Luc Malo

[Doping in Sport, April 8th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is obviously in favour of the motion introduced by the member for Perth—Wellington. I am sure that all members in this House, like us, believe that the government must continue to combat doping in sport.

Everyone will agree that doping is a real scourge in elite sports, and that there is no room for cheating.

This was demonstrated by the unanimous adoption of the first International Convention against Doping in Sport by the General Conference of UNESCO on October 19, 2005, at its plenary session in Paris. David Howman, the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the WADA, said the following:

The adoption of the Convention by UNESCO is a strong signal of the commitment of the governments of the world to the fight against doping in sport. The drafting of this Convention in just two years was a world record for international treaties. We warmly commend and thank UNESCO for facilitating the process, and we look forward to the treaty coming into force and the ratification by each government.

Until now, many governments could not be legally bound by a non-governmental document such as the World Anti-Doping Code, the document harmonizing regulations regarding anti-doping in all sports and all countries of the world. Governments accordingly drafted the international convention under the auspices of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, enabling them to align their domestic legislation with the code and thereby harmonizing the sport and public legislation in the fight against doping in sport.

The convention is now available for UNESCO member states to ratify according to their respective constitutional jurisdictions. Under UNESCO procedures for this convention, thirty countries must ratify it in order for it to become effective.

Some 192 countries have signed the Copenhagen Declaration on Anti-Doping in Sport, the political document through which governments show their intention to implement the World Anti-Doping Code through ratification of the UNESCO Convention. More than 570 sports organizations have already adopted the code.

We can see that the large majority of UNESCO's member states have already signed the convention and that a number of them have ratified it. The motion debated in this House will not have much of an impact, since the work has already been done in connection with a convention that was unanimously adopted in October 2005.

With this motion, the Conservatives would have us believe that they are trailblazers on an issue where everyone is already in agreement.

Obviously, the Bloc supports the convention against doping in sport. Obviously, everyone does. Anyone who said they were opposed to this motion or this convention would be saying they were in favour of doping and cheating.

Yet with this motion, the Conservatives are trying to say that national governments should “follow Canada's lead” in ratifying the convention. Canada may have been a leader in ratifying some international treaties, but the current Conservative government is hardly a trailblazer.

The Conservative government is the anti-Kyoto government. Is that how Canada is taking the lead? The Conservative government is the government that has done everything in its power to sabotage the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Is that how Canada is taking the lead? The Conservative government is the government that is working to defeat efforts by the United Nations to have the right to water recognized as a universal human right. Is that how Canada is taking the lead?

The Conservative government is the one that, despite the Convention on the Rights of the Child, remains silent on the Omar Khadr affair concerning the child soldier being held in Guantanamo Bay. Is that how Canada is taking the lead? The Conservative government is the government that, despite its membership in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, did away with tools that were essential to defending women's rights. What great leadership on the part of Canada. And the list goes on.

No, Canada is definitely no longer taking the lead, as it once did. It is no longer the country of peacekeepers. It is no longer the country that bridges the gap between eastern bloc and western bloc countries. It is no longer the country that refused to go to war in Iraq. Canada is no longer taking the lead on anything.

The Conservatives' Canada is a country that lets Canadian citizens sentenced to death rot in jail while awaiting execution. Clearly, if we must follow an example, we should follow Quebec's example.

We saw what Quebec was capable of in the implementation of the convention on the expression of cultural diversity. And think of the phenomenal work done by Louise Beaudoin.

Many Quebeckers were dynamic and dedicated in their involvement in the fight against doping. Think of how Radio-Canada reporter Robert Frosi raised awareness with his book, Dope Story. In it, Mr. Frosi asked some fundamental questions about the future of elite sports becoming a human experimentation lab where athletes are used as guinea pigs. Will tomorrow's athlete be genetically modified? That question is as disturbing as it is important.

Think of Dick Pound, the first president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, WADA. He was the prime mover behind the anti-doping movement. His mission drew him into a number of fights that he never backed down from, including a conflict with the Olympic committee, which was suspected and found guilty of not sanctioning athletes who tested positive, especially in track and field.

