Category Archives: Current Events

reaction/comment re. current events

Introduction of Lyme Strategy Bill slips one day to June 21st

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Elizabeth May, MP.jpg (graphic from Elizabeth May, MP)

The latest news from Jim Wilson, Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation:

The introduction of the Private Member’s Lyme Bill by MP Elizabeth May, Green Party, has been postponed from Wednesday to Thursday.

It will be held at 11:30 am Thursday, June 21st, 2012 in the Charles Lynch media room, Parliament Hill, Ottawa.

For those who have questions and who want to be there, please contact Elizabeth May’s office at 613-996-1119.

Assuming this takes place without further delay, it should be followed by the tabling of the Bill in The House of Commons. Hopefully lots of supporters will fill the public gallery, as long as there is still room!

After that, the process will be determined by a number of factors. For instance, Elizabeth May is apparently 110 in line for Private Member Business. Since the opening of Parliament last May, there have been something like 60 items brought forward by Members of Parliament. These are at various stages. So the likelihood of the Lyme Bill being debated in 2012 is unfortunately rather slim. On the other hand, 2013 should bring much-needed debates and a public airing of escalating health needs, stories of illness and loss, and vested interests. By then there will be another ten thousand of us after this “summer of the tick,” so the outcry should be that much louder. Bittersweet 🙁

MP Elizabeth May to introduce “National Lyme Strategy Bill” on June 20th

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David Leggett.jpg

I have had lyme disease for almost eight years, and have been bedridden for close to six of those years. For a long time I have been gnashing my teeth at the weak response by our Canadian leaders toward the escalating problem of lyme disease and other tick-borne co-infections in this country. So… it is with great excitement that I can finally pass on some wonderful news for Canadians! All Canadians.

June 20th, 2012 is the day that the following groups of people should pay careful attention to MP Elizabeth May’s announcement.

  1. Those who have lyme disease and are desperately trying to get some help in this country.
  2. Those who have friends or loved ones who are struggling with lyme disease and tick-borne infections.
  3. Those who know someone with lyme disease. (BTW, this group is getting larger as lyme disease continues to become more prevalent).

My prediction is that within a few years it will be difficult to find anyone in this country who doesn’t know someone with lyme disease. For now, the 20 million of you that currently meet the above criteria can help to get lyme disease treated seriously in this country (see end of this post for specific instructions on how to help).

Although Elizabeth May is the Green Leader, this bill is aimed at supporting all Canadians with a much-needed, coordinated national strategy to get rid of the massive roadblocks currently preventing quick diagnosis, timely and accurate testing, full treatment and longer term support and care. Excerpts from Elizabeth May’s statement on her web site give a little more context to her decision to offer support to the growing cadre of Canadians who are ill or disabled with lyme disease.

May will introduce a Private Member’s Bill calling for the development of a national strategy to address the challenges of the timely recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of Lyme disease. The bill also calls for funding for provinces and territories to implement the strategy.

“Lyme disease can be devastating. Too many Canadians are now disabled, deprived of the joy of family and friends, of school or work, due to Lyme disease. The public and the medical community need to be educated as to the increasing incidence and range of this disease,” said May…..

“Scientists are warning that a warming climate will expand the geographic range of Lyme disease-carrying ticks further into Canada, so it is imperative that we are proactive,” said May.

[From Elizabeth May, MP]

Details

  • On Wed. June 20th, 2012 in Ottawa, Elizabeth May is planning to introduce a private member’s bill relating to Lyme disease. Look for a press conference that day and the reading of the bill by Elizabeth to our federally elected MP’s later the same day.
  • The bill is multi-faceted, with detailed timelines that require adherence by the Federal Minister of Health at various stages, including when the conference must be convened, when the health minister would report back to MP’s, timeline for posting new national strategy on the official gov’t website, and many other critical details to ensure that the job is done right!
  • CanLyme has been consulted at length by Elizabeth to make sure patient’s interests will be heard.
  • Elizabeth is allowed to introduce one private member’s bill in her four year term. She has chosen to help Canadians with Lyme disease get their right to health care back.

How can each one of us help Elizabeth pass this bill?

