Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question by my hon. colleague. It is true that nothing can undo the tragic events of the 1960s and that we need to assist those victims. Today, through Vanessa's law, Canada now has one of the safest drug safety systems in the world.
As I have indicated, the Minister of Health now has the authority to compel drug companies to remove drugs from the shelves. Previously, she was in the untenable situation where she would sometimes have to negotiate with drug companies as to whether or not drugs could be removed from the shelves, all the while Canadians might be purchasing those very drugs. It was a very unfortunate situation.
Now there are mandatory recall powers. There is mandatory reporting of adverse conditions. Usually when there is a significant adverse reaction, a person will show up at a hospital. Hospitals will now need to report any adverse reactions so that the Minister of Health will be aware and immediate action can be undertaken, if necessary. There is also transparency now for drug approvals and clinical trials, and on this front Canada is now a world leader in providing this level of transparency.
We want to do right by these victims. We want to ensure that these victims are assisted, but we also want to make sure that, moving forward, these types of tragedies never take place again.
I was a child in the 1980s and whenever I had a health class, one of the first things my teachers would tell me was to be especially cautious about anything prescribed to me when I become pregnant one day. They would all cite the thalidomide example, or Love Canal down in Buffalo. I am sure many Ontarians recall that. These are outrageous tragedies that transpired at a time when people thought it was all very reasonable.
I want to assure the House that Canada now has one of the strongest drug safety systems in the world. We are incredibly conscientious with this issue.