I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number eight of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health. The committee is meeting today to study the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board’s guidelines.
I thank the witnesses for appearing today for the first hour, and we will do some planning for our COVID-19 and PMPRB studies in the second hour. The witnesses will come back for a second hour on Friday.
The witnesses we have here today are from the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board: Dr. Mitchell Levine, chairperson, and Mr. Douglas Clark, executive director.
Today’s meeting is taking place in a hybrid format. I will start the meeting by providing you with some information following the motion that was adopted in the House on Wednesday, September 23, 2020.
As the committee is now sitting in a hybrid format, meaning that members can participate either in person or by video conference, all members, regardless of their method of participation, will be counted for the purpose of quorum. The committee’s power to sit is, however, limited by the priority use of House resources, which is determined by the whips. All questions must be decided by a recorded vote, unless the committee disposes of them with unanimous consent or on division. Finally, the committee may deliberate in camera, providing that it takes into account the potential risk to confidentiality inherent to such deliberations with remote participants.
The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website, and so you are aware, the website will always show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I will outline a few rules to follow. For those participating virtually, members and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. You have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of either “Floor”, “English” or “French”.
Before speaking, click on the microphone icon to activate your own mike. When you are done speaking, please put your mike on mute to minimize any interference.
As a reminder, all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair.
Should members need to request the floor outside their designated time for questions, they should activate their mike and state that they have a point of order.
If a member wishes to intervene on a point of order that has been raised by another member, they should use the raised hand function. This will signal to the chair your interest to speak and create a speakers list. In order to do so, you should click on “Participants” at the bottom of the screen. When the list pops up, you will see next to your name that you can click “raise hand”.
When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, the use of headsets with a boom microphone is mandatory for everyone participating remotely.
Should any technical challenges arise, please advise the chair. Please note that in that case we might need to suspend for a few minutes as we need to ensure that all members are able to participate fully.
For those participating in person, proceed as you usually would when the whole committee is meeting in person in a committee room. Keep in mind the directives from the Board of Internal Economy regarding masking and health protocols. Should you wish to get my attention, signal me with a hand gesture, or at an appropriate time, call out my name. Should you wish to raise a point of order, wait for the appropriate time and indicate to me clearly that you wish to raise a point of order.
With regard to a speaking list, the committee clerk and I will do the best we can maintain a consolidated order of speaking for all members, whether they are participating virtually or in person.
Thank you.
We will now go to our witnesses. I will invite the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board to make a statement for 10 minutes.
Please go ahead.