Dear Friends and Supporters,
On Tuesday, MPs from all parties and a Senator gathered to call for a strengthened Federal Lyme Disease Framework. Senator Kelvin Ogilvie, Conservative Senator from Nova Scotia, a world-respected scientist before being named to the Senate and Chair of the Senate Social Affairs, Science and Technology Committee, joined me, as well as MPs Tracey Ramsey (NDP for Essex), and Francesco Sorbara (Liberal for Vaughan – Woodbridge) to support the calls of advocates to strengthen the framework.
Dr. Melanie Wills, Director of the Canadian Lyme Science Alliance (CLSA) and researcher in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Guelph University, and Dr. Liz Zubek, a family physician who specializes in the treatment of Lyme Disease, both called for an improved framework, with a focus on improving the review of the available biomedical literature, and increasing the urgency of the call for better diagnostic testing. Rossana Magnotta, President and Founder of the G. Magnotta Foundation for Vector-Borne Diseases and advocate called for the Minister to incorporate better patient input into the Framework.
I encourage you to watch the press conference here:
There’s still time for the Framework to reflect these concerns. I remain deeply grateful that the bill received all-party support in the House of Commons and Senate. I continue to believe that working together, there is much we can accomplish to improve the lives of those suffering from this terrible disease.
Elizabeth May, OC
Member of Parliament
Saanich-Gulf Islands
Leader of the Green Party of Canada