Thank you very much.
I did write to the federal ministers. I wrote to Minister Raitt on May 25 about Chalk River going down. I wrote again to Minister Raitt on June 9, and I wrote to Minister Aglukkaq on June 19. The note on June 19 specifically outlined the 40% increase in prices that was anticipated at that point, as well as an additional 30% cost on the members of the Ontario Association of Nuclear Medicine. On August 4 I received a reply from Minister Aglukkaq, dated July 28, and I will quote from the letter:
I appreciate that you have concerns with respect to the rising cost of medical isotopes and the operating cost pressures associated with the shortage situation. The extent to which these price increases are due directly to the shutdown of the NRU is unclear. In fact, both Canada's primary distributors of TC-99m generators notified customers of impending price increases prior to the NRU shutdown in May.
The minister goes on to say:
Further study and analysis is required in order to understand the underlying causes and scale of price increases for TC-99m generators across Canada.
So I must admit I fail to see how there was a lack of understanding of the supply and demand dynamic. I think it is a fairly well understood economic theory that has stood the test of time for hundreds of years.