Health committee  Thank you. We're actually not familiar with the private and the public plans. It's business-to-business throughout the supply chain. I would defer to Durhane. I know she's done tons of work on that.

Health committee  Sure. I would be happy to. It's not that they will stop manufacturing; they'll stop sending it to Canada. That's happened. Durhane has spoken to that also. We hear that kind of skeptical assertion that medicines will always be distributed everywhere, just like groceries. Unlike groceries, drug prices are controlled.

Health committee  Certainly. I think that the Canadian Pharmacists Association yesterday made a great assertion to have a pharmacist on that expert committee, and we fully support that. CAPDM's distribution members get medication to patients, but they also arm our professionals with the tools of the trade.

Health committee  As I mentioned, when a government awards a contract to a single supplier, others have no incentive to stay in the market. I can't speak specifically to metformin, but there are other examples. When one firm gets, let's say, 70% or 80% of the market, the other competitors are not going to make any money on this.

Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for your attention today. I'm Angelique Berg, president and CEO at CAPDM, the Canadian Association for Pharmacy Distribution Management. CAPDM is the nation's trade association for wholesale distributors that channel over 90% of the medicines our country consumes.