Privilege  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his interventions. The member is an honourable member and surely there is a way that we can sort this out outside of the time of the House. I would be happy to do so at the earliest opportunity.

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, I would like to respond to the question of privilege raised by my friend, the hon. member for Mississauga South, a couple of days ago. Requests for information received at Health Canada from members of Parliament and senators are of great importance to me and to my officials.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  In fairness, Mr. Speaker, just as I answered her question at committee just a few minutes ago, in fact we were in contact with all the additional suppliers of radioisotopes. The problem was that the European suppliers could only add 10% to 15% more to supply and then only at the end of December.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Mr. Speaker, as I said during committee, we did contact the Belgians. It was in fact clear. We contacted them on December 7 and December 10. We had a conference call with all of the European suppliers. It became clear that they could not supply Canada with the radioisotopes in the quantities we needed.

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence and the indulgence of my fellow members of the House I would like to respond to a question of privilege raised by the member for Mississauga South earlier this morning. On the question of privilege the member for Mississauga South raised, I have the blues with me.

Settlement of International Investment Disputes Act  moved that the bill be read the third time and passed.

Settlement of International Investment Disputes Act  moved that the bill be concurred in.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  No, Mr. Speaker, that is completely false yet again. In fact, our supply of radioisotopes was down by 65% at the time that Parliament acted. That is where we were just in that very week and it was going to get worse. We already had hospitals that were stopping treatments because radioisotopes were not available.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Mr. Speaker, I would like to reiterate once again that it is false to say that Health Canada or the government failed to act. Once I had the information, I took action. The same is true of my hon. colleague, the Minister of Natural Resources. Once it was clear there was a problem, we contacted the other companies and firms in Europe.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Mr. Speaker, that is false. The reactor in Belgium does not have the capacity to produce isotopes. Europe does not have this capacity. It is a fact. The capacity did not exist. We did ask. We asked each company in Europe and companies on other parts of the globe. We were scouring the globe.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Mr. Speaker, that is categorically false. It is completely untrue. The very week that I and my colleague, the Minister of Natural Resources, found out that the scheduled shutdown would be prolonged, we in fact did contact the company officials to whom the hon. member referred. We in fact did scour the world for replacement isotopes.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Mr. Speaker, that is the same question and it will be given the same answer. When I was informed of the problem, we took action. Parliament decided to act and we made the right decision to safeguard the health of Canadians. I support this decision. The leadership on this side of the House is such that we looked after the health of Canadians.

Health  Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. There are many families who are struggling with autism across this country and we recognize that. That is why this government established the first national chair in autism research. That is why we hosted a national symposium to ensure that knowledge and research is shared across this country.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Mr. Speaker, of course when the government was informed of this situation, we took vigorous action to ensure the health and safety of Canadians. When we heard about the situation at AECL being an unscheduled, prolonged shutdown, this government acted. We contacted over 800 hospitals and institutions.

Health  Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, this government was the first government to act decisively when it came to the Fabry's disease issue which was of particular concern in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. We found a way to work with our provincial and territorial partners to get increased research dollars and increased supplies and medications for that particular disease.