Mr. Speaker, last fall when officials from Health Canada ordered a generic version of the anti-anthrax drug Cipro, they broke Canada's patent laws. The minister said that his officials were responsible and argued that they acted in good faith and, besides that, he knew nothing about it. Now an access to information request has shown that the minister was indeed informed about the problems with the patent laws ahead of time but chose to ignore them.
Why did the minister pass on his chance to do the right and legal thing and instead break the very laws which he is now responsible for as the Minister of Industry?