Evidence of meeting #67 for Health in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was legal.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
John Oliver Liberal Oakville, ON
Okay. Then us using plain packaging to stop smoking would have a fairly significant impact on your convenience store businesses?
President, Atlantic Convenience Stores Association
Stopping plain packaging...?
Liberal
John Oliver Liberal Oakville, ON
If we were trying to reduce the use of cigarettes and smoking by using plain packaging, that would have a very—
President, Atlantic Convenience Stores Association
It would have no financial impact on our business.
Liberal
John Oliver Liberal Oakville, ON
You can lose 40% of your sales inside and it not have an impact on your business?
President, Atlantic Convenience Stores Association
I don't understand how you think that we would lose 40% of our business. Do you think everybody would stop smoking tomorrow because of plain packaging?
September 14th, 2017 / 4:30 p.m.
Liberal
President, Atlantic Convenience Stores Association
It doesn't make any sense.
Liberal
John Oliver Liberal Oakville, ON
I want to come back to plain packaging, which is really where the heart of my questioning is. There's quite a section on it in the bill, and our job at the end of the day will be to review the bill and respond to advice given to us by witnesses like yourself. Have you read division 2 yet, which deals with promotion, branding, and point of sale?
Most of the paragraphs deal with prohibiting communications and advertising in a manner that would be “appealing to young persons...by means of a testimonial or endorsement, however displayed or communicated”, or “by means of the depiction of a person, character, or animal, whether real or fictional”, or “by presenting it or any of its brand elements in a manner that” conveys “a positive or negative emotion about...a way of life such as one that includes glamour, recreation, excitement, vitality, risk or daring”.
Does that do the job for you? It still allows branding on some products, but it really prohibits anything that's attractive or promotes it to young people. Is that good enough?
That's for any of you: Dr. Hammond, Ms. Tilson, or Ms. Beck.
Professor, University of Waterloo, School of Public Health and Health Systems, As an Individual
I can speak to that if you like.
What I can tell you is that there were similar restrictions on tobacco marketing prior to Canada entertaining plain packaging. The problem, which I referenced in my comments, was that it put the onus on the government.
Probably none of us knows how many different products are going to be out on the market, but I imagine it's thousands. What becomes very difficult is that the government is then responsible for policing whether a particular brand imagery or a particular logo actually is appealing to youth, so it requires retroactive action on behalf of the government, and that's extremely difficult to do.
All you need to do, if you have Googled a lot of the packages—
Liberal
John Oliver Liberal Oakville, ON
I only have seven minutes. Do you think we should go to still more prohibited language, like no colour, no brand...?
Professor, University of Waterloo, School of Public Health and Health Systems, As an Individual
Yes. That's what plain packaging does. It will provide the protection that I think that wording seeks to achieve.
Director of Policy, Non-Smokers' Rights Association
Can I add to that very briefly? The current restrictions are woefully inadequate for tobacco. As Dr. Hammond said, this is what—
Liberal
John Oliver Liberal Oakville, ON
I need to know.... We're going to be reviewing the bill, so I don't need to know about the market for tobacco. It's the act itself. Are you—
Director of Policy, Non-Smokers' Rights Association
The wording is the same as in the Tobacco Act currently. This is why it doesn't work: because Health Canada has shown itself loath to police. We have a requirement in Canada of 75% graphic warnings, and this is the kind of package that the tobacco companies have come out with.
Liberal
John Oliver Liberal Oakville, ON
Okay. Bill S-5, then, which is dealing I think with tobacco products and plain packaging, would prohibit use of colouring agents to design a trademark on tobacco products—to display a mark—so you'd be looking more for that kind of taking the colour out and taking the branding out.... That would be what you'd like to see added to what's already here. Is that fair?
Director of Policy, Non-Smokers' Rights Association
Comprehensive wording to ensure that there are no logos, no branding elements, only a brand name.
Director of Policy, Non-Smokers' Rights Association
Just a brand name and required information.
Liberal
John Oliver Liberal Oakville, ON
Okay.
Under required information, I certainly heard the health warnings and I completely support that. This is not a safe.... During this week, we've heard lots of testimony about the risks of marijuana, particularly for young people but also for everybody. At the same time, I was just looking at the Colorado Pot Guide. When people want to use pot—adults, people who are making a conscious decision to consume it once it's legal—that helps one identify strains for energy, sleep, pain management, anxiety, and the dosages of THC, CBD, CBN, CBG. I don't know what those things are, but I think they're important to the impact of what you're looking for in a marijuana strain, I guess.
Would you support that kind of information being available, so a consumer would know what level of THC, CBD, CBN, CBG would be available in a product?
This question is for either Dr. Hammond or Ms. Tilson.
Professor, University of Waterloo, School of Public Health and Health Systems, As an Individual
I think it's perfectly appropriate to label things like THC and some of the cannabinoids that can fall under constituent labelling. There's a whole lot of information about use and different strains. You don't need the manufacturer or the government to provide that. Consumers will provide that on their own. There are periodicals and all sorts of things. But absolutely, I think it's reasonable to include things like the THC amount. As I said, you need to do that in an effective way.
Liberal
John Oliver Liberal Oakville, ON
I'm just thinking, if there's no brand identifier how do you know what you're getting in those different quantities? Ms. Tilson or Ms. Beck, did you want to add to that?