Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Minister, for being here today.
I think we have two issues we're trying to deal with here. One is the risk management of the isotope issue, and the second one is the Auditor General's report. I notice that in the last couple of weeks the opposition members have been trying to tie the two together, although there is no direct connection there.
I'd like to talk first about the risk management issue. We really found ourselves in a situation five weeks ago where we had to make a decision on whether there was going to be isotope production or not. That was pretty much as clear as it could be. We could have chosen not to act, in which case we may still not have had isotope production today. Some of the indications were that it would be the end of January or later before that production would start. You mentioned earlier that there are 25,000 procedures per day, so we'd be in a very serious situation.
All parties in Parliament worked together and made the decision that they did not agree that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission position represented the health and safety interests of Canadians. Parliament made the move and made a choice that they were going to ask that the reactor be put back into production.
I would like you to explain a bit. What would the consequences have been of our not acting, of not doing anything at that point? Was there a real health risk?