House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 43% of the vote.
Petitions December 6th, 2012
The other set of petitions calls on the Government of Canada to amend the Canada Access to Medications Regime, which would therefore enable easier access to generic drugs, particularly for people in countries like sub-Saharan Africa, in order to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
It is a terrible tragedy. The act needs to be amended and the people of Guelph call on the government to revisit the issue.
Petitions December 6th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I have two sets of petitions today. The first is signed by hundreds of people from Guelph.
The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to immediately ban the possession, trade, distribution, or offer for sale of shark fins in Canada, understanding that shark fins, raw, dried and otherwise processed, are detached fins from living sharks.
Church of Our Lady Immaculate December 3rd, 2012
Mr. Speaker, atop the highest point in Guelph is one of its oldest and most beautiful buildings, Church of Our Lady Immaculate, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. In 1827, Guelph founder, John Alexander Galt, gave the hill in the centre of the town to Bishop Alexander Macdonell, for his advice on the formation of Galt's Canada Company. Upon that hill, from 1876-88, Joseph Connelly, one of Canada's most notable architects, built the Church of Our Lady Immaculate, a masterpiece of the Gothic Revival movement.
Since then, the Church of Our Lady Immaculate has not only remained the physical centre of Guelph and the home of a dedicated and vibrant Roman Catholic community, it is also an important social and cultural centre. The church endures as a symbol of the importance we in Guelph, and Canadians as a society, place on heritage and culture, by understanding where we are going through where we have been.
I am pleased to congratulate Church of Our Lady Immaculate on 125 years as a Guelph faith and cultural landmark, and I wish it centuries more.
HIV-AIDS November 29th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, Saturday, December 1 is World AIDS Day, an annual commemoration of the more than 25 million people who have died since 1981, and a day to support the 33 million who still live with HIV today.
Through days of awareness such as this and year-long efforts, rates of infection are stabilizing. However, 7,100 people are still newly infected every day and 7,100 will become infected with HIV on World AIDS Day. It is not only vital that we continue to raise awareness, dispel myth and remove stigma, but it is essential that, in memory of those tens of millions dead, we continue to act and prevent further illness and death.
Yesterday we had such an opportunity when voting on Bill C-398. I am saddened that many in the House turned their backs on such an opportunity and the measure failed.
It is with a heavy heart that we commemorate World AIDS Day this year, but it is with hope that I look to the millions of Canadians who work every day to fight this terrible disease.
Petitions November 28th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, today I present two petitions signed by dozens of Canadians in my own riding of Guelph. They wish to express their displeasure with the March 2012 decision of the Canadian International Development Agency to drastically cut funding for programs of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace. The cuts will stop nearly $35 million in government support from being provided to Development and Peace programs, despite the program's success.
The petitioners call for Parliament to commit to contributing 0.7% of GDP to development assistance and to ensure that Canadian organizations for development and peace receive the funding they require.
Petitions November 26th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I also have a petition from hundreds of residents from across Canada, coast to coast, including my own riding of Guelph, who wish the government to respect the standing of Canada's Experimental Lakes Area as a unique world-renowned facility for freshwater research and education. They call on the government to recognize how important the ELA is to our responsibilities to protect our aquatic ecosystems and request that it continue to provide financial resources.
Petitions November 26th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to bring forward a petition from hundreds of grandmothers and women in Peterborough, Seeleys Bay, Lakefield, Keene, Omemee and Gananoque, who stand with grandmothers in Africa who are forced to watch their adult children die and then care for their orphaned children.
Petitioners are calling on the government, and all members here, to pass Bill C-398 to reform Canada's access to medications regime to provide affordable, life-saving generic medicines to developing countries. I hope all members listen to their voices.
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns November 23rd, 2012
With regard to National Defence and Militarized Commercial Off-The-Shelf (MILCOT) trucks: (a) what is the identifying number of each MILCOT truck at each base, station or other establishment; (b) how many hours, and for how many kilometres, has each MILCOT truck been in service; (c) how many hours of maintenance have been performed on each MILCOT truck; (d) what are the particulars of any accident involving a MILCOT truck, including (i) the nature of the damage to the vehicle, (ii) the cost of repairs or of writing off the value of the vehicle, (iii) the number of casualties, both military and civilian, and the extent of any injuries?
