Mr. Speaker, while the member opposite as a member of the Bloc can only criticize the government, our ministers and Quebec MPs continue to represent very strongly the people of Quebec.
I want to thank the House for giving me the opportunity to respond in greater detail to this question regarding the product of Canada labelling guidelines.
For years Canadians have wanted food labels that clearly reflect Canadian content of products. That is why the Government of Canada implemented new product of Canada guidelines on December 31, 2008.
I will provide a bit of history.
The Government of Canada launched the food and consumer safety action plan in December 2007. This initiated our consultations on the product of Canada labelling.
On May 21, 2008 the Prime Minister launched consultations to solicit the views of Canadians on the use of product of Canada and made in Canada claims on food products and in advertising.
This government consulted more than 1,500 people who completed an online survey; others wrote or called in their comments. Canadians overwhelmingly supported the revised product of Canada guidelines.
Our government listened. We undertook a thorough review of the current guideline on voluntary product of Canada and made in Canada claims on food products. Now the Bloc wants to revisit the issue even though Canadians have already spoken.
Under the revised guidelines, manufacturers in Canada have choices on how they label their products. They can use the label “product of Canada” or they can use the label “made in Canada” as long as they tell Canadians where the ingredients come from.
If “product of Canada” appears on the product label, all or virtually all of the ingredients and processing must be Canadian.
The “made in Canada” label will be used when the food product is manufactured or processed in Canada regardless of whether the ingredients are imported or domestic.
Under these new guidelines, Canadian consumers can be confident that the current labelling requirements provide accurate and informative labelling information on prepackaged food products.