Yvon Charbonneau

[Questions On The Order Paper, February 17th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.

[Auditor General Act, February 16th, 2000]

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the health minister, I would like to thank our hon. colleague from Parkdale High Park who raised the issue of epidermolysis bullosa with both sensitivity and competence.

As she pointed out, it is a rare genetic disease. It dramatically affects a number of our fellow Canadians. That is why the federal government is willing to help Canadians suffering from this disease and to improve the health of the whole Canadian population.

Through the Medical Research Council of Canada, the federal government is funding biomedical and clinical research expertise on skin diseases across Canada. The foundation of knowledge that these men and women are building will give the researchers of tomorrow the building blocks necessary to find cures on such conditions as EB.

To further its commitment to health research, the federal government proposed the creation of the Canadian institutes of health research.

Over the next few months, a number of health research institutes will be created and each institute will put in common the expertise of Canadian health searchers all across Canada. Just imagine for a moment how great it would be to bring your child, for example, to a hospital which would be linked to a Canadian Institute of Health Research. Then you would know that the physicians examining your child would be able to benefit from the expertise of searchers located anywhere in Canada and working in every field of health research.

Physicians linked to such an institute would have direct access to the most recent and relevant data, whether it be the latest developments in the area of biomedical research on that disease or other related diseases. That would be more reassuring than the current situation and your child's health would be in good hands.

Therefore I encourage our colleague to continue—

[Division No. 683, February 14th, 2000]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to reply on behalf of the Minister of Health to the question from the hon. member for New Brunswick Southwest concerning the process for approving drugs, specifically Rituxan.

Drugs are authorized for sale in Canada once they have successfully gone through the drug review process. This process is the means by which a drug application is reviewed by scientists in the therapeutic products program of Health Canada to assess the safety, efficacy and quality of a drug.

Throughout the process the safety and well-being of Canadians is the paramount concern. Health Canada strives to make significant therapeutic advances available to Canadians as quickly as possible consistent with public safety.

Health Canada's objective is to be competitive internationally with respect to drug review and approval and, during the past five years, it has cut in half the time needed to review the average presentation.

Health Canada has been and continues to be committed to ensuring the greatest efficiencies in the drug review process. To do this, the therapeutic product program in consultation with stakeholders is pursuing several initiatives to further streamline the process.

Rituxan is a new drug for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. So far, it has not been approved in Canada, but patients can obtain it through the special access program. Practitioners sometimes resort to drugs not approved in Canada for the treatment of serious or life-threatening illnesses, when conventional treatments have been unsuccessful or are not appropriate.

In such situations the therapeutic products program of Health Canada has a mandate to authorize the sale of these drugs to practitioners. This mandate is administered by the special access program of the TPP. This special program is—

[Leukemia Awareness Month, February 10th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to the motion brought forward by the member for St. Paul's asking the government to recognize the month of June as Leukemia Awareness Month. I congratulate her as well as all the other members from the various parties who were involved in this initiative.

All over Canada, the public supports the campaign that was launched to find ways of preventing or treating leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, Hodgkin's disease and other blood diseases.

Leukemia affects people of all ages, of both sexes and from all backgrounds. It was described at length by several of my colleagues who have spoken on this issue during the last hour. I would add one fact: in Canada, every ten minutes, a child or an adult dies from leukemia or a related form of cancer.

In their homes and communities all across the country thousands of Canadians are living with leukemia and many Canadians are working to provide support and comfort to those affected by these forms of cancer.

Recognizing the month of June as leukemia awareness month will help to acknowledge the important contributions of families, health professionals, researchers, educators and the thousands of other Canadians whose every day efforts help to reduce the incidence and impact of this disease.

Closely related to program delivery is public information and education. Voluntary groups have the unique ability to reach deep into society to ensure that the public as a whole knows about particular services that might benefit them.

Now the government has the opportunity to help with this public awareness campaign by recognizing June as leukemia awareness month. Volunteers by the hundreds are coming forward to help with every kind of fundraising event, and great progress is being made.

Lives are saved and treatments are improved while researchers are working to find a permanent cure.

The volunteer sector plays a crucial role in the pursuit of these objectives for Canadians and in the efforts to maintain a high quality of life. The volunteer sector has become the third pillar of Canadian society, with the public sector and the private sector, helping to make Canada a country that is more humanitarian, more prosperous and more attentive to the needs of others.

