OTTAWA, ON, May 5, 1989 - The War Amps Thalidomide Task Force has written to The Prime Minister proposing that its request for financial compensation to Canadian thalidomide victims be referred to a parliamentary committee. The letter was drafted in a special emergency meeting of the Task Force here today.

In addition to this letter, representatives from the Thalidomide Victims Association of Canada meeting with the Task Force, endorsed a signed statement expressing dissatisfaction with Health and Welfare Minister Perrin Beatty's response to their needs.

The group's dissatisfaction stems from a meeting with the Minister on March 30. At that meeting the Minister implied he would not support a special compensation package for thalidomide victims, as requested in a report the Task Force delivered to the Minister on February 14. Mr. Beatty referred to several other groups who feel that they too have claims upon the government.

"We understand that no formal submissions have been received from any of the groups named by the Minister in that meeting," stated Cliff Chadderton, chairman of the Task Force and chief executive of The War Amps.

The thalidomide victims attempted to convince the Minister that their group was unique because of a government promise already made by Waldo Monteith, Minister of National Health and Welfare in the sixties. When the tragic effects of thalidomide became known Monteith stated publicly that his government would: ". . . ensure that these (victims) are cared for in the best possible manner, that their needs are met to the fullest extent . . . "