We ALL need to do the following and ask for friends, & family wherever they live in Canada to do the same to support you and get this National Lyme Strategy Bill passed:

  1. Find out who your federal MP is. Click here.
  2. Contact your federal MP and if at all humanly possible set up a face-to-face meeting.
  3. Tell them your story, and how lyme disease affects you, your family or your friend(s).
  4. Tell them that you know others across Canada in the same predicament (like me, for instance)
  5. Tell them that you, your family or friend(s) are being denied the right to health care.
  6. Ask if you can count on their support to get this bill passed.
  7. Make sure your MP knows this is not just a ‘Green’ party bill, it is a bill that could affect every single Canadian including themselves, or their loved ones.
  8. Remind your MP to vote with their conscience as this is a private member’s bill; no party vote needed.
  9. Contact friends, family, acquaintances, people in your local communities. Let them know how important support is. Ask them to contact their MP.

If you need further information, check out Elizabeth May’s web site. Also, use my contact page to ask for assistance, or to find out how to include your picture in the display of Canadians suffering with lyme disease – this display will be part of Elizabeth May’s press conference scheduled to occur before the bill is introduced in parliament on June 20th.

Lyme Disease on CTV W5 takes flight!

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If you are interested in capturing a glimpse into our lives, CTV W5 has put together an investigative news piece about lyme disease in Canada. Hopefully the Leggett family part of the production will not be too embarrassing…

Dates & Times: Sat. Nov. 14th, 7:00 p.m. — repeated Sun. Nov. 15th, 12 noon (times are EST)

The CTV W5 web site will feature the show, in case you missed it or want to see it again. Once it has been posted, please consider leaving a comment at the bottom of the Lyme show page – I think there will be a link to email W5 directly about the show. The more comments received, the more likely CTV will do other news features or even followup W5 shows on the effects of lyme disease on Canadians like ourselves. Thank you all for your support. With continued effort, more resources will be marshaled against the scourge that is lyme disease. There is hope.

Lyme Disease on Global & CTV

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I have been afflicted with Lyme Disease for over 5 years. Getting the word out about the dangers of lyme is difficult at the best of times. It is therefore with a glad heart that October is turning out to be the month that the Ontario and national media are finally beginning to dig deeper into claims that lyme disease is affecting many Canadians and that the medical system is ill-equipped to diagnose and accurately test for it.

In a nutshell:

  • Global – Sunday, October 11, 2009 @6:30 p.m. ET and again @11:30 p.m. ET. The Lyme Action Group has been instrumental in setting up and will be taking part in this “16:9 The Bigger Picture” in-depth nationwide piece on lyme disease and its dangers for Canadians. The day after the broadcast, the story will be available online on the Global site. Right after the live show, Global will be hosting a live blog event for viewers to interact with reporters, producers and guests. This blog event will go live immediately after the program.
  • CTV – end of October. W-Five (date and time still to be confirmed). Paula Todd and the CTV crew came over to our place this past week for about 4 hours, following a number of contacts with the producer over the course of the previous 3 weeks. As well as our involvement, there are a number of other parts to this investigative news piece. More details to follow…

Hopefully this is just the beginning. Quick news pieces don’t do that much to raise awareness of such a complex illness. BUT, investigative news pieces which require a lot of in-depth research on the part of producers and news anchors are just what is needed to convince people that the threat is real and has so far been under-reported and over-simplified.

Copenhagen looking dimmer as Canada drags its heels

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“What are we thinking??? This is so pathetic!” So says my other half – in a reaction borne out of growing impatience with the reverse gear in which we Canadians seem to be stuck.

Sir David King, the UK’s former chief scientific adviser, yesterday accused Canada and Japan of blocking progress towards a meaningful international deal to tackle climate change…. [From Canada and Japan accused of blocking Copenhagen progress ]

So says another frustrated citizen of our planet. Apparently we are “undermining the talks” and “gung-ho about rising oil prices and want to exploit that.”

We are falling down on the front lines. What is needed is a “battlefield commission”, so that someone with vision and principle can take charge, rise up as the “champion” and move us forward.

Canada used to quietly hide behind the policies of the previous U.S. administration, but now that the U.S. has begun changing course, the Canadian Harper government is going solo and protecting its resource-based economic interests rather than balancing them with a clear vision of the problems that we leave for our children to cope with down the road.

Unfortunately, elections can change governments, but what does it take to change the electorate, the heart of the nation? I am not sure. Perhaps we are doomed to live out our mistakes.

Or, maybe the tide will turn when things get really bad. Of course, the later that happens, the more difficult the road will be. But how often in human history have clear-headed leaders seen threats and dealt with them surgically to avoid certain crisis and calamity? We seem to like the harder road. As we often tell our children, “you always seem to learn things the hard way.”