Health Committee on Nov. 19th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

A motion to resume debate on this motion at the next meeting would be in order.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thanks very much, Chair.

When we begin to look at the difficulties with this bill.... I guess I'll ask some very pointed questions.

Ms. Callard, would your organization be open to an amendment removing nicotine-containing products from Bill C-368?

[Cynthia Callard]

That would meet many of our concerns, yes.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Hoffman, I'll ask you the same question. Would your organization be open to removing nicotine products from Bill C-368?

[Carolyn Hoffman]

Today we speak about the concerns that we have with Bill C-368—a number of concerns—and so we are silent on any proposed amendments today.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

I'm sorry, but I guess I don't understand that. You spoke very strongly about nicotine-containing products and how this bill would cause difficulties with that, but you have no opinion on a specific amendment removing nicotine-containing products from this bill.

[Carolyn Hoffman]

To speak in isolation about one amendment without the ability to consider what the legislation would look like.... We're not in a position to speak for or against today, but we'd be happy to consult in the future.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thanks very much, Ms. Hoffman.

Can you tell us, has your organization received funding from the Government of Canada in the past?

[Carolyn Hoffman]

ISMP Canada does receive funding from the federal government, but also from provincial governments and health care organizations as well.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

How much money does ISMP receive from the federal government on a yearly basis?

[Carolyn Hoffman]

We have a contribution agreement with Health Canada of $1.8 million per year, approximately.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you.

Ms. Doucas, would your organization be open to an amendment to Bill C-368 removing nicotine-containing products?

[Flory Doucas]

Thank you for that, Dr. Ellis. The devil's in the detail, but on principle, yes.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thanks very much for that.

Mr. Chen, if I could turn to you, I know that your family has been in the traditional Chinese medicine space for quite some time, helping many Canadians with respect to their health issues. Could you tell us a bit about how seriously you take the importation of traditional Chinese medicines on behalf of Canadians? Have you ever had your products contaminated with rodent droppings and urine?

[Pierre Chen]

That has never happened. All the factories that we use have ISO regulation and GMP regulations, on top of everything, so we follow very strictly what's required in good manufacturing practices. Also, in every batch, we require heavy metal testing, pesticide testing and microbial testing—that's for my company.

I think most companies.... When we apply for NHP, it's required, by existing regulations, that we submit this information. That's why existing Canadian NPN regulations are envied. When people ask me, I actually referred a couple of manufacturers to come to Canada to apply for an NPN. We actually export Canadian-licensed products to other countries because they envy the regulations that we have, without making it difficult for us to—

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Suffice it to say, Mr. Chen, that your company and anybody else you know inside the NHP industry takes very seriously the quality of the product that you bring here for Canadian consumers.

[Pierre Chen]

Yes. I use the product myself. It's important that we guarantee—well, we can't say “guarantee”, but we ensure—that the Canadian public is safe with our product, and that's why we could sell it as a food product. However, we want to do better. That's what everyone in this industry is trying to do. We could sell it as food, with just a food licence, but we want to do better, and that's why we apply for NHP licences. By destroying that, you're destroying what we're trying to achieve to become better Canadians.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Dr. Ellis.

Thank you, Mr. Chen.

Mr. Naqvi, please go ahead for five minutes.

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Thank you very much, Chair.

At this moment, I would like to resume debate on the motion that I tabled on the supplementary estimates.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

We have a point of order.

Just before we go to the point of order, a motion to resume debate is a dilatory motion that is not subject to debate, so I'll hear the point of order, and then the normal course of things would be to go straight to a vote on the motion to resume debate.

Go ahead, Mrs. Goodridge, on a point of order.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Unless something is vastly different from what I'm aware of, I don't believe you can resume debate in the same meeting that a debate was adjourned. Could we ask for clarification from the clerks?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Mrs. Goodridge.

This is a matter of which I was not aware, but you are correct. Absent unanimous consent of the committee, a motion to resume debate on a motion that was presented in the same meeting is not in order.

Do we have unanimous consent to go to a vote on a motion to resume debate?

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

No.