Health committee  We have been involved, Madam Chair, in ongoing work with health NGOs, which had expressed concerns about some of the images available on the public opinion research website. They had been involved in various working groups with us. We had indicated that further work was being don

Health committee  We were, at that point, as I said, Madam Chair, working with all stakeholders to indicate that further work was necessary on the package to refine the images.

Health committee  I believe I've answered the question.

Health committee  Perhaps, given that the member is not satisfied with the language I'm using, I'll turn to my director general, who can further elaborate.

Health committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the invitation to speak to the Standing Committee on Health regarding the subject of Health Canada's warning messages on cigarette packages. There has been much media attention to this recently. As you are aware, the Minister of Health has

Health committee  Madam Chair, if I may, I would complement the minister's response. One of the things I would say that is fundamentally different between the legislation proposed before you and the current HPA is that the current Hazardous Products Act, while it's served us well, is reactive an

Health committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. In addition, there are a number of other more technical elements that the bill would have. There would be a requirement for industry to understand their product and its supply chain, so that if we order a recall they could prove to us there has been effe

Health committee  Madam Chair, if I may, I'll complement the minister.

Health committee  While we don't have mandatory reporting in the current legislation, Health Canada, recognizing that consumers are interested, has a database available of all recalls that we have initiatied. We also work on a voluntary basis with industry, whereby they inform us of products that

Health committee  Very briefly, Madam Chair, in response to the member's question, let me say that the other risk in the absence of this new legislation is of Canada's becoming a dumping ground for unsafe products. The U.S. and the EU have what is the equivalent of a general prohibition, which say

Health committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I would be pleased to respond. On a safe level for cadmium, I would make three fairly basic points. First, there are already regulations for cadmium where we understand that it is a necessary ingredient in a product. So it is used in some paints, and ther

Health committee  That's correct.

Health committee  The issue here is the level for both ceramics and surface coatings. The risk is flaking of its small particles, its dust. It tends to be an inhalation risk less than an ingestion risk, because toys are designed and our toy standards are such that they can't fit in a child's mouth

Health committee  The short answer to that question is no, we're not seeing children getting sick. And there are two reasons for that. The first is that we don't have a provision for mandatory reporting in Bill C-36, so if there are incidents, there isn't a requirement for those to be disclosed to

Health committee  I will attempt to respond to the member's question. I apologize for repeating myself, but I will reiterate what we have said at previous appearances. Given the amendment that has been put forward, menthol use in Canada is very different from what it is in other countries. The re