Public Accounts Committee on March 24th, 2022

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Yes, Chair. Thank you very much.

Although the questions to the officials from Health Canada have been pretty tough, I still want to stress the point that we need to strike a balance on this. I think the report says over 70% of Canadians are using a range of the products we're talking about today. At the same time, there's a thriving market. Therefore, your role is very important to strike that balance. We don't want too heavy-handed government intervention, because that would drive the market into the black market, especially when it comes to health products. I just want to make sure that point gets across.

In a perfect world, we have the consumers understanding what kind of licences they're looking for, what kind of product needs licensing. For importers, they'll have the same information, and when they apply for a licence, the processing time is reasonable, so there is encouragement for them to go through that channel.

What kind of public education program or campaign are you doing or planning to do?

After you respond, I'll give the rest of my time to my NDP colleague.

Thank you.

[Pamela Aung-Thin]

Thank you for the question. They are all very good points. I'll just particularly emphasize your point in taking a balanced approach. As I had mentioned earlier, we certainly do consult broadly with stakeholders. I mentioned provinces and territories, but we consult with all stakeholders to make sure that we take that balanced approach.

In terms of education, that is also a very important part in making sure that information is readily available. As I had mentioned specifically in regard to the report, one of the findings was around our approach in following up on serious health risks once they're identified. We are proposing several tools to help strengthen our ability to both deter these risks and make the information available when we're addressing non-compliance.

We are also focused—

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

I'm sorry, but I want to make sure my colleague has time. I just want you to commit to at least considering a public education campaign so the broader public understands the risks and the benefits.

Thank you.

[Pamela Aung-Thin]

Yes, absolutely. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Mr. Desjarlais, we'll go over to you.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I thank my colleague Han Dong for allowing me to spend additional time to really continue a discussion that was actually started by my colleague Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, related to products that have affected, in her instance, pregnant women. I think women in particular, or gender-diverse people, have a disproportionate impact when it comes to health products, because they're looking for products in many ways that are unique not just to their gender, but maybe even to their success in fulfilling their own identity. I think of the trans community or the two-spirit community in particular, and I think of gender-affirming surgeries for that fact.

An immense amount of products have been coming into Canada in the last 24 months related to persons who are transitioning, and we're often seeing doctors referring to non-prescription drugs in some instances to help them in their recovery. There's no labelling for this and there's no information.

I've talked to youth in GSAs across Alberta and they're scared about this fact that they don't know what they're taking and they don't understand how some of this relates to their healing process. They're really concerned mostly with hormone therapy. I know hormone therapy is something that is regulated by Health Canada, but there are other supplementary drugs that exist on the market that have to do with understanding hormones other than testosterone, for example, or estrogen.

How do we protect those groups, particularly given the gender-based analysis that Health Canada has committed to, in understanding product labelling? Is there room to ensure that there's a gender-based analysis for that labelling for particularly women in the trans community?

[Pamela Aung-Thin]

Thank you for the question.

I think you've really captured well some of the complexities in this area. What I will just mention is, yes, we are committed to looking at all that we do through the SGBA+ lens in how we regulate all our health products, not just natural health products but across the spectrum of products that we regulate for health and safety.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Thanks so much.

I would also like to yield the remainder of my time to my colleague from the Bloc. We're sharing a bit of time here, so Nathalie, I'd like to share some time.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Okay.

Ms. Sinclair‑Desgagné, you have five minutes.

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

I'd like to thank my dear colleagues.

I want to go back to my question about a prevention strategy versus a reaction strategy. What I understand from the report is that there have been a lot of complaints, which have been addressed.

In addition, several topics were discussed, including labelling and the control of products found on shelves and in online advertisements.

For all of these topics, will we actually establish a prevention dynamic, rather than a reaction dynamic?

[Pamela Aung-Thin]

Thank you for the question.

I think the answer is yes. All the responses we've received to the report and all the actions we're going to take are supposed to be harmonized.

We have put in place a decision‑making framework that allows people to take care of their own health. It's for people who use natural health products because they're looking for different products. With this framework, many of the products in question and the responses we've received will be aligned to better protect the health of Canadians, including vulnerable people.

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

How do you plan to adopt this strategy?

The report states that less than 5% of product licence holders have provided Health Canada information on the source of their products.

[Pamela Aung-Thin]

Thank you for the question.

The department has already begun to take action to address the deficiency you mentioned and that is in the report. We're updating an application to verify this information. It's a strategy that will allow you to find information on the websites of natural products about where they come from. For example, it will include those that will be targeted by this application.

We are also working on long‑term solutions to address this gap.

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

When will this system be put in place?

[Pamela Aung-Thin]

Thank you for the question.

As noted in the report, in the senior management response and in our action plan, several measures have been announced.

First, there is already a labelling measure under way. A notice was published in the Canada Gazette Part I last spring, and the process will continue. We intend to publish a notice in the Canada Gazette Part II this spring.

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

By this spring, do you mean now, because it's spring, or are you talking about next year?

[Pamela Aung-Thin]

I mean this spring.

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

In other words, now.

[Pamela Aung-Thin]

Yes.

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

That's great.

I'd like to get more clarification on the issue of products coming in from abroad. My colleague mentioned traditional Chinese medicine products.

How do you monitor the quality of these products, the manufacturing processes and the truthfulness of the information on the label, especially if the source isn't known?

[Pamela Aung-Thin]

Thank you for the question.

For products that come from other countries, we have the same requirements for good manufacturing practices, which must be met before they are exported to Canada. This ensures the quality of the products.

For traditional products, we use a number of prevention methods to better protect Canadians. We have proposed ways to change the labelling so that the information on the label is very clear, legible and easy to understand. This could help Canadians make better choices when buying these products.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Thank you.

I wish to thank all of the witnesses for appearing today. I'm pleased that we managed to make it through all the rounds of questions, as well as the question I was able to ask.

To wrap up here, I remind members that we will be reviewing follow-up responses from the government to recommendations that the committee has previously made. A document prepared by the analyst was distributed Tuesday afternoon. This follow-up is a very important aspect of the committee's work. This is when we look at responses that we receive from the government to requests we've made to ensure they are fulsome responses that we are satisfied with.

The meeting is adjourned.