Thank you, Madam Chairperson.
I want to start by asking about a concern raised with us by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions. I don't know if you've seen their documentation, but their concern is that the general guidelines being circulated for input and discussion by the federal government on health and safety are weaker than those of other provinces, and in particular they reference Ontario.
They would like to know if the government is prepared to look at those guidelines and change them to ensure that health care workers in Canada get the best personal protective equipment available, to ensure that a nurse in one province is protected as much as a nurse in another.
In particular, they reference two things out of the SARS report. One is the use of N95 respirators for health care workers. The other is the inclusion of references to occupational health and safety, as opposed to health and hygiene, as important in reflecting the provincial and legal realities.