Judy Wasylycia-Leis

[Bill C-80, October 18th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the minister and the government are so concerned that they are prepared to throw the do not harm principle right out the window. The scientists are coming to the minister and to the public because they have deep concerns. They do not believe what he has just said.

They have said we are in a disastrous situation and we are on a perilous course of action. I want to know from the Minister of Health: Are the scientists wrong?

[Bill C-80, October 18th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, 200 food safety scientists have sounded the alarm today. They are warning that our government is not able to ensure the safety of our food and that the whole food safety system is in jeopardy.

The scientists are especially worried about Bill C-80, the proposed food marketing bill, that it will further erode our ability to ensure the safety of our food.

My question for the health minister is simple. Will the government abandon this dangerous bill?

[Speech From The Throne, October 18th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the wisdom of my colleague, the member for Winnipeg—Transcona, who has been involved in these issues for some 20 years. He probably knows better than anyone else the struggle in Canada for a universal, comprehensive health care system.

It is absolutely clear that Monique Bégin will go down in history as the last person in the federal government to be seen fighting for medicare. She was very clear in her recent comments about what is required. She pointed to the fact that “erosion of medicare is the slow concealed process which suddenly leads to landslides and collapses. Is that what we want?”. Obviously we do not want that.

We have a universal health care system in the country that must be defended against all pressures including our own worst enemy, the Liberal government, which has overseen the dismantling of the system through steadfast cutbacks over the years, has willingly allowed the private sector to invade the health care sector and, as my colleague for Winnipeg—Transcona has said, is prepared to allow free-floating discussions at the WTO around health care services to be up for grabs at the table in the international sphere. Those are two obvious threats to health care in the country.

The third threat, which I hinted at earlier, is the dismantling of our health protection system. We have in the country a tradition of a tough regulatory approach to ensure that the food we eat, the drugs we need, the water we drink and the medical devices we need to use are safe beyond a reasonable doubt. We have operated in the country on the basis of a “do no harm” principle. If there is a concern or a doubt then we ensure that we do not allow that product to be consumed by Canadians until we know the long term health consequences.

We know from events of the past week that we have been inundated with all kinds of concerns from groups and individuals about the flood of genetically modified foods on the market around which there has been no scientific investigation or research from the federal government. Members also know that we have had a number of instances where our government inspectors are so under-resourced and short staffed that they are not able to address very serious situations around toxins and poisonings in our food supply. It is an area that cries out for government leadership.

We are desperately hoping that the government will address both areas of health care: the preservation of a universal, publicly administered health insured system and the strongest possible national food safety and health protection system imaginable.

[Speech From The Throne, October 18th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Winnipeg Centre.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the Speech from the Throne and to send a message to parliament from the people in my constituency of Winnipeg North Centre.

The people in my constituency are working very hard to build their future, our community and to contribute to Canada. They are people who get out of bed, work hard every day, who look after their kids and organize programs at the local community centre, who coach at the rink or help out at the seniors' centre. They share a sense of pride for their neighbourhoods and are determined to make a difference.

I will provide a little idea of just how people in my riding are making a difference in spite of some very difficult odds and conditions. In the last little while we have celebrated many important anniversaries. I want to mention, for example, the 15th anniversary of the North End Women's Centre, an organization working to provide counselling, training opportunities and employment for hard pressed women.

I want to mention the 50th anniversary of Inkster School, a wonderful example of good, solid public education that needs the support of all levels of government.

Let me also mention the 50th anniversary of the Shaughnessy United Church which is working very hard in my constituency to be a presence, to bring a spiritual contribution to our area.

Let me mention the 20th anniversary of Bleak House, a very important centre for seniors working to ensure social and recreational opportunities for all of our senior citizens.

Finally, let me mention the 100th anniversary of the Holy Ghost Parish, a church that is located in the heart of my constituency. It represents an incredible achievement for not only my community and the province of Manitoba but for all of Canada. It reveals a history of courage, tenacity and faith. From its earliest days, the Holy Ghost Parish helped early settlers adjust to life in this new land. It became a focal point for, in this case Polish culture, but it also worked to serve the needs of new immigrants right across western Canada.

Today I mentioned this centennial because it represents the pioneering spirit in the country. It talks about those who built this great country, who devoted so much time and energy and who sacrificed so much in order to foster the spiritual and cultural growth of our community and the country.

