House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2015, with 39% of the vote.
Health November 15th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, there is more evidence that the health minister and the Prime Minister are not on the same page.
Last week the health minister told an American audience in Boston that Internet pharmacies in Canada would not be a drugstore for the United States. Later in the week the Prime Minister said that his government had no plans or intentions to shut down Internet pharmacies.
This is a very important issue. Who should Canadians believe, the Prime Minister or the health minister?
Family Doctor Week November 15th, 2004
Madam Speaker, I am very honoured today to be given the opportunity to announce Canada's Family Doctor Week. As we do so, we celebrate the important roles that family doctors play in our health care system and in the 50th anniversary of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
I would like to highlight the important role that my family doctor played in my recovery after my accident, which left me a quadriplegic.
Dr. Rick Ross, from the Parkwest Medical Clinic in the Charleswood portion of my constituency, has been my doctor and my family's doctor for 27 years. It was nine years ago when Dr. Ross helped my family and I the most. He visited me in the hospital and, after discharge, he came to my home for house calls. He helped my parents and my siblings deal with the major psychological and emotional issues that we faced. Not only did he treat my injuries, but he helped treat my entire family, as he does to this day.
Dr. Rick Ross has played a critical role in my life and I know family doctors from across Canada also play a significant role in the lives of individuals and their families. I would like to thank Dr. Ross and all family doctors throughout Canada.
Health November 4th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I am finding it difficult to convey, in a parliamentary manner, my disappointment in the Liberal government.
Yesterday the Liberals talked out a motion to compensate the victims of hepatitis C from tainted blood. The Liberals claim they are compassionate and that they are looking out for the best interests of these people.
The Liberal government is wrong. It is not compassionate. When it is presented with opportunities to do the right thing, it does the opposite.
The fact is that if the government wanted those victims of tainted blood to be compensated, they would be. However the government blocks every attempt to compensate these victims.
The government can act immediately and begin compensating victims who have been left out. It is what yesterday's motion called for and everyone but the Liberal government agreed on.
This issue is a tragedy of massive proportions. I still cannot grasp the reasoning of the government as to why all the victims are not compensated.
I urge the minister to do the right thing and begin the compensation process. It is only fair and the victims deserve it.
Committees of the House November 3rd, 2004
Madam Speaker, what we have heard tonight from the government side has been profoundly disappointing. There was an opportunity earlier tonight to support the health committee's unanimous recommendation to compensate hepatitis C victims. Yet, when the opportunity came up, members of the government denied that motion.
The health minister, the chair of the health committee, and other health committee members prevented an extension of this very important debate. That is another example of the two-faced nature of the way this government has approached this issue.
The reason why this issue is on the table is because opposition parties have not allowed it to die. We have kept moving it forward. We have kept it on the radar screen. If it were not for the minority government situation, I doubt the Liberal government would even be considering opening up the compensation window.
The fact is that the Liberal government is on the wrong side of the issue. Those members are on the wrong side of public opinion. They are denying mitigation to those people that blood services harmed. The government needs to take responsibility for that.
My question for the member is: Why not do the right thing? If moneys are due to these people, they should receive it, surplus or no surplus. Why not do the right thing and compensate them regardless of the fund involved? The government could create a new fund if necessary.
Committees of the House November 3rd, 2004
Madam Speaker, the victims of hepatitis C suffer painful physical symptoms, fatigue, cirrhosis of the liver, nausea, and many other ailments. Their pain is increased particularly for those who are in the pre-1996, post-1990 window. These people were infected by tainted blood and their pain and suffering has not been recognized by the Government of Canada. They deserve compensation, yet the government refuses to broaden it. We know the money is available. A surplus exists, yet these people are being denied the adequate financial resources to mitigate their suffering.
Today in question period we had an accusation from the Minister of Health that somehow the opposition parties were politicizing this issue. I would like to remind the government side that in 1998 there was a motion brought forward by the opposition parties to compensate these victims of hepatitis C from tainted blood, but the prime minister of the day made it into a confidence motion on the government. The prime minister of the day politicized the motion that would have opened the door to compensate the victims of hepatitis C from tainted blood.
