Hello everyone.
Thank you for having me here at the committee. I am very grateful.
My remarks today will address the topic of greenwashing, and more specifically clause 236 of Bill C-59.
Those who are not familiar with greenwashing should know that it happens when an organization makes false or misleading representations about the environmental characteristics of a product, a brand, an activity, or the organization itself. Greenwashing can involve several environmental characteristics, such as recyclability, greenhouse gas emissions, and impacts on biodiversity.
We see several forms of greenwashing in the market across Canada. They include flatly false representations, vague or generic representations such as the use of fuzzy words like "green" and "sustainable" that no one really knows the meaning of, cherry picking by making selective representations that highlight positive environmental characteristics without mentioning their negative aspects, representations that are not supported by sufficient evidence, and prospective representations that are not based on a concrete action plan.
This greenwashing has harmful consequences for the public and the Canadian economy. For example, it prevents consumers from making informed choices, it gives the offending businesses an unfair competitive advantage, and it denies the real environmental leaders recognition. Greenwashing also erodes consumer confidence and reduces incentives for businesses to innovate so they can offer products that are less harmful for the environment.
Paragraph 236(1)(b.1) of Bill C-59 proposes to tackle greenwashing by requiring that businesses that make representations regarding "a product's benefits for...