Lost his last election, in 2008, with 38% of the vote.
Motions For Papers April 29th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I ask that Motion for the Production of Papers No. 15 be called.
That an Order of the House do issue for copies of all documentation relating to compensation for Canadians who contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood products between 1978 and 1986.
Hepatitis C April 29th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I think the minister should read the newspaper. He will find out what the public is having trouble with right now and it is not the Reform Party.
For weeks the health minister has been exaggerating the number of hep C victims who were infected before 1986. He does this to scare Canadians, to make them think we had to throw these sick people out of the compensation lifeboat.
Will the health minister stop pulling numbers out of the air, table the documents in this House to back up his claim? Will he put up and shut up?
Hepatitis C April 29th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, the minister has been doubling and tripling the number of hep C victims he feels are infected. The minister uses a bogus number to bully his caucus members into turning their backs on hepatitis C victims seeking justice. He is simply making up numbers to scare people into believing that a fair compensation package jeopardizes our health care system.
I ask him to prove his claim. Table the documents in this House that show how many are infected.
Hepatitis C April 28th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, a constituent wrote to me telling me about her life since contracting hepatitis C from tainted blood. Dorothy writes:
I'm an innocent victim along with thousands of others. My life is not what I intended it to be and the things I wanted to do will never be accomplished.
Why will the Prime Minister not put principles before politics and power and let his MPs vote to help victims like Dorothy in this tragedy?
Supply April 28th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, one of the great concerns of Canadians in this whole thing has been the secrecy of this agreement and the kind of things that have been going on behind closed doors.
We did not hear about this until last year during the election campaign. It has been going on for several years. What is in this agreement that is so secret that it has not been publicly disclosed to the Canadian people?
Petitions April 28th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present on behalf of hundreds of constituents in my riding of Nanaimo—Cowichan a petition on the multilateral agreement on investment, asking parliament to impose a moratorium on negotiations of the MAI until there has been a full public hearing in the best interest of Canadians.
Hepatitis C April 2nd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I want to read another quote from hepatitis C victims: “I don't think that those claimants should have to spend their lifetime in litigation”. I will read it again: “I don't think that those claimants should have to spend their lifetime in litigation”. Who said that? It was not Premier Clark. It was not a Liberal backbencher. It was the Minister of Health in the Ottawa Citizen on November 23, 1997.
Why did this health minister abandon his own principles?
Hepatitis C April 2nd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I have another quote for the minister and it is from the Krever report again. Justice Krever writes: “Proving fault is a formidable task for an individual injured by blood transfusion or blood product. Court proceedings are especially hard on those who are seriously ill and dying”.
Why is the health minister so intent on putting these Canadians through that kind of ordeal?
Judges Act April 1st, 1998
Mr. Speaker, correct me if I am wrong, but I believe we were elected by the people of Canada, who are the rightful employers of civil servants in the country.
Judges are civil servants. What other recourse do the people of Canada have to hold the judiciary accountable except through their elected representatives? If we in this House do not have the freedom to be able to criticize the judiciary of this country, then who does?
I would like—
Hepatitis C April 1st, 1998
Mr. Speaker, that is an unacceptable answer. It gives no help to all these victims and it is still morally wrong to abandon them.
What is particularly painful is how the Prime Minister is picking and choosing favourites. He will compensate only the top tier of victims. Everyone who contacted hepatitis C before 1986 is being abandoned. This is a national disgrace.
Will the Prime Minister stand up and tell us that this is not a two tier system of compensation?