We want to maintain a high-quality patent system and not decrease the requirements we have in Canada. There is a lot of international pressure for Canada to make it easier to get patents. We need to resist it. The higher the quality of patents and the higher the standards required, the more the integrity of the system is there. If we had lost in the whole Eli Lilly dispute, for example, it would have resulted in Canada's giving away patents quite easily. The Supreme Court of Canada is about to decide. Hopefully, they won't change the rules to lower the threshold, but those are the things you need to resist. In international trade agreements, we mustn't diminish our flexibility to make sure that we can impose international standards, but impose them rigorously. That's the best way to stop poor-quality patents, which are what feed trolls.
On June 8th, 2017. See this statement in context.