Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by saying to the member for Regina-Lumsden that we are not running away from our election commitment. We are committed to reviewing this legislation. We are not having second thoughts.
I want to talk about the challenge we are facing to ensure the development of a strong pharmaceutical industry and to make patented drugs available to consumers at reasonable prices in a
manner consistent with our international obligations under GATT and NAFTA.
Multinational pharmaceutical companies have committed to reaching an R and D sales ratio of 10 per cent by 1996. They have also made investment announcements now exceeding $680 million for the 1992 to 1996 period. We want to ensure these commitments are realized.
On the price side, pharmaceutical companies cannot charge any price they want for patented medicines. Prices are regulated by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. The increase in prices of existing patented medicines from 1987 to 1992 average 2.9 per cent versus 4.2 per cent for the CPI.
Let me close by saying that the government is committed to both a strong economy and the needs of consumers. We are not running away from our election commitment.