Madam Speaker, the true champion of this bill is Senator Jane Cordy, who brought forward a private member's bill in the Senate prior to the election being called in 2015, at which time it died on the Order Paper. It was reintroduced after the election. She is the true champion of this. She is the one who pushed this from the start and deserves the credit for the bill. She is also from the wonderful riding of Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, so it is always great to combine the two of us.
The number one thing we need to ensure is that we have newborn screening. It is absolutely important. When people are diagnosed with having the trait or having sickle cell disease, it is important to know from day one what kind of treatment plans are available. There are examples of young people being up to 20 years old before finding out they have sickle cell. They have gone through 20 years of excruciating pain. The way they manage their disease would be totally different if they were screened at birth and knew in advance.