Mr. Chair, it is a great opportunity to speak. We are here to discuss Bill C-38 and to discuss the extended shutdown of the Atomic Energy of Canada NRU reactor at Chalk River and the serious shortage of medical isotopes it has created.
I want to state from the outset, upon learning of this situation, our number one priority all along has been 100% solely focused on resuming the production of isotopes or looking for an alternative supply. We believe this was the thing we had to resolve.
I can advise the House that on November 30, Natural Resources Canada and my office received an email from government relations, and I did not personally receive this, on the Friday, not raising any alarm bells and advising them that the reactor would resume operations early in December.
After the weekend, upon learning of this and discussing it with the deputy on December 4, we immediately launched into action, with our focus on resuming the production of medical isotopes and looking at all the options available to us, both in Canada and around the globe. I am working very closely with the officials at the Department of Health.
I and my deputy engaged in conversations with both AECL and the CNSC on December 5 and December 8. We encouraged both parties to look constructively and to work cooperatively together for any possible solution on how we could expedite the situation we were in.
Again, that was followed up by correspondence by myself and the Minister of Health, with letters to both organizations encouraging that in writing and following that, receiving their responses.
We are now before the House after we believe we have received the advice of the experts that we can resume production of this facility in an absolutely safe manner.
Therefore, we have presented Bill C-38 to the House as we believe it is in the public interest of Canadians. This reactor is responsible for some 25,000 medical procedures a day.
We look forward to receiving questions from all opposition parties and members of the House. We look forward to their support so we can resume the operation of the reactor to resume production of medical isotopes.