Thank you, Chair.
Thank you for your remarks, Mr. Calkins. I also thank you for introducing this bill.
I've been here for nine years, and I think I'm known for my honesty and intellectual integrity. I wanted to tell you that, when we studied the issue and called in people from the industry, including the Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Mr. Davies agreed wholeheartedly with our very harsh criticism of the government's plan to apply the pharmaceutical model to natural health products. I say this because, at the outset, you said the Liberals and the NDP had voted in favour of Bill C‑47. By the way, I'm not saying that for the benefit of the colleague sitting next to me.
When you introduce a private member's bill, you have to try to get everyone on board. When it comes to Bill C‑47, it's unfortunate that provisions such as this have been hidden in an omnibus bill. Governments often do that. You've been in Parliament for 19 years, and I'm sure you've seen the Conservatives do that too.
I'm also saying that because people on this side of the table offered constructive criticism. They had pretty much the same opinion of that attempt to apply the pharmaceutical model to natural health products, which the Chief Science Officer of Canada failed to prove was relevant.
That said, I have a concern. I hope that you're open to the idea of amendments, because I don't believe that nicotine is a natural health product. It's a serious drug. I wonder, then, whether you are open to the idea of excluding all nicotine-based products from the bill.