Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Like my colleagues on the standing committee, this was a bill that had an extraordinary characteristic to it of a groundswell of public and professional support that is a really rare thing. So it was quite a pleasure and a real learning experience for me to attend with the committee the public hearings and to hear from such a diverse public on this, Mr. Chairman. From the midwives in the NWT who are already practicing and who have been the passionate advocates for this to some of the physicians and the parents of people who have experienced midwife attendance, that includes a couple of grandfathers who are, at least on my list, some of the most passionate supporters of this service.

What I hope that I have, an expectation that I have, as midwives become established in our communities and people become families and mothers become more aware of the services and the advantages that we are going to see in subtle, but very significant ways, Mr. Chairman, I think there will be some changes in our communities and in our families. As my colleagues have already pointed out, it really almost seems atrocious that we insist that mothers leave their families for approximately a month to come to a larger centre to have their baby and then go back home. The joy and the care that surrounds the birth of a new child is denied, that immediate family in that community. This, over time, will help to restore that.

We haven't had this in our communities for 30 or 40 years. I think that's approximately the time frame of this kind of regime where mothers had to leave their communities. So I hope we are going to rediscover an attachment of significance of families being able to have their children in their homes with their own families. I think that will have significant benefits.

So if I have only one thing to leave in comment, Mr. Chairman, it would really be to echo the sentiments of Mr. Dent who said that we are anxious to see this implemented as soon as practicable and as soon as our systems can allow. This really is a significant and a positive piece of work. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.