Good morning to the witnesses and to all committee members. I'm delighted to welcome you here.
My first question is for you, Mr. Skinner. You claim that governments ration the amount of new drugs available on the market because costs are out of control at this time and because they can't easily conceive of making new expenditures. You also said that governments are able to maintain this position because sick people make up only a small proportion of the electorate. That statement carries some political overtones.
I find it rather hard to believe your statement. We know, and various polls confirm this belief, that the primary concern of Canadians is health care. Since politicians are very mindful of polls, surely there must be some other explanation for this situation. And while sick people account for a small proportion of the electorate, they nonetheless have families and friends, all of whom are concerned about improvements to the health care systems and more affordable drugs.
There have to be some other reasons. Would you not agree with me? This can't be the only one.