Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is what I hope the independent review will determine, the standard of treatment that patients receive through the Stanton Hospital. 1, personally, have no knowledge of anybody, other than what I heard in the media, from that one report, speaking of this hideous treatment that they receive here. I have no evidence whatsoever of that and I hope that the independent review will help to clarify whether or not this procedure is being undertaken, that I have been assured that they have a standard of practice there that complies with the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada.

I received this memo from Dr. Andre Lalonde, which I will table at the appropriate time, which outlines the procedure and he concurs with it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the main purpose of this review is to get to the bottom of this matter. It is to be able to review and listen to anyone that has expressed concerns previously and privately to other folk, that yes there is a procedure that is taking place there that in their opinion may not be as sensitive as I would like to think and the Member would like to think, and as tenderly as possible under those trying and traumatic circumstances.

I am trying to assure the Member that we will get to the bottom of this, and that any recommendations that are made will be tabled here so that all Members are aware of what took place. These recommendations will be taken forward to the medical profession. If there are some inadequacies in the method of treatment or the level of pain suppression that is experienced by people under those trying and traumatic conditions, Mr. Speaker, these things will be rectified. But, at the present time, I have instructed my department through the medical people in the department to have a word of advice given to people that there are concerns.

The Member is right. It is a delicate thing that people may not want to come out and perhaps tell me because there is no possibility of my truly understanding what they have gone through. The honourable Member is a female, and they should certainly be able to confide in her, or some other member of the public that they trust, to let them know there are things going on that they have suffered under this procedure. Somehow or other they can remain anonymous. The information can come back so long as it is verified if there is, indeed, something there that we may not be aware of. We can take steps to correct it, but we only read in the newspaper and hear on the radio -- only yesterday at 8:30 in the morning, and today there is front page news. But, if they had gone to Members before and explained to them, this would be conveyed to my department through me. I would have ensured that this would have been looked at far sooner.

There is this number that is being given out. Fourteen is a lot of people. I am very concerned. I want to assure the Member that this is not being taken lightly by myself, and I have answered as honestly as I can. I want to assure the public that we are looking into this and that there will not be a cover-up. There will be a review of the procedures. This will be discussed, I am sure, with other informed people, Mr. Speaker, that are experts in this area as to whether or not what we are doing here is in keeping with the standards of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada for this particular type of procedure.

I want to assure you that we will get to the bottom of this. Any recommendations that are made will be tabled here in this House, or each Member will receive that if the House is not sifting, so that they can take this back to their constituents to assure them that, in fact, we are trying to deliver the best level of health care in the Territories that the public deserves.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this moment, I do not know that.

Mr. Speaker, as I said, I do not know. I may have been informed that there is, in fact, no general surgeon at that hospital as I am aware that other hospitals may not have a full complement of staff, but it is not something that I realize is an issue at this particular point.

Mr. Speaker, I do not have specific knowledge as to individual cases, but I would assume that we utilize whatever facility is nearest to the patient's home community. I would probably not be too far wrong if I were to suggest that the majority of patients that require elective surgery that can be performed here in the Territories are referred to Stanton Yellowknife Hospital. Those that cannot be are referred to other hospitals, perhaps south to Edmonton or Calgary. It depends on the nature of the medical treatment that they are seeking. If it is not available here, we go somewhere else. If it is not available in the communities, I believe we use the expertise here at Stanton Yellowknife Hospital.