Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to Bill C-378, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act and the Food and Drug Regulations (drug export restrictions).
Canadians are very aware of the quality of our health system as well as our free access to most of its features, and that is in very stark contrast to the market-driven system in the United States.
As we know, there has been a surge of interest from Americans, particularly seniors, who, because of their fixed incomes, find drug pricing in Canada particularly inviting. Bus loads of seniors come to Hamilton to visit and have prescriptions filled.
I am all for being good neighbours and helping our American cousins to the south as much as we can. In fact, in many ways, their needs are much higher than those of most Canadians, particularly when it comes to health care in general and prescription costs in particular.
On the population side, Hamilton, at approximately 500,000, is not huge, but we are friendly, so I want to stress this point. The purpose of the bill is not to shut the border to our American cousins. In fact, American tourists who pick up a prescription or two are not a drain on our druggist's ability to provide prescription services to our hometown clients.
Primarily because of pharmaceutical sales on the Internet and the visits by these bus loads of American tourists picking up prescriptions, combined with the warnings of an anticipated flu pandemic, Canadians are asking about our supply. Where would they stand if a significant part of our drug output was sent south and then there was a shortage in Canada?
We know that earlier this year the United States moved to introduce the pharmaceutical market access and drug safety act. It appears its motivation was the fact that the American government wanted even greater access to the importation of cheaper pharmaceuticals. As I have already related, that door has been open to bulk purchases, and the American act appears to be intended to codify the open door policy by making it official.
This means the door has now been opened further to allow Canadian firms, those that wish to do so, to increase their bulk drug sales to the U.S. On the surface, that may be wise. The increase in employment would be wise in most people's opinion, but is that really a good thing?
On the surface, it appears so, but consider for a moment the impact on Canadians if we were hit by a flu pandemic, by SARS, or another unexpected outbreak and all our stock had been sold to the United States. That goes to the heart of the intent of the bill.
The production of pharmaceuticals is a precise and painstaking process that requires time. It is not as simple as perhaps it might be for one of Hamilton's manufacturing plants to simply add a shift to meet new demand. Pharmaceutical products are often more than not made from scarce biological sources or it cannot be turned out for mass production on a scale to match the needs of 30 million Canadians and 300 million Americans.
One area I have yet to touch on is product safety and border inspections. It is my understanding that of the products crossing our borders now, our security folks are only able to check about 1%. In a time of counterfeit drugs, combined with a freer movement of goods being promoted by both sides of the border, that is a recipe for a very serious concern. We all see the results of ineffective monitoring of the toys imported from China on a near daily basis. Imagine the risks posed here with the transport of pharmaceuticals.
Members may recall the speed with which SARS moved into the Toronto hospital system and elsewhere. We were not only unprepared, but we were shocked by its rapid advance and ravaging effects. It is one thing to struggle against a new and unknown invader like SARS, but it is quite another to allow the much needed protection for Canadians to become a simple commodity to be traded away gratuitously.
In many ways, the pharmaceutical industry survives on its own ability to forecast and predict need. A good example is our yearly flu vaccine. Companies are able to meet the demand because the flu season is a predictable event. Companies for the most part though cannot stockpile medications due to the short life expectancy of many of the ingredients.
In short, we must find and maintain that balance between keeping Canadians protected and having the ability to still export to some degree.
I have spent a large part of my time tonight speaking about the American wants and needs, so I would like to speak briefly to Canadian needs. Just like our American neighbours, many low income or fixed income Canadians are living under a financial strain these days. We refer to the prosperity gap regularly in this House.
Across my riding of Hamilton East—Stoney Creek we hear of far too many people who, when faced with a costly prescription not covered by a plan, simply turn and walk away when they are told the amount by the pharmacist. They just cannot handle it.
In fact, I was in the Rosedale pharmacy in my riding a couple of weeks ago, picking up a prescription of my own. I could not help but overhear a young man talking to the clerk as he dropped off his prescription. He was bent over in pain. He said he was having terrible pain, a problem with his back. It was so bad that he just did not know how to handle it. He had an ear infection as well.
He asked the young woman what the price of the prescribed drugs would be. When he was told it was $28 for the antibiotic and much more for the muscle relaxant and the sleep inducing drugs he needed so badly, even though he was in serious pain he said, “Fill the antibiotic only, that's all the money I got”. Like anybody in the House, I offered to help him that one time, but typical of a hard-working person of Hamilton, he said, “No thanks”, and he shuffled over and sat down while he waited for his antibiotic.
As legislators, it is not only time that we looked at such matters as prescription drug exports, but we must invest in a national universal drug plan to work hand in hand with our health care system to ensure that people like that young man in Hamilton receive the medications they so desperately need. No one should suffer needlessly when the rest of us, through the government, are ready and able to bear part of the load with them.
In closing, I would say that Bill C-378 moves us a long way to finding and maintaining that balance between supply on one side and demand on the other. I want to commend the member for putting forward this important bill. I believe that as responsible legislators we will do the right thing for Canada and will vote to protect the vital supply of pharmaceuticals.