Mr. Speaker, the drug patent policy is a controversial one. It was reviewed by a committee of the House of Commons during the past winter.
The purpose of the policy, from our point of view, is quite simple. We will respect our international commitments under the WTO to give 20 year patent protection for intellectual property, not just for drugs but for all intellectual property.
We will try to endeavour to ensure that the moment the patent protection ends mechanisms will be in place to ensure that alternative drugs are there.