Health committee  Yes, certainly. We've had over 3,700 signatures on an online petition that has been up for less than two weeks. The breadth of people who have signed it is remarkable. Many members of the lay public are signing it and routinely framing their concern as one of conflict of interes

Health committee  I just wanted to correct the record, because the way it has been represented in terms of what happened with the ethics people is incorrect. You need to understand that in terms of external ethics expertise that is brought to CIHR, you have one person who is a member of the govern

Health committee  I would agree that this is the way to diminish conflicts. I don't have names at the tip of my fingers, but they would not be difficult to get for you. There are lots of people with that expertise that we could get for you.

Health committee  I would like to talk about the qualifications piece and the role of the governing council. Precisely what you pick up on are the strategic decisions the governing council makes that affect things like whether we are going to do research into over-utilization, certain kinds of u

Health committee  My understanding is that historically they sought the expertise with respect to commercialization by going to the private sector but not the commercial health sector. They recognized and explicitly decided not to go to pharma because of the conflicts of interest. They thought the

Health committee  Certainly. This appointee cannot be considered competent to perform the duties of a member of governing council because of this corrosive effect on CIHR's capacity to further scientifically and ethically excellent research and to improve the health of Canadians. The appropriate

Health committee  I have one sentence left. Might I say it?

Health committee  This would be to act within your jurisdiction and would send a strong message to Canadians that you take your responsibility for CIHR seriously and that you vigorously support and will defend the primacy of the health of Canadians.

Health committee  Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I am here to speak against the appointment of Dr. Bernard Prigent. Understanding the limits on the committee's jurisdiction, I will restrict my comments to the appointee's qualifications and competence to perform the duties