It is the Liberal government that has politicized this issue. It is the Liberal government that has refused to do the right thing. However at the health committee a few weeks ago, members from all parties, including the Liberal Party, agreed that compensating hepatitis C victims from tainted blood was the right thing to do. Hence we are discussing that motion today.
It is really interesting that four members of the Liberal government have decided to side with the opposition parties. They have done it because they are people of conscience and people who want to do the right thing and compensate the victims of hepatitis C.
We have an opportunity here. The money is there, but more important, the principle is that these people need to be dealt with fairly. Even if there was not a surplus we should compensate these people, but there is, so there is absolutely no excuse. I think, and I believe the opposition parties agree and at least four members of the Liberal Party agree, that compensation should be made.
I therefore move:
That this question be now put.
Health November 3rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, this is about the victims. If the government would compensate them it would be over.
I know the Prime Minister also has a vested interest in what happens on this file. He was on the board of directors of the Canadian Development Corporation, which was implicated in the tainted blood scandal, but conveniently he remembers nothing about importing blood from the United States prisons.
Since the Prime Minister was a decision maker at the CDC during that period, will he remove himself from the discussions relating to opening the compensation fund, because--
Health November 3rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Health said that he would raise in cabinet the issue of compensation for all victims of hepatitis C from tainted blood, but I am skeptical.
It has only been a matter of weeks since the minister said that he would open the compensation fund, only to come out the next day and tell reporters that he had changed his mind and that he would have to look at it further.
The opposition parties have agreed unanimously to compensate hepatitis C victims. Now all of a sudden the government feels that opening the fund is the right thing to do.
Will the minister tell us exactly what issue he intends to raise at the cabinet table, and--
Assistance to Hepatitis C Victims November 2nd, 2004
Mr. Chair, I would like to ask the member a question.
I see a contrast between his position and that of the member for Elmwood--Transcona, in the sense that this member wants to have a more timely resolution to this compensation problem, whereas the member for Elmwood--Transcona seemed to be quite generous with the government, saying we would give them some time and if they do not act appropriately we will essentially go after them then.
This really delays the process. It is just another delay. Quite frankly, I agree with the member that these people need to be compensated as soon as possible. People are dying on a weekly basis. They have suffered far too long.
I wonder if the member could explain the gap between the position of the member for Elmwood--Transcona and his own.
Assistance to Hepatitis C Victims November 2nd, 2004
Mr. Chair, I would like to congratulate the member on a very eloquent speech. Obviously he has been very involved and knows the history behind this file.
We know that this government has made commitments and promises in the past and has moved a little bit, but when public pressure subsides they go back to the original position. It sort of ebbs and flows. I wonder why this member has what I think is quite a substantial amount of faith in the current minister to resolve this in a timely manner?
Secondly, I would like to congratulate the member on the timing. I think his suggestion of a firm deadline is a very good one. But we have already heard waffling from the other side, and only moments after he made the suggestion. So that supports the idea that the government may ebb and flow again.
I would be interested in his comments on that.
Assistance to Hepatitis C Victims November 2nd, 2004
Mr. Chair, obviously the Conservative Party will cooperate fully to ensure that the victims of tainted blood are compensated as soon as possible. However I have to say that the Liberal government has been wrong and is wrong, and that the Conservative Party, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP were right on this issue.
I believe the minister is quite sincere in his belief that these victims should be compensated and that he is trying to navigate through what I am sure is not an easy process, but it is the Liberal government that got us here in the first place.
There needs to be some accountability. The minister represents the Liberal government and the government needs to be held accountable. The Liberals will not be off the hook until all the victims are compensated. Our role as opposition parties is to hold the government to account.
Having said that, our greater role as parliamentarians is to ensure that all the victims of hepatitis C are compensated as soon as possible. Quite frankly, if it had not been for the public pressure that the advocates of hepatitis C compensation placed on the government and the hard work of my predecessors in the health critic portfolio, such as the member for Yellowhead and Dr. Grant Hill, and the work of the Bloc Québécois and the NDP on this file, this would not have come to the stage that it is where we are on the cusp of compensation.