The current exclusions?
Evidence of meeting #39 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site.) The winning word was amendment.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #39 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site.) The winning word was amendment.
A video is available from Parliament.
Director General, Workplace Hazardous Materials Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
The current exclusions?
Director General, Workplace Hazardous Materials Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
Currently under the HPA there are 12 sectors excluded, including food, cosmetics, wood and wood products, drugs, tobacco, hazardous products, medical devices, and....
Director General, Workplace Hazardous Materials Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
Let me just check my list to make sure I have them all.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
I have consumer, chemicals, pesticides potentially as well.
Director General, Workplace Hazardous Materials Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
Here we go: consumer products, cosmetics, drugs, food, medical devices, pesticides, explosives, wood and wood products, tobacco, manufactured articles, hazardous waste, and nuclear substances.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Those are excluded out of the conversation we're having right now, just in terms of the amendments under this provision. Is that right?
Director General, Workplace Hazardous Materials Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
Those are currently excluded. The idea through this act is to move each of those into a schedule to the act.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
For those watching at home, can you please help us on the process? Once moved into a schedule to the act, are they fully deemed part of the act now?
Director General, Workplace Hazardous Materials Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
No. There is no immediate impact. When they're moved to a schedule to the act, these sectors that were previously excluded under the HPA remain excluded as they're moved to the schedule. What it does allow is that in the future, these sectors could be brought under the Hazardous Products Act, but to do this a full regulatory process would be required, including a cost-benefit analysis, consultations, and prepublication in the Canada Gazette.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
With these changes incorporated under those products and other hazardous products, how would you compare the disclosure regime here in Canada to those of the EU and the U.S.?
Director General, Workplace Hazardous Materials Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
Currently in the United States and the European Union, those eight sectors that were moving to the schedule are included in their equivalent systems to Canada's workplace hazardous materials information system, WHMIS.
Those are included. How they are disclosed is different, based on the product and differences between the U.S. and the European Union. In some instances, only a safety data sheet would be required, and no labelling requirements. In other instances, there would be a requirement for both a label and a safety data sheet.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Again, I know this is a broad comparison, but for these products that the government, through this implementation act, is trying to move in and onto the list, is Canada seeking a higher rate of disclosure for Canadian citizens with respect to these hazardous materials or lower than that of either the U.S. or the EU?
Director General, Workplace Hazardous Materials Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
The idea is that over time Canada would be able to bring these into the Hazardous Products Act and essentially align with what's currently required in the United States.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Right. I've heard from some in the industry, not at this committee but through other hearings, that this would bring us up to the American and European standards in terms of disclosure. But the process you've described is that it makes them available to be eventually disclosed to the same level as what they do in Europe or the United States. Is that right?
Director General, Workplace Hazardous Materials Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
That's correct.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Okay. Is this just a process question? Why not move up to full disclosure like our European and American trading partners have?
Director General, Workplace Hazardous Materials Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
There's a variety of reasons for that, including the fact that WHMIS is built on a tripartite system, whereby we work very collaboratively with industry, employers, and our provincial and territorial counterparts. The idea is that we would need to consult more broadly before bringing in these sectors.
Furthermore, as I've just described, there are legislative and regulatory requirements that we need to be conscious of in moving these forward. We need to make sure that we're bringing them forward in such a way that we're not causing harm to other pieces of legislation or other disclosure requirements. We do need to do more research before we bring them in.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
For my last question, does the department do an impact assessment in terms of what the disclosure would cost the industry, the estimated costs?
Director General, Workplace Hazardous Materials Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
The regulatory impact assessment statement, the RIAS, would need to be done for each sector before bringing them in. That's part of the regulatory process.
Director General, Workplace Hazardous Materials Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health
It has not been done.
