Thank you.
I'm going to first express that I'm deeply concerned by and empathic with the situation Canadians find themselves in by not getting access to essential medication. This is just the most recent example of this need for parents in this country who are unable to access things like over-the-counter pediatric Tylenol for their children who are suffering and in pain. We've heard evidence at this committee that there's a shortage of pediatric formulations of medication generally.
A few years ago, colleagues will remember that we had a national EpiPen shortage, which actually presented a danger to the lives of people who rely on EpiPens to not go into anaphylactic shock, and that can be a life-threatening illness.
I think it gives us a chance to pause for a moment and ask ourselves how it is that a G7 country, one of the wealthiest countries on earth, is not self-sufficient in essential medication for our people, especially when we're talking about our children. How is it that we're in a situation where parents who have children in pain are going to pharmacies and they can't even get basic over-the-counter pain medication, never mind prescription medicine? How is it that our country requires doctors and pharmacists to have to MacGyver adult formulations of medication to try to turn it into something that maybe they can give to children? That's unacceptable.
The fact that the motion calls for us to import medication that we need here from other countries implies that those other countries have done a much better job than we have. They actually have surplus medicine to send to a country like Canada, so their good planning is lucky for us because it will cover up our poor planning. The truth is Canada is not self-sufficient in essential medicines or vaccines.
I have to say that I find it passingly ironic that this motion comes from the Conservatives because it was a Conservative government, the Mulroney government, that sold off Connaught Labs some decades ago. It was a publicly owned drug manufacturing facility in this country. It manufactured things like insulin and other life-saving medications to make sure that Canadians always had access to essential life-saving medication that was at an affordable cost.
That was not only a profoundly shortsighted and incorrect policy decision, but make no mistake that it's decisions like that which have led to the situation we are in today. We didn't just find ourselves in a situation today where parents can't get pain medication for their children. That's the result of decades of bad policy decisions by successive federal governments, frankly, of both Liberal and Conservative view.
The fact that we have to pass an emergency resolution to ask the government to get medication that's not even in English and French to be sold in Canada as an emergency stopgap measure should give us pause and make us start thinking about deeper policy responses.
Now, to this motion, I have concerns about this motion. We have a regulatory system in this country around medication for a reason. The reason is consumers' protection and safety. We also have official languages legislation, by the way, which is not something that can be dispensed with easily.
It has been said by the Liberals in the amendment that Health Canada already does this now. I'm having trouble actually finding out the extent to which that really happens. I know during COVID there was some emergency acquisition of equipment in foreign languages, not in English or French, but they were things like gloves and personal protective equipment, and I think we have done it with a few other devices, but I'm not sure how prevalent this practice is with respect to medication. I'm prepared to acknowledge that it might happen to some degree.
I'm concerned about slapping on a label. Most medication, in fact, all medication I'm aware of, comes in a box with very detailed consumer protection information, including warnings. How else does a parent or an informed consumer make an informed choice about the medication they are getting?
I'm unclear on this. Are we just going to be getting medication and putting a sticker on the outside of it to say that it's pediatric Tylenol? Are we going to dispense with the requirement for translating the consumer information inside the box? By doing so, we're essentially saying that's not important, and I have concerns about that. I also am aware that when Health Canada does permit the importation of medication of the same compound that's not in English or French, very often there's a requirement that it be administered under the supervision of a medical professional.
I'm not sure that's the case here, because we're talking about over-the-counter medication. We could have parents going into a pharmacy, accessing medication made in a different country without the consumer protection or warnings inside, and giving it to their children, our most precious resource, without necessarily having the supervision of a medical practitioner. I recognize that some of these medications are relatively benign, but Tylenol can kill.
I also want to ask about the countries. I was talking with a colleague earlier, who said, “We don't really have a problem if Tylenol coming from Germany is sold here.” I probably don't either, but what if it's coming from China? What if it's coming from Vietnam or Peru? I don't know where it's coming from.
My final point on this is going to be about the amendment that we just received. I'm concerned about this last statement:
To ensure that patients and caregivers understand what medication they are consuming, work should also be done in partnership with providers to add information to the label in both official languages.
Right off the bat, there should be no “should” about it. It should be “must”. It should be an absolute requirement that information for the label for this medication is added in both official languages.
I recognize the extent of the problem. I am fully prepared to look for solutions. I think there is one here, but let's not allow such a stopgap measure as this to be an acceptable solution to the fact that Canadians and Canadian parents and patients should never be in a position where we have to import medication that is skirting Health Canada normative regulations.