Archive for June, 2009

Most readers will have heard about the problems Canada is having with medical isotopes. However, you may not know why we are having the problem or what is being done to fill the gaps in the medical system.

Medical isotopes are produced by small nuclear reactors predominately for the diagnosis of cancer and cardiac disease.  Canada is the world’s largest producer of these isotopes, producing about 40 per cent of the global supply.  We do this with a nuclear reactor that is close to 50 years old. The other isotope producing countries also have reactors about the same age.

Canada planned to replace its now 50 year old reactor by building two new reactors (called Maple 1 and Maple2) over a decade ago . These new reactors have never been able to work. These reactors were supposed to guarantee Canada’s future supply of isotopes. When they didn’t work, we were stuck using the old reactor.

The problems with the new reactors first surfaced around 2000, but more seriously in 2003. The continued cost overruns by the Liberals cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars until the program to try to make the Maples work was cancelled in 2008. Consequently, when our 50 year old reactor goes down, Canada doesn’t have any ability to produce isotopes.

Knowing that an isotope shortage could occur sometime in the future, the federal government has been preparing a contingency plan over the last 18 months for just such a situation.  The plan has a few different solutions to help alleviate the isotope shortage.

First, other isotopes not produced by the reactor are used on lower priority cases. Secondly, MRI and PET (positron emitting technology) scanners can be used in some cases. In addition, international reactors are increasing their isotope production to help ease the shortage.  While Canadians and the whole world hoped that this isotope shortage could have been avoided, these contingency plans have helped and will continue to help Canadians to get the medical testing that they need.

I’m Brad Trost your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt.  You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133 or drop by our two offices to visit: Saskatoon Monday-Friday or Humboldt Tuesday and Wednesday. I always appreciate your feedback.

Over the past few weeks, Opposition MPs have been demanding changes to unemployment insurance.   In short, they want a single national standard which permits unemployment benefits after only 360 hours of work (which works out to 45, eight-hour days.)

Now some people, who should know better, have endorsed the idea of a single national standard, saying that the proposed changes would be good for Saskatchewan. The proposed changes in EI would be bad for Saskatchewan and here’s why.

Saskatchewan historically has a low unemployment rate (about 5%). Saskatchewan workers who do receive unemployment insurance generally are not short-term seasonal workers who have problems getting enough hours to qualify for benefits.

If the federal government changes EI by decreasing the hours needed to qualify, expenditures in the program will rise.  Saskatchewan however, (because of the above noted characteristics) will receive almost no benefits.  Saskatchewan will be affected in one other way.

If benefits for EI rise, rates charged for EI will also rise.  This will mean that Saskatchewan, with its high employment rates, will pay a disproportionate share of the rate hike.  We (particularly low income workers) will get stuck paying the bill for benefits that we won’t receive.

There are other negatives in changing the EI system: higher taxes on business and an increased difficulty in recruiting workers to Saskatchewan. There are other reasons why the government is not changing the EI system, as demanded by the Opposition.  So, the next time you hear someone saying that Saskatchewan would be better off if standards for EI were lowered, ask them if they’ve thought their position through. There is a good chance they haven’t.

I’m Brad Trost your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt.  You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133 or drop by our two offices to visit: Saskatoon Monday-Friday or Humboldt Tuesday and Wednesday. I always appreciate your feedback.

Here’s a quick update on the Conservative fight to eliminate the long-gun registry.

As many of you know, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, introduced a bill this spring (C-301) to abolish the long-gun registry. Bill C-301 also introduced a few other technical changes to firearms legislation.

At first, C-301 looked like it was going to pass the House of Commons. With 143 Conservative votes, Garry’s bill needed less than a dozen votes from independent and Opposition MPs to become law.  Supporters of C-301 received assurances from rural Opposition MPs that we had the necessary votes to pass the legislation.

However, two things started to happen: NDP members began to be pressured by their leadership (Jack Layton) not to vote the way they had promised; and the Bloc Quebecois brought forward a motion on the long-gun registry in the House of Commons.

While the Bloc motion supporting the long-gun registry passed the House, it only passed by five votes because of abstentions from Opposition MPs (who had previously said they sided with the Conservatives.)

After listening to the excuses of Opposition MPs, a different bill to scrap the long-gun registry was introduced (C-391). C-391 is essentially the same as C-301 in that it scraps the long gun registry. However, some technical clauses in C-301 (that Opposition MPs objected to) were dropped. Hopefully, any MP who has spoken against the long-gun registry will now not have an excuse to vote against scrapping it.

The vote on the gun registry will be close, both in the Senate and in the House. I and my colleagues are doing all we can to deliver on what we have long campaigned for—the complete abolishment of the long gun registry.

I’m Brad Trost your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt.  You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133 or drop by our two offices to visit: Saskatoon Monday-Friday or Humboldt Tuesday and Wednesday. I always appreciate your feedback.