Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty gave Canada's booming Internet pharmacies the thumbs up after touring a facility in Winnipeg and he predicts more U.S. politicians will also be swayed.

"I think you're going to see more governors, more mayors, more people come on board," Pawlenty said following his tour of CanadaDrugs.com.

The web-based Winnipeg pharmacy fills as many as 1,700 prescriptions a day, with most of the orders destined for the United States. The Manitoba city is home to one-third of the country's 150 Internet pharmacies.

But the booming online prescription to the United States and growing demand is causing concern that Canadian consumers could be facing possible shortages.

In Canada, many drugs are a quarter and sometimes half the price as the same drugs sold in the U.S. due to federal government price controls. That's a pill Cliff Bates finds easy to swallow.

"I save probably 50 per cent -- that's probably $3,000 a year," Bates told CTV News.

Big savings for Americans means big business for Canadians. It is estimated that Canadian pharmacies sell about $1-billion worth of drugs annually to Americans and the number is expected to rapidly expand.

By January, 50,000 Minnesota public employees could be turning north to order their prescription drugs even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is opposed to the importation of drugs from Canada and other countries.

The FDA has said it can't guarantee the safety of drugs imported from other countries. It has also said some Canadian drugs don't meet U.S. specifications on refrigeration and labelling.

Still, skyrocketing healthcare costs in the U.S. have several states including Minnesota thinking about breaking the rules. Pawlenty said he believes Canadian federal and provincial and industry protocols meet or exceed American standards.

"We need to move ahead on this issue. We need leadership here and if they sue us, they sue us," Pawlenty said.

Potentially, hundreds of thousands of new customers could tap into a system that some critics believe is already at the breaking point. Manitoba pharmacist Michele Fontaine said Canadian consumers could be in danger.

"We are getting reports of drug shortages all across Manitoba and Canada to the extent we've never seen before," Fontaine said.

Groups supporting Internet pharmacies said they have yet to see any proof of prescription drug shortages.

"The Manitoba government and Health Canada are stating conclusively there is no supply shortage at this time," David MacKay said.

Major pharmaceutical companies also have a view on the matter and they're opposed to the Internet drug industry on the basis the lost revenue will hinder their research efforts. Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKlein are two of the companies that have started to curb their Canadian exports.

"In my own view, the actions and threats of the pharmaceutical industry in this regard are reprehensible," Pawlenty said.

"They're just threatening flat out in the United States that they might retaliate against Canadian pharmacies by withholding supply. If it were to become the case, I would hope and I would strongly encourage legal action against the pharmaceutical industry to prohibit that."