Honourable senators, I waited until Mental Health Week to read this. I’m rising today in support of Senator Brazeau’s Bill S-254, first because I am obligated to do so, for I’ve been down the same road, have seen the same results and been witness to the same outcomes. I am also speaking in support of the bill because, although some warning label will not solve the problem of alcoholism or all harm related to and because of alcohol, it might well in some way aid those who will take heed and may mitigate the suffering that many go through daily because of alcohol abuse — the shame and degradation alcohol can cause not only to the one afflicted but to his or her family, the loss of jobs, income and self-respect and the illnesses apart from all else alcohol consumption can foster.

So I, too, would like to see a label attached to alcohol being sold that indicates the serious health risk, fetal development and the link to disease that may arise from overconsumption. I would be the last to say “preach” but the first to say “inform.” The label should inform us that excess drinking could well be hazardous to our well-being and to the well-being of our family. Just as true is the retardation of fetal development and the devastating affliction of fetal alcohol syndrome.

I know this has been seen but it can be a horror if experienced in your own family. I will not go into any long story here, but I have seen much destruction because of alcohol and I doubt there are many in this chamber who haven’t seen that.

The warning label attached could be a good thing. I know it won’t be a cure-all, for youngsters are youngsters and rebellion is key to a youngster’s growth. And this, too, has to do with drink. I also believe that personal individual responsibility is tantamount to an individual’s life.

Without getting into a great deal about my own story, I began to drink when I was 14, and by 20 I was a daily drinker. It is useless to go into. Nor will I ever parade my afflictions onto others in this chamber.

Will these warning labels help? I cannot say. But I know they won’t hurt. I know this is a bill crafted out of experience and personal struggle, and I commend Senator Brazeau for this.

I will tell you one story. Years ago, a friend of mine wanted me to go drinking with him. He was my brother’s best friend. We hunted and drank together. He was a Mi’kmaw kid and one of those so close to us that he could enter our house without knocking. We would turn around and there he would be in our kitchen smiling at us. He pleaded with me to go out that night. I told him I had to finish the book I was working on. It was six months overdue and the publisher was waiting for it. Besides, I said, “Every time you and I go drinking together we seem to get into trouble.” “That’s what makes it fun,” he said. Those were the last words he ever spoke to me. An hour later he was dead in a car accident that ruined my brother’s legs. I often thought that going back home, determined to work on my book, kept me alive, so I dedicated the book to him. It was called, strangely enough, Lives of Short Duration. He was one of the 17 kids I grew up with who did not reach adulthood.

For him and for the dozens of others I knew and know; for those kids I grew up with, filled with love and charity as much as anyone, dead by car accidents or suicides or by someone else’s hand; and to others who, through alcohol, have lost their health and their way, I support Senator Brazeau and I support this bill and I ask you to allow it to go to committee. Thank you very much.

Yes.

I just stated how I feel. I feel it should go to committee and be examined. I feel that a warning label on alcohol is not a bad thing. If anything, it’s a good thing. It’s absolute common sense that it could be done, a committee could study it and my speech explicitly gives the reasons why I think that. That’s about all I can say, senator.