Industry committee  There were actually three patents involved.

Industry committee  That I'm not actually sure of. I don't know whether my colleagues who are with me are aware or not, but I can certainly let you know.

Industry committee  Do you want to talk about the first part of the question?

Industry committee  That's right.

Industry committee  Probably between Mr. Ready and I, we can kind of walk through the timing and the process.

Industry committee  I'm not actually aware of that. Do you know?

Industry committee  Yes, and it's not going to relate directly to the development of medicines. It's general economic evidence and studies about the importance of patents to innovation.

Industry committee  I'll look to my colleagues to answer. I'll simply say that I don't think the legislation was intended to allow the Government of Canada to contract itself. It's really aimed at manufacturers having the ability to--

Industry committee  No, there is no scientific research to back that up, simply a concern that that would happen. We haven't been told by Rx&D; that that's definitely what would happen. You'd have to see what would happen with the changes in the bill to know that that would be the result, though there is economic evidence, and certainly pharmaceutical companies and other patent holders make it really clear that their investment in developing products is really contingent on having strong patent protections.

Industry committee  Almost all of the requirements to identify where the goods are going and allow the identification and tracking of the goods would be eliminated from the bill. There would be the remaining requirement to post some information on a website. On top of that, enforcement mechanisms in CAMR now would allow if drugs were diverted back to Canada or sent to countries besides countries in the developing world.

Industry committee  Maybe I can clarify that.

Industry committee  That's right. Brigitte.

Industry committee  That's correct.

Industry committee  Okay.

Industry committee  I'll just try to go over some of those quickly because there are probably a number. Mostly, though, what they stem from is that ultimately the changes in the bill would expand what is now fairly limited, and limited in design, around getting medicines to developing countries that need them for humanitarian purposes or on certain emergencies.