Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Motion No. 170. I too want to congratulate the member for Thornhill for bringing the motion to the House today and accepting the amendments.
It is important to understand that when a motion gets to this position where we seem to have agreement from all members of the House, a lot of the national strategy that will be discussed and developed over a period of time will deal with some of the issues raised by some of the members.
The member should be commended for the fact that it reached the House with agreement from all parties and we are able to speak to it today.
This is a national issue and it is an issue that affects all people of Canada. It does matter where one lives, be it in Canada, in North America or around the world, it has an impact on every family. There used to be a saying, “you never really understand something until it impacts you or your family personally”, and we are at that point.
I have had the opportunity to experience this, not only first-hand in family issues, but with friends and family of friends. I have seen the struggles that families go through to not only understand the issue but to accept it and deal with it. I have seen parents and brothers and sisters who really anguish over the fact that a member of their family, who they have known all their life, has suddenly become someone else and, through no fault of their own, can do nothing to bring back these family members to what they once were.
It is devastating to the family and it does create hardships. The fact that we are identifying it as a national issue and prepared to discuss it will help everyone understand it better and to get a better comprehension of what we can do currently and what is available to us, but also what will be out there in the future in order to make the lives of the people afflicted by this disease, not just the individuals, but the families of these individuals and how we might develop a long term plan to help meet their needs.
The local organizations in my communities have brought me up to speed on this issue and made me very aware of it. I told them that if I had the opportunity to present on this motion, which they were certainly aware was in the system and being discussed, that I would raise the voice of the people that I represent and hopefully create an interest in all Canadians as to what we can do.
I do not want to go on forever but I do want to suggest that one of the benefits in talking to this motion today is that we are looking at coordinating a national approach. So many times in health care, provincial governments and provincial bodies move forward on specific issues of health care and, unfortunately, we forget to share the benefits or the good things that we are developing within our system. Therefore we get people moving or provinces moving ahead in some areas and others fighting to catch up. By sharing the information and by working together with a national strategy, I believe we will see the understanding and the development of solutions, or at least the care and the opportunities that will be offered to people will be enhanced greatly.
I would be remiss if I did not suggest that by doing this we will create an economy of scale that will allow more money to be applied within the system as opposed to within the bureaucracy and the management of the system. Whenever we can eliminate the duplications and share the information, we can save a lot of steps and it frees resources to deal with the issue in many other ways. Also, from my own experience dealing with health in other provinces and sharing those good ideas is of benefit to everyone.
Canadians will benefit from the system once it is finalized. This is not just limited to Canada. It allows us to discuss the issue, the solutions and what is being done not only in Canada but in other countries. It certainly helps us in creating a national strategy to develop a platform to provide this service.
I look forward to the motion going forward. Members on this side have said that they will be supporting it. I will certainly be supporting it. I encourage other members of the House to support it. It is a good motion and Canadians will be very proud when it is finally realized. The families and the people impacted by this disease will be very thankful that the national government and their members of Parliament see that and have worked together to make this happen.