Diogenes's blog

Dear Ms Laverdière,

Re: Your private members bill C-398 -- An act to amend the Patent Act (drugs for international humanitarian purposes)

I promised not to mention this again, but you leave me no choice.

Although this bill died in parliament on a free vote, you and your colleagues keep bringing it up in Business of the House and in Question Period. Stop it please. This parrot is dead.

Maybe it's a good time refocus and ask why the millions of Canadians who have to pay for their own generic drugs are still paying $5 or $10 for a drug that cost $1 in Europe or New Zealand.

There was another War on Gaza last month, a little more than a week the after the US presidential election. The good news is the death toll: Gaza 174, Israel 6, was much lower than last time.

And there was a historic UN vote that granted Palestine non member observer state status. Canada was one of the very few countries to vote NO. Israel, in retribution for this Palestinian action, has since announced plans for new settlements and has diverted taxes collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority for it's own use.  Canada stands by Israel. Canada is now Israel's strongest ally.

As Canada's international reputation circles the great white porcelain bowl, what do our major political parties and their leaders have to say about this appalling turn of events?

Nothing really. Netanyahu has all of these cowards by the short and curly's. And he won't let go.

Last Wednesday night, Bill C-398 was defeated in the House of Commons by a free vote of 148-141.

Seven Conservative members voted for the bill. The Liberals, NDP, Bloc, and Green party all voted unanimously for the bill except for those individual members who didn't vote. I will let others debate how free this vote really was.

The vote on C-398 was close. I'm just happy at the way it turned out.

Gerald Caplan is one of my favorite columnists. He is smart, caring and introspective.  It's a pity he writes for the Globe & Mail, which I call the Glop & Pail now because it definitely is no longer a newspaper-of-record.

Now we have him on record pimping for Canada's own Big Pharma.  And he drops a few names along the way.

Bill C-398, a sham piece of legislation that will change Canada's Patent Act, has had two hours of debate in the House of Commons. It now proceeds to a vote scheduled for Wednesday, November 28th. 

If this law passes, cheap copycat drugs (for humanitarian purposes) made by Canadian manufacturers can be sold to ANY developing country that might need it instead of the developing countries that take the time to apply for this exemption.

Below are excerpts from these debates that I thought best demonstrated the forces at work here.

The emphasis is mine, sometimes intended to set off either bullshit or irony alarms, sometimes just for highlighting the plain simple truth.

It's quite remarkable to see the left pimping for Canada's Big Pharma.

May the NAY's take the day.

Step right up folks! Free humanitarian aid right here! Help save Africa! Help end the scourge of AIDS. It won't cost you a penny, folks. Step right up. Sign here. Free Humanitarian aid!

Now we don't ask you for money to buy the life saving drugs. And the CGPA members are not actually donating any products or money towards this worthy cause.  The CGPA members Grandmothers Advocacy Network merely ask that Canadians help open up that market. All that is needed is to amend Canada's patent laws for humanitarian purposes.

Bill-398 is a sham. KILL BILL 398.

I'm as cynical as anyone about the decline of newspapers and the sad state of affairs that defines journalism in Canada these days. There seem to be far more columnists than journalists in the media and way too much boot-licker journalism.

But there are exceptions to this. Glen McGregor and Stephen Maher of the Ottawa Citizen are two of them.  Their work on the 2011 Election fraud stories have been dogged and brilliant.

Who says that Canadians aren't politically engaged?

The campaign to pass Bill C-398 continues. The raging grannies of the Grandmother's Advocacy Network have their petition campaign in full swing now.

MP's from across the country and all parties have proudly stood in the House of Commons to proclaim their support for this sham bill.

This campaign to pass Bill C-398 is nothing but a brazen effort by Canada's home grown Big Pharma to open up a new world market for cheap copycat drugs.

Kill Bill 398. Tell Canada's Big Pharma to play by the rules.

Rabble.ca is a left-leaning web site that claims to be "News for the rest of us". Scroll to the bottom of the home page and you'll discover that most of their funding comes from various union organizations. They don't like free trade; they don't like globalization and they don't like big business. If the people at Rabble had their way, the NDP or the communists would be running the country and every business would be nationalized.

Rabble has a problem with those who don't agree with the majority there. They value freedom of speech and spirited discussion, but only to a point. And they have some jackboot moderators that really relish the power they have.