Health committee  We weren't really...or at least I'm not aware of consultation with McGill University before the bill was written. I think we were shown the bill after it was written, but I think if we were approached before it was written, we would have had input at that point, certainly.

Health committee  I wasn't consulted in September 2007.

Health committee  I think everybody will see things they would like to change, but one of them is mycobacterium bovis. BCG is a level 3 pathogen. In fact, one-third of the world has been injected with this as a vaccine against tuberculosis, TB, so I'm not sure it should be a level 3 pathogen if it's already being injected into people as a potential vaccine.

Health committee  I could give my perspective on that. The way Bill C-11 addresses level 2 pathogens in this bill in Canada is not what happens in the United States. They do not have those kinds of restrictions in the United States on level 2 pathogens. They do on levels 3 and 4. This bill is right on level 3 and 4, but it's not right on level 2.

Health committee  Yes, that's fine. First of all, I'd like to thank the committee for allowing me this opportunity to give some feedback on the bill. What I'm really going to be talking about is what's written in the bill here and my interpretation of it. Just to give you a bit of background, I'm the chairman of the department of microbiology at McGill University.