Mr. Speaker, I mentioned that in my speech. It is a pity that we took steps to do this kind of thing. We now know that pandemics will occur more frequently in a world that has absolutely open borders and travel. People of every class and of every age are travelling around the world.
This is going to be important, so we need to take some steps now. We need to ensure that Canada has what it needs to help any country in which an epidemic has begun and to do so swiftly.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has been cut severely over the last five years, and its ability to respond may be compromised even now. I would like to know whether the cuts have done anything to create a delayed response by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
I would like to ensure that after this Ebola epidemic is contained, we do not wait for another epidemic. I would like to ensure that the countries of the world sit together and talk about building, in the interim, strong, clear, and solid health systems in the developing world so that they can respond themselves in a timely and effective manner when something like this happens.