Bruce Hyer Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON

Mr. Speaker, I also have a petition relating to enhanced treatments for MS under the CCSVI treatment regime.

Almost 100,000 people across Canada have MS. This comes at a time when most people are in the prime of their life. This special procedure was developed in Italy by Dr. Zamboni. We could and should be developing this procedure here in Canada so that our MS suffers have hope and do not need to go abroad.

Carol Hughes Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition signed by hundreds of Canadians from Ontario and B.C. They urge the Government of Canada to take immediate action in having chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency surgery, also known as CCSVI or liberation treatment.

It is evident that more and more Canadians are seeking this treatment in the hopes that their quality of life will be improved. They are encouraged by the thousands of Canadians whose quality of life has been improved since they have undergone the procedure abroad.

Malcolm Allen Welland, ON

Mr. Speaker, I also have a petition to present from residents of my riding concerning CCSVI. The petitioners are not only family members of MS sufferers but are themselves MS suffers. They are saying to the government that it is time to give them hope and to stop sending them abroad. What is happening in this country is that those MS sufferers who have the wherewithal and financial means are leaving this country to get treatment when we should have a pilot program here.

As the family member of a father who suffered from MS and eventually passed away, I saw that he had no hope when he had it.

Today, we have hope for MS sufferers across this country and we are denying them based on the fact that we will not have a pilot project. That, in my view, is discriminatory and we ought to start the project, not yesterday but last week. Let us get on with it. We know the methodologies and we know the science. Let us move forward and give those who suffer from MS in this country the ability to hope once again that i they may have a better quality of life than they endure today.

Claude Gravelle Nickel Belt, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by dozens of people from Markham, Pickering, Oshawa, Montreal, Laval and Saint-Hubert.

The petitioners urgently call on the Government of Canada to accelerate a greater and broader participation of multiple sclerosis sufferers in a pilot testing and treatment by providing fast-track funding, to work immediately with the provinces and territories through the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies, and to take a leading role on the basis of this evidence and encouraging the swift adoption of a procedure in the territories and provinces.

Linda Duncan Edmonton—Strathcona, AB

Mr. Speaker, I also rise in the House today, along with a lot of my colleagues, to table a petition from more than 100 Canadians calling for federal leadership and action on the new treatment for multiple sclerosis.

With respect to multiple sclerosis, a high percentage occurs just outside and around the city of Edmonton. An increasing number of people are suffering from this disease. I am proud to say that the Government of Alberta has stepped up to at least follow up on these operations.

I encourage the Government of Canada to show leadership and expedite further testing and piloting of this intervention.