Mr. Speaker, I want to make a slight comment. I enjoyed the member opposite's speech. I think on this side we all agree that if research in pharmaceuticals is to go ahead then there has to be some sort of profit incentive for that research.
I would also like to make the observation that the generic drug producers, the people who sell generic brand drugs, do not do research. One of the ironies of the whole situation is that the generic manufacturers of drugs produce drugs at low cost and these low cost drugs are consumed in great quantities. One of the ironies in the situation that has always struck me is the fact that the easy accessibility, for example, to new antibiotics has created a situation where we have growing and more rapid resistance to antibiotics.
We have a very ironic situation where the more we make drugs available cheaply through generic manufacturers, the harder the pharmaceutical companies have to work to design new drugs. We have a very, very difficult situation.
I do not know what the solution is. I do know that we certainly have to put incentives in place as best we can to make sure that those who are designing new drugs have the incentives to do so. I am one who believes that I would like to see government involvement, but I really do think this is a private sector initiative that needs to be encouraged.