Steven Fletcher

[Health, May 30th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, today in court the Red Cross publicly apologized for its involvement in the tainted blood scandal.

The federal government, through the Red Cross, was ultimately responsible for Canada's blood supply. It therefore bears responsibility to those infected by tainted blood.

Over a month ago, the House of Commons voted to immediately compensate all victims of tainted blood. It was not six months from now, not in a year, but immediately. Yet despite bearing full responsibility for victims' suffering and despite the decision of this House, the government still has done nothing.

The government must help those harmed by its negligence, yet it places qualifications on its help. It essentially tells victims, “We caused you untold suffering, yet we may or may not help you”.

I call upon the government to end the victims' cruel uncertainty. The Red Cross has done the right thing by apologizing. The government must do the same and compensate victims now.

[Petitions, May 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured today to introduce a petition on the subject of autism spectrum disorder, which is also an issue of critical importance to all Canadians.

The petitioners draw the attention of hon. members to the fact that some children can benefit from the provision of intensive behaviour intervention therapy treatment. They encourages Parliament to amend the Canada Health Act and require all provinces to provide funding for treatment for children with autism.

[Petitions, May 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured today to introduce a petition on the subject of juvenile type I diabetes research funding. This is also an issue of importance to all Canadians.

The petitioners encourage Parliament to secure funding for juvenile diabetes research for the next five years. They also point out, and this should be emphasized, that an increase in investment and research will yield immense benefits for future generations.

[Petitions, May 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I am also honoured today to introduce a petition on the subject of civil war in Uganda, which is also an issue of importance to all Canadians and all citizens of the world.

The petition draws the attention of hon. members to the fact that the 18 year old civil war in northern Uganda has caused the deaths of more than 100,000 children and countless numbers of children have been abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army.

The petitioners encourage Parliament to take action to provide protection to the children of northern Uganda as per the Winnipeg communiqué of September 17, 2000, from the International Conference on War-Affected Children.

[Petitions, May 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured today to present six petitions on the subject of marriage. The petitioners call upon the government to define marriage as the union between one man and one woman.

[Prescription Drugs, May 10th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the health minister's inaction is putting Canada's prescription drug supply in jeopardy. For months he has promised to present options on the cross-border drug trade. He promised to bring options to the Commons health committee but to date we have seen nothing.

Developments in the U.S. are quickly overtaking the minister. City and state governments are passing laws to allow bulk imports of Canadian prescription drugs. A number of bills before Congress would give the go-ahead to this practice. Bulk sales could create shortages for Canadian patients and threaten our price controls. It is time for the ministers to stop talking and start acting.

Canadian Internet pharmacies, or at least most of them, are not interested in bulk sales to the U.S. Without some regulation, bulk exports could soon be a reality. When will the health minister start supporting the Conservative Party position and block bulk exports of prescription drugs?

[Health, May 2nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, what is shameful is how the Liberals have dealt with this issue.

This issue highlights the twin disasters which are the Liberal health and first nations policies. In both it is always the same. The Liberals only act when they are shamed into doing so.

The government has known for months that Mackenzie Olsen's treatment would end, yet it shirked responsibility until the media finally forced it to notice.

Why did the health minister refuse for so long to help this boy?

[Hepatitis C, April 20th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, tonight the House will vote on my motion calling on the government to immediately compensate all those infected with hepatitis C through tainted blood, as recommended by the Krever inquiry.

All opposition parties support my motion and I hope the Liberals do too. The last time the House voted on this issue, all the Liberals voted against compensation. Since then they have filibustered at the health committee, delayed debate in the House, all to prevent the vote from happening, but now they can delay no longer.

If the government votes against my motion, then it must explain why it is against compassion. If it votes for my motion, thus admitting that it has been wrong for eight years, it should apologize for the pain and suffering it has caused so many.

I sincerely hope the government will follow Parliament's wishes and immediately compensate all victims.

End the delays. End the excuses. Compassion is needed now. Compensate the victims now.

[Committees of the House, April 19th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, if a comprehensive strategy is put forward I hope it would include elements that would require Bill C-206 to be redundant. If they decide that labels are necessary, then that needs to be given serious consideration.

The one thing that really struck me during the hearings was the fact that one of the industry representatives said that if it were part of our constructive strategy and it were shown that labels would in fact change behaviour then they would have no objections to doing so. That buy in by stakeholders is important and that may be one of the great legacies of their participation in this process.

[Committees of the House, April 19th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, one of the interesting aspects of the bill that struck me as helpful was that the labelling targeted two areas of harm by alcohol consumption that are completely preventable. There is no need for babies to be born with FAS and there is no need for drunk drivers to be on the roads. We all know that each year too many people are killed by drinking and driving. We all know the terrible effect that fetal alcohol syndrome has on the population, especially the most vulnerable part of our population, the children.

Not only is it terrible for a child to have that health challenge at the beginning of life but it is also important that prevention measures are implemented so we do not have to deal with children with FAS. For the unfortunate children who do have FAS, we need to provide the resources to allow those children to live meaningful and productive lives. However that is a heavy drain on the resources in society for something that is completely preventable. It seems that we could do a lot more as Canadians.

Alcohol labels, in and of themselves, may or may not reduce the effects but we know that the existing programs reduce the effects. It would be great to have a program that incorporates the best policies from all stakeholders to ensure that FAS and drinking and driving are reduced to zero.