Absolutely, Mr. Blaikie, and if you haven't already, you and other critics will probably soon be getting a letter from CUPE, where I work, and the Trade Justice Network on supporting this goal of making sure that lower-income nations have the ability to afford to make vaccines without paying exorbitant prices.
We absolutely support that. We think it's consistent with Canada's goal in terms of.... I know that the meeting is coming up very soon. It's on December 10. I think it would be fantastic if the trade committee could itself endorse the waiver for certain provisions of the TRIPS agreement, because we know that without this waiver, pharmaceutical companies will be able to prevent manufacturers from producing these vaccines and medicines and scaling up the production.
Since it's a global pandemic, we really need all hands on deck. I think it's a very special moment for us to extend this solidarity to countries that can't afford to pay the pharmaceutical companies, and to make sure they're able to vaccinate.
Through the Doha declaration on public health, I think governments have recognized that it's important to have flexibility in terms of serious public health crises, so I think it's both consistent with our positions in other areas and an important part of our role and responsibility as a global citizen.