Mr. Malo, I would point out that it is not only a question of access, but a question of choice. Basically, when the health care professionals who prescribe drugs have more choice, they are the ones deciding whether or not their patients will have access to certain drugs. So neither the provinces nor the federal government are deciding whether such-and-such a medicine is good for you or me. It is actually the health care professionals—as is the case in Quebec—who have more choice in curing and treating their patients. In my view, we must understand the following: when we see the number of rejected or negative recommendations from the common drug review, we realize that, regrettably, that is where choice is being interfered with.
On April 16th, 2007. See this statement in context.