Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to briefly comment on the Government Leader's statement with respect to the public inquiry into the Fort Smith health centre. Mr. Speaker, when this issue was first raised in this House my constituents had a great deal of concern with respect to all of the events surrounding Dr. Viswalingam and the Fort Smith health centre. These concerns were communicated over and over to me in many forms. At that time, Mr. Speaker, I believed that the only way this matter could be fully and completely resolved was by way of a public inquiry. Over the past few months I have been involved in the events leading up to the inquiry.
Because of this, I wish to rise and state for the record that I concur with the Government Leader's decision that a public inquiry is no longer required. I concur with this decision for two reasons. Firstly, it has become increasingly evident that a critical piece of evidence, the Saskatchewan Report, and the events leading up to the preparation of this report, cannot be entered into evidence at the inquiry. Mr. Speaker, the report and the events leading up to the report were fundamental to the successful conclusion of an inquiry. Without the report the inquiry loses a great deal of its focus and direction, and I do not believe the Evidence Act should be amended to allow this report to be received into evidence. The social policy concerns surrounding the Evidence Act are simply too important to be lightly swept away.
Secondly, Mr. Speaker, my constituents' concerns, with respect to the way Dr. Viswalingam was treated have been adequately addressed through the government and Dr. Viswalingam reaching a voluntary agreement. This agreement was reached on Dr. Viswalingam's own volition and I believe that my constituents would be satisfied that Dr. Viswalingam has now been treated fairly. For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I concur with the Government Leader's statement and I welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter further with the Minister of Health and my constituents in a public forum in Fort Smith. Thank you.