Thank you, Chair.
I will just summarize quickly what this motion is about for those who are just tuning in. I know some members are different from those who were here last time.
Conservatives have a deep, fundamental concern with many aspects of the way the government has approached the opioid crisis. However, regardless of your views on that, I think it's legitimate to ask for critical information about the contracts associated with that program and that it's something we can all agree on.
What we know about the history of the opioid crisis is that Purdue Pharma developed an opioid product, which they overpromoted with lies and misinformation. That caused the opioid crisis in the first place.
Now Purdue Pharma, and other companies, are offering dangerous drugs that the government is buying and giving away, supposedly as a solution to this problem. Conservatives are saying that we need to get to the bottom of the relationships that exist between corporations and government and the kinds of contracts that exist. How are Purdue Pharma and other companies that are making these products profiting? What is the structure of these agreements? Is there indemnification protecting these companies from legal liability? These are all questions that I think are in the public interest for us to know.
Out of this concern, Conservatives have put forward this important motion to get the contracts. I know there's been some informal discussion in between; and if there are reasonable amendments, of course we'd be happy to see those, because the principle here is that we need to see the contracts that the Government of Canada has signed with these companies. It's important for accountability and for protecting the public.
We know the kinds of practices that these companies have engaged in in the past, and we need to get to the bottom of what kinds of practices and relationships exist in the present.
Just before I conclude, Chair, I wanted to note that we have the letter that came in from Dr. Somers with some additional information on that, and I was hoping we might be able to invite Dr. Somers to share a bit based on his experience.