Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a government, we acknowledge that the abhorrent practice of performing sterilization procedures upon Indigenous women under a forced or a coerced circumstance took place in the Northwest Territories in the past, long before any of us were in this House. I personally condemn the practice, as I know all Members in this House must, of coerced or forced sterilization. As a government, we take seriously the accounts that have been shared by residents. I would really like to commend the individuals for their courage in sharing their stories and bringing forth this issue.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, at this time, I do not have the precise information on the number of women who came forward under that GNWT program that was offered in 1998. It was a number of years ago. However, I would like to reconfirm that this government will always take seriously and respond to patients' accounts of forced sterilization. With respect to the information from the 1998 program, I will do my best to get that information and share it with the Member, as well as other Members of this House.

I would like to acknowledge once again that I agree with the Member that such practices are a violation of medical ethics and of a patient's rights to information and informed consent, so I thank the Member for raising the question.