Thank you for the question.
I think the key take-home message that I can share with the committee is that upon our election and swearing in, I was able to immediately launch a policy review of the position of the Government of Canada when it came to hepatitis C compensation. That has led to the current state of the situation, which is a very serious negotiation.
So the policy review, the approval of a stance, of a position, the commencement of serious negotiations--all of that took place within the space of about four months. I think that is testament to our seriousness in dealing with this issue that, quite frankly, has been left out there for too long a period of time.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the parliamentary secretary has been outspoken on this in the past, and has been very helpful in the present in keeping us on track.
I don't want us to be mired in negativity on this front. I think the message to hepatitis C victims and to Canadians who care about this file, and there are very many who do, is one of optimism and one of progress. That's the take-home message I want to give to people. I'm an optimistic person by nature--one has to be if one wants to be in politics, perhaps--and I do feel that we are making headway.