Madam Chair, the member does make a good point. It is more than just compensation for victims, because the government did respond and the previous government responded as well, knowing full well there was a problem with the blood system. I think we should acknowledge that. It is a good point.
There is another point I want to emphasize, and I wanted to do this in my initial talk. What we often forget in this place is that former members who have left to go on with their lives are not here to take part in the debate, obviously. There is a former member I want to recognize, Grant Hill, who was the former health critic for our party and the party that preceded that and so on. He did a really good job on that. I might also talk of the member for Hochelaga. There is also the member for Winnipeg North. I want to say her name, but I cannot, however, I do not want the clerks or the people recording the debate to confuse the member with another member.
The health critics in this place worked together. It was just one of those magic moments in the House where opposition parties got together. It is something members on the other side cannot enjoy, because obviously it is a different set of circumstances altogether.
I would be remiss in not thanking Mr. Grant Hill, who is not here tonight, for the work he did on that. I can personally thank the members who are still here. Most of them are still in their respective critic roles or have moved on to another critic role, but they are members of the House. We have had frank and open discussions with members of the Liberal Party of Canada who are no longer here who had grave concerns about how this whole thing has unfolded as well.
Anyway, we do have the opportunity to move on and we are hoping that the government will. I accept the very generous remarks of the member. The fact is that sometimes all the good that we do gets lost in the bigger issue, but the bigger issue here obviously is an important one, compensation for all victims. Again, let us do the right thing.