As members of the committee stated several times today, and at the previous meeting, when we met with the drug manufacturers and associations, this is a provincial responsibility. The federal government does not negotiate contracts for medication, to purchase drugs. Even manufacturers stated that they have their own problems.
This will go to the comments made by Dr. Haggie. They stated they have problems even getting their components, some active components, for drugs. Of course, this is their own manufacturing issue. However, we have to realize that we are in a market situation on the supply and demand basis, and the fact that the provinces and territories decided on a single supplier...it's a very risky decision in any business. Any serious business that would rely on a single supplier has to be responsible for the risk associated with it. There are shortages of other supplies in the world that we don't know about and they don't involve patients. It is very important.
I don't think that even an executive order of the President of the United States of America will actually address drug shortages. This is a market issue, and unless the policies of the provinces and territories are changed, I don't think we're getting anywhere close to the solution.
Dr. Haggie, could you comment on this, please?