Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to support the motion by the hon. member, the NDP health critic, my dear friend, who has brought this issue forward.
Yesterday at the press conference she said this is a non-partisan issue, and I could not agree more. It is made even more non-partisan by the fact that we now know, from comments on the front page of The Globe and Mail, that the Prime Minister recognizes that a wrong has been done and that we, collectively, in this place want to right the wrong.
Children suffered the effects of thalidomide, which never should have been registered in Canada. A Canadian-born public health authority, Dr. Kelsey, stopped its registration in the U.S.
The idea that these victims of thalidomide, one of the iconic horror stories of the pharmaceutical industry, still lack compensation was a surprise to me. I have to say that I feel I am up to date on the wrongs of this land, but in this case I found out through The Globe and Mail, which I think is unusual. We should give credit to journalism, credit to the official opposition, and credit to the Prime Minister and to the spirit of non-partisanship that will today see us right that wrong.