Mr. Speaker, the point the hon. member has made about the supreme court opinion is well taken. I am sorry he was not able to persuade his own government to include something in the legislation to deal with that. Perhaps that is what the hon. member has in mind for when the bill gets to committee. Perhaps he will go to committee and argue for changes or additions to the bill that reflect what the supreme court had to say on the matter.
With respect to South Africa, I am not sure what the hon. member means when he talks about acting through CIDA to return compulsory licensing. However, I hope, and I am sure the drug companies do not hope it but I do, that the backing down of multinational drug companies with respect to South Africa and their willingness to overlook or transcend their immediate self-interest and patent rights to deal with the AIDS epidemic will become not only a legal but a moral precedent.
Such a moral precedent could instruct the international community, governments that participate in constructing international agreements and citizens around the world that if a sufficient moral argument is made we might someday reverse the way various trade agreements have entrenched property rights over the rights of the sick.