Joe Volpe

[Patent Act, June 5th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I thought we had emerged from the position of character assassination, but I guess that is a standard that is a little too high for most people to meet. However, in my own humble fashion, I shall make the effort.

I took some pains to describe that there have been battles fought, some won, some lost, some mitigated and some not. I have made efforts as a member of parliament, as I know you have, Mr. Speaker, and as have other colleagues on this side of the House. I do not know what happens in other caucuses but in our own caucus we really encourage diversity of debate. The reason we do that is because we cannot prevent it. We all come from different parts of the country. We were all elected by different constituencies representing different interests and we are here to ensure that those points of view formulate what will emerge as a Canadian view of life. We cannot do it if we are all silenced, so we speak up. Unfortunately that does not jibe with the perception of opposition members of what happens, but that is what life is.

We fight our fights and we move on. We would like to win them all. We would like to have our own philosophy and be the singular imprint on the decisions of any government. I would like to do that. People did not elect me to be the absolute ruler of the country, much as I would like to be. I would probably end up getting hung but I would still like to have the opportunity to glory in my own errors.

However the marketplace has decided that my point of view is not the only one. I acknowledge that and I accept it. What I am doing today, even if it bothers some members of the opposition, is reminding them that we already have a commitment to get a change that nobody on that side has pointed out yet, save the member opposite who just asked me the question and her colleague who indicated that there is a special privilege that must be removed.

Where do I stand? I have already said that, yes, we must comply. We need to comply with world trade organizations because we believe in a world that is rules based and we want the same rules based here in this country to operate internally. If that is a principle worth fighting for, will the members of the opposition begrudge me the opportunity to stand in the House, to which I was elected, and say that this is what we need to do and to compliment my Minister of Industry for having had the courage to say that is what we are going to do?

[Patent Act, June 5th, 2001]

I am sorry, not all members. I did not mean to include everyone. If we are to meet the deadline of August 12 they would want the bill passed. Members would want to take a look at some of the issues associated with what must be done.

We must redress that very special privilege. There should be none in a democratic environment, in a marketplace environment. There should be no special privilege industries. Let us remove those privileges.

I spoke a few moments ago about the injunctions that ended up in court. Of 55 cases involving patent infringement that recently appeared before the courts, I think 45 have been dismissed as being frivolous. Under normal circumstances this would suggest that some companies have been taking undue advantage of an intention that was noble at its genesis and continues to be so. However, when the legislation is changed, surely regulations must follow the same due and proper course.

My colleagues have probably looked at some of the issues I have raised in terms of what these companies have provided. It is a valuable industry because it provides thousands of jobs. Let us call the generic industry its competitor. It too provides a valuable function. It provides research jobs here in Canada.

There is no theft of product. There is a borrowing of ideas. It is done only after a particular period of time has elapsed. I want to reassure all members here without sounding as if I am on one side or another. I want to refer to what I said a moment ago and that is that most of the money the pharmaceutical industry has spent in this country on the research and development side, aside from the administrative and advertising side, goes toward clinical trials. There is no wet lab innovation there. It is just proving that a product either has efficacy or it does not and that it is safe or it is not.

At the very least we are at a stage where, in a competitive environment, companies, whether they are generic or patent, are now being forced to look at making use of the research and development institutions that we have funded. They are making use of that human and personal capital that emanates from those places. They are able to do it and they should be doing it right here in Canada.

When members in the House deliberate on this matter, I would like them to think in terms of final outcomes because that should be what guides a reasoned and reasonable debate. Those outcomes have to keep in mind our health care system and what its costs not only on the public purse but on the private purse, on private energies and on private resources. If government has a role then it must have a role in ensuring that the health of its people can be maintained at an affordable level.

We must ensure that those research and development institutions continue to thrive and that the manufacturing and marketing arms associated with their innovations continue to thrive.

Finally, we have to take a look at the consistency and coherence of a comprehensive plan that allows for industries to emerge, thrive and benefit the marketplace which demands its product. The marketplace includes our constituents, colleagues, friends, families and everybody who may require a pharmaceutical product down the road.

[Patent Act, June 5th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, is it not wonderful to be in demand? Even opposition members recognize the value of reasoned debate. I compliment them on their perspectives. I thank them very much and I accept the compliment.

