Yes, the concern is over not just the content but the process we're going through here in terms of the changes to the patent laws in Canada.
As all committee members have heard from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and a number of trademark experts, getting productivity right is directly connected to innovation, which is connected to our ability to form and create patents in Canada. That this is part of an omnibus bill has not done, I would argue, this important part of our economy any proper service. The scrutiny was not enough and I think that's why we saw, from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and others, resistance to this particular part.
We understand that there are some international treaties—the Hague, the Patent Law Treaty and whatnot—that the government seeks to be in accordance with. Without proper scrutiny, and with grave concerns raised by a group like the chamber—the government usually has some interest and respect for their opinions—that opposition is leading us to believe that, as the government likes to say, we rely on the experts. The experts in this case are those who seek to make patents in Canada with concerns about the way this is being done and also the content.
The New Democrats will be opposing these aspects of this omnibus bill and we encourage the government, when tinkering with something as important as intellectual property and patent, to give it the proper due and service of a stand-alone piece of legislation, rather than burying it in the midst of a 460-page bill that deals with a whole variety of things. Both on content and on source we have serious concerns with what's being done to industrial design and patents for Canada.
Thank you, Chair.