Mr. Chair, perhaps I could begin by saying that I think it is a measure of our level of concern and commitment about this issue that, while the rest of the world is riveted on what is happening in the United States, we are here in the House of Commons debating compensation for hepatitis C victims.
Before I continue, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Burnaby—New Westminster.
What the minister has said tonight is welcomed. It shows progress and an openness in dealing with this issue which was not there in the previous Parliament. It would be sufficient in a way if it were just related to the surplus in the fund and the fact that the government is now able to contemplate compensating more people because the initial numbers were either mistaken or exaggerated, however one wants to describe them. However, I also think there is a real willingness on the part of the minister and I hope ultimately the cabinet and the government to see this as something which is the right thing to do in any event.
The real test of that will be if everything goes as we would hope and there is a need for more funds than are in the current fund to compensate all those who may yet come forward once compensation is made available for those outside the 1986-1990 period. It seems to me that the test, ultimately, for the government is whether this is being done 100% on principle or to some degree because there is this extra money, it makes sense and it is morally admirable to use it for these purposes rather than to have it go unused.
We certainly see a difference in the context. I remember, as some hon. members will, the day we had the vote, and it was a matter of confidence. We had a vote on an opposition day motion today and the government lost the motion, but it was not a matter of confidence. It was a matter of the House expressing its will on a particular matter. However, the prime minister of that day said no, that it was not just a matter of the House expressing its will. He said that it was a matter of confidence, and he made Liberal members of Parliament vote against their consciences on this.
There is no point in beating up the current Minister of Health about this, but that is what we experienced in a previous Parliament. I think he might have taken this into account when he decided whether he would engage in a new political incarnation, but that is another matter.
In any event, we have a new Parliament. The government has a chance to prove that it really is different than the last Parliament. We already see signs of that. We see Liberals freed from the authority of Jean Chrétien on this issue. In committee, we were able to have a unanimous vote recommending that the government compensate victims of hepatitis C beyond that 1986-1990 window. I hope we will see the same kind of freedom to do what perhaps many Liberals have always wanted to do. Certainly we knew that at the time. There were people who were tremendously stressed out by the fact they had to vote against their conscience.
I think this is a sign of things to come in this Parliament. Hopefully, we have a new regime. I have lots of problems with the new regime, but it is at least different in a positive way on this score. There are different numbers and a different balance of power in Parliament. As I said earlier today at the press conference we had about this, I hope hepatitis C victims can become one of the first groups of people to benefit from the new dynamic of this minority Parliament.
I hope the Minister of Health will take the advice of my colleague from the Bloc to heart. If he cannot get it to cabinet before Christmas, he should get a recommendation so we can, if possible, move that June 2005 date up. It would be great to have unanimity among the plaintiffs for all groups and the government, go to court with a unanimous recommendation and on that basis move that date up to see if we cannot get things happening faster for these people because they have waited long enough.