Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as you and the Members of this House are aware, I have been working hard to encourage the government to settle the contract with the specialists. With the information he released to the public yesterday, the Minister and the government are now engaged in a full-scale public relations war with the specialist doctors. It is highly regrettable that it has come to this, Mr. Speaker, but it is still my fervent hope that the two parties will come to a negotiated settlement in the time still remaining.

The cost of not reaching a deal, in my view, will be deep and wide reaching with long-term consequences. As one of my constituents put it in one of her e-mails to me, the cost of replacing these fine physicians is going to be astronomical. The cost of sending patients south to simply have a baby or have a heart stress test is going to be astronomical.

Mr. Speaker, this is a very serious issue and one that everyone in this House and our communities should get involved in, in order to resolve this paralysis situation. I intend to pursue this vigorously during the session inside and outside of this House, and this is just day one, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I'm especially concerned about the contingency plan the Minister has put forward and, frankly speaking, Mr. Speaker, this is no plan at all. In fact, I believe it poses a real potential for risk and danger to the health of our residents. I feel strongly that not settling a contract with specialists is not an option. We would have been put 100 steps backward in the progression of medicine in the North, Mr. Speaker, and I believe we will continue to hear more from the people out there about this and they will make sure that the Minister and the government and this House do the right thing, and they do everything in their power to settle the contract with the specialists so that we maintain and improve our healthcare system we have now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause