Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Stanton sterilization issue is actually two issues. The first is wet packs, and the other is mineral staining. I am going to talk about each one. Wet packs: once ideal humidity levels were achieved and sustained, the wet pack issue was resolved at Stanton, and that happened in the fall of 2020. As the Member said in his statement, the importance of this is that, if the instruments are not dry, they can attract bacteria, which would then lead to infection. This issue has been resolved.
Mineral staining is another issue, and it continues. The root cause is not yet fully determined, but sterilization and water experts who have looked at the situation believe that the staining is caused by mineralization in the water, specifically copper and iron. There have been very many investigations into this and how this water supply system can be adjusted so that the water no longer stains the fabric that the instruments are wrapped in when they are sterilized. There has been some improvement, and now the fabric has light-coloured stains, which are thought to be not an issue because the instruments themselves are not stained. What is really important to know is that we have a very rigorous quality-control process to do the sterilization of instruments that are used in surgery to confirm that they are, in fact, sterile and that people are not being infected by the instruments that are used in their operations. Thank you.