Mr. Speaker, the member for Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough did mention, much to the dissatisfaction of some members across the way, the present Minister of Industry's outrage back in the late eighties when the Conservative government of the day brought in patent legislation. He quoted some of the comments the present Minister of Industry made at the time.
I would like to know why there has been a big flip-flop. Has it something to do with the reality of governing and the fact that the patent legislation did act in the fashion we thought it would? In fact it did bring thousands of pharmaceutical jobs to Canada and preserved what we had.
As you well know, Mr. Speaker, being a member of parliament very close to Montreal, we did establish a pharmaceutical research industry in that city that is one of the big engines of the Montreal economy, not to mention those in Mississauga and Toronto.
I believe the legislation did what we said it would do. It preserved jobs, created more jobs and is obviously an industry we can count on in terms of its successes, not to mention the medical successes. Would this stark reality be one of the reasons the present minister might have changed his position on the bill?