Thank you for the question.
The number one priority for us in Health Canada is to protect first nations and Inuit health. The response of Health Canada, as soon as Dr. O'Connor phoned us, was to immediately instigate an investigation to follow up on the claims of a cluster of cancers. This was done in cooperation with Dr. O'Connor, and actually it has been three years to the day as of yesterday since we did that. We immediately flew, upon his agreement, to Fort Chipewyan to meet with him, which happened on May 17, 2006, at which time Alberta Health and Wellness, Public Health Agency of Canada, and Health Canada representatives met with Dr. O'Connor to investigate his concerns. At no time did we suggest that his concerns were invalid or anything like that.
We pursued with the college other things that caused us concern, because we are all members of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and under our ethical and professional obligations, which we all meet as physicians, we spoke with the college. The college rulings have not been made public. In particular, the one you refer to is still pending investigation.