Dr. Jim Smith
Minister of Health
Province of Nova Scotia

Dear Dr. Smith:

I would like to draw your attention to a symposium being held from the 5th to the 7th of August at Oxford University. This international conference will examine the medical, legal, and ethical issues surrounding the practice of circumcision. Everyone is welcome to attend.

In April 1997, the 35th Parliament enacted Bill C-27, which expressly prohibits the practice now commonly known as female genital mutilation, or FGM. We are beginning to recognize that male circumcision presents many of the same legal and ethical difficulties as FGM. Evidence suggests that except in rare cases when it is performed in response to a specific medical need, male circumcision confers no medical benefit and may harm the person who undergoes it. Consequently infant male circumcision raises important questions concerning the human rights of children.

An award will be presented at the symposium to Dr. Margaret Somerville, Founding Director of the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law, in recognition of the role she has played in focusing attention on these issues.

The Royal College of Pædiatrics and Child Health has confirmed that physicians and surgeons who attend will be granted fifteen Continuing Medical Education credits.

I enclose a copy of the symposium brochure. Please contact me if you would like further information.

The Circumcision Information Resource Centre is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising public awareness of matters related to the practice of circumcision.

	Yours sincerely,
	[signed]
	John Antonopoulos
	President