I understand the issue that you have raised but you are probably aware that, at the next election, the most important request from Canadians will be that their taxes be reduced. However, you are now asking us to spend more.
I agree that we should spend more. I believe that seizure of the proceeds of crime, as it is done in drug cases, could be some sort of compensation. However, governments are so organized that the money would go to Finance and the Treasury Board and not necessarily to the department having the responsibility to deal it with counterfeiting.
Furthermore, in this kind of activity, the profits from intellectual work can vary considerably. You represent people who probably did a lot of work to obtain a patent and who are therefore entitled to the benefits flowing from that but you also represent other people who earn fortunes, literally, from the patents they obtain.
Do you not believe that responsibility should be shared? I agree that the implementation of the Aact is the responsibility of the government, like legal action and the seizure of goods. However, I also believe that industry should share an important part of the costs of awareness campaigns because it is in its interest to change people's attitudes.
I would like to know how you are organized. Why do you not start huge advertising campaigns to explain that purchasing counterfeit goods is a crime and that counterfeiting is stealing? Similar campaigns have been launched to tell people that drinking and driving is a crime and they have produced results.
What are you ready to do to change attitudes? How much money are you ready to invest? Are you so organized that the cost of such campaigns could be shared between the people in industry who earn enormous profits with their patents?