Mr. Speaker, I do not think there is any doubt that the government has always taken the threat of SARS very seriously. That is why as soon as the WHO issued information in relation to this new and emerging disease we activated federal-provincial-territorial mechanisms. We activated our operations centre in Health Canada. We activated our level 4 lab in Winnipeg, working 24 hours a day 7 days a week to try to understand the science of this disease. In fact, we have always taken this disease seriously, which is why the WHO says we are the world leader.
In the House of Commons on May 2nd, 2003. See this statement in context.