Evidence of meeting #106 for Health in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was products.
A recording is available from Parliament.
6:45 p.m.
Conservative
6:45 p.m.
Yves Jalbert Content Specialist, Association pour la santé publique du Québec
Although it is important to establish a minimum price for each of these beverages, we should not expect that this will necessarily discourage young people from drinking them. Youth like and consume these beverages. They are part of their culture and linked to their sense of invulnerability. We must be vigilant. We should perhaps focus more on the advertising and marketing of these drinks. The industry is very reliant on marketing and on means of influencing these young people to make them consumers of these alcoholic beverages as quickly as possible. That is what we must focus on.
It is difficult for us to answer questions about the excise tax or how much alcohol these products should contain. Such questions are more within the purview of the provincial and federal governments. What is important to us is the advertising associated with these products and the way in which the industry ensures that young people become habitual consumers. That is where we can win the war. These industries have significant latitude when it comes to running their ads. This advertising is not only found in conventional media but also in digital media. That is where the young people get hooked. These media are not controlled by the federal or provincial governments, and that is a problem.
6:50 p.m.
Conservative
6:50 p.m.
President, Canadian Beverage Association
I really have nothing to add to your list. I'm here to represent the non-alcoholic beverage sector, given some of the earlier confusion on the topic.
Thank you.
6:50 p.m.
Conservative
6:50 p.m.
Medical Director, Centre antipoison du Québec
I agree with everything that's been said so far by the public health bodies.
I would also add that natural caffeine products such as guarana should be considered to be the same as artificial or synthetic caffeine. From a toxicological perspective, it's the exact same thing, so it should be considered the same.
6:50 p.m.
Conservative
6:50 p.m.
Doctor Specializing in Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Vice-President Scientific Affairs, Institut national de santé publique du Québec
Ms. Niquette might like to say something.
6:50 p.m.
Manon Niquette Consultant, Full Professor, Department of Information and Communications, Université Laval, Institut national de santé publique du Québec
I, too, want to stress the importance of controlling advertising. At present, the CRTC code governs advertising, but it does not apply to advertising on the Internet, which creates a large legal void. Other countries, such as Norway, have banned all advertising of alcohol on social media. In France, the Evin law was amended to include social media, except for Facebook pages. Therefore, it is possible to control advertising.
Research actually shows that there is a link between exposure to advertising on social media, as on Facebook pages, risky behaviour, and increased alcohol consumption.
In addition, the problem is that, with social media, not only is there the predictor of exposure to advertising, but there is another important predictor, which is the influence of peers. The industry uses social media to convince young people to relay the advertising to their own network, thus making young people advertising partners. Young people are turned into advertisers of alcoholic products, which are dangerous products.
On social networks, the performance of advertising is evaluated by the degree of engagement of the people exposed to these advertisements. That is shameful. It is especially shameful because, based on what I have seen, not only does a lot of advertising target young people—which would contravene the CRTC code if it applied to social media—but it also seems to directly target children. In fact, the advertising features stuffed toys, animated characters, small animals riding tricycles, and a stuffed toy fox as a mascot. The fox speaks in an adult voice, but the fact remains that it is a stuffed animal.
After the death of Athéna Gervais, one ad, one message asked young people what they were going to drink during the March break. I am a university professor and can tell you that there is no March break on the university calendar. The March break is only for secondary school students. When young people are asked how they are going to party during the March break, we know that minors are being explicitly targeted. It is important to take note of this. At present, this is akin to the Wild West. However, this is about young people and children.
6:50 p.m.
Conservative
May 9th, 2018 / 6:50 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Thank you.
I'd like to pick up on that latter point. Mr. Stockwell, I'm concerned about the marketing and presentation of these products. This committee reviewed the cannabis legislation and plain packaging for tobacco legislation. Both pieces of federal legislation ban lifestyle advertising with respect to those products and ban any kind of marketing that could appeal to children. I'm holding up pictures of the high-alcohol drink products that are being marketed and I don't have to be a marketing genius to know that these are appealing to young people and children. I know 14-year-olds who would find that to be an appealing product. Am I correct in suggesting that this kind of marketing should be banned for these kinds of products?
6:55 p.m.
Director, Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, University of Victoria, As an Individual
Absolutely, in my opinion, and I think the previous speaker would concur.
One of the problems that several people have mentioned is that the CRTC code is old. It hasn't been updated in 25 to 30 years and it only applies to old-fashioned media. When you look at digital media, one of the big areas in which young people are really engaged in promoting the products, as described, is on the Facebook and Instagram accounts of bars and nightclubs, where they put photos of young people who are drunk, often very youthful-looking, and engaging in all kinds of behaviour. I've shared some examples, so that's one area. I'm not sure what can be done federally, apart from expanding and reviewing the CRTC code. Then names like Delirium, Rehab, FCKDUP, and so forth could also be specifically excluded, as there should be some standard there. There's a cannabis act and a Tobacco Act, but we have no alcohol act. As I've just shown, alcohol causes 50 times more harm than cannabis in Canada today.
6:55 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Thank you.
I'm going to move now to taste. We heard during our cannabis legislation review that there's enough alcohol in a 40-ounce bottle of alcohol in a liquor store to kill someone, but one of the differences is that alcohol generally tastes bad. That is in contrast to this kind of product, with high sugar and high alcohol. Obviously it's meant to taste good, and if you combine a sweet taste with a high volume of alcohol, it's a recipe for danger. Should we be doing anything about that?
6:55 p.m.
Director, Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, University of Victoria, As an Individual
The recommendations we've made, along with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and other bodies, recommend restrictions on the sugar content.
One solution that might have some value, which is something you could do federally, would be to in effect define a product that has more than 5% sugar as spirits and treat it the same way, tax it in the same way. One of the benefits is it then could not be sold in corner stores in Quebec or in beer stores in Ontario, and I think there are some other provinces as well.
6:55 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Thank you.
Mr. Goetz, I know that your products are not the subject of this investigation. You're here to represent the beverage association, which represents high-energy drinks. Is that correct?
6:55 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
If I have your testimony correct, you assert that your drinks should not be mixed with alcohol as it's a potentially dangerous combination.
6:55 p.m.
President, Canadian Beverage Association
With the regulations that were put in place when the products came onto the Canadian market in 2004, that is the position that Health Canada took at that time.
