In the county next to mine, Annapolis Valley, the rate is 137 per 100,000 women. That is a significant spread. Ten times more hysterectomies are performed in Cumberland County than in Annapolis County and they are in the same province of Canada. This is a health issue. We know there are major causes of female problems that warrant hysterectomies.
Hysterectomies are a very normal procedure, but they are an invasion of women's health.
That concerns me very definitely and very sincerely. We have tracked down the sincerity and the integrity of these numbers. They originated in the Department of Health in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and they have been tracked to the hospitals. The numbers have great significance, they have integrity and they are valid. Whether it is due to overzealous doctors looking for cash crops on surgical procedures or whether it is due to fundamental underlying health problems for the women of Cumberland County, I would ask the parliamentary secretary to pursue this great anomaly.