Evidence of meeting #59 for Health in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was advertising.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Laila Goodridge Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
I'll cede my remaining time to the committee.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you very much, Mrs. Goodridge.
Next, we have Mr. van Koeverden, for six minutes, please.
Liberal
Adam van Koeverden Liberal Milton, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm going to try to share some time with my colleague, Dr. Hanley, but I'd also like to know if it's possible to invite Dr. Sharma up, so we could ask some questions on the science?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Yes, of course. That's why they're here.
Dr. Sharma, if you could please take your place by Ms. Lattanzio, that would be helpful.
Liberal
Adam van Koeverden Liberal Milton, ON
Thank you very much.
Ms. Lattanzio, thank you for your work on this bill. It's extraordinarily important. Thank you for picking up where other parliaments have left off. You've been an extraordinary ambassador for this. Not having any questions for you does not mean I don't think you've done an impressive job.
I have two very short questions for Dr. Sharma before I pass it over to my colleague, Dr. Hanley. One, do you feel there's been adequate and thorough industry consultation on this bill over the last five years?
Dr. Supriya Sharma Chief Medical Advisor and Senior Medical Advisor, Health Products and Food Branch, Department of Health
I can speak to the consultations we've done, because in parallel to the process that's going on with the private member's bill, we at the department are also working on regulations and policies in this area.
In terms of the Canadian Beverage Association in particular, we've met at least three or four times in the last four months. Obviously, when there's a policy development, we work with stakeholders. As regulations come forward, there's a full consultation process as well. Even in policy development, we always consult with a wide range of stakeholders to make sure we have the information to best develop the policy.
Liberal
Adam van Koeverden Liberal Milton, ON
That's fantastic. Past, present and future sectors have been consulted. That's great.
I have one other question, Dr. Sharma.
Is the science ambiguous about whether or not marketing to kids leads to negative health outcomes when we're talking about sugary drinks and unhealthy snacks?
Chief Medical Advisor and Senior Medical Advisor, Health Products and Food Branch, Department of Health
What we know about the science is that exposure to advertising for children really is different based on their developmental stages. We know that, for example, the youngest of children cannot even differentiate between what advertising is and what a television program or a YouTube video might be. As they get older, they have the ability to differentiate, but they don't necessarily understand how that might be influencing their behaviour. That's one part of it.
We know that exposure to advertising also affects attitudes in children's preferences, food choices and consumption patterns. That's part of the exposure part of it.
Obviously, obesity, healthy eating and healthy living are multifactorial. That's why we have a suite of policies to make sure that children are able to get the nutrition that they need and that they're not overly influenced or exposed to advertising that potentially could lead them to making poor food choices.
Then there's what we call the “pester power” of children, whereby they are being directly marketed to and that translates into specific requests to parents or caregivers.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
I'd be most interested to hear the French translation for “pester power”.
Liberal
Brendan Hanley Liberal Yukon, YT
Thanks. I'll continue the line of questioning.
Dr. Sharma, I think you mentioned other pillars. To my mind, this is the missing pillar of the healthy eating strategy for Canadians.
Can you very briefly say how this complements existing policies?
Chief Medical Advisor and Senior Medical Advisor, Health Products and Food Branch, Department of Health
To be clear, we don't have regulations or a policy that's been brought forward at this point in time. Obviously, the bill is dealing with legislation, which is enabling legislation. Under that would come regulations to be able to better define the scope of the intent, what it would apply to and all of that. That's just to say that all of that's being developed.
As you said, the Government of Canada has been working very hard on an overall healthy eating strategy. That includes updates to Canada's food guide and work on front-of-pack labelling as well. Nutritional labelling has been improved.
This is really talking about something that's very focused. This is talking about advertising directly to children, frankly, in the hope of helping to sell product to make profits. Again, they're a unique group, because they are vulnerable to that sort of exposure.
Certainly something like front-of-pack labelling is very useful, but that's really designed for adults or people who are making those purchases. It's not specifically for children.
Liberal
Brendan Hanley Liberal Yukon, YT
Ms. Lattanzio, I want to thank you for being the champion of this really important bill. I think part of the reason you've become involved is through your experience as a Quebec MP.
I wonder if you could speak about the Quebec experience with a similar law around marketing to kids.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
In fact, yes, I am an MP from Quebec. As mentioned previously, we have the Consumer Protection Act.
Over the years, we've had a law in Quebec that states that we cannot market to children. This goes a bit further, because it specifically targets marketing food and beverages that are, as we say in French, malsains, or not healthy. This is a great opportunity to have a policy and a framework throughout the country.
Of course, Quebec has been my inspiration.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
You have about 15 seconds, if you have a really short question there, Doc.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Dr. Hanley.
Mr. Thériault, you have the floor for six minutes.
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Lattanzio, have you met with representatives from the Association of Canadian Advertisers?
Liberal
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
In your opening marks, you stated that the very fact that the code and the guide this association is implementing are voluntary is reason enough to require legislation, in your opinion.
Have you read the code and guide?
What association practices will be improved as a result of the guide and code?
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
I'd say that the voluntary aspect of this code is perhaps the most important factor, because it doesn't come close to strict legislation. You know that when people or industries are given a choice, they have no obligation to go with either option. That's the first point I wanted to make.
My second point is self-regulation. There's no mechanism framing this code in a strict and rigid way to reduce unhealthy eating that stems from advertising to children. So it's—
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
There must still be some benefits to advertisers having a code and best practices guide aligned with the objectives of our bill. One doesn't preclude the other.
Don't you feel it's a good thing that these people have decided to adopt responsible advertising practices in light of health issues like obesity?
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
I said it up front in my opening remarks, this is a step in the right direction. Now, have we achieved the right goals? I don't think so.
In years past, we've taken steps that have led to the code, but we're still only acknowledging that we need to do more or that there should be some guidance. Because of the voluntary aspect, we haven't reached our objective to reduce child obesity. On the contrary, the obesity rate continues to grow. Therefore, we have no proof that the voluntary measures are effective. As long as actions are only voluntary, we won't achieve the objective, which is to ensure that we have no harmful advertising geared to children.
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
I really understood that.
Did you support the amendments the government wants to make to your bill?