All of those organizations are trying very hard to make a difference but the odds are working against them because of a failure of federal leadership. In my own area, along with the constituency of Winnipeg Centre, we have the highest rate of poverty anywhere in the country. We have a housing crisis that is beyond description in the Chamber. Just in the last couple of weeks we have had another dozen or more arsons of vacant properties in the inner city and north end of Winnipeg.

In that context, let me reference the Speech from the Throne which suggests that the government, in response to the housing crisis of the land, is going to study the roots of the problems of homelessness. The situation in areas like Winnipeg North Centre do not need to be studied any more. I can tell the House right now just what the problem is. This is an area that has few economic opportunities because of the policies of the government. This is an area that has been totally abandoned by the government offloading its responsibility for housing onto other levels of government. This is an area that has been abandoned by the big banks. In the next couple of months we will see another two branches close in my area. There are other examples right across the country. This is a situation where people are very much the victims of federal government neglect and of the failure of leadership that permeates every aspect of our society.

The people in Winnipeg North Centre are prepared to do their part to build communities but they want the support of government. They need the co-operation of government and they need the vision of government to do just that.

When I was at the celebration marking the very important occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Holy Ghost Parish, the pastor at that church, whose name is Father Karciarz, actually summed up the situation in the best way possible. He quoted from a prayer by Archbishop Oscar Romero who said:

We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

That prayer is exactly what people in my area and in areas right across the country are saying to the federal government. Together we must plant the seeds of hope. We must ensure that those seeds are watered daily. We must lay the foundation for building a better society and a better day. They turn to the government and especially the throne speech for that sign, the road map of how we will create a better day. They look to the government for a vision to help us overcome these great difficulties around poverty, homelessness, deplorable housing conditions, unemployment and lack of recreational opportunities for our young people. They expect a throne speech to be in tune with that vision, those ideas and those seeds of hope. What did they get from the Speech from the Throne? They got an absolute failure of leadership and an abdication of government responsibility. There was no sign of a vision and no hope for the future.

On every critical issue facing the country, the government is either silent or it claims to be studying the issue. There is no mention of the housing crisis, the fishing crisis or the farm crisis. There is no mention of the real problems facing families and communities right across the country. Nowhere is this more apparent than when it comes to health care.

We are under a serious assault in the country as a result of the failure of federal leadership and an agenda that very much supports the privatization of our health care system. We are under the double assault of the dismantling of our universal health coverage system and the dismantling of our health protection system. This should be readily apparent today as we hear that there are 200 scientists in the government's own department who are crying out with a message that we are headed toward despair and doom on the health safety front unless the government decides to resume responsibility and provide leadership.

If nothing else, perhaps the government will listen to the words of its own former minister of health, Monique Bégin, who said: “Canada's cherished medicare system is steadily eroding and could one day collapse because of federal disregard”. If the government will not listen to the words of the opposition, surely it will listen to the words of those who have helped to preserve and protect our health care system, one of its own former colleagues, the Hon. Monique Bégin.

I represent an area that was held by both Stanley Knowles and David Orlikow, two people who stood and fought for health care, pensions, unemployment insurance, protection for our families and ways to end poverty and despair in our communities. We have a great responsibility to carry on that legacy and it is one we take very seriously.

I hope we can impress upon members of the government the need for addressing the real concerns of Canadians: being there at times of crisis and offering leadership that builds upon the sense of co-operation and community that has been so much part of the history of the country.

[Speech From The Throne, October 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to pose a question to my leader, the member for Halifax, pertaining to the very difficult economic situation facing many families and communities everywhere in the country. I would like to ask the member to respond to what is in the Speech from the Throne for that situation and what solutions she sees.

[United Nations Human Rights Committee, June 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have a few minutes to raise an issue that I presented to the House on April 22. It concerns a very critical health care issue, that of organ donations and transplantation.

One thing I am sure we in the House all agree on is that we have a serious problem in terms of the number of organ donors in Canada. There is no question that Canada has one of the worst rates of organ donors anywhere in the western world. That is a critical situation which all of us need to work at addressing.

The health committee spent a good period of time hearing from witnesses, receiving evidence, getting advice and presenting a report about how to address this very serious matter. I regret though that on a couple of very important issues in my opinion the committee's recommendations were weak and less than helpful.

I want to raise two specific points and ask the government to give serious consideration to these recommendations.