Think of Ms. Christiane Ayotte, a chemist specializing in the fight against doping and an international authority in the mattter.

Quebec is definitely one example, as was Canada before the Conservatives formed the current government. The truth is that this motion is an attempt to restore its lustre by a government completely lacking in virtue.

The Bloc Québécois will vote in favour of this motion because no one is in favour of cheating and we deplore all the collateral damage caused to athletes who seek excellence and whose lifetime efforts are destroyed by a system that demands that the latest record be toppled immediately, no matter the cost. We will vote in favour of this motion, but the Conservatives should not try to improve their image at the expense of those working on making Canada and Quebec exemplary places for elite sport. That would be vile and base.

[Canadian Heritage, April 4th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I will put it another way for the parliamentary secretary. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages continues to ignore the Quebec industry, which is asking that she eliminate the reference to public policy.

By giving the industry the responsibility for providing guidelines, is the minister not attempting to shift the Conservatives' desire for censorship to industry stakeholders? Why ask them to manage a problem that does not exist, if not to make them censor themselves?

[Canadian Heritage, April 4th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, Jean Pierre Lefebvre, president of the Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec, finds the proposal by the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages to have the industry provide guidelines and define the concept of “public policy” are ridiculous. No one in this field has been fooled. Everyone knows very well that the minister is making the offer simply to get out of a tight spot.

Instead of looking for lame solutions, why does the minister not simply remove the reference to public policy that could lead to censorship?

[Aerospace Industry, March 14th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, RADARSAT-2, an innovative satellite designed and built at the Canadian Space Agency in St. Hubert, could end up in the hands of a U.S. company.

Is the Minister of Industry going to allow all of Canada and Quebec's contribution in research to be destroyed by disregarding CIDA and IDRC's intellectual property and ongoing development projects and allowing MDA's activities to be sold to ATK, a major weapons and munitions manufacturer?

[Aerospace Industry, March 14th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the fact that Quebec, which represents 54% of the aerospace industry, is not getting its fair share does not matter to the Conservatives. So much so that in the contract for the 17 Hercules aircraft, Quebec will have fewer economic spinoffs than the Maritimes, which represents just 5% of the industry. The Conservative ideology of laissez-faire clearly translates as doing everything it can against Quebec.

When will the ministers from Quebec stand up for Quebec and help it get its fair share of these government contracts?

[Film Industry, March 10th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, at the Jutra awards, the feelings expressed about Bill C-10 were unanimous, and two of the winning producers, Luc Déry and Kim McCraw, summed it up when they said that the bill was an abomination that threatens freedom of expression.

Does the minister plan on listening to the demands of the Quebec film community, which is calling on the government to remove the reference to “public policy”, which definitely could lead to censorship?

[Health, March 7th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to the motion introduced by my colleague from Sarnia—Lambton. This is the member I know from the Standing Committee on Health. It is the role of each member of this committee, on which I have the privilege of sitting, to raise awareness and bring up this kind of situation in which products could be sold before proper analyses or studies are done. I thank her for doing so.

What she is proposing today is that Health Canada should conduct more studies on the use of cosmetic contact lenses. The problem is that cosmetic contact lenses are considered to be cosmetic products instead of medical devices.

According to the optometric, ophthalmological and optical associations, the potential adverse effects of contact lenses on the user's health are the same whether they are corrective or cosmetic, since both types come in contact with the surface of the eye.

This is why these associations have been asking since 2000 for all contact lenses to be considered health products requiring more than cosmetic care. Since customers can purchase lenses without consulting a professional, eye-care professionals say that these people are endangering the health of their eyes. Currently, users of cosmetic lenses that are not prescribed by a vision specialist are thought to be more at risk than contact lens users who have consulted a specialist.

I would also like to recall the fact that in Quebec, various laws require consumers to have a prescription for corrective glasses and corrective contact lenses. Consumers are not required to consult a vision specialist for cosmetic lenses.

