Mr. Speaker, as the member of Parliament for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, home to CFB Petawawa, and in recognition of the fact that this is the Year of the Veteran, I am pleased to request this debate regarding veterans and their families who have been exposed to the so-called rainbow herbicides, agents orange, purple and white, and a variety of other toxic substances.
There is a need for the government to be honest, open and transparent with individuals who suspect they have been exposed to these substances.
In many ways, the government reaction to these individuals parallels the treatment of Canadian soldiers who were subjects of chemical warfare experiments during World War II.
The first response was years of denial. Then, even when the testing was admitted to, efforts to remedy this were met with an all too common inertia or an all too common inadequacy, and there was no admission that all of this was simply wrong.
Much information remained buried because of the threat of five years' imprisonment made to veterans under the Official Secrets Act.
As time passed, some veterans were accused of fabricating their stories and their ailments, even being called delusional.
It was 60 years before those individuals finally received justice. Unfortunately, for many of those victims, justice came too late. This must not be allowed to happen again.
I am pleased to inform the Minister of National Defence that today's victims of chemical spraying, unlike many of the World War II veterans who were threatened into silence, have no intention of letting this government off the hook when it comes to finding out the truth.
Individuals who have been affected by the spraying of chemical defoliants have come together to form a group: the Agent Orange Association of Canada. They assure me that their members will be in the government's face at every opportunity. Rest assured that there will be tough questions for government candidates in the next federal election, which could be called as soon as next week once the general public has an opportunity to fully digest the waste and corruption of the Liberal Party that the Gomery inquiry is about to expose.
The new association asked me to put this question to the Minister of National Defence, which I am pleased to do:
The recently formed Agent Orange Association of Canada has received many enquiries from people across Canada wishing to provide documented information to help in determining the truth regarding the spraying of deadly toxin-laced defoliants at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown. These people are frightened to step forward with information without the protection that a public inquiry would offer.
When will the federal government start a public inquiry that will allow these people to do the right thing and provide information under oath that will reveal the truth to the people of Canada about the spraying of deadly defoliants at CFB Gagetown?
If the government really is intent on arriving at the truth about the spraying of chemical defoliants on or near Canadian military bases, there has to be some sort of protection for those who do come forward to provide information. There is no lack of people who wish to testify. Many have documentation and are prepared to make several revelations.
They fear to come forward at this time. Some are silenced by the Official Secrets Act, others by confidentiality agreements, and still others are bound by a non-disclosure clause in compensation packages that they have already accepted. Individuals are afraid of losing their pensions and compensation packages and are even afraid of doing jail time. These are the same threats that were made to mustard gas veterans.
If the government is sincere in all of its public statements regarding the issue of exposure to agent orange and its other forms, a blanket of immunity must be announced today in order for all the facts to be made public. Failure to do so brings with it the suggestion that the government does not want the truth to be made known. The public is left with the conclusion that a government cover-up is going on.
Many individuals who have contacted me have come to the conclusion that only a change in government will bring justice. One individual went so far as to say that the current government is saddled with so many scandals that this scandal is too far down the list for the government to concern itself with.
There is another issue that I would like to bring forth for the Minister of National Defence to answer. Why have the local civilians who live in and around CFB Gagetown, in places like Oromocto, Burton, Hoyt, Enniskillen, Petersville and Welsford, not been recognized for health problems and deaths as a consequence of exposure to chemical herbicides?