Mr. Speaker, this is one of those issues where there needs to be a higher sense of co-operation among the different stakeholders. In particular, we need to recognize that the most significant role to be played in this is likely at the provincial level. It is an issue that I have had the opportunity to address on many occasions. The whole area of fetal alcohol syndrome disorder is one that, as I put forward in my question, causes a great deal of cost to our society both socially and economically.
Because someone is diagnosed with FASD, it does not mean that the person is a criminal. There are many wonderful, outstanding young people, young adults and others who have FASD and have gone on to have wonderful, strong, powerful lives. We need to highlight that.
This is an issue about which I am quite passionate. When I was an MLA, I introduced a private member's bill that would have had warning labels on all alcohol bottles. Much like we have warning labels on cigarette packages, there should be warning labels on alcohol containers. I was surprised that it was not universally accepted within the Manitoba legislature. I believed I had the support of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Liberal Party at the time.
It is important that we recognize education. We need to ensure that people understand the cause of FASD. There are things we can do to better to educate the population.
When I was a teenager, I had no idea whatsoever what FASD was. I would suggest that many young ladies, teenagers and the like do not necessarily know what FASD is or the causes of it. Education was part of a promotional campaigns. This was not just coming from me; it came from many different stakeholders. We need to incorporate some sort of an educational component to combatting FASD. That goes right from our classrooms all the way to where alcohol is served.
Many might recall Sandy's law. It was brought in by the Province of Ontario. Signs were required to indicate what could happen if a woman was pregnant and drank alcohol.
There is a lot we can be doing, but we are not doing it. I can appreciate what the mover of the bill is trying to deal with, which is the consequences once it hits the courts. I applaud that. The Liberal Party supports the bill going to committee, but there is much more we could be doing prior to someone getting involved in a criminal activity and ending up in court. Some of what we could be doing it is straightforward.
A teacher who deals with FASD on a regular basis said that we should turn down the lights. We do not have to turn the lights off, but turning the brightness down in some of the classrooms could have a positive impact. We even have some schools that engage in that and whatever else they can do to assist individuals who have this disorder. There are things that can make a difference.
When I posed the question in terms of diagnostics or the actual numbers, it was because we do not know what the numbers are. We can speculate, and I appreciate the member's best guesstimate of one in 100 births, but it really varies.
I remember meeting with some nurses or nurse practitioners who were going out and about in our communities at a special event hosted by one of the stakeholders. A nurse told me that there are some communities where there is a very high percentage of individuals with FASD. I challenged her to tell me what she meant by “a high percentage”. Were we talking about 5%, 10%? I was totally amazed in terms of the percentage. This was someone with boots on the ground in some of the communities. I suggested 50%. She said it was much higher than that.
In Canada there are communities where it is higher than 50%. This is based on information that I heard third-hand, but when I shared that information with other stakeholders, they did not contradict it. I believe that the numbers are significantly higher than we anticipated.
I was encouraged when the member said the federal government is looking at it in one area, but I think we need to broaden it. We need to get the stakeholders, in particular the provinces and possibly school divisions, around the table and have a discussion to try to identify just how large and significant an issue this is and what we can do as a society to improve the circumstances and the lives of people who are affected by fetal alcohol syndrome.
If we took that holistic approach, we would have the type of difference that would hopefully make lives a lot better for a lot more people.
Speaking strictly to the legislation, the definition it provides gives a great explanation of what we are talking about. This is the definition in the bill that is being proposed:
“fetal alcohol spectrum disorder” or “FASD” refers to any neurodevelopmental disorder that is associated with prenatal alcohol exposure, and that is characterized by permanent organic brain injury and central nervous system damage that result in a pattern of permanent birth defects, the symptoms of which may include (a) impaired mental functioning, (b) poor executive functioning, (c) memory problems, (d) impaired judgment, (e) inability to control impulse behaviour, (f) impaired ability to understand the consequences of one’s actions, and (g) impaired ability to internally modify behaviour control
The Liberal Party critic has been fairly clear in our caucus as to how the bill is a good thing and what the member is trying to achieve. It allows courts the ability to take into account the profound impact of FASD on a child and the resulting behaviour that might arise when an individual is involved with the justice system.
It is an encouraging step from the member. We look forward to the bill going to committee.
Let me conclude my remarks by saying that we could be doing Canadian society a huge favour by providing stronger leadership in a more holistic way in dealing with FASD, an issue that is facing health care, social services, justice, and other departments in many different ways.
Let me conclude my final comments as I started, by saying that the majority of individuals with this disorder have an totally wonderful life and are not involved—