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns November 23rd, 2012
With regard to National Historic Sites and the response of the Minister of the Environment to Question 773 on the Order Paper, answered in Debates on September 17, 2012, where the Minister states “the majority of national historic sites have maintained similar opening and closing dates for 2012; however, some sites opened on June 1 and will close on the Labour Day weekend”: (a) what is the exact number of sites which maintained similar opening and closing dates for 2012; (b) what is the exact number of sites which opened on June 1 and will close on Labour Day weekend; and (c) for each individual site, what were the opening and closing dates in 2011 and 2012?
Patent Act November 21st, 2012
Mr. Speaker, like its predecessor, Bill C-398 would amend the Patent Act to facilitate the manufacture and export of generic pharmaceuticals to address public health problems afflicting many developing and least developed countries, countries that most urgently need our assistance.
We know that treatment of AIDS prevents transmission. Science says so. Treatment of this terrible disease with antiretroviral medicines can reduce the total virus load in the body in an HIV sufferer to negligible amounts, which means the next step is to get that man or woman the medicine.
Under the current framework, Canada's Access to Medicines Regime, the compulsory licensing process, which is based not only on the specific kind of drug but also specific quantities, is further complicated by making each of those requirements specific to the importing country. Throughout the entire life of the current legislation only one country benefited, Rwanda, leaving the manufacturing company, Apotex, so frustrated that it stated it would not use CAMR again until it was reformed.
Many of the recipients in greatest need cannot wait much longer. Most recent statistics, which date back to 2010, estimate that 34 million people are suffering from HIV-AIDS, 50% are women, 3.4 million are children and 22.5 million sufferers are in sub-Saharan Africa, among some of the world's poorest, least stable countries. Without effective access to medicines enabling treatment, the numbers keep growing. By the end of 2010, HIV-AIDS accounted for 1.8 million deaths that year, deaths that we have come far enough, scientifically and medicinally, to have avoided.
Years ago I witnessed the terrible impact of this disease, while it ravaged the population of Central America. While doing international aid work in Honduras, I was in San Pedro Sula, which had the highest incidence of AIDS across the continent at the time.
Groups in my riding are well aware of the impact too. An incredibly compassionate community, I am pleased that Guelph is home to Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik and the Masai Centre for Local, Regional and Global Health and the “Bracelets of Hope” campaign.
The centre has a really incredible story. In 2003 a young boy named Masai was born to two HIV positive parents, yet through skilful and effective treatment, Masai was born HIV negative, something that would have been nearly impossible had he been born in Africa. Even if he had managed to be born HIV negative, without the proper treatment his parents would likely have joined the growing statistics of AIDS related deaths leaving behind broken families and orphan children.
It is frustratingly simple, really. There is a terrible problem with a workable solution.
The bill before us is substantially the same as the one we passed in March, 2011, but slightly streamlined. Bill C-398 includes the amendment pertaining to the definition of pharmaceutical products, including wording specific to the World Trade Organization General Council's decision of August 2003, reflecting international agreement on eligible drugs. Importantly, it also includes a one licence solution, enabling generic manufacturers to simultaneously sell multiple times to any country listed in schedule 2, cutting down on repetitious and burdensome red tape.
I would like to briefly address four myths about the bill.
The first myth is that the bill would weaken safeguards against the diversion and illegal sale of medicines. In fact, all safeguards currently in CAMR are maintained in the bill, which adds a further requirement for manufacturers to post certain information online that makes the process even more transparent.
The second myth is that the bill would remove measures to ensure the quality of exported medicines. In fact, Health Canada review continues to be required for all drugs exported under CAMR. There is no measure in the bill that would amend the Food and Drugs Act.
The third myth is that the bill would be contrary to Canada's obligations under WTO respecting intellectual property rights. In fact, CAMR and Bill C-398 are the Canadian implementation of agreements reached by all countries at the WTO, including Canada. Leading international legal experts all agree that the one licence solution proposed in Bill C-398 complies with WTO law.
The fourth myth is that like its predecessor the bill would remove the two-year limit on a licence. In fact, this was not carried over to this bill and the limit is not removed.
Also important to remember is that the bill continues the practice that generic manufacturers can only ship certain quantities of drugs. Listed countries must provide a notification of the quantities they need to the WTO. Generic manufacturers are only authorized to provide that notified quantity to those listed countries.
When this bill's predecessor was last before Parliament, I made the appeal that if we did not vote for the bill, we would wake up tomorrow and, as a country, would be no better able to help 7,100 newly-infected people with HIV. Nor would we be in a position to prevent another 7,100 people from becoming infected two days from now.
It is as true now as it was then. The problem has not changed. If anything, it continues to get worse. The solutions are present. It is time we move the bill to committee, make the necessary amendments and start to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most.
I implore all members to support the bill.