The first has to do with respect to a national donor registry system. The government has refused to commit to a registry that would encourage Canadians to think seriously about demonstrating their commitment to donate an organ if they should be faced with death. I want the government to look at a model that has been tried in other jurisdictions.

The Government of British Columbia has a donor registry system that allows every individual to look at the situation. They can make the serious decision that yes they want to donate, or no they do not want to donate, or that they are undecided.

We think that would have been a very important system to encourage Canadians to make commitments around organ donations. The government and the health committee of parliament have refused to make that specific recommendation.

Second, I want to raise the issue of safety and the whole area of health protection when it comes to organ donations. In our view, organs are no different than blood. We know we should have learned from our sorry history on the question of blood and taken very seriously the recommendations of Justice Krever when he said that this government must pursue a proactive regulatory approach when it comes to blood. I would suggest he would also say that applies to organs, to tissues and to everything that is important in terms of the health and well-being of Canadians.

On this particular issue the government continues to reject the recommendations of Justice Krever and is bent on pursuing what it would call a risk management approach, which is basically a hands off, buyer beware kind of mentality, and that is not at all appropriate to the kind of issues we are dealing with.

Time and time again, whether we talk about blood, medical devices, food, genetically modified products, children's toys, breast implants or drugs, this government continues to reject its responsibility around absolute safety for Canadians. I urge the government to take seriously the need to protect all Canadians when it comes to—

[Parliamentary Internship Program, June 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today not only as a member of parliament but also as a former parliamentary intern.

Thirty years ago, inspired by Alf Hales and James Hurley, this House passed a motion creating the parliamentary internship program. The program is now run by the Canadian Political Science Association and gives young people an inside look at our parliament.

Today there are 300 alumni across the country and around the world. They are leaders in government, academia, business, law, advocacy and diplomacy.

A Parliamentary Internship Alumni Association was launched on May 13 to promote strong connections among current and ex-interns. The event took place in the house where Sir John A. Macdonald lived and was attended by 100 ex-interns. It was a great success thanks to help from the British High Commission and the Institute on Governance.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank you for agreeing to serve as the association's honorary patron.

[Foreign Publishers Advertising Services Act, June 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier to the member for Surrey Central, I think the members of the Reform Party by their words are suggesting that we give it up and allow the American culture to dominate everything.

As I said earlier we are simply trying to create the climate with every tool possible provided by government to support the unique aspect of Canadian culture, to ensure that we can express what is unique about being Canadians to the rest of our society and to the world. I cannot think of a more noble objective if we are truly interested in preserving any sense of nationhood and allowing our children to understand exactly what it means to be Canadian and all of the history that has been before us.

[Foreign Publishers Advertising Services Act, June 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member for Surrey Central said I was preaching. I certainly feel as if that is what I am doing today. I am preaching to people who have yet to be converted to just what it means to have an expression of who we are as a nation, to be able to share that with the world, to be able to pass it on to our children.

I do not understand the gist of the question as posed. To do anything but what we are proposing today would be to say let American culture rule the day; let us stamp out all of our unique expressions.

When it comes to the whole question of economics, we are not talking about wasting money and causing taxpayers extra burden. We are talking about the opposite. The member should know that the largest subsidy to the cultural life of Canada comes not from government, corporations or other patrons, but from the artists themselves through their unpaid or underpaid labour. When creative activity is diminished because many artists are unable to earn a decent living, something is lost to all of us and our entire culture fails to fulfil its promise.

[Foreign Publishers Advertising Services Act, June 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, when one has blinkers on, I suppose it is very hard to understand what we are talking about when we propose a cultural policy for this country and when we express our opposition to this bill.

I want the member to know that no one is trying to force anything down anyone's throat. Whenever members of the Reform Party have difficulty with something, they like to portray it that way.

We are trying to create a climate where our artists, writers, movie producers, filmmakers, book publishers, singers and dancers can have an opportunity to use their talent and express their sentiments. Surely that is something we all appreciate and enjoy, the freedom of expression.

We are not talking about forcing anything on anyone. We are talking about the fact that it is very hard as Canadians to compete with the Americans to the south of us. It requires proactive government. It requires us to do whatever we can to support the artistic cultural fabric of this nation. Otherwise it will be stamped out and I would hope that the Reform Party is not suggesting that for one moment.