From the Hansard records of Federal Parliamentary discussions:
Source: http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfocomDoc/36/1/SPRI/Meetings/Evidence/spriev24-e.htm#T1655
Moving on, we have Mr. Harb with motion 468.
Mr. Mac Harb, M.P. (Ottawa Centre, Lib.): Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. This motion, as it reads, is really asking the House to ask the government to look at the possibility of recognizing multiple chemical sensitivities, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia as illnesses that have the capacity to cause disability. From 2% to 6% of the Canadian population has one or two out of those three illnesses. Many of those people are in fact considered disabled now, and many of them do not participate in the workforce.
It should be votable because of the nature of it. It's national and it crosses boundary lines. People are affected from all walks of life in pretty well every province and territory across the country. Also, having it votable will allow the House of Commons to debate it and create an awareness across the country for these terrible diseases.
Also, if the government recognizes these diseases, it will allow the organizations that deal with fibromyalgia, chemical sensitivities, and chronic fatigue to embark on some activities, such as fundraising, that will allow them to do more research and other things like that.
I will stop at that, Mr. Chair. I know many members of the committee are quite aware of at least one of those syndromes, and I will allow some time for questions.
The Chair: Thank you very much, Mr. Harb.
Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Joe Jordan: I don't want to go down the CPP disability road any further than I have to, but if I'm not mistaken, some of these diseases right now aren't necessarily recognized as disabling. So if the government were to vote and pass this motion with the House, would we then be instructing CPP disability or Workers' Compensation in provinces to recognize... I'm just wondering what the implications are.
Mr. Mac Harb: It would not really do that. It would simply direct the government to look into the diseases a little more seriously—do some hard-nosed work on them.
Mr. Joe Jordan: Okay. So the fact that they “have the capacity to cause”—
Mr. Mac Harb: They could.
Mr. Joe Jordan: —is not a direct reference. Okay.
The Chair: Thank you very much.
Madame Lalonde.
[Translation]
Ms. Francine Lalonde: You don't seem to think there would be any repercussions on the Canada Pension Plan. What is the purpose of your motion? Do you want to have these diseases recognized so that people suffering from them may obtain compensation?
• 1700
Mr. Mac Harb: Yes, that possibility does exist, but it is not the primary aim of this motion. I am suggesting that the government carry out its own study and analyses. If it concludes that people with fibromyalgia or multiple chemical sensitivity who are confined to a wheelchair are incapable of moving around and working, these would probably be considered to be extreme cases who should receive compensation.
The Chairman: Thank you very much.
[English]
Miss Grey.
Ms Deborah Grey: Thanks.
Further to Joe's question that the government should recognize... and then later on you say they have the capacity to cause disability. Wouldn't one generally lead to the other if you're talking about CPP disability? If you make the assumption that one has the capacity to cause that, then almost by definition, by recognizing that—and maybe that's not a problem—this would become part of CPP disability. But then you would be into a huge discussion, rather than just this.
Mr. Mac Harb: There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that you are absolutely quite right. That's why, at the end of the day, if the government undertakes a study and finds out that we have a serious problem here, with one out of 15 people totally disabled, then we have a major disaster on our hands. But the reality of it is, one out of 15 may be totally disabled and incapable of carrying on with their work.
The mere fact that a person has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia... despite the fact that they might be in a wheelchair, they would still not be able to collect disability at this time.
So this is what it does. It tells the government to look into it. It really is not high in their hands if, at the end of the day, they find out it has merit. Then they will do it. If they find at the end of the day it doesn't have merit, they'll say “Look, it doesn't have merit here”. A mere suggestion by the House of Commons really does not mean the government must recognize these diseases. It recommends that the government look into them. Then it's up to them to decide yes or no.
The Chair: Thank you very much, Mr. Harb.
