Madam Chair, I want to thank the hon. member for her comments. As members of Parliament, we sometimes face dilemmas. On one hand there are economic interests, but on the other hand the interests of safety for individuals, our health care services and our drugs come first.
I understand full well that the economic issue may pose a problem for the hon. member from Manitoba. We do not want to challenge that. We understand that job creation is important to a community, as is safety. Nonetheless, we must have certain rules and a minimum of measures in the first place to ensure the safety of individuals.
Consultations are now under way with respect to the strategy developed by the minister. These will continue and we will introduce a bill for consideration in committee. This bill targets three aspects on which I would like the hon. member to comment.
First is the matter of a drugs and pharmaceuticals network in Canada. There might not be any problems in this area now, but there could be some in the future. We have to know where these drugs are and whether they represent any risks. If there is a surplus in one region of the country, then perhaps the excess drugs could be transferred to other regions. As far as the quantity of available drugs is concerned, if we get to a critical point where safety is an issue, we could take the necessary measure of restricting cross-border sales.
The second aspect is the matter of safety measures with regard to the health of Canadians. We have to be able to prevent the cross-border transfer of drugs in an emergency if the situation became critical to the health of Canadians.
The third aspect is to ensure a certain level of ethics, which would be imposed on all Canadians, including our professionals in every province and territory of Canada. A doctor could give a prescription for drugs to a sick person only after a consultation. We have to make sure of that. These conditions will be imposed on anyone wanting to work in Canada as a doctor or professional, in order to protect the patients and for the safety of the system.
Would it be ethical to have less stringent rules for the sake of doing business with other consumers, clients or patients, just because they do not live within our borders?
I would like the hon. member to comment on these points.