"Show me the dead Canadians!"

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) Thursday said the federal government should allow the Gopher state to move forward with plans to help its residents buy prescription drugs from Canada: “Let us try,” he said.

“Importation from Canada and perhaps other developed countries is not the ideal solution. It is probably not the long-term solution, but it is in the spirit of trying something,” Pawlenty said.

Calling it the “prescription drug equivalent of the Boston Tea Party,” Pawlenty said the biggest hurdle to implementing his plan are warnings from the pharmaceutical industry and the Food and Drug Administration, which say the practice of re-importing virtually all medicine that U.S. manufacturers have sold to Canadian pharmacies is illegal and unsafe.

“My first response to that is show me the dead Canadians. Where are the dead Canadians?” Pawlenty said.