House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 70% of the vote.
Hepatitis C April 21st, 1998
Mr. Speaker, the minister says when should the government pay. The answer is when the government is responsible.
We have here a minister who is hanging on to this legal argument as though it were a thread, and that is all he has. The truth of the matter is insurance pays for medical mishaps, but this was no accident. There was incompetence and negligence on behalf of the federal regulators.
Will the minister just acknowledge that this was not a medical accident?
Hepatitis C April 21st, 1998
Mr. Speaker, the health minister is trying to compare the hepatitis C tragedy with another major tragedy in Canada by saying who would pay for breast implants. The answer of course is that the companies which made those breast implants will pay for them. There are ongoing lawsuits. We do not want to hear this foolish, feeble argument any longer.
Will the health minister admit publicly that this was a major public tragedy in Canada caused by the federal regulators who distributed poisonous blood?
Hepatitis C April 20th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, we have talked about feeble excuses and here, of course, again is just another feeble excuse.
The minister says the Canadian regulator was not responsible. That is not true and he knows it. If the Canadian regulator was responsible there is negligence. We are going to spend more money on these victims if they go through the courts.
For the sake of the victims, not for those of last week or for those who will be victims in the far distant future, but for the ones who are here, will he meet with the Irish individuals, find out and tell us why does the Irish system not work for Canada?
Hepatitis C April 20th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, members of the Irish government argued just like this health minister argues today. They argued for four years and those victims finally won. They won a fair compensation package for every single victim of Hepatitis C from tainted blood.
The victims are here today and they are asking this health minister to meet with them so he can learn the example from Ireland. Will he meet with those victims today?
Hepatitis C April 3rd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, we have a solution for the public relations nightmare the minister is facing.
B.C. has said that it is ready to move. Saskatchewan is now ready to have a conference call on the issue. Why does the health minister not just lead a new charge for a supplementary compensation package for all the victims of hepatitis C so that he can once again look those victims straight in the eye?
Hepatitis C April 3rd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, during the health minister's meetings with victims of hepatitis C he said that he would be their guardian. He said in fact that he would be their champion.
Today those victims ended up here on Parliament Hill and the minister somehow did not meet them. They ended up pounding white crosses into the lawn in front of his office to tell him what they think of him.
Did the minister fail to meet with those victims because he is ashamed to look them in the eye?
Hepatitis C April 2nd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I quoted the Prime Minister's website. Let me quote again so that everyone can hear what Justice Krever really said. The first recommendation in his report is that: “Without delay the provinces and territories devise statutory no fault schemes for compensating persons who suffer serious problems with the blood supply. Everyone needs compensation”.
Which one of these individuals over here is the frequent flyer without the f ?
Hepatitis C April 2nd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, just ten minutes before question period today we pulled off this information from the Prime Minister's website on the Krever commission: “We accept the conclusions contained in Justice Krever's report about the federal role in what happened. We accept those conclusions in their entirety and without reservation”.
If Justice Krever said compensate all the victims, my question is why is this website not worth the paper—
Hepatitis C April 1st, 1998
Mr. Speaker, this is not about every harmful procedure. This is about a public system failing and the victims getting hepatitis C.
New Zealand has a no fault compensation package. Italy has a compensation package for every single victim of hepatitis C. They know what is right. Why has this Prime Minister chosen to do what is frankly wrong to those victims?
Hepatitis C April 1st, 1998
Mr. Speaker, the minister keeps saying that this decision was made by 13 governments. It is still a wrong decision.
In 1977 Josephine Mahoney was infected with hepatitis C. Her life in tatters, just two years ago she received a fair and just compensation plan from her government. Luckily for her she does not live in Canada. She lives in Ireland.
Why has the Irish government looked after every single victim of hepatitis C when this Prime Minister is abandoning fully 50% of our victims?