WINNIPEG — Manitoba Premier Gary Doer is calling for "a more informed debate'' around the federal cabinet table in a bid to halt a widely anticipated crackdown on Internet pharmacies.

Doer emerged from a meeting Monday with industry representatives with a plan to ask Treasury Board Minister Reg Alcock, Manitoba's cabinet representative, to lobby his colleagues on behalf of the industry.

"We think some of this debate is underinformed,'' said Doer, who has become increasingly vocal in his support of the industry, which was founded in Manitoba five years ago.

"We have to inform the debate and we'll be informing the debate with tangible solutions,'' said Doer.

"Our job is to inform the full cabinet on the impact of their decisions.''

Estimates on the financial impact of the industry on Manitoba's economy vary, but the Industry Department pegs the number of jobs at 1,500. Almost half of the industry's $800 million in gross sales for 2003 was earned in Manitoba.

While the industry has long struggled to navigate political opposition in the United States and pressure from brand-name drug manufacturers, the biggest challenge has come from Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh.

Dosanjh has criticized the industry for being unethical and a threat to the Canadian drug supply.

But he recently confirmed he is considering a three-pronged change to federal law aimed at ensuring the supply of prescription drugs for Canadians is protected.

He could prohibit Canadian doctors from co-signing prescriptions for U.S. patients they haven't seen, prohibit prescriptions for foreigners who are not present in Canada, and create a list of widely used drugs that could not be exported from Canada.

Co-signed prescriptions are a central feature of Canada's mail-order drug business.