Mr. Speaker, I remember SARS and I remember the response that we were able to give as a government in terms of appointing the first ever minister of state for public health and appointing Dr. David Butler-Jones as the Chief Public Health Officer for Canada.
My question for the member concerns the response we have had over the past few months in terms of the insecurity that our first nations Inuit and Métis people are feeling in terms of their responsibility in preparing for a pandemic or a potential SARS outbreak on reserve. Could we prove that germs do not respect borders and could we put in place a public health network for the 13 jurisdictions? The reason people on reserves are feeling so insecure is that no one seems to know whether it is the First Nations Inuit Health Branch or the Public Health Agency that will be helping plan for a pandemic on reserve.