Health committee  I'll be very brief. We're not saying that level 2 pathogens shouldn't be regulated, or that there shouldn't be a list of every lab working with level 2 pathogens. We're not saying that. What we're saying is that level 2 pathogens should not be under the same bill as level 3 and

Health committee  I'm still concerned if the bill says that for a first offence there's a fine of $50,000. I recognize that it used to be $250,000, so now I will be fined $50,000 instead of $250,000. I can see that they have moved on that. But I would like it to be zero, because on level 2, with

Health committee  But it's very simple to do it if it's in the law. The law would be written.

Health committee  Sure, but it's a criminal charge.

Health committee  And every student in our undergraduate...? We have 350 undergraduate students in microbiology and immunology. We need to train those students. Otherwise, this country will not be able to deal with bioterrorism and pathogens--

Health committee  I'm sorry, that's not the same thing at all. That is completely different.

Health committee  If you're looking at the sale of unsafe products, you're looking at something that's completely different. What we're talking about here is a first offence regarding a level 2 pathogen. We have to teach more than 100 undergraduate students how to work with level 2 pathogens. If

Health committee  But this is the law.

Health committee  Universities will read this law and say, “We can no longer run an undergraduate teaching lab because we cannot be liable for a $50,000 fine per student if they don't follow the regulations.” Any research laboratory or any research activity in the country would be liable for doi

Health committee  But if this bill were passed like this, I can assure you that universities would be in an uproar over it. They would view this as a severe impediment to teaching students. This would make our country even less educated in the area of microbiology, and therefore even more suscepti

Health committee  I can tell you that when Bill C-54 first came out, every single university department was afraid and up in arms over this. These amendments have not changed that; they will not make a difference in this.

Health committee  I agree 100% with what Peter Singer has been saying.

Health committee  One of the things that concern me is that there have been some amendments suggested here. Again, it boils down to the problem of the regulations with respect to level 2 pathogens. According to this, for a first offence—a first offence—there's a $50,000 fine with respect to level

Health committee  I'll also be brief, because I know you've heard a lot of different discussions. I read the comments that you heard recently from Elaine Gibson, and I would like to support them. The most important thing is to get this bill right so that everybody concurs that it's the right thi

Health committee  Mr. Malo, I agree for group 2. Group 2 should not be included in this bill. It would cause too many problems. It would be easiest and I think would solve a lot of the problems if we didn't impose group 2 on this bill. I would say that over 90% of the research done in Canada in