Reed Elley

[Division No. 137, May 12th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I think you will find that there is not a quorum in the House.

[Division No. 137, May 12th, 1998]

Undemocratic.

[Hepatitis C, May 5th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister seems able to spend money on polls to tell us the truth but he does not seem to want to tell us what money he has for victims. Is this file open to compensation for all hep C victims or not?

[Hepatitis C, May 5th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I would really like to know to whom the Prime Minister has been talking. I do not think it has been hepatitis C victims. The Prime Minister has not been clear. Either he is for full compensation or he is not. Either he will commit funding or he will not. Enough excuses. Enough hiding from the victims. Enough insulting the provinces. What exactly does the Prime Minister believe in today?

[Supply, May 5th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the question. This is exactly why we wanted to open this question up at committee.

We wanted to get the minister in to ask him these hard questions. We wanted to ask why there is this narrow window of 1986 to 1990 when Justice Krever and other authorities on the subject have told us that hepatitis C was in the blood system prior to 1986. In 1981 Dr. William Moore of the Red Cross laboratories told his own officials that he was concerned about hepatitis being in the blood supply. He said “Here is a test that has been used in other countries. Use it”. They denied him that. It was not used.

The government cannot get away from the fact that the Minister of Health is the custodian of the country's health care system. He is the top regulator. The minister has to take responsibility for it. Health ministers in those days could have taken responsibility for it, put a stop to it and we would not have this tragedy today. That is where the liability lies. They are not accepting it.

[Supply, May 5th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am very glad for the hon. member's diatribe on the committee structure. Unfortunately, the very reason the motion had to be made in committee was that we on this side of the House did not feel we were getting the answers. We look upon the committee structure as the court of last resort for us so that we can finally get answers. I reiterate that once again it was the Liberal majority up against the opposition, and the Liberals stonewalled it.

[Supply, May 5th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the Chair that I will be sharing my time with the hon. Leader of the Opposition.

I rise today to speak in support of the NDP motion before us. I must say I am very glad to hear government members will be allowed to support this motion. It is about time the Liberal government did something positive for all hepatitis C victims.

For the Canadians who contracted hep C from tainted blood and are now sick or dying what I say in the House are merely words, and as they will say they are not looking for words but actions.

I cannot possibly convey in the few short minutes I have here the pain, the suffering and the humiliation these victims have had to endure over the past some 20 years. However I will read into the record a letter that speaks volumes, far more than anything I could say. It is a letter from a victim's perspective. This gentleman lives in my riding. I met with him over the weekend. I have had conversations and correspondence with him before that. His name is Floyd Hubbard. He wrote the following to me on Saturday:

I contracted hepatitis C through heart surgery in 1983. I've been on Interferon for 7 months, which has caused me to have a heart attack. My enzymes went down, but I've never been so sick in my life. There were days when I thought I would die and days when I wished I would.

This is the medical treatment you (Liberals) say you'll help us get. Well I for one don't want it again. I had 15 years on vitamins and minerals and herbs, plus a changed diet.

If I had to choose treatment I would choose a naturopath, a masseuse, or to go swimming in a steam bath. In other words, natural healing now if you're going to help us get this. That is better than Interferon, the only treatment for Hep-C.

The other day I asked my doctor if I could get him to fill out a form for my disability income tax credit. He didn't think I was entitled to it. I had to beg. Do you know how this feels? Today it takes me hours to shower and dress. I know I'll probably need a wheelchair soon as I am going downhill fast. I was a capable husband. Now I'm so sick my wife and I sleep in separate beds. No wonder there's so many marriage breakdowns. I was also a good father. Now my children and grandchildren are afraid they'll give me their colds and viruses. I hardly ever see them. This is a disease of loneliness, shame and isolation.

I had a good paying job, a 12-acre farm and a business. It's all gone as a result of this disease. What do I have left? Not even my pride, you (Liberals) took that away on Terrible Tuesday when I watched the democratic vote that took place with the Liberals. We are led to believe we all have one vote; you, Mr. Prime Minister, took mine away from me. I couldn't believe I live in Canada, “Glorious and Free”.

Mr. Hubbard is more than just one of thousands of Canadians who contracted the hep C virus through no fault of their own. He has been victimized twice, first by a federally regulated agency that allowed poison blood to be pumped into his veins, and second by an uncaring and cruel government which refuses to accept responsibility for compensation.

This past Friday and Saturday I probably went through one of the most difficult times in my short life as a parliamentarian. I met with about two dozen other people who have been infected with this disease in a couple of meetings in my riding. It was very difficult to sit and listen to what they have gone through and to realize how they felt about what happened on this day of shame last Tuesday in the House. The common theme in all of their talk is the hope that they would not be forgotten.

