Mr. Speaker, in June I asked the Government of Canada to conduct a public inquiry into the herbicidal spraying program at CFB Gagetown from 1956 to 1984. About 90% of that base is in the riding I represent. I said that the public inquiry should have the authority to make recommendations for compensation of all persons affected, both civilian and military.
In typical Liberal fashion, the government went out on a public relations campaign all summer, trying to defuse the issue. The member from Pembroke who just spoke is well aware of this. She has done a lot of work on this file herself and has been very helpful to me.
These people have been abused by the government. As I said, the government is into a public relations exercise, nothing more and nothing less. How has the government responded to this issue? The government will not have a public inquiry with the authority to actually compensate the victims.
In my hand I have a copy of a government press release of August 16. The headline states, “Government Announces Approach Regarding Use of Herbicides at CFB Gagetown”. In this press release, the government came out with what it called a “fact-finding outreach coordinator” who would go around to communities, including the base itself and the surrounding villages, and talk to the people who had been exposed to herbicide spray over the years.
The Ottawa Sun , in an article done by Greg Weston on September 25, really speaks as no one else can on this issue. The headline in that story says, “Agent Orange Victims Sick of Feds' Dithering”. That is exactly what the government is doing.
There is only one good thing I can tell members about the outreach coordinator. The Liberals were very smart because they picked a person who is very capable and is well liked by me and by many other New Brunswickers, a person by the name of Vaughn Blaney. Mr. Blaney is ill tonight and I want to express my best wishes to him. In fact, he had to cancel some of the public meetings.
But the Liberals have given him powers to do absolutely nothing, Mr. Speaker, and you think your job is tough. They have given him no power. He cannot even recommend to the government who should be compensated. Despite all of this spray program over the years and the millions of litres sprayed, only one person has been compensated. In fact, in this public relations exercise that the Liberal government is going through, not once does it use the word “compensation”. To the Liberal members, it is a foreign word. They do not understand the word “compensation”.
As evidence of this, today Veterans Affairs does not recognize the link between herbicidal spray and incidents of cancer caused by that spray. That department does not recognize it as a legitimate cause of cancer, whereas the United States veterans affairs department recognizes 37 diseases with a direct linkage between the spraying of herbicides and cancer.
We are asking the Government of Canada to compensate those victims, to come up with a plan that will work, and to have a public inquiry so that Canadians can see exactly what the Government of Canada should do, could do, and will do.