Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his comments.
I mentioned a few moments ago the worry about the consequences of a shortage of medical isotopes that this situation could lead to. Unfortunately, the one region that has been left out of plans to produce medical isotopes using new technology and to be part of the experimentation going on right now in those new technologies is my region of Atlantic Canada.
I have written to the minister about the exclusion of Atlantic Canada's only medical isotope production facility—the only area that is really doing work in this field—from the isotope technology acceleration program, or ITAP. The federal government has now invested more than $50 million in the development of an alternative supply of medical isotopes, and I am informed that none of this funding has been invested in Atlantic Canada. This is unacceptable in a region where the supply of medical isotopes is precarious.
Like many others, I am concerned that patient care for residents of Atlantic Canada will be jeopardized should the Conservatives neglect to invest in the region under ITAP.