They said “Let us into the discussion. Let us sit around the table with people who are making decisions concerning the well-being of our lives. Let this not just be a deal that is struck by politicians. Let us in”. They said “Give us a compensation package for all. If it is not for all then it should not be for any”.

Even people within the 1986 to 1990 window were telling me that they would not accept the compensation package unless it was given to all victims of the tainted blood scandal. Then they said something else important that has not been injected into this debate heretofore. They said “Compensation should be on the basis of wellness. It should not just be a lump sum that is simply given to people who have hep C and then forget about us”.

Right across Canada, as in my riding of Nanaimo—Cowichan, there are many others in the same boat. It has become to many of them an abandoned boat void of government compassion. All this time we have seen Liberal members across the way hiding behind a rock of intransigence, failing to recognize that they need to do the right thing.

Let us not dwell on this rock of cruelty. The events of the last few days show us that perhaps the rock hard Liberal defence of stubbornness and stupidity is finally cracking. With the provinces slowly coming on board, the last line of government rationale is turning out to be papier maché instead of rock solid reasoning.

Though it appears government resolve in the matter is waning there are still signs that Liberal backbenchers are not permitted to think for themselves in this matter.

Let us take for instance what happened at the health committee this morning. A few weeks back I requested through the clerk of the committee that health committee MPs, a non-partisan group of representative MPs from all parties, meet in order to invite the health minister to appear. I want to personally extend my thanks to the NDP member for Winnipeg North Centre and the Reform members for Macleod and Wanuskewin in signing on to the initiative.

It was my belief that the meeting would have allowed for better questioning of the health minister concerning the hep C compensation issue, that perhaps we could finally get to the bottom of why this window is so narrow.

What happened at the meeting this morning? Did we get our answers? No. We got a repeat of last Tuesday's vote, only worse because not only are Liberals denying compensation for those outside the timeframe but now it seems they are unwilling to let the minister come to the committee to answer questions.

In effect, Liberal members decided to hide behind a rock of silence. When it came down to the vote it was once again the solidarity of the opposition against the solidarity of government members, and the chairman had to cast the deciding vote because there was a tie.

I am glad to hear that the members of the Liberal Party are to support the motion. I am glad they have all been consulted on the matter ahead of time and that indeed they will all individually give the motion their support. That will be quite a change from the day of shame last Tuesday.

Beyond that the party across the way really needs to examine its commitment to accountability. That is the bottom line issue. Indeed, how can they look their constituents in the eye and say to them they represent their point of view in parliament?

In closing, I will be voting in support of the NDP motion. In this regard my actions in the matter will speak far louder than words. It is time to do the right thing and to vote to help all victims of hepatitis C contracted through the tainted blood scandal. Prove to Canadians that we are truly caring for them and that the Liberals across the way are truly the custodians of health care and not the undertakers for those left out of the government's compensation package.

[Hepatitis C, April 30th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, quite frankly I do not think Canadians want to hear any more from this discredited health minister.

Fearmongering about the total number of victims is not working. Liberals in Quebec and B.C. know the Prime Minister is playing some bogus numbers game and now so does Ontario. Wait and see who else is going to come on board.

Why is the government refusing to produce the real numbers of those who became infected with hep C before 1986?

[Hepatitis C, April 30th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe this. Yesterday we asked the discredited health minister to prove how many Canadians were infected with hep C before 1986. He refused. We will do what he will not. Recent provincial surveys in both British Columbia and Nova Scotia indicate there could be as few as 15,000 nationwide. That is 15,000 too many.

Will the Prime Minister stop pitting Canadians against hepatitis C victims, admit he is wrong about the numbers and compensate all victims who contracted this disease from tainted blood in the supply?

[Canadian Cancer Society, April 30th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, this year the Canadian Cancer Society celebrates its 60th anniversary and April is also cancer campaign month.

I call on all Canadians to answer the knock at their door and donate generously to a worthy cause. The cancer society is an organization which is dedicated to ending the pain and suffering of an illness that has touched the life of each and every Canadian in one way or another.

I also call on this government to end its two tier approach to funding of cancer research in Canada. Although the incidence and fatality rates for prostate cancer and breast cancer among Canadian men and women are virtually identical, the federal government will give the National Cancer Institute over $4 million for breast cancer research but it will not give them it red cent to help find a cure for prostate cancer.

Like hepatitis C, this is yet another example of a Liberal government which puts power and politics ahead of people and principles.

During cancer awareness month let Canadians be aware that this federal government will not cough up a dime to help find a cure for disease which will—