Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank all the witnesses for their testimony today.
We parliamentarians are here to find solutions and make recommendations. Your remarks are interesting and can help us in that effort.
My question is for Mr. Labrie.
Health Canada boasts on its website of the regulatory relief it has introduced to make Canada an attractive place for research and clinical trials on COVID‑19 vaccines and drugs. It seems to me that contradicts the reform and regulatory tightening the PMPRB is proposing. Many stakeholders have come and told us the contrary: that this tightening will have an impact on new drug launches and clinical trials. I wanted to know if the same regulatory relief would be available for other diseases, and it appears it won't. In addition, the coming into force of the reform, which is scheduled for July 1, will not be postponed.
Consequently, I see a contradiction here in your saying that this reform will have an impact on the life sciences ecosystem, R&D and new drug launches. The PMPRB seems to be flying blind. On the one hand, it tells us these consequences won't occur and that that's just an illusion. On the other hand, witnesses have told us in committee that, in five years, the PMPRB has conducted no studies to determine what the negative effects on the life sciences ecosystem might be.
What do you think of that omission from a methodological standpoint?