I've seen various statements in this regard, but most of the time I see a statement that says that Canadians pay the second-highest prescription costs in the world. At best, it's third or fourth. Is that correct? Yes.
I guess we don't have a very pretty picture in front of us. We pay close to the highest prices for prescriptions in the world. You've testified that we have very low spending on R and D in this country. If 10% to 20% of Canadians have either no coverage or not enough coverage, that's 7 million Canadians. That's the picture that I see painted in front of us.
Canada has just signed two trade deals, CETA and the TPP, which have new intellectual property provisions. All the literature and opinions I've read indicate that this will delay the introduction of generics to market for some time. I'm seeing estimates of two years as about what it's going to take.
Ms. Hoffman, has the department done some analysis on the likely impact of TPP and CETA, and is it true that those trade deals will likely increase the prices that Canadians pay for pharmaceuticals and add a little bit of mud to that already dirty picture?