House of Commons Hansard #66 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was children.

Topics

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

1:45 p.m.

Conservative

Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB

Madam Speaker, I congratulate the hon. member on her bill. I believe that the spirit of the bill is great, and I hope that she will be able to take it all the way through to royal assent.

The challenge for the bill is digital advertisement. In a digitized world, where social media plays a big and fundamental role, how does the bill ensure that it would work properly and provide the conditions to meet its objectives?

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

1:45 p.m.

Liberal

Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question.

The bill encompasses all types of advertising, including digital advertising. I hope measures will be taken to tackle and stop big companies from being able to target our children via digital channels, whether it be through cell phones, computers or online media.

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

1:45 p.m.

Bloc

Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel for her speech and her bill.

Problems with bills often arise in their application rather than their intent. Given the amount of advertising these days, I wonder if the member could explain how there would be follow up. In the past, Quebec's consumer protection bureau was inundated with complaints, and there were only enough resources to deal with the most visible cases and have them taken off the airwaves, in certain cases.

I was wondering what kind of resources we can hope for from the bill.

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

1:45 p.m.

Liberal

Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her very relevant question.

This bill was indeed inspired by Quebec's Consumer Protection Act, which I think has been very successful. In the past, we saw this kind of advertising at amusement parks, like La Ronde, and at water parks. We need to have a system in place to determine what kinds of advertising break the law, so that we can manage and regulate them.

With regard to resources, this was done in Quebec, and we already have the evidence. Notices are sent out immediately. Then, if the advertising agencies do not take prompt action, they are taken to court. We know that rather hefty fines have been imposed in the past.

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

1:50 p.m.

NDP

Bonita Zarrillo NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC

Madam Speaker, I really thank the member for her speech today and for the comments that were made around the health of children and the impact of advertising.

Can the member comment on how gaming, which strategically places product within games, in the hands of characters, can be included in the bill?

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

1:50 p.m.

Liberal

Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC

Madam Speaker, in essence, the bill looks to restrict all types of advertising, including characters or anything that would appeal to children to persuade them to pester their parents, if I can express myself that way, to buy these products. Using mascots, logos or fantasy characters would all be restricted.

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

1:50 p.m.

Liberal

Ryan Turnbull Liberal Whitby, ON

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for her incredibly hard work on this very important private member's bill, which I could not be more supportive of. I think many Canadians will be thanking her, hopefully for generations, because of her contributions to children's health.

What is interesting to me is to think about the cost avoidance of dietary-related disease, which we know is one of the largest costs to Canada's health care system. I wonder if the member could explain what she thinks the cost avoidance might be for Health Canada in the future.

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

1:50 p.m.

Liberal

Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question.

As I mentioned in my speech, it has been estimated that it is costing Canadians $13.8 billion annually to deal with diseases that are compounded and related to unhealthy eating habits. I think that in the long run, investing and putting forward these types of restrictions would contribute to reducing the health care that Canadians need and reducing the costs associated to—

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

1:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès) Liberal Alexandra Mendes

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Sarnia—Lambton.

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

1:50 p.m.

Conservative

Marilyn Gladu Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and speak to Bill C-252. This is a well-intentioned bill that is trying to address a serious issue in Canada, obesity in children.

In one of the previous Parliaments, I was actually the health critic when the former version of this bill came forward from the Senate. We know that Senator Nancy Greene Raine had brought that bill forward. In fact, she received a bit of teasing about it. As many of us will know, she was quite a famous skier but did a lot of promotional work for Mars bars, so when she came with Bill S-228, there was some teasing going on.

However, this is truly a very serious issue, because almost a third of children in Canada are obese, and it is just getting worse. Certainly, the pandemic did not make things better. I think we would all agree, even for those of us who are not children anymore, that we probably spent too much time at home snacking and putting on weight.

The bill is trying to address reducing obesity in children by controlling marketing that is intended specifically for children. If we look at places that have put this in place, there are a lot of them. Quebec was mentioned. Chile has had this program in place for a long time. The problem is that it is not working. That is the biggest problem. What happens is that they are measuring success by the number of packages they are able to have altered so that they are not directing it toward children, when, really, the measure we are looking for here is a reduction in the obesity of children. This is important because obesity is not just a serious health issue, but a cause of death.

If we look at obesity, we know that some of the related health problems are high blood pressure or heart disease. This is the number one killer of Canadians, heart disease and stroke. Type 2 diabetes is another very serious impact. Right now, there are 11 million Canadians who have diabetes or prediabetes. It is very well known that, through a mixture of diet and exercise, many Canadians who develop type 2 diabetes could have been prevented from doing that. There are many other health conditions, such as liver disease, sleep apnea and joint problems, not to mention the emotional toll. In school, we can imagine the teasing and bullying that often accompany those who are obese. This can be permanently damaging as well.