Instead of going through the rule of law it takes advantage of a very special privilege. We are not talking about duty. We are not talking about obligations. We are not talking about protections. We are not talking about due right under law, whether national or international. We are talking about taking advantage of a very special privilege that is hidden away in the regulations initially designed to ensure they would get their full 20 years.

Now that we have legislation which says they cannot have less than 20 years, there is this little regulation which says that if an allegation of infringement on a patent is made, it can be extended for another two years. So what? It is a big boy's game, no sexism intended. If they do not like it, tough luck. This is the marketplace, which is a good place because it says competition will allow the percolation not only of ideas but of a good quality product at an attractive price.

Everyone profits. That is what it does and what it says. I say no, not in this instance. We do not want that competition, not even after our legitimate 20 years are up. We can also engage in something called evergreening or modifying it a little to get a greater extension.

There are no saints in this discussion. Nor are there any sinners. There are only those who are advancing their interests. We are trying to advance the interests of all our companies and industries. We do not want to beggar any of them.

I want to bring a bit of balance to a discussion that has turned rather personal. The minister has recognized that there is this problem. As I indicated earlier, my colleague from the Canadian Alliance complimented the minister on his commitment to address the issue in the fall. He is an honourable man. Why would anyone disagree?

It appears members opposite are all anxious to get the legislation through.

[Patent Act, June 5th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I was heartened to hear the last member address the debate by mentioning that perhaps we in opposition would want to do some research. I am not in opposition, thank God. I am tempted to be flippant and ask when that will start, but I am a little more disciplined now, so I will not ask. I will exercise that discipline. I am simply thinking out loud.

Bill S-17 is a bill designed to bring Canada into compliance with World Trade Organization dictates. We have heard that from members on this side and in a rare moment from members on the opposition side. I am not one of those people who agrees with that, by the way, but I am on the government side and I have fought the good fight. I did not win that good fight, but neither has Canada nor many other countries, because they have weighed into balance that the advantages of participation in the WTO far exceed the disadvantages.

That having been said, our government is attempting to bring legislation in line with the dictates of the WTO. What that does is open up our legislation for scrutiny and remediation. In my view, this is one of the cases where the opening up of the issues relative to patent protection affords us an opportunity to take a look at the issues which need to be examined and take appropriate action.

Contrary to my previous colleague who has taken great opportunities to slag the character of one of our ministers, I am will not engage in any personality reflections. What I will do is suggest that the minister, who just underwent a huge attack by the opposition members on a personal character basis, has already given his commitment, as recognized by the member for Peace River, that there will be an opening up of the regulations in order to address those issues, which may appear to be lacking at this moment.

Let me address the issue of patent protection. I was on both sides of the House and on both sides of the debate when we debated Bill C-91 and when we reviewed the regulations.

I do not suggest for a moment that I share the same sort of self-confidence as the member who have spoken on this with such expert demeanour. However, I have learned a bit about the regulations and how the industry works.

The debate should address the workings of the industry, the consequences to the consumer, policies relative to health care, and policies related to research and development. That means a whole array of educational policies, even though that sounds like a provincial area, as they relate to institutions that provide the research and development necessary for industries, like the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries, of which to avail themselves and provide growth.

If we are to have a reasoned and reasonable debate on the issues relative to Bill S-17, then we need to examine the successes both of the legislation and the regulation, as well as what the consequences, intended or otherwise, might be as a result of legislation that has been brought before the House.

Much has been made of the importance of providing patent protection for companies that engage in the development of intellectual properties. I do not think there is anyone who questions that a creator of something deserves the right to profit from the commercialization of that invention. We are really talking about the commercialization of inventions that may not necessarily be in the possession of the institution that files the patent. The governments of any country share in some of that contribution to the development of those intellectual properties. They do it willingly because it is an important element of growth.

I sat on both the industry and health committees when the patent prices review board came before them and outlined what the outcome was of this investment in an industry for the creation of new product. I am not making a distinction between generic and patent. It was shocking. As of 1999, Canada ranked dead last in providing brand new, innovative pharmaceutical products. We were well behind countries like Belgium, the Benelux countries, Italy, Ireland and England.

The reason I can enunciate those countries is because under these very generous patent protection conditions, which are available in other countries as well, Canada has been able to claim one product that can be classified as new and innovative. This is thanks to all the research and development done by those industries.