What the member for Sarnia—Lambton has brought up is that cosmetic contact lenses must currently respect the quality regulations set out in the Food and Drug Act specifically as they apply to cosmetic products. If the product presents a danger of any kind to the consumer, Health Canada must take action and issue a warning or have the product taken off the market. After Health Canada issued its warning, several pharmacies decided to pull cosmetic contact lenses from their shelves.

That being said, Health Canada has already examined the possibility of considering cosmetic contact lenses as medical devices, just like corrective contact lenses. Heath Canada officials concluded that, under current legislation, cosmetic contact lenses must still be considered a cosmetic product.

The motion put forward by my colleague from Sarnia—Lambton raises several questions concerning the terms and objectives of this motion. Do eye care professionals want this product to be regulated in order to explain to consumers basic rules regarding hygiene, use and the dangers of contact lenses, whether cosmetic or corrective? Is the product dangerous because of its poor quality or because people do not know how to use it properly?

The information and facts provided by the hon. member for Sarnia—Lambton seem to suggest that cosmetic contact lenses should be provided on prescription only, in order to ensure their proper use. The complexity of this problem lies in the fact that there is not enough information about the use of cosmetic contact lenses and the health problems they have actually caused.

However, it is clear from information obtained from various eye care professional associations and Health Canada, as well as from the information provided by my colleague, that the improper use of cosmetic contact lenses may pose a risk to health, including the health of adolescents.

It has been shown that adolescents have a tendency to share lenses, which immediately increases the risk of developing various types of eye infections. Does this mean that the product itself is dangerous or that the improper use of the product poses a danger to young people? To ensure more appropriate use of cosmetic lenses by youth, practical health and hygienic advice should be provided by an eye specialist when these products are sold.

However, this is far from being a matter for federal regulation given that the services of eye specialists, as I explained before, are governed by provincial professional codes.

For this reason, the Bloc Québécois would like to note, first of all, that the health of eyes is vital. Consequently, it is important to clearly define the objectives of this motion and its implications for legislation governing medical devices.

[Mathieu Émond, March 7th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, my Bloc Québécois colleagues and I were saddened to learn of the passing of Mathieu Émond, a Varennes firefighter who lost his life in the line of duty on March 4. Mr. Émond demonstrated courage and exemplary dedication in fighting the fire.

This tragedy reminds us that we should never forget that the firefighter's profession is dangerous, but essential for society. They are very courageous indeed to put their lives on the line every day to save others. They deserve our utmost respect for the acts of bravery they carry out every day without hesitation.

I wish to extend my most sincere condolences to his spouse, Mrs. Sarah Larochelle, to his young daughter, to his family and to all those who loved him and are bereaved. I would also like to pay tribute to this gentleman who sacrificed his life while serving his community, a selfless act worthy of the highest consideration and everyone's gratitude.

[Business of Supply, March 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, if people in the film industry are pointing to potential censorship by the Conservative government, it is undoubtedly because there are examples to prove that the members of the Conservative Party are tempted to act in that manner.

I am referring to the recent appearance of the Chairman of the Board of Telefilm Canada before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. The member for Palliser listed movies which, in his opinion, Telefilm Canada should not have funded. This concrete example speaks for itself.

I am also thinking of the guidelines. The government told us that they once existed but that they no longer exist and that they will be issued after the bill is passed by the Senate and receives royal assent.

Does the member not think that, in order to eliminate these concerns, it would be better to remove this contentious passage from Bill C-10?

[29th Olympic Games, February 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Olympic Games to be held in China next summer are causing such a stir among Beijingers that tickets, especially to aquatic events, are being sold hot off the presses. This strong desire to encourage their fellow citizens and discover the world is highly commendable and desirable.

Nonetheless, on the flip side, the parents of Quebec and Canadian athletes, such as the mother of swimmer Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon, are a few months away from the competition with flight and hotel booked, but no place to sit in the stands to cheer for their child.

Obviously this situation is cause for concern for the parents and also for the athletes. This is far from ideal preparation conditions. I have already notified the Chinese authorities about this problem and, like us, they are looking for solutions. Does the government intend to step up and do everything in its power to ensure that everyone can fully enjoy their Olympic experience?