I am definitely very supportive of addressing obesity in children. It has actually tripled in the last 30 years in Canada. It is truly at an epidemic stage. The problem is that, in 2012, Quebec put in similar legislation to this and it still had a 30% increase in obesity over this length of time.

I think that if we look at the root causes of obesity and what medical science is saying about it, it is really saying that there are four factors that we need to address, or four factors that are the most important.

One is genetics and, really, we cannot do much about that. We are sort of born into the family that we are born into. I know of families who are all skinny forever and they eat way more than I am able to eat. Certainly I am envious, but I can do nothing about my own genetics, so I think that is not something the government can control.

Metabolism is another one, obviously, the metabolic rate. Generally, men have a higher metabolic rate than women, so that can be a factor. Of course, those with thyroid issues can also have metabolic impacts. Again, there is not much the government can do there.

Then there is lifestyle, such as diet and physical activity. This is a place where the government really can make some impacts. There have been studies around the world and if we look at places that have the best outcomes and the lowest obesity rates in the world, those are places like Denmark, France, Ireland, Latvia and Norway. If we take a look at what they are doing that is working, we see that there is more walking and cycling going on in many of these European countries than we have here. There is an effort in the schools to serve smaller portions of food, food that is not fried and has more vegetables. In France, they have three recesses to run around, as well as the weekly gym classes, so they are incorporating that into schools.

I certainly remember when I was in school. Keep in mind it was a different time back then, so I am more aged than many members here in the House, but in terms of diet, our household was not stellar. There were Frosted Flakes, Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs and Alphabits for breakfast. My mother used to let us dip our toast in maple syrup. We ate baloney sandwiches on white bread and Kraft Dinner, Beefaroni and things like that. Sprinkle sandwiches were a thing when I was growing up, so none of that diet would be considered a healthy diet today.

At the time, there were no obese kids anywhere to be found in our area because we were running around all day. We were running around at school playing soccer. After school we were playing hide-and-seek, running to the park and jumping off the monkey bars. It was all about activity. There was a specific effort called Participaction at the time that was designed to get kids moving and to get kids active. I definitely think that is something worth focusing on, in addition to the move toward healthier foods.

Environment is the fourth factor that experts are saying is important. We have talked about the environment at school and the things that can be done there. Access to sports facilities, and getting people involved in sports, and access to nutritious food are important things. Right now, the affordability of life is impacting that. That is something that the government can have an impact on. If we think about it, the increases in the carbon tax have caused home heating prices to go up, gas prices to go up, and food prices, especially fresh produce, to go up beyond what those living on lower and maybe fixed incomes can actually afford. This is something that would translate into people not eating as nutritious a diet, so that is something that the government can impact by improving the affordability of life.

At the same time, because of the squeeze on everybody's pocketbooks, a lot of the money in the child tax benefit that we expect would be used to get kids into sports and help them to afford those things is actually being used to help pay the bills. The sports tax credit that we used to have was a specific thing that motivated people to get their kids involved in sports. Those are ideas that the government can implement that can have a really big impact.

In terms of the unintended negative consequences when the discussion came to committee in the last go-round on this bill, there were a lot of organizations like Tim Hortons and McDonald's and whatnot that sponsored children's sports efforts. There was a desire to have an exemption to make sure they would not be punished but could continue to market their products, which some would consider to be unhealthy. When the bill comes before committee, it would be worth looking at those exemptions.

The other discussion was about enforcement. All of the regimes that have put bills like this in place have had difficulty enforcing them, and it has become that much more difficult now that we are in a digital age. Kids have access to the Internet. It is very difficult to control what country they are viewing content from, so the enforcement part of this is a difficult one as well.

There are those who will point out that parental responsibility is important: that parents making healthy choices and helping their children learn to make healthy choices is what this ought to be about. There are those who will say that everybody needs to have their freedom. For me, if chips are in a dark bag with a skull and crossbones on it, I would probably still eat them, but people should have individual choice. There is something to that, and I think about everything in moderation. That said, I do not think that these measures have been effective, but we need to do everything possible to reduce obesity in our country and help our children.

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

2 p.m.

Bloc

Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-252, which was introduced by the member for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel.

Basically, this bill seeks to amend the Food and Drugs Act to specifically prohibit the marketing of “foods and beverages that contribute to excess sugar, saturated fats or sodium in children’s diets” to persons who are under 13 years of age. As a result, this bill specifically targets the marketing of sugary drinks, for the most part. The bill also provides for a review of the results of these measures by a House, Senate or joint committee in five years.

This bill seeks to address a rather serious problem. One need only consider the statistics. A 2016 report by the public health officer for Quebec indicated that 52% of the population, both adults and children, were overweight and that 18% were obese. According to the most optimistic projections, we can expect those numbers to increase to 54% and 21%, respectively, by 2030. That is a rather sharp rise.

