I'm going back to your story, but I want to touch upon a couple of things.
I had the fortunate opportunity to work with the Infertility Awareness Association of Canada, which was founded, as you know, in 1990 to help many individuals and couples who were having challenges with infertility. When the board was appointed in 2007, there was a great deal of concern amongst that particular support group--many other couples that had been impacted and affected.
We actually had a press conference. We were joined by the executive director at the time of the Infertility Awareness Association, Beverly Hanck; Arthur Leader, who was a fertility expert; and Danny Roth, who was there representing patients. Both I and Dr. Carolyn Bennett were there at that press conference.
There was a great deal of trouble amongst many individuals by the fact that the board itself was announced on the eve before a holiday weekend, and also included many members who had spoken out against...their particular views on abortion, on embryonic stem cell research, and also the fact that there wasn't a lot of expertise with some of the board members with regard to the research component of it.
I'm going to read for you a quote that was actually done by Michael Rudnicki, who stated at that time, in a press release, the fact that the board members could steer them all “in a very conservative way, and maybe that's what the federal government wants”; that we will all have to wait and see “whether the function of this board will be politicized” and whether there is a particular “agenda” that the government is trying to promote; and that this could mean a great deal of difficulty for individuals who were trying to conceive.
I bring up this quote and go down memory lane here because I want to know from your experience, now that you've had an opportunity to serve on the board, was that a particular factor in your decision? Did you see that when you were at your board meetings?