Volunteers can help in many ways each year, and the volunteers with the Leukemia Research Fund of Canada collect over $3 million for research, that saves lives.

Today, 70% of children affected are cured, and over 50% of adults with the disease go into remission for five years or more, thanks to all these efforts.

Other volunteers help people with leukemia by giving them psychological support or temporarily relieving those caring for them. Canadians do their part, but this deadly and challenging disease continues to take lives, and every life lost is a tragedy.

This is why we must all support research for a cure and support this motion, which calls on the government to make June Leukemia Awareness Month.

Canadians want all levels of government to work collaboratively, to work in partnership to address this important need. Canadians support the investment that the federal government has made in research, education and funding of the health care system.

We have done much but more could be done. Through the creation and funding of Canadian institutes on health research, through promotion and prevention campaigns, and through investment in the Canadian health and social transfer we will all be providing much needed assistance to Canadians living with and supporting those with leukemia.

Recognizing the month of June as leukemia awareness month will also recognize the work of the Leukemia Research Fund of Canada, established in 1955 as a non-profit organization.

Recognizing the month of June as Leukemia Awareness Month will give us an opportunity to remember all those who fell victim to leukemia and other forms of blood cancer, and to celebrate the survival of an increasingly larger number of patients.

It will also be an opportunity to develop the public's awareness of bone marrow transplants and of the importance of providing psychological support to children, parents and families affected by leukemia.

It will be an opportunity to talk to Canadians about health and the prevention of disease, and to stress to them the importance of health care and wellness services.

This is why, and I will conclude with this, I am very pleased to see that members from all opposition parties have rallied and shown enthusiastic support for this motion by the hon. member for St. Paul's to designate the month of June as Leukemia Awareness Month.

I would encourage all members to support the motion raised to recognize the month of June as leukemia awareness month.

[Global Energy Regulation Forum, February 10th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, in May, Montreal will host an international forum on energy regulation, which will be attended by industries, regulatory agencies, consumer associations and experts in economy.

The purpose of this forum is to exchange ideas on the various mechanisms to regulate energy efficiently. Globalization, deregulation and environmental issues will also be on the agenda.

This is an important event, considering the challenges facing every sector as we enter into this new millennium, including the energy sector.

Canada is a key player internationally in the areas of energy and economy. Montreal has every reason to be proud to have been selected to host this important gathering.

We wish good luck to the organizers of that forum.

[Interparliamentary Delegations, December 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the 29th annual meeting of the Canadian group of the Canada-France Interparliamentary Association held from September 8 to September 15, 1999 in Montreal, Laval, Ottawa, Vancouver and Victoria.

[Manifesto 2000, December 14th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, on December 1 the parliamentary group in support of UNESCO launched Manifesto 2000 for a culture of peace and non-violence and proposed it to all members of the two Houses for their endorsement.

This manifesto 2000 is not an appeal nor a petition addressed to a higher authority. This manifesto was written by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates to create a sense of responsibility starting on a personal level.

The goal is to present 100 million signatures to the United Nations General Assembly meeting at the turn of the millennium in September 2000.

Manifesto 2000 was made public in Paris on March 4, 1999, and seeks signatures of the general public throughout the world. It has already been endorsed by more than 250 parliamentarians in both Houses of this Parliament.

[Farès Bouez, December 6th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the Canada-Lebanon parliamentary friendship group is honoured to welcome to Ottawa and to parliament the new chair of the Canada-Lebanon parliamentary group, Farès Bouez, a member of the Lebanon national assembly representing Kesrouan.

Having spent a number of years as his country's minister of foreign affairs, Mr. Bouez has solid political experience in his own country and internationally.

In his meetings with our Minister of Foreign Affairs, with the members of our friendship group and with the Canadian Lebanese community, Mr. Bouez will stress the importance of strengthening co-operation between our two countries, the importance of finding a longstanding and fair solution to the situation in the middle east and the importance of implementing UN resolution 425 on Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon.

We welcome Mr. Bouez and wish him much success in this mission.

[The Environment, December 3rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague from the NDP for having raised this issue once again, and I will pass it on to the Minister of Health without fail.

[Health, December 3rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health is still reviewing the situation and meeting with the appropriate stakeholders. He will bring in amendment proposals in due time.