Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows, anaphylaxis is a very serious issue. It is a serious allergic reaction. It can actually present itself in many different ways, but it can have very rapid onset sometimes and it can result in death, so it is serious. What happens with anaphylaxis is that the immune system rejects the allergen as something not to be tolerated and reacts in every way with all of the systems within the body.
It is a serious health issue affecting millions of Canadians. Right now, there are about one in 13 Canadians, 2.5 million Canadians who are affected by anaphylaxis or by life-threatening allergies, but what is most disconcerting is that there is an increasing number of children affected as well. About 6% of children are affected by anaphylaxis, and this number seems to be increasing.
Anaphylaxis has no cure. Avoidance, of course, understanding the issue, and learning how to act promptly are important things for people to know. Preventive measures such as this and early action are the only things we can do.
Even a small, tiny, hidden trace or amount of an allergen can trigger the attack if a person is allergic to that particular thing. Food, of course, is one of the most common ways in which people can get an anaphylactic reaction, but things that are almost known as injections, like insect bites, can cause the same reaction, can act quicker and can prompt anaphylactic shock sooner.
Medicines, certain types of material that come in contact with the skin, and exercise can also cause an anaphylactic reaction. Avoiding allergic reactions can be achieved through something most important, which is effective labelling.
As we heard from my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, he had a friend who had a tiny trace of peanut oil in a cake and had a severe anaphylactic shock as a result of it. Sometimes we buy foods in the shops and there are trace ingredients. Even though the ingredient is not listed, when the product was being processed, it could have been that there was cross-contamination with the product being processed before that, which had the allergen in it.
The most common cause, of course, is peanuts and peanut oil, so labelling is key. Taking precautionary measures when preparing food, washing one's hands, even in the home, between handling one product and handling another can prevent cross-transference, which is really the major problem.
People need awareness of the early signs of symptoms, and this can take many forms. It can start with a skin reaction, hives, which can balloon up. People get itchiness, swelling, and redness of the skin. People can also get respiratory problems, tightening of the chest, an inability to breathe, triggering asthmatic attacks in people who are similarly prone. Those are some of the signs.
However, the most important one is the cardio-vascular one, which obviously creates a thready pulse, pallor, a rapid heart rate, and of course this precludes anaphylactic shock.
These are important things for people to know. Sometimes some people remember those things with a feeling of anxiety, a feeling of impending doom, a feeling of something going on in their body and they do not why and panic results.
There are many forms of anaphylaxis and the public needs to know what those are. If we can raise awareness, when symptoms and signs come very early, an individual can then take whatever medication they have, whether it is an oral one that can act quickly if they have a slow anaphylaxis, or an EpiPen. The public needs to know all of these things through education.
Ensuring that the labelling is easy to read and easily understood by the public is a big part. Knowing about anaphylaxis is important, which is what this particular bill tells us, but it is not the only thing. We need a coordinated approach and an action plan from government.
Just being aware and saying that this House is aware and the government should take action for me is a particularly vague thing. Obviously, we are supporting the motion. Not supporting the motion would be ridiculous. We are supporting it because it is important. What I would have liked to have seen in this particular bill is that sense that a plan of action will follow, and specifically asking the government, not saying it should, but asking it to do so because of the urgent nature and the ability of this particular problem to cause death.
I think we need to look at the whole issue of public health and safety. This comes under the aegis of public health and safety, which is public awareness, public education, teaching and identifying root causes. A big piece of that is research. There needs to be money put into research on allergens so that we cannot only prevent them from being in food but can know what we can do if someone accidently ingests them. There may be some way of looking for a cure. I think it is important to identify the root causes.
One thing that concerns me is that there are motions and bills from the government side that are all very nice. The government makes a statement and asks the House to agree with the statement. I would like to see some bills for which there is an action plan that must put the government's feet to the fire to make sure that things are actually done. Knowing is not enough. We have to now do. I would prefer to see some teeth in some of these types of bills.
Organizations such as the Canadian Anaphylaxis Initiative and Anaphylaxis Canada obviously support the bill, as do we. However, we would like to see a greater commitment from the government that action will be taken. It would have been nice if the bill had a demand for action from the government.
I can tell members what the Canadian Anaphylaxis Initiative would have liked to have seen in the bill. It would liked to have seen the federal government coordinating programs and services dealing with anaphylaxis and food allergy information. It would have liked to have seen coordinated awareness campaigns, especially with regard to baby food and how it is labelled and processed and whether there is cross-contamination. Very small children cannot, in many instances, withstand anaphylaxis in the way many adults can, and this could result in an abrupt and sudden cessation of life.
They are suggesting a commitment to research, a commitment to clear food labelling, and transportation safeguards for airlines and public transportation, such that EpiPen kits would be on board, because without them, people could die very quickly.
Anaphylaxis Canada has advocated for stricter regulations on food labelling. I must say that I am quite sad to say that the government and the Minister of Health have been loath to do anything about labelling or bringing down levels of certain things, such as sodium and trans fats, and dealing with things that are dangerous.
I think there needs to be a move by the government to safeguard Canadians by actually dealing with industry if industry does not want to do this on its own volition. Giving industry an opportunity to do so is fine, but give them a deadline. After that deadline, legislate and regulate. It is important, because no one can stand by and watch people die or be subject to illness because of a reluctance to tamper with industry.
Many industries will not do it on their own. On the issue of salt, Campbell's Foods decreased the amount of salt. Nobody else did, so they put salt back up. These are some of the things we need to think about.
We support the motion, but there has to be action and a true commitment by the government to protect Canadians.