Respect for Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, the member is making my own point. This legislation would take the Supreme Court of Canada decision, which lays out five things that need to be looked out. The Minister of Health needs to give the exemption. It is our responsibility to ensure that with those criteri

Respect for Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, I have worked in small northern communities and I have seen the decimation that addictions can create in those communities. I also saw the huge lack of appropriate detoxification and rehabilitation services. I can remember time after time when people came to me and s

Respect for Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, I have ongoing dialogue with many members in Kamloops, including ASK Wellness, on many pieces of legislation, whether it is our prostitution legislation or others. The member is missing the point. The point is that there are criteria giving consistency to how applic

Respect for Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to lend my voice to the ongoing dialogue on Bill C-2, the respect for communities act. Since Bill C-2 was introduced in the House of Commons, it has been the subject of much debate. Over the past few months, we have heard many different opinions about t

Health  Mr. Speaker, our government is working very closely with the provinces and territories, especially in the area of innovative tools that will allow for the digitization of health records, including the work that is done by Canada Health Infoway. Obviously we continue to ensure va

Health  Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the hon. member of the significance of the new assistance that will be provided. The package includes up to $180 million for the fewer than one hundred survivors, and has three elements. There is an immediate tax-free lump sum payment of $125,0

Health  Mr. Speaker, the tragic use of thalidomide in the early 1960s had a terrible impact on the mothers, children, and families involved. These Canadians had to endure hardships that no one should have to go through. Indeed, in the House there are many of us who were born in Canada in

Health  Mr. Speaker, these events from the 1960s remind us of why we need to take drug safety so seriously. On Friday, the minister announced historic assistance to cover the health care needs. There is going to be up to $180 million distributed among fewer than 100 survivors, until tha

Health  Mr. Speaker, nothing can ever change, and we certainly have deep sympathy and regret for the ongoing struggle thalidomide inflicted. There have been ongoing conversations since the motion passed in the House, and actually prior to that. In actual fact, the historic announcement

Health  Mr. Speaker, that is an absolutely absurd statement. We have the highest recorded health care transfer dollars right now in history. Since forming government, transfers to the provinces have gone up by 70% and will reach $40 billion annually. We have committed to increasing tran

Health  Mr. Speaker, I have talked already about the increase in transfers to the provinces that will continue to take place year after year. However, it is also important to look to a commitment to innovation in the health care system, because the reality is that more money is not goin

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, our government has made it a priority to continue to take concrete actions to strengthen the confidence of Canadians in our criminal justice system. This is why I am pleased that earlier this month, our Prime Minister announced that we were moving forward with new le

National Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Day Act  Mr. Speaker, it is a real honour to stand in the House today to speak about spinal cord injuries. This important issue deserves a discussion not only in Parliament but at the national level. I would like to take a moment to thank the hon. member for Montcalm for introducing this

National Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Day Act  Mr. Speaker, I know we look at having many national days in our country and certainly the member has brought up a very important point. She has articulated very well some of the challenges and why she believes it is important. Could she talk more about what she believes the day

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, what I really reflected on in my comments is that we have a timeline and a critical task. I also noted that it took four and a half years for Quebec to craft the legislation it thought was appropriate and over a year for the Supreme Court of Canada to render its deci