Mr. Chairman, I would just note that the budget, as the honourable member has indicated, proposes to eliminate an additional deduction for gifts of medicines made by companies out of their inventory of medicine. It's important to note that companies will continue to have access to the general charitable deduction that's available to all companies that make charitable gifts. It's only this additional incentive, which was specifically targeted at gifts of medicines, that is proposed to be eliminated.
Again, the basic rationale for this proposal is that the measure has not been very effective in its intended purpose. Between 2011 and 2015, an annual average of around 10 corporations claimed this additional deduction, and the average annual cost has been less than $250,000, which, when you consider the size of the companies involved and the pharmaceutical industry, is not really even a material amount.