Thank you.
The Patent Act says, “Before the Board issues any guidelines, it shall consult with the Minister”.
Last week, though, the minister told this committee that it would have been inappropriate for him to contact the chair to initiate the consultations without an invitation from the chair.
The acting chair at the time, Madam Bourassa Forcier, said that the rules said she couldn't meet him. She was told that she was the equivalent of a deputy minister reporting to the minister and that she had to wait for the minister's invitation to meet him.
Help me explain it. How is this mandatory consultation called for by the Patent Act supposed to occur if neither the minister nor the chair of the PMPRB can initiate the consultation, or is there something wrong with what we were told?