International Trade committee  Well, I do what I can to support the wine industry.

International Trade committee  We're not here to make a technical judgment on all aspects of the CETA. Of course there are some good aspects. Our job is to protect the health care system. I was asked earlier about patents and intellectual property. There isn't a worse place to deal with patents and intellect

International Trade committee  —and which is starting to happen in Canada.

International Trade committee  Sure. There are some independent health research organizations that have estimated the cost impact of an aging population. I can forward that to you.

International Trade committee  I think that's a potential risk. There certainly is a desire in the health industry to be trading and selling in services. There certainly is a serious international industry. That's why we think we need a general carve-out, and not to be....

International Trade committee  Our position, which I think is reflected by a lot of health professionals, is we don't think there should be free trade in health professionals, because what we would be doing would be robbing from the third world. We would be taking scarce human health resources from other regio

International Trade committee  We do have provincial affiliates in most provinces and one territorial affiliate, but our task is really focused on the responsibilities of the federal government in health care.

International Trade committee  I'd start with Canada doing that as a federation.

International Trade committee  It's very complicated to try to do that with the European Union because there are all kinds of different interests over there. I think we're.... A member referred to the provinces already starting that. I think that's the direction.

International Trade committee  Bulk purchase is the way to go.

International Trade committee  Thank you for the question. We don't believe that there isn't an aging population. What we believe is a myth is that the aging population is primarily responsible for the increase in health care costs. We think that's the myth part, not the fact that the population is aging. T

International Trade committee  Yes. The cost pressures are not primarily from seniors, so we shouldn't be focusing on them if we're concerned about cost controls. The biggest cost escalation is the private sector involvement in health care. Fundamentally, the biggest driver is pharmaceuticals, so we should b

International Trade committee  It's more recent. We worked with the experts on this after we got the Government of Canada's briefing on what's in CETA. This came out in October 2013.

International Trade committee  Well, we're not an industry voice, so if the industry thinks it's balanced, then I guess the public interest needs to ask if it's in the public interest. I would say no. We're paying too much for generic drugs and we're paying too much for brand-name drugs. The fact that they're

International Trade committee  We certainly have a problem with patenting life essential medicines or any other public good, but in a sense, that's a separate philosophical issue. We think there's a social mortgage on all intellectual property, and so does international law. The patent question aside, because