House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 40% of the vote.
Health February 4th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, with all the situations going on in the world, it is interesting that the NDP would like to focus on bed bugs.
We have taken a leadership role. We recognize that this is a public health concern and the department is acting appropriately. We look forward to the progress it achieves in this very important health initiative.
Health February 4th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting that the NDP would ask a question about bloodsucking parasites.
However, we do understand that these pests do cause stress when found in the home and that is why the minister has instructed Health Canada to work with the pest control industry to ensure it receives the department's full support as a federal regulator. Health Canada has also created a working group to facilitate the application process for new pesticides that could help control bedbugs.
The provinces and territories are best placed to support Canadians as they respond to infestations in their homes. I acknowledge the recent progress made in certain jurisdictions.
World Autism Awareness Day Act December 15th, 2010
Madam Speaker, I stand to speak today about an issue that is near and dear to my heart and to the hearts of so many Canadians in Oshawa and around the country, autism spectrum disorders, or ASD.
ASD affects many Canadians, including my son, of all ages and walks of life, from coast to coast to coast. This is why the government is committed to building knowledge of and awareness about this serious condition. Indeed, this government is pleased to have the opportunity to voice its endorsement of Bill S-211. By supporting the bill, we underscore our standing commitment to recognize April 2 as annual World Autism Awareness Day.
Many have heard of the government's significant investments in autism related research, and I am very proud of that. This important work is being spearheaded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, otherwise referred to as CIHR. In the spirit of promoting autism awareness and knowledge, I would like to take this opportunity to outline this work and some important findings that it has engendered.
One of CIHR's main priorities is to promote health and reduce the burden of chronic diseases and mental illness. In this context, CIHR's Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction is working with partners in the autism community to set research priorities, coordinate action and accelerate the speed at which knowledge is translated into improved well-being for Canadians with autism.
I am pleased to report that over recent years, CIHR has invested approximately $29 million in ASD-related research projects. Of this amount, roughly $16 million has been devoted to better understanding the causes of ASD. Moreover, CIHR has committed another $10.5 million in this area, with plans to focus on the characterization and treatment of ASD.
In 25 years of children's mental health practice and research, there have been many challenges in thinking about the causes and treatment of autism and there is much work under way to understand the genetic causes of autism and whether there are also environmental triggers. For example, Dr. Peter Szatmari, head of Child Psychiatry, McMaster University, is co-leader of the CIHR-funded Canadian arm of an international study seeking to track down the complex mix of genes involved in ASD.
The international autism genome project, or AGP, is the world's first international collaboration on genetic factors in children's mental health, involving more than 170 leading genetics researchers from over 50 centres in the U.S.A., Europe and Canada.
Since the launch of the autism genome project, at least two dozen genes have been identified and associated with ASD, including four new genes in the latest phase of the study. Based on genetic studies of twins in families, which have shown that ASD propensity can be genetic, researchers estimate that 5% to 15% of autism cases can be linked to specific known genes. In addition, researchers have begun to quantify the influence of genetic patterns and have found that those with ASD were 20% more likely to have abnormalities in the number of copies of specific genes.
Another CIHR-funded initiative is the pathways in ASD project, a one of a kind collaborative research study being led by researchers from McMaster University. The pathways project is focused on understanding how children with ASD develop and change and how family stress evolves over time. It also seeks to identify child, family, school and community factors that might act as predictors, mediators or moderators of key outcomes, information that will ideally be used to develop new intervention programs.
To date, approximately 440 children from 5 different locations across Canada have been enrolled in the study, making it the largest prospective study of ASD ever developed. The project will examine a number of factors that influence areas of development related to the child, the family and the community as a whole, such as social confidence, communication skills, behaviour and the ability to function independently.
The results of this study will be a valuable resource in ensuring the best outcomes for children with ASD, both through the development of new programs and interventions and by furthering our understanding of their needs and strengths.
CIHR is also supporting a $1.4 million strategic training grant in autism research, led by Dr. Eric Fombonne from McGill University, which will contribute to training the upcoming generation of autism researchers and will aim to uncover the mysteries of autism.
Building on the strategic training program in autism research that trained over 40 Ph.D. and post-doctoral students, this latest project will expand the program. This project will address the pressing needs of Canadians affected by autism as well as their families by building research capacity in this very important area.
