Thanks very much.
Although I would very much like to hear the horrible story from CIHR as to how you're having to deal with these cuts at a time when the Americans have put $25 billion into this, I think we just actually have to move on and hope we can be persuasive that this is a hugely important area of investment that needs to be rectified as soon as possible. So we'll just fight for more money for you, instead of hearing the horrible details of what you're having to do with less.
However, in the one area where the budget actually doubled, which is PMPRB, I just don't understand it, other than in terms of the conversation we had about the allegations of mandate creep and the idea that something happened in terms of a climate change or attitude about PMPRB, so that instead of just doing what the board was supposed to do--which was to allow for patent protection and ensure research and development and that the prices not be excessive--there seems to be a new approach, which is to ensure the prices are as low as possible, which then, I understand, creates great problems for our innovative companies to persuade their head offices to invest here.
I understand that the reason there are more hearings, which are the very expensive part of your work, is because not as many cases have been negotiated as in previous years, when there was viewed to be more flexibility, and that this explains the wild increase in your budget.
I also understand that instead of just regulating or trying to maintain a decent national average, you are now drilling down into the averages in hospitals, averages in communities, and you're actually doing a much more granular approach to your job than was intended in the original mandate of the board.
So even though you were able to obtain the money in the supplementary estimates last year, what it looks like on paper is that your budget is doubled. You said the compliance has changed by about 4%. I'm having trouble understanding why your budget is doubled when you're having trouble with compliance. Can you explain where you think the trouble with compliance is? Is it that the people aren't complying, or that your interpretation of compliance is different?