Thank you.
Mr. Da Pont, I'm sure you and your senior staff have been following the testimony we've heard on our study on opioids, addictive drugs. We heard that Purdue Pharma marketed OxyContin and oxycodone in the 1990s illegally, fraudulently, by telling doctors that it was not addictive, or that it wasn't as addictive as other drugs.
The president of Purdue Pharma actually came before our committee by his own request. I pointed out that his company had paid a $635-million fine in the U.S. to settle criminal charges for doing that, and how much harm the drug had caused. And I think he admitted.... I quoted a number of $23 billion in sales since 1995 of OxyContin worldwide. I asked him, being that his drug, OxyContin, oxycodone, has caused such a high number of addictions and so much human misery—500 Ontarians die a year from addictions related to OxyContin and oxycodone—if his company would consider matching the $45 million that the federal government put into our recent budget to help treat people who are addicted to opioids and help prevent further addictions.
I just wondered, have you heard anything about that, or any response to that? You haven't by chance received a cheque of $45 million from Purdue Pharma, have you?