In addition, CIHR is investing in autism research at the University of Alberta where researchers are examining the early development of autism by following infants at increased risk of the disorder because they are siblings of children who already have autism. The ultimate goal is earlier identification and treatment. Research, such as this, is building our understanding of ASD and our capacity to treat ASD.
Finally, in another CIHR funded project, Dr. Richard Tremblay of Université de Montréal is conducting a series of longitudinal studies that trace the early childhood development trajectories of disruptive behaviour problems and their association with the developmental trajectories of other health problems such as inattention, emotional problems, sleep problems and obesity.
There is a plethora of research projects under way that seek to better understand autism and to bolster the ASD evidence base. Indeed, the studies I have described today present only a sample of this very important work. It is my hope that as we recognize and celebrate World Autism Awareness Day in years to come, Canada will be able to share the ongoing results of such research and succeed in boosting our collective knowledge and awareness of this serious condition leading ultimately to successful treatment.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues who have played an important role in this very important day: the Minister of Health, the member for Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, the member for Kitchener—Conestoga, other colleagues in both the Senate and the House of Commons, the researchers across Canada and around the world, the volunteers in local and national autism awareness organizations and, of course, the families of such wonderful kids.
On April 2, World Autism Awareness Day, we will all remember this very important condition and I think the House will fully endorse this wonderful bill.
Mr. Speaker, again the member is wrong. There is no indication from the government that we will be using social media instead of packaging.
It is really unfortunate that when it comes to standing up to big tobacco, we take no lessons from the NDP. The NDP voted against the $15.8 million for the tobacco strategy. The NDP would rather start a campaign of misinformation, which the member continues this evening, instead of working with the government on an anti-tobacco strategy, which is exactly what we are doing.
This is not a time to play partisan politics. We are dealing with lives of Canadians. The NDP should be ashamed of itself.
Mr. Speaker, that is really unfortunate. Of course I disagree with pretty much every statement the member made. She seems to be providing more misinformation and making more personal attacks instead of working with the government on this important issue.
I am pleased to rise this evening to discuss our government's commitment to tobacco control and our continued efforts to protect youth in particular.
As members are aware, the Minister of Health has indicated that the department continues to examine the renewal of health warning messages on tobacco packaging. I am pleased to outline for the House today what has been done to date and what remains to be completed on the project.
Canada is a world leader in tobacco control. However, no country in the world with a similar political and economic environment has a lower smoking rate. Only 18% of Canadians smoke and 13% smoke daily. This is a substantial decline from the over 50% who smoked in 1965.
Successive tobacco control strategies and actions since the 1990s, a strong Tobacco Act, collaboration with the provinces, territories, non-governmental organizations, community organizations, as well as the changing attitudes of Canadians toward smoking have all contributed to the smoking rate of 18%.
We are encouraged by the results of the recent Canadian tobacco use monitoring survey which showed that fewer young Canadians are smoking. In 2009, 286,000 teens were smoking, which at 13% is the lowest smoking rate recorded for this age group since Health Canada first reported smoking prevalence.
I am also very pleased to note that the smoking rate among young adults, that is, those 20 to 24 years of age, has decreased significantly to a low of 23%. This is an important change given that this is the age group with the highest smoking prevalence.
The health and well-being of our children is a priority for the Government of Canada. That is why we have followed through on our commitment to protect young people from tobacco industry marketing practices that encourage them to smoke.
Last fall we made changes to the Tobacco Act which will make it harder for industry to entice young people to use tobacco products.
Specifically, we put in place additional restrictions on tobacco advertising to address what had become a substantial increase in tobacco advertising in publications that were easily accessible to young people.
We also established minimum packaging contents for little cigars and blunt wraps, putting an end to the tobacco industry's practice of selling these products in single units or in kiddie packs that were obviously too attractive and easily affordable for youth.
Finally, we banned flavours in little cigars, cigarettes and blunt wraps, sending an important message to tobacco manufacturers that marketing tobacco to youth will not be tolerated.
Canada's banning of flavours and additives recently received acclaim from 130 countries that participated at the Conference of Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which was held in November in Uruguay. In fact, the Conference of Parties agreed to embed this idea as a key best practice for countries to adopt in the guidelines to support the regulation of tobacco content and emissions.
Clearly the government's actions position Canada as a world leader in tobacco control.
