734 votes in the 2004 election. His victory was considered an upset, although polls before election day indicated the result would be close. The Liberal Party won a minority government nationally, and Fletcher was named as Senior Health Critic in the Official Opposition. Fletcher is the first Member of Parliament (MP) in Canadian history with a permanent disability. A running joke during his first campaign was that he would have to be a front bench MP, as the backbenches are not wheelchair-accessible. His election created the need for a "stranger to the House"—a person who is not officially an MP or officer of Parliament—in this case, his aide, to actually be on the floor of the Commons during sessions. The Parliament buildings had to be adapted to accommodate Fletcher. In Ottawa, Fletcher has advocated for community living, the integration of physically or mentally challenged individuals into society. He has said, “Community living is better for the individual for sure, better for their families, and in most cases—not all—it’s better on the taxpayer too.” Opposition MP As Conservative Health Critic, Fletcher described himself as a supporter of the Canada Health Act but also indicated a willingness to permit greater private-sector involvement. He suggested that the government is "notorious for stifling innovation", and argued that the private sector should not be "pigeonholed like doctors who tried to pigeonhole me". Liberal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh responded by arguing that the Conservative position would jeopardize the principles of the Canada Health Act. On April 20, 2005, the House of Commons supported Fletcher's Motion to compensate all Canadians who were infected with Hepatitis C by the Canadian Red Cross as a result of its failure to test blood samples. This was a major development in a decade-long struggle to have the pre-1986 and post-1990 Hepatitis C victims included in a federal compensation package. A compensation funding package was announced in 2006. The following month, Fletcher became involved in a controversy unrelated to his parliamentary duties. On May 21, 2005, he apologized for saying "The Japs were bastards" at a veterans' convention in Winnipeg the previous week, in reference to Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. He defended the general intent of his remarks, noting that his grandfather had witnessed the Japanese army commit atrocities when he was taken as a prisoner of war after that fall of Singapore. He also acknowledged that he used