Mr. Speaker, I do not think we would have moved as far as we have with Bill C-17, Vanessa's law, if not for the member for Oakville.
We were elected at the same time, but the member for Oakville was faced with a terrible death in his family. He has made it one of his life's missions to educate Canadians and people around the world on some of the glaring weaknesses in our regulatory regime. I believe that he has raised the level of knowledge in debate in the House of Commons on this topic, and he should be thanked as much as possible. He has done a great job.
Often the pharmaceutical companies' best defence is to pay a fine, and then they are off scot-free in a lot of ways. However, Vanessa's law changed that, and anybody in a company, especially at senior levels, who knows of an issue with a drug and continues to produce it will face severe penalties in fines, which could include jail time. I think that is the most important piece of this legislation. It makes those executives and senior managers responsible for the products they are selling to Canadians.