Our sick are concerned. We have had to dramatically reduce access to care although people knew three years ago that this crisis was coming. I think action should have been taken long ago to avoid the situation we find ourselves in today.
The people being held hostage in this situation are the ill. They need urgent care. As Dr. Gulenchyn said, if the level of supply goes below the 50% mark, there is a high risk that the ill will suffer extremely negative consequences. According to Dr. Gulenchyn, the quantity of isotopes at Quebec's Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie, one of the biggest cardiology and lung cancer investigation centres, has been reduced this week to 20%—so this is below the 50% mark—and we are going to have to go through all kinds of hoops in order to provide our patients with the greatest possible accessibility.
I think that a government, when it is in power, must govern and make decisions. A decision should have been made by the government three years ago. The Canadian government has a social responsibility not only to Canada but also to the rest of the world. I think that it must go to every possible length to ensure that an international committee assesses the Chalk River facility. People need to be told the truth, namely, whether or not this reactor can be made operational again. If this is at all possible, it must be made operational once again because there is no immediate solution in the rest of the world to compensate for this shortage of isotopes. The only solution for us and for the rest of the world is to, for the time being, try to prolong the life of the Chalk River reactor as much as possible. In addition, to ensure that an adequate assessment is done and that people are aware of the truth, we must establish an international emergency committee to assess the problem.