November 3, 2005
Mr. John R. Baird (Nepean-Carleton): I'm pleased
to rise in support of the bill presented by my colleague
from Thunder Bay. At the outset, I want to underline
that I think this should be a non-partisan issue.
The previous government didn't take action in this
regard and the current government isn't. I think
the member opposite is bringing forward this bill
to try to push the ball forward, and I commend him
for doing that.
The bottom line for me, and the bottom line for
many of the people I represent in Nepean-Carleton,
is that we believe that in the fight against cancer
we need to use all the tools at our disposal, and
this is only one of them. I've had a number of constituents
over the years come in and speak to me about this
issue. I've seen the bureaucratic gobbledygook that
I'm sure the member opposite has seen and the explanations
on why this can't be done, rather than looking at
the case for why it should be done.
There was a very powerful story in Ottawa, one that
involved the media. The Registered Nurses Association
of Ontario each year recognizes journalists for their
contribution to health care reporting, and there
was a very personal story about a community leader,
about a colleague and friend of the journalist by
the name of Carol Anne Meehan, who put a series together
on prostate cancer on CJOH television. This had a
huge impact, not just on my views but on the number
of calls I received in my constituency office.
She put on a series about her colleague and friend
Max Keeping. Max Keeping is an anchor at the local
newscast and a real community leader, someone who
does more than 200 community events per year and
who is probably the favourite son of Ottawa. Mr.
Keeping went public with his illness in order to
inspire others to get tested for this type of cancer,
which, as the member opposite said, affects one out
of eight Canadian men. The good news is that this
type of cancer is curable, but only if detected early.
Something that irks Mr. Keeping and something that
irks many of us is that this PSA test used to diagnose
this cancer is not covered by OHIP, and it only costs
as extra $25. The member opposite spoke about how
detecting one case early could literally pay for
about 1,000 tests - let alone the human cost, which
is something that is quite important.
PSA tests aren't perfect, but they are the best
diagnostic tool we have at our disposal. DNA science
work is holding out great promise, but in the interim
this is certainly the very best diagnostic tool.
One of the fundamental inconsistencies in all this
is that PSA tests are covered by the taxpayer if
they're done in a hospital. How is one silo of our
health care system the taxpayers and the government
and our publicly funded health care system will pay
for it and in another they won't is, quite simply,
baffling. The bottom line, if you ask Max Keeping,
if you ask someone who has gone through this: Are
we going to place our trust in Ontario's doctors
to make this decision if they hold it to be a wise
one? The bottom line is that men shouldn't by dying
from this. It has put a huge pressure on a number
of families.
Finally, I'd like to acknowledge that one of the
great shames to government -- not just to this government
but to the previous government -- you could see in
Cornwall, Ontario. I don't know if our colleague
from Cornwall is here. The Victorian Order of Nurses
raised money priveately to put on a clinic in Cornwall,
Ontario, this past September. They raised money privately,
they felt so strongly about this. In this PSA clinic,
held at the Cornwall Square Shopping Centre, some
300 men attended and some 30 tested positive. That
really does put the government to shame, whether
it's this government or the previous government.
That shows that there's a huge amount of support
out there and that people are prepared to act on
their own.
I will be voting in favour of the bill. I'd like
to see it moved through committee on an expeditious
basis and for a final vote on third reading.
