Ottawa — The Liberal government praised itself Thursday for making Canada the first country to introduce cheap-drugs-for-poor-countries legislation, but then balked at a call by all opposition parties to make it law immediately, saying the bill needs more work.
Officials for the Canadian Alliance, the Bloc Québécois, New Democrats and Progressive Conservatives all made it clear publicly they would support immediate passage of the bill as long as a parliamentary committee could later review the regulations that put the measure into practice.
Privately, government officials said the legislation needs some rewriting, and said they would promise pharmaceutical industry and development group stakeholders the bill would be ironed out in the committee stage of review in the Commons.
“It's incomplete,” one senior official said.
Opposition House Leader John Reynolds of the Canadian Alliance accused the Liberals of showboating by introducing a hastily written bill to make Prime Minister Jean Chrétien look good during his last days in office. He called on the Liberals to pass it Friday without delay.
“It would seem they wanted to get this out so they could look good in the eyes of the public but when their bluff was called they are backing off,” Mr. Reynolds said. “It's very important for the Third World countries that are suffering these diseases to get assistance from Canada.”
Liberal House Leader Don Boudria said Ottawa also had to consult industry and development group stakeholders before deciding whether to pass the bill immediately. “We still have to get the partners outside the House, too, because they had wanted to appear before the committee.”
Early last night, three departments, Industry, Trade and Health all warned Mr. Boudria's office in a conference call that Ottawa can't pass the bill as-is, because they had promised industry and development group stakeholders the legislation would be tabled but then left open for public discussion, a source said.
Unless it passes the House Friday, and the Senate next week, the bill is at risk of dying if the Liberals prorogue, or terminate, the current sitting in the weeks ahead after Mr. Chrétien steps down as Leader of the Liberal Party.
Paul Martin, the Liberal prime minister-in-waiting, backs the initiative, but would need to revive the bill to put it back on track.
Five Liberal cabinet ministers gathered to unveil the bill Thursday, calling it a crucial priority to get discounted medicines for AIDS treatment and other health crises into the hands of poor people in Africa and elsewhere.
“[This] will allow treatment for millions of poor people suffering from terrible diseases,” International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said. “I think we will become a model among other developed countries. ...This message will be heard around the world.”
The bill stems from a pledge Canada and 147 other member countries of the World Trade Organization made in August to take no legal action against companies that break patents to sell cheap copies of brand-name drugs to needy nations stricken with AIDS and other health problems.
Critics welcomed the bill but highlighted a fundamental flaw they say could undermine the effort to increase the supply of cheap drugs for developing nations:
Ottawa will require that brand-name drug makers be given first crack at filling developing drug orders under the deal instead of seeing the work go automatically to generic pharmaceutical makers.
“Sooner or later, generic companies will not be interested in negotiating these [drug-supply] contracts if they constantly lose the jobs,” said Richard Elliott, director of legal policy for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network.
