Mr. Speaker, while local and provincial health authorities are the lead in handling medical cases, we have been working very closely with them in efforts to control and investigate SARS. Health Canada epidemiologists are involved with local officials in the investigation of new cases.
Today I am announcing that Health Canada will invest five million new dollars to support the fight against SARS and other infectious diseases. Two million dollars will strengthen Canada's ability to help provinces and territories better respond to infectious disease through a new national public health and epidemiology network.
Additional funds will support SARS research by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Health Canada's Winnipeg lab to recruit additional staff to work on--