Conservative senators kill proposed legislation on MS treatment

OTTAWAThe Conservatives have used their Senate majority to kill legislation that would have authorized a national strategy to deal with a controversial therapy for multiple sclerosis.

Liberal senators say its shameful that Bill S-204 was squelched in committee.

This bill is dead, the Conservatives killed it, said Senator Jim Munson.

Before we even got to clause by clause in this bill, the Conservative senators shut down the debate. They refused to allow a bill to go to clause by clause and thus go in to the Senate to become law.

The Liberals said their Conservative opponents even refused to allow MS patients to testify about the effects of treatment for what is known as chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency or CCSVI.

They dont want to hear from MS patients, to have them as witnesses before the committee, said Senator Jane Cordy, sponsor of the bill. This is shameful.

The Conservative senators argued this is a matter for science and medicine, not Parliament.

Since Day 1, the Conservative have played politics with MS patients, Cordy said.

The Conservative senators on that committee threw the science away and have used politics, politics, politics.

Cordy says as many as 75,000 Canadians suffer from MS.

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Conservative senators kill proposed legislation on MS treatment