Chair, I'll just echo my final thoughts on this.
I think we have to acknowledge the difference between an applicant during the consultation versus the minister making notice public. Those are two very different things. When the applicant does a consultation, of course that applicant gets to pick and choose who he or she consults. That's very different from the minister making a public notice that is on the public record and is available to every member of the public.
Those are two very different things. Let's be clear about that. One is more consultative. One is not. One is more open and transparent. One is not. That the Liberals would be against openness and transparency, against consultations, is in direct opposition to what they campaigned on and in direct opposition to what's in the mandate letter for the health minister.
The second point I wish to make is with regard to the 45 days and the fact that this requirement would somehow hold this up. Now, we can argue that there might be deaths that would result from this measure. I don't think it's fair to assume that every single one of those deaths would be saved, because I don't think it's fair to say that every single person in Alberta would all of a sudden come into that injection site and not overdose. That argument just doesn't hold water.
Nevertheless, I will acknowledge that, sure, I suppose 45 days could cause some delay, and I suppose that delay could have some negative impact, but I think the negative impact is very small in comparison with the positive impact from a coherent and cohesive effort that could be taken when community organizations and members of the public come together and have their input.
At the end of the day, of course I still stand in favour of my motion. I do believe it is in the best interest of Canadians that the minister does give a minimum of 45 days' public notice.