Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will be given an opportunity to speak to this later.
For these reasons I know that most members on this side of the House would be in disagreement with this bill. Bill C-248 as a whole would upset the balance in our system between the benefits of having generic drugs reach the market as soon as possible after patent expiry and the need for effective enforcement of patent rights.
As other hon. members from this side of the House have stated, we are committed to this principle. When we responded to the industry committee's report on Bill C-91 we reaffirmed our commitment to the principle of the proposed changes to the drug patent regulations announced January 21, 1998 and which were published on January 24 in the Canada Gazette .
The government's proposed changes will continue to provide effective enforcement of patent rights while reducing delays in getting generic drugs to market. The length of the regulatory stay on insurance of a health and safety approval for a generic drug would be reduced from 30 months to 24 months. Members on this side of the House believe that the improvements we proposed will also discourage litigation and make the system fair.
We have concerns. We have worked on them for the last number of years since this bill was brought in by the Tories under the Mulroney government years ago. We believe we have made significant changes. We believe the system now in place is fair to all sides.