Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to say a few words on Bill S-17. It is an interesting day in the House as we see the debate unfold.
A lot of people across the country think that when one is in government one agrees with certain things but when the shoe is on the other foot one always objects to whatever government does. In a couple of cases here, that is not factual.
After listening to the debate from our friends in the NDP, I would say that it is quite clear that they stand where they always did on the issue. I will be making it quite clear that in my party we stand where we have always stood on the issue. In this case, we support the bill, as we did when the original bills were introduced by the Tory government and, as has been pointed out a number of times today, objected to strenuously by the then opposition party, which is now the governing party. It is amazing how the tide turns.
I did not think I would be supporting my friend and colleague, the minister of trade and industry. It is very difficult to do in light of several issues about which we thoroughly disagree. However, my party does support him on this issue because the bill itself was a Tory initiative.
I will explain to my friends from the NDP why we support it and I think by the time I am finished they will also perhaps agree with us and support the bill.
However, it is interesting to note that the government of today was against the original bills, Bill C-91 and Bill C-22, when they were introduced in 1987 and 1992. The more interesting parts of all of this are some of the comments made by those who are now government members. Some of the people who voted against those bills, by the way, were the present Deputy Prime Minister and present government House leader.
In 1992 during the debate on Bill C-22, the minister of industry and trade, who is sponsoring this bill, said “It is inconceivable to me that parliament finds it necessary yet again to deal with yet another measure proposed by the government because it is bound and chained to some ideological dictate which says this kind of patent act is necessary”.
I am sure he was reading from a prepared speech when he said that. However, at the time he was against the very bill which he is now proposing.
Here is another interesting quote from him, which leads into what I have to say. He said:
The citizens will need more than generic drugs to recover from the festering wounds which are about to be inflicted on the exposed ankles of Canada's poorest citizens when the Minister sinks his teeth in past the bone, into the marrow and sucks the life's blood out of Canada's poorest citizens with Bill C-22.
Those are strange and interesting words, which came from the present Minister of Industry.
People are allowed to change their minds. People see the light and become converted. The minister said today that he had been concerned about the increase in drug prices at the time, but they did not happen. He said indirectly that Prime Minister Mulroney had been right to bring in such a bill. Just a short while ago, as has been pointed out today, the minister said that Prime Minister Mulroney was right about free trade.
It will be interesting to see over the next while how many things the minister agrees with that he fought so hard against as a rat packer before his party became the government.
The NDP has expressed a concern, of which all of us are conscious, that the bill might lead to increased drug prices for people with major illnesses, many of whom cannot afford the drugs they need.
One of the most memorable occasions for me during the last campaign, and I am sure members on all sides of the House remember talking to people affected by the cost of drugs, was meeting a gentleman who had just been diagnosed with Alzheimers and whose wife was trying to cope with it. A drug had been prescribed to retard the advancement of the disease, a drug called Aricept I believe. The drug was not covered by medicare and the family had to pay the extremely high cost themselves. That meant other pleasures of life had to be sacrificed, including a little car that enabled them to get back and forth to the cabin. They had to sell the car to pay for the drugs. That is not the way it should be in Canada.
Can we blame pharmaceutical companies for that? The answer is no. We blame governments for that, because if an effective drug is brought on the market, tested and approved, the government should immediately sponsor it under medicare.
The NDP has expressed major concerns about drug companies getting rich and the impact of drug costs on poor people. However one important element has not been raised: Those who need drugs would not have them if somebody did not put the time, effort and money into their development.
Let us look at cancer. Very few of us in the House are not affected, directly or indirectly, by that dreaded disease. Will we ever find the cure for it? The answer is that we are hopeful. Will we find the cure for AIDS and other dreaded diseases worldwide? Luckily our country is not affected to the same degree as other countries but certainly we are affected by it. Will cures be found for dreaded diseases? They will be found in only one way: If somebody puts the dedicated research into coming up with a drug that will kill or retard the growth of the agents causing those diseases. That can only be done, as I said, by time, concentration and funding.
My colleagues to my right, ideologically to my left, are very supportive of the arts.
I would ask them about the art industry. What if a recording artist made a big hit which took a lot of time, involvement, practice and rehearsals? What would the hon. members think if other performers, who were not as dedicated or bright or could not put together that one great hit, knew it was coming on the market, copied it and pirated the copies around the country? How would it affect the person who put the time and dedication into developing the product?
Drugs are not unlike that. Our hope of combating the major illnesses that affect people across the country may lie in the hope that a pharmaceutical company will develop a cure.
We could say governments should be the ones doing that and pumping money into research. I certainly would not disagree. However, if governments were the ones responsible for doing research, I would question whether the work could be done. Government cannot be as efficient as the private sector. That has been proved over and over.
My concern lies with the people across the country who are faced every day with having to buy drugs. I point to the government opposite and say that should be its main concern. It has the mechanism to alleviate the costs shoved upon people for drugs to treat illnesses. In a lot of cases there are drug assistance programs to do just that. There are always those who fall between the cracks but a smart, sharp government could deal with such cases if it had any vision.
If the people who put their time, effort and money into developing the needed drugs are not given the freedom and protection to do so, they will not do it. They are not in the business of trying to make a breakthrough only to have it taken away from them. When another company immediately starts making generic drugs or starts to stockpile so it can wipe out the company that developed the original drug, that is not fair competition.
The fallout can be handled by government. We could have the best of both worlds if we had a government with brains and vision. Protection and help can be given to those who develop the drugs we need, but assistance can also be given to those who rely on them and cannot afford to pay for them.
It is interesting to see the government trying to solicit support for a bill it was once so much against. I know the NDP, even if it does not agree with us, is saying what it has always said. It has not changed its opinion because the stripe of government has changed.
We are saying the same thing we have said and the same thing the Bloc is saying. I agree totally with its last speaker. The Alliance is also saying that if we are to produce the drugs needed to combat the concerns the NDP talks about, freedom and protection must be given to companies that put the time and effort into developing the cures that are so badly needed.
The government, however, has switched back and forth, which shows that its concern is not for people or companies in Canada. Its concern is for itself. That has become more and more evident.
As we debate the bill further we will all have more to say on it. However we stand on the principles we announced when the original bills were brought in. We think this protection must be provided. Hopefully government will address the other side of the concern.
