As Rick Jamieson said, in the spring of this year, a terrible situation was unrolling in Europe. People were dying because of a lack of ventilators. Very soon after that, the same situation reproduced itself in the United States of America, our neighbours just to the south, in New York State—a state that touches Canada. People were dying and doctors were beside themselves with having to make decisions about who should be put on a ventilator and who, unfortunately, would not be. That's not a position doctors should be in.
When Mr. Jamieson contacted us and asked us if we would be part of this consortium, our answer was yes, absolutely.
Today, Canadians can feel safe. We are not out of the COVID situation by any stretch, but at least they can feel safe in the knowledge that that situation that happened in Europe and in the United States, where people were left to die because of lack of access to medical equipment, will not happen in Canada. We have played a small part in that, but we're very proud of the role we played with Ventilators for Canadians. We thank Mr. Jamieson for reaching out to us.
The situation that we saw in Europe, particularly in Italy, occurred here in North America. In the United States, people died because of a lack of ventilators. This situation won't occur in Canada. Canadians and Quebeckers can feel safe knowing that there will be enough ventilators for everyone, if necessary. Our work with the Ventilators for Canadians consortium made it possible for us to deliver the ventilators. We're extremely proud of this.
Thank you.