Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his very thoughtful comments. He provided us with a larger picture of how these major drug companies have so much power and control. Government intervention in the public interest is required.
We have talked tonight about shortages for people who are facing serious surgeries, for people who need pain management and for people in palliative care. However, there are also other groups facing shortages. People with epilepsy have been facing crucial shortages in medications that prevent seizures for a period of time. Many people are worried about that. There are also people in the trans community who undergo surgery and need to take certain kinds of medications and hormones. They are also facing shortages. So we begin to see how widespread this is and the anxiety that it causes.
I know the member is fully aware of this. It reinforces the importance of the federal government to show some initiative here and to stop hiding and saying it is somebody else's problem. The federal government should actually think about what it can do and listen to the suggestions, including those from the member, that have been made in the debate here tonight.