Evidence of meeting #22 for International Trade in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was tpp.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Vice-President, Government Affairs, CropLife Canada
There was no change in the TPP for IP on seeds, nor were our members looking for any.
Senior Research Associate, Globalization and Health Research Unit, University of Ottawa, Canada Research Chairs Program
We would also agree with Mr. Elliott that certainly, our answer would be no, and we believe that the WTO agreement adequately protected intellectual property rights.
Director, Policy, Advocacy and Strategy, Canadian Nurses Association
We haven't heard any arguments in favour, but I do defer to those who work in the industry.
Director, Federal Affairs and Health Policy at Janssen Inc., Innovative Medicines Canada
CETA has provided important IP enhancements that we have been leveraging very successfully. We're putting our money where our mouth is regarding attracting R and D investment to Canada and competing on the global stage for research and development investment.
Chief of Staff and Vice President, Legal Affairs, Innovative Medicines Canada
It won't surprise you that there is also a yes column. I would just go back to a point made earlier by CGP on regulatory convergence and harmonization. We agree with that. It's a necessary but but it is not a sufficient condition. You also need to be competitive on IP, but certainly regulatory co-operation, as part of international trade agreements, is something we support, too.
NDP
Tracey Ramsey NDP Essex, ON
Something we hear across a lot of industries is that harmonization is a really large issue. Whether we're able to get into these markets really isn't dependent upon some of these shifts, it's that we can't actually harmonize in a way to get into those markets. We certainly hear that repeated over and over across many different sectors.
Yes, Mr. Elliott.
Executive Director, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
Yes.
I was going to say harmonization can be a good thing, but we shouldn't assume that it is. If you harmonize down to the lowest common denominator and you sacrifice to the public interest, that's not good harmonization. If Jimmy jumps off the bridge, it doesn't mean we should too, right?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking
Okay. That ends our morning.
Thanks to all the witnesses for coming with very different opinions in different sectors. It was a very fruitful discussion with the MPs. If you have any comments you couldn't get across, or anything else you think of, send it to our committee and we'll put it in our report.
We're going to suspend for three minutes now, because we're going in camera, so I ask everybody but the MPs to leave the room as soon as they can.
Thank you.
[Proceedings continue in camera]