OTTAWA – The marathon effort to reform Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) could hit another hurdle Tuesday, as the Conservative majority in the Senate appears poised to delay voting on Bill C-393, meaning it could die if an election is called.
The bill passed the House two weeks ago in a vote of 172 to 111, with members of Parliament from each party supporting it, including at least 26 Conservatives. This week, Liberal Senator Sharon Carstairs said Conservatives in the Senate have demonstrated they plan to kill the bill through repeated adjournments.
“It has been made clear to our leadership there is no rush,” said Carstairs, who is the sponsor of the bill in the Senate. “It is once again a display of the abuse of Parliament. This bill passed second reading in the Senate prior to the last prorogation and spent six days in the Senate committee on banking. There is no reason not to send this bill to committee immediately. It cannot be argued they need time.”
Senate Majority Leader Marjory LeBreton was not immediately available for comment.
“We don’t intend to unnecessarily delay this bill,” said a spokesman in Lebreton’s office. “It will be considered in due course in the normal fashion as we would with any other bill.”
Deliberations began in the Senate Monday only to be adjourned by the Conservatives after a short debate.
Bill C-393 would amend the Patent Act to make it easier for Canadian companies to produce and market generic versions of a variety of medications used to treat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. The treatments, long available to Canadians, are too expensive for most patients in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world. CAMR went into law in 2004 but critics say it includes so much red tape, it has been ineffective. Only one drug order has been exported under the regulations. Supporters say CAMR isn’t the best way to get medicine to the people who need it.
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