Thank you, Mike.
Good morning, honourable members of the committee. As Mike mentioned, I am a partner with Osler. I practised in IP law for over 25 years. My role with the chamber is to provide them with some guidance on intellectual property issues.
Some may suggest that this is all about the entertainment industry trying to protect its intellectual property from being illegally copied. This is a very real concern; however, the issue is much larger. The entertainment industry's problems are simply one aspect of the broader problem of intellectual property theft.
Stealing the IP of another not only robs the rights holder of the economic benefits of those rights long recognized under our traditional civil laws, such as our patent, trademark, and copyright legislation, but it also lowers our country's reputation abroad, it deceives the consumer, and, frankly, now we're finding that it's putting consumers' health and safety at risk.
By now, we've all read about the unfortunate death this month of a woman in British Columbia who purchased drugs over the Internet. These drugs were found to be laced with filler, including, believe it or not, uranium and lead. I was a bit curious as to why uranium and lead were used as a filler, but I've learned that this is perhaps a means of garbage disposal for people who have lead and uranium to get rid of.
The prevention of the distribution of counterfeit goods is not simply a matter of protecting the legitimate rights of designers of high-end watches and handbags. As the chair of the IP committee of the chamber, I urge the government to take vigorous and meaningful action on this issue immediately. Our coalition has been pressing for action, and we're very encouraged that this committee and the industry committee are giving careful study to the problem of counterfeiting in Canada.
I should note that this issue has not escaped the notice of our principal trading partners. The U.S. Trade Representative has placed Canada on a special 301 watch list, an annual review of countries deemed lacking in their protection of intellectual property, for a twelfth consecutive year. The International Intellectual Property Alliance is now recommending that Canada be elevated on that list, to what is termed the “Priority Watch List”, for 2007. I urge you to read those reports.
The International Chamber of Commerce recently released a survey that ranked Canada as the 13th worst country among those surveyed for the protection of intellectual property. Believe it or not, we ranked lower than Nigeria, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Bulgaria. According to the survey, Canada clearly has the weakest intellectual property environment in the G-8. I must say that as a Canadian and as a lawyer who has practised intellectual property law in this country for over 25 years, I am embarrassed to report these statistics.
Law enforcement agencies and prosecutors need better tools to provide them with the ability to effectively combat the importation, manufacture, distribution, and sale of counterfeit goods in this country. Among other matters, customs officials need to have new powers and the associated additional resources to search and seize suspected shipments of counterfeit goods.
Much else needs to be done. Our current IP laws are not up to the task of providing efficient and effective relief against counterfeit goods. We recommend that a thorough review of all our IP-related statutes, such as the Copyright Act and the Trade-marks Act, as well as IP-related provisions of other statutes such as the Criminal Code, be conducted. This is urgently needed so that both rights holders and the authorities have the tools they need to efficiently and effectively stop the flow of counterfeit goods.
Counterfeiters must be stopped. Canada's IP environment must be brought up to the standard of our international trading partners. Here is what the chamber believes needs to be addressed to adequately deal with this problem.
First, make counterfeiting and piracy a government-wide priority and act on appropriate reforms in a timely manner.
Second, provide core funding resources for the necessary reforms and their implementation. Among other things, this would enable authorities to search and seize suspected counterfeit goods at Canada's major ports and gateways. I was asked by a client two days ago to do this, and I had to respond to him that there is no means of doing so. It was very embarrassing.
Third, strengthen existing statutes such as the Criminal Code, Copyright Act, and Trade-marks Act, either individually or through an omnibus, dedicated anti-counterfeiting statute. Initiatives that should be taken in relation to this are amending the Criminal Code to properly define counterfeiting as a special criminal offence; making it a criminal offence to manufacture, reproduce, distribute, and/or import or offer for sale counterfeit products; and amending the Federal Court Act and any associated regulations and policies to provide for expedited civil proceedings for cases involving counterfeit products and IP infringement.
We suggest adding counterfeit and pirated goods to the proceeds of crime regime, making it possible for law enforcement officers to seize the illicit wealth of counterfeiters.
We suggest that Canada ratify the two outstanding WIPO, World Intellectual Property Organization, treaties that specifically deal with the enforcement of intellectual property rights over the Internet.
We also suggest making amendments to the Customs Act to allow for search and seizure of counterfeit and pirated goods and to provide customs and law enforcement agencies with the ability to share information with rights holders and licensees.
Finally, on public education, the word has to get out. The RCMP needs to have some effective material, particularly posters, but more needs to be done.
In conclusion, counterfeit products are being sold and distributed throughout Canada. They can harm us in many different way--in the most extreme cases, as we've seen in British Columbia. The chamber urges the government to look at this issue with the utmost gravity and act now.
Thank you for the opportunity to present the chamber's views. I'd be very happy to take any questions you might have in the question session.