victims, only about 5,000 actual victims have come forward from the 1986 to 1990 group who currently qualify for compensation from that fund. The health minister is refusing to admit that there is a huge surplus in the fund. Can he explain to the House why he does not trust the government approved auditors on this matter?
What hepatitis C victims need now is a health minister who understands basic math. There is a huge audited surplus in the fund and it will grow larger every year. We ask that the government commit to expanding the coverage immediately. Do not mix fuzzy math with fuzzy politics and use it as an excuse to delay justice for Canada's forgotten hepatitis C victims.