Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to welcome Dr. Butler-Jones and Ms. Allain for appearing before our committee. I also appreciated the chance to hear from the minister this morning.
First of all, I'd like to congratulate Dr. Butler-Jones on his appointment as the Chief Public Health Officer for our country. As a Saskatchewan member of Parliament, I know that when he was named, it was a great day for Saskatchewanians. Dr. Butler-Jones previously worked in Weyburn, in the Sun Country Health Region, and we were all very proud of him. The health care of Canadians is in good hands.
Dr. Butler-Jones, as the legislation is set up, my understanding is that you are a deputy. I have a couple of questions.
Have you been working in close contact with other deputies—I'm especially thinking of the public security and emergency preparedness deputy—to monitor and prepare for potential threats to the public health of Canadians? Obviously, I'm talking along the lines of pandemics.
Regarding avian flu, which everyone in the world is certainly concerned about, it seems to be spreading from east to west, from country to country. I'd like you to comment a little on whether we are ready to tackle that in this country. Can you reassure Canadians that they are safe?
Maybe you can speak a little about Tamiflu, giving us an update regarding that. I think Ms. Demers' question perhaps touched on how many doses we have stockpiled and what percentage of Canadians that would cover. I've seen statistics that a low percentage of Canadians would be covered by the available Tamiflu.
Could you also give us an update as to whether private citizens can purchase Tamiflu, or has that been stocked by the manufacturer to protect the general public should Tamiflu be needed to tackle avian flu?
Those are a few different questions, and I'd appreciate your thoughts, my fellow Saskatchewanian.