Regarding health warning messages, Canada was the world leader in implementing full colour pictorial messages covering 50% of cigarette packages in 2000, and many countries have since followed suit.
Canada is also one of the few countries in the world to have rigorously tested the effectiveness of health warning messages. Our results indicate that the messages encourage smokers to quit and discourage youth from starting to smoke.
Health warning messages on tobacco packaging are an important tool but they must be factored into a larger tobacco control strategy. Hard-hitting health warning messages on the dangers of tobacco should not be a stand-alone initiative.
The social environment has changed significantly since health warning messages were introduced 10 years ago. It is a good time to refocus our efforts to ensure the warnings reach the largest number of smokers possible while remaining effective and cost efficient.
While the research conducted in recent years on potential images for new health warning messages has allowed refinement and ensured they appeal to a wide spectrum of smokers, we recognize there are better--
Mr. Speaker, it is challenging when these decisions are being made, because the long-term goal is to stimulate both trade and access across the border with the United States, our partner.
I would like to repeat that we examine these issues very carefully and we ensure that the money is being spent on border crossings appropriately. CBSA does make certain recommendations, and we believe they are consistent with the interests of Canadians who access these border crossings, as well as continuing to stimulate the trade across the border with our American neighbours.
Mr. Speaker, coming from where I do, Oshawa, I realize how important it is for our border crossings to work efficiently, but we also have to be able to ensure security.
As the minister said in this House, CBSA does examine these things very carefully to ensure that money is being well spent on the crossings and things are being appropriately done. We know that CBSA has made certain recommendations, and we believe that those recommendations are consistent with the interests of Canadians who access these border crossings, as well as continuing to stimulate trade across the border with the Americans. Coming from Oshawa, I do realize the importance and the government recognizes the importance of a border that works as seamlessly as possible.
Since 9/11, we have had some challenges with moving forward to make sure that these borders are secure. It is a group agreement. We work in collaboration with our American partners and with local municipalities on both sides of the border. Security issues are very important and trade issues are very important, and we have to ensure that these crossings work appropriately with security.
Our government has actually made record amounts of investments in border crossings and border security. I can bring forward the investments we have made in NEXUS, in moving forward to allow people who move back and forth across the border a speedier crossing.
We can look at the investments we have made at border crossings, and I like to use the ones at Windsor-Detroit as examples. For years and years, this crossing had been ignored and our government has finally made huge investments and partnerships to move that forward so we can get more and more merchandise going over that bridge. I believe that merchandise is now at over $1 billion a day
Of course we have increased funding to Canadian border services.
Always, when these decisions are made, they are very difficult. I want to assure the member that when the government makes these decisions, we try to take the biggest picture possible to ensure that we are able to get people and goods across the border as seamlessly as possible, but also ensure that security objectives are being met.
Oshawa's Christmas Spirit December 6th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, it has been said many times that the Christmas season, which is upon us, is the season of charity. It is the season of giving, and it is a time where everyone is more mindful of those who are less fortunate or in need.
Fortunately there are many people around Oshawa who treat every day and every season like Christmas. They live and breathe the Christmas spirit of giving and charity daily.
Oshawa boasts some of the most remarkable charitable individuals and organizations. Whether it is by volunteering at a local soup kitchen or organizing and engaging in fundraising activities for families in need, all of Oshawa's wonderful volunteers and charitable organizations have made us proud and have made Oshawa a better place.
On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize all those volunteers and organizations in Oshawa that make a difference every single day. They truly are an inspiration to the entire country.
Merry Christmas.
Health December 3rd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, from the discussions at the last health ministers meeting, our understanding was that most provinces and territories did not incur additional costs, and we were able to cover by adding testing requirements.
Over the last year of this global shortage, we have seen incredible resourcefulness in managing the existing supply. For example, the medical community has shown great flexibility during this time by maximizing the use of available TC-99 and using alternative isotopes for certain tests.
Health December 3rd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, our condolences go to the families that are affected.
The health and safety of all Canadians is a priority for our government. We continue to work closely with the community leadership and the provinces.
In the island lake region we are adjusting nursing staff levels and providing support for additional immunization activities and ensuring access to essential medical supplies at the health facilities.
We are encouraging all Canadians to get their flu shot and to use preventive methods, such as handwashing and coughing into their sleeve.