When I hear the discussions on needing to have this money to develop a research and development industry, does that mean wet lab? Does that mean pure innovation? Does that mean that we have to go through the second and third phase clinical trials process, plus the advertising associated, plus the other expenses, administrative mostly, associated with getting a product on the market?

We have a fairly rigorous system for getting a product on the market because the Government of Canada, irrespective of its political stripe, is governed by one issue and one issue only. For a pharmaceutical product to go on the market, it must first, be safe and second, be effective. Until those two are proven, nothing goes on the market. The process for getting a notice of compliance is rather rigorous. That is where some of the expense is.

As for research and development on the wet lab side, these companies are looking for places where the ideas are percolating, where concepts can be bought and the initial steps of research and development can be had for a song, otherwise they would not be good business people. It does not matter who the people are or where they are from.

The government over the last eight years has provided an enormous amount of money for research and development to universities and the medical science institutes and hospitals associated with them, to develop that kind of an environment. As Canadian citizens we expect an industry that is responsible enough to ensure that product comes on the market in a timely fashion and in a price range that is affordable both by the marketplace and by the patients who will hopefully profit by its consumption.

I am not sure that has happened. I looked at what had happened over the course of the last seven years in terms of prices. More important, I looked at the market share by the patent holders, as opposed to the non-patent product producers and the generic producers. Sometimes they are all one and the same.

We went through a huge debate in the House in the early nineties, as the members opposite well know. The government of the day decided it would institute Bill C-91. As a result, the patent protection was supposed to go up to 20 years. Without going into all the details around the issue of the government, the one that preceded it said it wanted to create a competitive patent industry to ensure that prices would come down. It said it would develop a research centre industry in Canada and that it would make these pharmaceuticals available to a broader spectrum of the public.

Those governments adopted a series of legislation, in particular one that allowed Canadian companies to develop and produce product, notwithstanding the patent and the patent protection after a particular period of time, and only after the generic provided a royalty to the patent holder.

Bill C-91 did away with that. What it did not do away with were the regulations that allowed a patent holder, by merely alleging that there had been a patent infringement, to go to the courts and get an injunction against the competitor for producing a product, even though we were at the end of a patent period.

What does that mean? Essentially patent holders who rightfully enjoy the protection of the patent period can merely make an allegation of infringement. They do not have to prove it nor do they have to go through the exercise of the rule of law, as my colleague from Prince George—Peace River suggested. They do not have go through courts for an injunction, where they might have to prove there was a patent infringement or they suffered as a result of that. They simply have to make an allegation—

[Patent Act, June 5th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I have been here since the beginning of the debate and I have listened very intently to the merits of the debate, the points at issue in the discussion. The member opposite, who is usually fairly eloquent in expressing his views and the people's views on what should be discussed, has now ranted on for the better part of three minutes in what can best be characterized as character assassination.

Far be it for me to come to the defence of other members in the House who are capable of defending themselves but let us get—

[Patent Act, June 5th, 2001]

Yes, that's what he was reading from. He wasn't reading from his speech.

[Interparliamentary Delegations, June 5th, 2001]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Canada-China Legislative Association regarding the third bilateral meeting in China held in March. I think members will find it a most invaluable read. The exercise contributed to improving relations between our two nations and our two peoples. As I said, it will make great reading for all interested members.

[Patent Act, June 4th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to have my name stricken from the list of those who voted in favour of the motion.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

[Brain Tumours, May 17th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, each year approximately 10,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with primary or metastatic brain tumour.

The Canadian Alliance of Brain Tumour Organizations is in Ottawa this week to raise awareness of the impact of this most debilitating and too frequently fatal disease. Brain tumours afflict young and old alike. Early diagnosis of course is crucial to treatment, yet the incidence and rate of death from brain tumours has increased dramatically since 1960.

Regrettably, reliable information regarding brain tumours is both scattered and uncoordinated. This makes it difficult to make proper assessments or to prepare proposals for research, and research is required. Some estimates put the number of new people diagnosed with primary brain tumours at above 5,000 per year.

Health Canada and the Canadian Cancer Society need to set aside resources in order to establish an effective data gathering system. As well, I encourage Health Canada, the Medical Research Council of Canada and other funding agencies to allocate moneys for research in combating this most deadly and debilitating of diseases.

[Income Tax Amendments Act, 2000, May 14th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, since I did not vote on the previous motion I want to be recorded as having voted with the government's side, strange as that might be.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)