Canadian government to announce compensation for Hep-C victims this month

OTTAWA -- The Conservative government will soon announce more than $1-billion of funding for uncompensated victims of the tainted blood scandal, The Canadian Press has learned.

An internal government communications plan obtained by CP shows Health Minister Tony Clement was scheduled to "announce the framework agreement on Hep C'' in Toronto last Thursday.

But a source close to the file said the date was changed to accommodate Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is keen to participate in the announcement.
Harper was in Washington on Thursday to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush.

The new date is expected to be July 24.

The Conservatives have long pushed for all victims of the tainted blood scandal of the 1980s and 1990s to be compensated equally, and committed to address the issue if elected.

To date, only people infected with Hepatitis-C between 1986 and 1990 were awarded money under a federal-provincial package announced in 1998. That timeframe was used because the government of the time insisted that it could have done nothing to prevent infections outside that period.

That claim was later refuted when it became clear that blood screening tests that were available before 1986 could have prevented some of the infections.

The source said the latest package is expected to exceed the $1.1-billion settlement from 1998 that went to an estimated 10,000. The new group numbers roughly 5,500.

The buzz in the community of Hepatitis-C victims, many of them party to a class-action lawsuit, has been growing in recent weeks. Some who had heard rumours of a deal had travelled to Ottawa in late June to listen to Clement appear before a parliamentary committee. They left bitterly disappointed.

Durhane Wong-Rieger, a long-time advocate for the rights of tainted-blood victims, said most are used to the ups and downs of waiting for compensation.

"It's been so awfully long, that most people's attitude is, `I'll believe it when I see it,''' said Wong-Rieger, who had also heard about the impending announcement.

She cautioned that even once a package is signed, it could take a long time for people to get money. Victims have to go through reams of paperwork to prove they got Hepatitis-C through tainted blood. And the settlement must be cleared in the courts.

What remains unclear is how the government will distribute the money. The first set of victims compensated were given money based on how sick they were. More money was doled out as people experienced more of the symptoms of Hepatitis-C.

Some in the community believe the government will opt this time for a lump-sum payment to each victim. Jeff Rice, the Hep-C program co-ordinator for the Canadian Hemophilia Society, said that could be problematic.

"We're a bit concerned that if people who haven't had any compensation and get the lump sum, they may not use that in the best way,'' Rice said. "A lot of people will use it to pay off mortgages and stuff, and not realize that they may be OK healthwise now, but down the road people with Hep-C can become more ill.''

Unlike the 1998 agreement, this new one does not include any provincial participation. Lawsuits against the provinces are expected to continue on behalf of the pre-1986, post-1990 victims.

Source:
Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press
© The Canadian Press

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