XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: sk.politics, man.politics, mtl.general   
   From: Panca@nyet.ca   
      
   A Green Party first   ! . . .  and a private member's Bill to boot !   
   _______________________________________   
   CP  | By The Canadian Press -  12/12/2014   
      
      
   Elizabeth May's Lyme Disease Bill Passes Senate In Green Party First   
      
   OTTAWA - The Senate has passed a private member's bill on Lyme disease, the   
   first Green party bill to ever pass both houses of Parliament.   
      
   The legislation sponsored by Green party Leader Elizabeth May won Commons   
   approval last June and now only needs royal assent to become law.   
      
   It calls on the government to call a conference of provincial and territorial   
   ministers, medical experts and representatives of patient groups to develop a   
   comprehensive Lyme disease strategy.   
      
   The strategy would include a national program to track rates of infections, and   
   establish guidelines for preventing infections and diagnosing and treating them   
   when they occur.   
      
   Lyme is a tick-borne disease whose symptoms include a rash, fever, headache and   
   fatigue.   
      
   May says the bill could not have passed without the support of the government.   
      
   "The hard work of the minister of health, Rona Ambrose, and the entire Lyme   
   community were instrumental in making this bill a reality," she said.   
      
   Although the legislation passed with all-party support, part of it was opposed   
   by an organization representing infectious diseases specialists.   
      
   The Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Canada was   
   concerned that the bill appears to support the idea that significant numbers of   
   people suffer from a condition they believe to be chronic Lyme disease and that   
   they have been failed by a medical system that refuses to accept that   
   diagnosis.   
      
   A number of organizations say the existence of chronic Lyme disease is based on   
   pseudo-science, while others claim it is a real and debilitating condition.   
      
   May said her bill is neutral on the subject.   
   ____________________________________________________   
      
   For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now   
   subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception   
   until death.   
     ~Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962   
      
   "I'm not a doctor," she said. "I'm not taking positions on these things."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)