Madam Chair, I would like to change the subject to something that is really important, and that is be the SARS situation that we have been experiencing over the last couple of months in Canada and around the world. It continues to be out of control in China. I think we should consider that very carefully as we discern what we have learned over the last little while.
In a very non-partisan way, this all started on March 26 when I gave my questions to the minister prior to her coming into the House. I did not want to make this a political issue but an issue that was of most importance for Canadians. We need to do that when it comes to a crisis situation, which SARS certainly could have developed into in Canada, and some people thought it actually had.
On March 26 we asked the minister questions on this so she could get out in front of Canadians and convince them that everything was being done to contain SARS and to protect them from the virus. However, on March 27 a mistake was made when the WHO actually recommended screening at our airports on international flights out of our country. That recommendation was an eyeball to eyeball or direct interview as a screening prerogative or a screening measure at the airports. At that time when the question was asked of the minister, the answer was that it would clog up the system too much even though that was what the WHO had recommended.
I wonder why the minister did not, at that time, apply an aggressive approach rather than a voluntary single sheet of paper that people could pick up or not pick up. Obviously we were too lax and we ended up exporting SARS.