Documents attached to bibliography entries

Copps had promised to raise issue in House of Commons, had not. Later sent some good letters. Caccia eventually raised issue in HofC 21 September 1988, a few months after consumer testimony at Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health.

Gordon Douglas, in Sheila Copps office, helped forward the concern. Copps wrote Epp several times, raised issues in committee, said at Parliamentary Health Committee (1988) that some buildings in Parliament affect her.

1) Will you make a clear public statement in the House of Commons or to the national media recognizing environmental sensitivity as a very real illness which afflicts thousands of Canadians? 2) Upon making this public statement, will you ensure that your department and other federal departments acknowledge the illness's existence and act appropriately when responding to public enquiries? 3) will you initiate a survey of the attitudes of health professionals and the general public regarding environmental sensitivity, study its results and initiate an information campaign to address any misconceptions? 4) Will you direct your officials to request submissions- from the environmentally sensitive and their umbrella groups on hdw programs and policies in federal areas of jurisdiction can be improved to reflect the legitimate concerns of the environmentally sensitive?

"As minister of health, you have a responsibility to help educate Canadians about illnesses like environmental sensitivities and to also assist those persons who suffer from sensitivities. I believe it is imperative that you act now to stimulate public discussion and understanding of environmental sensitivities, assist Canadians who have suffered as a result of public misconceptions and ensure that sufferers of environmental sensitivities have not and, in the future, will not be misdiagnosed with the result being the placing of sufferers in institutions for the mentally disabled. There are countless Canadians who are suffering as a result of pollutants and man-made substances in our environment and you, as minister of health, have a responsibility to help. By taking the very specific steps outlined in the preceeding paragraph, you can be part of the solution, not part of the problem. I look forward to hearing from you regarding this important matter"

Copps helped push HWC forward. She was the first to know of Maureen Law and Jake Epp's reform of Health and Welfare's position in the summer of 1988. When Health Canada joined Thomson and others in discussing the psychological sequelae of sensitivities, Copps and branched out on the concern to NGO's and professional associations.

Unfortunately, Copps turned a blind eye once in government, as her colleague, Diane Marleau reversed gains made under Beatty and Bouchard, so that the people who were supposed to be protected are being injured or killed, instead.