Sustaining Canada's Economic Recovery Act  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to the sustaining Canada's economic recovery act. Before I address economics, I must first pay tribute to the people of Etobicoke North and the community in which I was born and raised and pay tribute to my constituents, many now friends and many now family.

78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band  Mr. Speaker, for 29 years Bill Livingstone, the first North American to win the gold medal in piping at Inverness, was pipe-major of one of the world's most famous pipe bands, the 78th Fraser Highlanders. Under his direction, the Ontario pipe band won 13 North American championships and travelled to compete at the World Pipe Band Championships in Scotland for 27 consecutive years.

Canada Consumer Product Safety Act  Mr. Speaker, survey results show that the vast majority of Canadians believe that a product is safe simply because it is available on the market. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case as children are particularly vulnerable to product-related injuries. In fact, there are more than 18,000 annual emergency room visits for children as a result of product-related injuries.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition regarding the liberation procedure. Currently 75,000 Canadians live with devastating multiple sclerosis. They have the courage to battle their disease every day and now have the courage to take on a new fight, the fight for clinical trials for the liberation procedure.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition regarding chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency and the liberation procedure. Seventy-five thousand Canadians suffer from MS and over 1,500 people have been liberated worldwide, with researchers from Bulgaria, Italy, Kuwait and the United States, showing an improvement in brain fog, fatigue and motor skills.

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, the men and women of our armed forces and peacekeeping missions who put their lives at risk daily deserve a straight answer. Yet, for the fifth straight day, the Conservatives refuse to say whether the new veterans policy is being made retroactive to 2006, so that it will not ignore soldiers wounded in the last four years.

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, veterans are still waiting. They have served this country with distinction all over the world and they have paid a heavy price for the dangerous work they do. We have asked five times if the proposed changes are going to be retroactive to 2006, but we have yet to receive an answer in the House.

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, for the third straight day we are forced to ask the Minister of Veterans Affairs whether veterans' benefits will be retroactive to 2006. For two days he has not answered the question. Veterans could be forgiven for concluding that the minister has no intention whatsoever of supporting veterans already in the system.

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, veterans are waiting and watching. They deserve better. Since the minister will not answer the question, is he really telling us that a veteran injured in Afghanistan a few months ago is less worthy of Canada's help?

House debate  Madam Speaker, there is no treatment arm to those clinical trials. It is becoming increasingly evident that liberation can alleviate some symptoms. MS patients who have had the liberation procedure seem to experience an improvement in brain fog, fatigue and circulation and, over time, some report a marked improvement in the quality of life.

House debate  Madam Speaker, Canadians living with multiple sclerosis are fighting their disease and fighting for clinical trials for the new liberation procedure for chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, or CCSVI. We had a parliamentary subcommittee on neurological disease that heard four hours of testimony from the leading researchers in the world on CCSVI, including Dr.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With respect to chronic cerebrospinal insufficiency (CCSVI), does the government plan to have: (a) Health Canada establish that no Canadian ought to be deprived of the imaging necessary for diagnosis, or deprived of the angioplasty indicated by a diagnosis of venous insufficiency in the drainage of the brain, only by reason that that person would also have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS); (b) the Minister of Health convene her provincial and territorial counterparts to a meeting for the purpose of ensuring that no impediment will be placed in the way of diagnosis of venous insufficiency or of treatment by angioplasty on the mere ground that the patient has been diagnosed with MS; (c) Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) funds made available to assist in the creation of a registry by which it would be possible to collate data regarding the progress of MS patients who undergo venous angioplasty; (d) the funds released, as per the MS Society's research proposal, to allow for that research, with the help of the data collated in the registry referred to above, keeping in mind that such research should not be an impediment to patients obtaining diagnosis or the angioplasty to correct diagnosed venous insufficiency, but should proceed in parallel to any such treatment; (e) Health Canada or the CIHR investigate technology to study the vascular system in utero and, if so, (i) whether vascular or venous problems develop during this time period, (ii) what and where vascular or venous problems potentially occur, (iii) how identified problems might be treated; (f) Health Canada or the CIHR study whether pregnant women should be given vitamin D to understand the risk of children being born with, or developing, vascular problems and other conditions and, if so, determine what dosage is appropriate; (g) Health Canada or the CIHR study whether children and adolescents should be given vitamin D to reduce the risk of developing vein inflammation and venous hypertension and, if so, (i) what dosage is appropriate, (ii) what quantity is recommended for a child with a family history of CCSVI, vascular problems or MS, etc.; (h) Health Canada or the CIHR investigate whether vascular issues develop during childhood and, if so, identify methods to discover circulation problems at the earliest time possible; (i) Health Canada or CIHR study whether antioxidants, vitamin D and omega 3 reduce vein inflammation; (j) Health Canada or the CIHR determine the normal range of flow through veins, in particular the jugulars, and whether or not occluded jugulars can be treated to achieve normal flow; (k) Health Canada or the CIHR study how CCSVI potentially affects flow through the veins and possible permeability of the blood-brain barrier, and methods to reduce permeability, including mesenchymal stem cells and pharmacological agents; (l) Health Canada or the CIHR study the effects of chelators on iron uptake and release from the brain, and the potential use of iron chelators as therapeutic agents for the treatment of MS and perhaps other neurodegenerative disorders; (m) Health Canada or the CIHR investigate how the vascular system of someone with benign MS compares to that of someone with relapsing-remitting, primary progressive or secondary progressive MS; (n) Health Canada or the CIHR study whether a relationship exists between CCSVI and other neurological diseases, as well as between CCSVI and autoimmune disease; (o) funds made available to CIHR across the Institutes to bring together a conference of leading researchers in fields including CCSVI and the liberation procedure, vascular surgeons and neurologists; (p) research funds made available to design safe apparatuses to keep liberated veins open; and (q) a National Research Chair awarded in the diagnosis and treatment of venous abnormalities?

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition regarding chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, CCSVI, for which the testing and treatment is safe, inexpensive and effective. The treatment of CCSVI is veinography followed by balloon venoplasty, a routine treatment for vascular disease made available to all Canadians with vascular disorders, except those with MS.

Multiple Sclerosis  Mr. Speaker, today people living with MS are protesting across this country, including on Parliament Hill, for clinical trials for the new liberation procedure for chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency or CCSVI. Over 1,500 liberation procedures have been performed worldwide, with researchers from Bulgaria, Italy, Kuwait and the United States showing similar results, namely that 87% to 90% of MS patients show venous abnormality.

Robert Bruce Salter  Mr. Speaker, today I would like to remember Dr. Robert Bruce Salter, a world-renowned orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Sick Children, who passed away peacefully on May 10 with his family by his side. I will briefly highlight some of his extraordinary accomplishments. He developed a procedure to correct congenital dislocation of the hip.