Madam Speaker, I want to first thank the member for Vancouver Kingsway for the idea itself. We were having a discussion about what we could move forward on, and the member is a big part of why we are making this announcement.
This would be vital. Members can imagine the outrage that Canadians felt when we could not produce basic masks, gowns and protective equipment. Canadians feel that same outrage right now. They think about the fact that a country as wealthy and as advanced as Canada cannot make vaccines and medication for its own population and the fact that, since we do not have capacity, we are going to have to wait until other countries produce for us to receive.
The ability to make it here in Canada, and to have our own company where we can make medication and vaccines in Canada, would be life-changing. It would open up the door for us to have national universal pharmacare that is fully public. It would make it easier. It would make sure that millions of Canadians who are struggling with the cost of medication would not have to worry, and right now in this pandemic, it would have meant that we would have gotten through this more easily.