Djaouida Sellah

[Business of Supply, November 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health for her eloquent speech. I noticed that we agree on a lot of points.

We know that these survivors spent years seeking assistance from the successive Liberal and Conservative governments. However, it is only now that all of the parties—I am assuming—will agree to help these survivors.

Will the government commit to compensating them right away so that they do not have to suffer any longer?

[Business of Supply, November 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Vancouver East for the incredible work she has done for the survivors of the tragedy due to the side effects of thalidomide and the delay in taking this drug off the shelves here in Canada.

As the hon. member just said in her question, this is a tragedy. I am well aware of the side effects. I want to apologize to the sensitive among us and to those watching, but I can mention one side effect in particular that I saw among the survivors who came to our press conference yesterday. One woman had what is referred to as phocomelia. The root of the word phocomelia is “phoco” from the Greek for “seal”. A person with phocomelia might have their hands attached at their shoulders or their feet attached at their hips.

That is just one example. Some were born without arms or without upper limbs or lower limbs, or with just one lung. Imagine the pain and suffering these people experience and how tough it is for them to perform daily tasks such as getting dressed, eating or getting around. What is more, the tragedy now is that the average age of the survivors is 50. They used to get help from their parents, but those parents are now dead or quite old. The survivors therefore have no quality of life and they are suffering.

Today, the Canadian government must compensate these people and give them the financial means to live in dignity.

[Business of Supply, November 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, in 1961, the largest drug-related scandal the world had ever known erupted. It was learned that thalidomide, a drug prescribed to expectant mothers to treat morning sickness, had tragic side effects. Thalidomide was responsible for birth defects and killed thousands of newborns. In 1961, the drug was taken off the market in Germany and Great Britain.

Despite those revelations and the fact that the drug was pulled off shelves in some countries, it was sold in Canada until May 1962, six months after it was taken off the market elsewhere. Today, there are 95 survivors in Canada. The survivors have lived for decades with the consequences of thalidomide, experiencing acute, debilitating pain. In many cases, their health care needs surpass the capacities of the provincial health care systems.

It is sad to see that, after 50 years of fighting, these victims of botched legislation are still having to fight alone to cover the very high costs of their disability. It is in that context that the hon. member for Vancouver East moved this motion calling on the government to make restitution and commit to supporting the thalidomide survivors.

I am honoured to rise today to participate in this debate and support my colleague's motion. I know she does amazing work. Yesterday, we had an opportunity to meet two incredible people who live with the challenges of thalidomide side effects every day. I found their stories so touching. As a doctor, I cannot stand knowing that patients are living with pain and do not even have the help they need to find comfort and feel supported.

Thalidomide survivors in Canada have fared less well than their counterparts in other countries. Thalidomide victims have been forced to fend for themselves, family by family. Not one has benefited from a court ruling. Families have had to make do with an out-of-court settlement that required them to submit to a gag provision prohibiting them from discussing the amount of the settlement. Widely varying amounts were offered as compensation, and people with the same degree of disability received settlements that differed by hundreds of thousands of dollars. That is scandalous considering that in Germany, the United Kingdom and even Spain, subsidy programs are in place to provide financial support to sick people.

The government will say that in 1991, through the extraordinary assistance plan, the Minister of Health granted lump sum payments. However, the amounts were so paltry that they were quickly used up to cover some of the very high costs incurred by survivors.

What are Canada's 95 thalidomide survivors getting today? Nothing. They are getting nothing. While we are giving victims nothing, the United Kingdom gives $80,000 a year. It is up to the government to roll up its sleeves and have a closer look at some programs that could be introduced. Survivors need support and compensation, and they need it now.

The NDP believes that the federal government needs to show leadership when it comes to health.

We know that this Conservative government does not view Canadians' health as a priority, but it has an opportunity here in the House today to do the right thing and help a group of Canadians in need.

Given that this is not a partisan issue and it directly affects the quality of life and daily suffering of nearly 100 survivors of the side effects of thalidomide, I move, seconded by the member for Laval—Les Îles:

That the motion be amended by replacing the words “as requested by” with the words “in partnership with”.

[Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act, November 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, since being elected, I have noticed, and so have all Canadians, that the Conservative government does not govern for Canadians but for its electoral base. Today, with Bill C-42, we see that it is working for the gun lobby.

We know that this government did not consult organizations responsible for applying the law, such as the National Firearms Association in Quebec, beforehand about the repercussions of the proposed changes on public safety.

Does my colleague not think that Bill C-42 runs counter to the concept of public safety and security?

[Tougher Penalties for Child Predators Act, November 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my Liberal colleague for asking such a relevant question.

I made that point in my speech when I said that the government should be supporting community organizations that help these people turn things around instead of just punishing the guilty. I therefore already answered his question about what the NDP is advocating.

When it comes to Conservative bills, the devil is always in the details. That is why we want experts to talk about how effective these proposed changes would be.

[Tougher Penalties for Child Predators Act, November 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his very pertinent question.

As I mentioned in my speech, I think that repressive measures in and of themselves have never been a solution. We must also allow these offenders to be rehabilitated and to be monitored, because repression alone will not make our communities safer. We must look into prevention and allow these people to be monitored, something that goes beyond punishment.

