Mr. Speaker, regarding the anthrax drug fiasco, the health minister certainly was justified in trying to find a way around his government's regressive legislation on drug patents and to try to get a cheaper generic version of Cipro.
Ironically in the United States it was the threat of a patent waiver from congress that convinced Bayer to lower its price to $1.60 per pill in Canadian dollars. Compare that to the $2.50 per pill that this government will now pay Bayer.
Given what has just happened in the United States, could the Minister of Health tell us if he is going to actually keep this contract with Bayer or does he have some other plans now?