Stan Dromisky

[Lupus Awareness Month, October 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the House and all Canadians that October has been designated Lupus Awareness Month.

Lupus is a chronic, potentially life threatening disease with a variety of symptoms caused by inflammation and damage in body tissues and organs. It is estimated that lupus affects one in every 2,000 Canadians.

Medical researchers across Canada are involved in finding the causes and a cure for this disease. This provides hope to the people living with lupus every day. Lupus Canada is dedicated to helping individuals with lupus, their families and caregivers by providing access to information, support and education regardless of income, culture or geography.

I ask members to join me in congratulating Lupus Canada and wishing it a successful public awareness campaign for now and the future.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 26th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the communal licence issued to the Burnt Church First Nation for the food, social and ceremonial fishery this fall expired at midnight last Saturday.

The expiry of the licence marks the end of a fishery that many Canadians anticipated with concern. Many aboriginals and non-aboriginals around Miramichi Bay wondered if the fall of 2001 would bring a repeat of the open conflicts of 1999 and 2000.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans report to the House on the state of affairs of the fisheries affected by the supreme court's Marshall decision?

[Mental Illness Awareness Week, October 4th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, next week is Mental Illness Awareness Week. This is an opportunity for Canadians to raise awareness about mental illness, to give hope to those who suffer from such disorders, and to recognize the many groups and individuals who have helped to bring about changes through research and through public awareness projects.

During the past decade there have been many scientific advances that have led to new medications for severe mental illness.

A new perception of mental illness is emerging, thanks to public information programs that eradicate the myths and stigma that once prevented people from seeking treatment. Today individuals with these disorders have a real chance at reclaiming full and productive lives.

All Canadians can make a difference in promoting mental health awareness by providing hope to the courageous individuals who struggle with these illnesses.

[Health, October 2nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. Pharmaceuticals play an important role in the maintenance of health and treatment of illness. However drugs represent the fastest growing component of health care costs in Canada.

Could the Minister of Health tell the House how he is working with his provincial counterparts to better manage pharmaceuticals and control these expenses?

[Prostate Cancer, September 24th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that there is renewed hope today in the struggle against prostate cancer. As a result of funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, a team of researchers recently discovered a gene that leads to prostate cancer. This is a significant breakthrough that will lead to further discoveries in the struggle against a disease that is the second leading cause of cancer deaths.

The government would like to congratulate Dr. Jacques Simard of Laval's Centre de recherche du Pavillon CHUL and Dr. Johanna Rommens of Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children for their significant contribution to health research in Canada.

I am pleased to see such positive results of government support for programs such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

With the earliest diagnosis and more targeted treatment that such discoveries lead to, we will see a healthier future for all Canadians.

[Multiple Sclerosis Carnation Month, May 28th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the House and all Canadians that the month of May has been designated Multiple Sclerosis Carnation Month by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.

Multiple sclerosis or MS is the most common neurological disease affecting young adults in Canada. It is characterized by loss of balance, impaired speech, extreme fatigue, double vision and paralysis.

Founded in 1948, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada has invested nearly $64 million to find the cause, prevention, treatment and a cure for MS. This past year, thanks to donors across the country, the MS Society directed an additional $3 million to MS research over the next three years for 13 potentially groundbreaking research projects and more than 30 research scholarships.

I ask the House to join me in congratulating the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada on its efforts and in wishing it a successful Multiple Sclerosis Carnation Month.

[Business Of The House, May 16th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I seek unanimous consent of the House to have Bill C-300, an act to amend the criminal code, wearing of war decorations, standing in my name on the order of precedence withdrawn and the order discharged.

[Multiculturalism, March 21st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, March 21 is International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. In order to commemorate this day, the Regional Multicultural Youth Council from my riding of Thunder Bay—Atikokan has provided each member of parliament with a multicultural bow, much like the one I am wearing at the present time.

These coloured ribbons symbolize the human race and the beauty created when diverse peoples unite. This is one of the youth council's many initiatives to promote racial harmony and celebrate unity.

We must work together to make society fairer and more democratic. The government's involvement in the March 21 campaign strengthens our commitment to multiculturalism and is an acknowledgement that different races enrich our heritage.

I invite all members of the House to wear this ribbon with pride and to pledge commitment to racial equality.

[Petitions, March 15th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, my next petition pertains to the development of a free standing unique medical school in northwestern Ontario.

I have the signatures of petitioners from a multitude of communities in northwestern Ontario who are asking the Canadian government, through Health Canada, the Ministry of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and other ministries and agencies as parliament shall direct, to provide adequate funding and support to create a northern rural medical school in the centre of Canada.

[Petitions, March 15th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, once again I rise in the House of Commons, as I have many times in the past seven and a half years, to present a petition pertaining to the restoration of VIA service from Toronto through to Sudbury along the beautiful north shores of Lake Superior, through Thunder Bay, Kenora and Dryden, and on to Winnipeg on the CPR line. Those communities where the vast majority of people in northwestern Ontario live do not have railway passenger service.

Today I am presenting hundreds and hundreds of signatures from a variety of communities along the north shore of Lake Superior, as well as Thunder Bay. They are asking the Canadian government to work in a co-operative spirit with VIA and CPR to reintroduce passenger service along that line as quickly as possible.