I will try to say this using a medical metaphor: instead of trying to put ointment on a sore and stop the oozing, it would be better to get to the root of the problem and prevent it from happening. Of course there have to be penalties. However, they must go hand in hand with prevention, reintegration and rehabilitation.

It is therefore important that the agencies providing assistance to these people have stable funding in order to help them.

[Tougher Penalties for Child Predators Act, November 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to speak on such a serious issue as the subject of Bill C-26.

This bill is a perfectly clear manifestation of the Conservatives' law and order ideology. It also demonstrates the Conservatives' failure to provide the law and order they talk so much about, since sexual offences against children have increased by 6% in the last two years.

We in the NDP have zero tolerance for sexual offences against children, while respecting jurisprudential principles and basic law, an area where the government too often expresses its disdain for judges by reducing their freedom of decision-making and imposing minimum sentences.

I would remind the House that we offered to speed the passage of the parts of former omnibus Bill C-10 that dealt with sexual offences against children. In those parts, the mandatory minimum sentences were more severe. However, today we are debating a bill that would increase the existing mandatory minimums and the maximum sentences for certain sexual offences against children.

This provision gives the impression that the Conservative government is trying to make up for its failures, but I would like the government to tell me how these new mandatory minimum and maximum sentences can succeed when they have failed in the past.

Like the other members of Parliament, I have read the statistics. The number of crimes committed has risen exponentially. As the mother of three children, I find the following figures rather frightening: in 2008, 54 people were charged with luring children by means of the Internet; in 2012 that number was 127; in 2008, 241 people were charged with sexual interference; in 2012 there were 916.

I wonder whether the problem lies with the sentences or with the services provided.

We know that our communities need more resources to combat the sexual abuse of children. The NDP has supported the program called Circles of Support and Accountability or CoSA.

The former federal ombudsman for victims of crime has revealed that funding for this program will end this fall. That is very sad because, like most community services for victims, the CoSA program is not very expensive. Its 700 volunteers across Canada meet with offenders after their release, help them find work and housing, and meet with them regularly over coffee. The former ombudsman said they were helping offenders remake their lives, avoid reoffending and take responsibility.

Harsher prison terms will probably not be enough.

I would like to raise another point I think is dicey in this bill: the creation of a publicly accessible database containing information with respect to persons who are found guilty of sexual offences against children.

A number of elements that need to be clarified come to mind when I read this bill. This database is likely to lead to a false sense of security, as it gives the impression that the threat comes only from strangers, from those sex offenders walking around in our communities and on our streets, even though the vast majority of child molesters are close to the family. The Fondation Marie-Vincent has determined that in 85% of cases of sexual abuse of children under the age of 12, the abuser is a person the child knows.

I am not saying that establishing this kind of database is a bad thing. I am saying that care must be taken and that the database should not be the only tool for making people safer. It has a role to play, of course, but it is not the main way to make our neighbourhoods safer.

There is another point that bothers me: this kind of registry has already been established in the United States, and we can see that the results are not very good. The Chicago-based Journal of Law and Economics conducted a study in 2011 that showed that the highest rates of sex crimes in the United States come from sex offenders who are listed in registries that are available to the public, simply because the offenders whose names are on these public lists have a tendency to hide and comply less with the law. They tend to live in secrecy. They will take longer to reintegrate into society and be rehabilitated. In other words, they will not be monitored as other offenders are by assistance services and they will be more likely to reoffend. I think this is something that should be examined in greater depth, and I am sure that my colleagues will try to raise all of these sensitive issues in committee.

Since 2006, the Conservative government has taken measures that it says are meant to protect children better. We have taken note of this, but considering that the numbers of sex offences against children continue to rise, the government’s repressive measures are clearly not sufficient.

We would like to see measures that will protect children in a tangible way and make our communities safer, not measures that are just intended to make the Conservatives look good in press conferences. We must also examine in depth whether certain of these measures—such as the high-risk child sex offender database, evidence from spouses of accused persons in child pornography cases and the imposition of consecutive sentences on offenders who have committed sexual offences against children—are in compliance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Finally, it is easy to see that the unilateral and essentially repressive approach by the Conservatives is unlikely to be enough in and of itself and that this strategy must be urgently reviewed in order to fight effectively against child sexual molestation.

[Health, November 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, NewLink Genetics did not honour its agreement with the Canadian scientists who invented a potential cure for Ebola.

The contract states that NewLink Genetics must do everything possible to develop and sell the vaccine quickly. However, as can be seen on its website, the company just hired a scientist to take over the file. That reeks of amateurism.

Why did the Conservatives sign a contract with NewLink Genetics when the company is clearly not ready to commercialize the vaccine that Africa so desperately needs?

[Petitions, November 19th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform you that I have a second petition that I am pleased to present in the House.

The petition is calling on the government to respect the rights of small family farms to keep, share, and use their seeds. It was sent to me by Denise Brouillette, who has gathered over 100 signatures from the people of my riding, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert.

[Petitions, November 19th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present a petition from dozens of citizens from Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert who oppose the reduction of Canada Post services.

Canada will be the only G8 country that no longer has home delivery. Thousands of Canadians from across the country have mobilized against this. I support their petition.