Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question.
If we compare the reactions of this and previous governments to the reaction of governments in Germany or the UK, for example, we see that the latter have already compensated thalidomide victims. In fact, they give the victims thousands of dollars every year. In the United Kingdom, for example, each victim receives $98,000 Canadian annually. It is an important recognition of the government's responsibility for having caused this tragedy.
On a side note, it is really unbelievable that the minister did not even read the report from the thalidomide survivors task force.
However, today we have the opportunity to turn that inaction around. We need to take urgent action to support and compensate the survivors.