If we focus on the statistics for children across Canada, we can see some marked differences over the past decades. For example, between 1978-79 and 2004, the combined prevalence of overweight and obesity among children aged two to 17 increased from 15% to 26%. Increases were highest among youth aged 12 to 17 years, with overweight and obesity more than doubling for this age group, from 14% to 29%.

This is an urgent problem that must be addressed, in light of all of the comorbidities associated with being overweight or obese, such as cardiovascular diseases. These diseases are the first to come to mind, especially since they were the leading cause of death in 2012. Another example is diabetes, which can be connected fairly directly to sugary drinks. Other examples would be various musculoskeletal disorders, such as arthritis, and other degenerative diseases that are generally highly debilitating. I also want to point out the higher prevalence of certain cancers that are comorbid with overweight and obesity, such as endometrial, breast, ovary, prostate, liver, gallbladder, kidney and colon cancers. This is a global problem that will become worse if nothing is done.

The bill specifically addresses advertising aimed at children. It is interesting to look at the impact that advertising can have on children in general. We can see that, without realizing it, our little ones are increasingly being seen as prospective consumers. We tend to forget that. Here are some interesting facts.

As we know, children have both direct and indirect economic power. They influence nearly 40% of family purchases. Direct spending by children is also on a steady rise around the world. In Canada, in 2004, children aged four to 12 influenced $20 billion in family purchases. This is indirect influence. In 2002, four million children aged two to 12 were estimated to have spent $1.5 billion of their pocket money. In 2006, the figure was $3 billion. The same thing is happening in the United States, where the amount doubles from one decade to the next.

We also know that there is a business strategy behind advertising aimed at children. The goal is to build customer loyalty at an early age. We know that, from the age of six months, babies have the ability to form mental images of corporate logos and mascots. By the age of three, one in five American children demand specific brands of products. Of the six brand names most recognized by toddlers, four are from the food industry.

In all, 93% of children aged three to five recognize the McDonald's logo. The fact that they recognize it is one thing, but does it work? Here is an interesting fact. When researchers present children aged three to five with fries in McDonald's packaging and the same fries in other packaging, they systematically prefer the fries in the McDonald's packaging. Clearly, it has an impact.

This takes me back 15 years to when I was starting my law studies. One of the first courses I took, and loved, was a consumer rights course taught by Pierre-Claude Lafond, who encouraged me to pursue my training. We were already seeing the impact of legislation on advertising, such as American drug ads, which are very long and state the name of the drug, what it is used for, its many side effects and more. In contrast, in Canada, companies cannot say both the name of the drug and what it is used for. Ads here encourage people to talk to their doctor.

It is the same thing for children's toys. I remember that when I was very young, I would always change the channel to see American ads because they were so much more interesting to me. As children, we saw toys of all kinds, so it obviously had an impact.

The bill does have its limits. I therefore encourage the committee that will study it, and the committee responsible for the five-year review, to look closely at certain issues.

For this to be effective, for us to really combat obesity and overweight among children, we need to look at more than just advertising. This bill must be part of a broader movement. Take Quebec, for example, which in 2019 introduced an action plan to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks and to promote water. Quebec not only has its own legislation to prohibit advertising to kids under 13, it also has its own policy on the subject.

I would remind members that Quebec did not take part in developing any federal framework. If the goal is to create legislation to restrict advertising, it is important that this be done in conjunction with the provinces. The member for Sarnia—Lambton pointed out that kids are less active than they used to be. Everything related to health, in general, falls under provincial jurisdiction. We must therefore ensure co-operation between the federal government, in terms of the Food and Drugs Act, and the provincial jurisdictions. I therefore suggest that this be studied in committee.

As I mentioned to the member for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, we also need to make sure that we are truly able to eliminate false advertising. That is something that Professor Lafond talked about in the course I took with him.

Quebec has an excellent law, but our consumer protection board, the OPC, which is responsible for monitoring compliance, was unable to keep up with demand. Professor Lafond explained to us that only the most blatant cases were taken off the air because the OPC did not have the necessary resources to deal with all of the requests and complaints. By the way, a complaint has to be filed in order for an ad to be taken off the air.

Since this is a private member's bill and these types of bills generally do not involve any expenditures, perhaps we should consider how the terms of this legislation can be implemented effectively.

It is important to remember that there can always be a sort of grey area between what is considered an ad directed specifically at children and what it not. The industry is quite creative on that score.

In 2019, Quebec produced a report on food advertising directed at children, and it listed several ways that companies get around the law. Think of food in the shape of a toy. To what extent is that an ad directed at children? Think of seasonal packaging and designs based on popular current movies. Are they directed more at children or adults, depending on the film? Think of the use of popular or trademark characters, funny wordplay, and products designed in a smaller size or with a toy included to appeal specifically to children.

What about ads posted in family areas? Are they directed specifically at children? We also have to look at how food is displayed on grocery store shelves. What about the font used in an ad, or references to magic or fantasy? I suggest that all these things be studied by the committee that will be reviewing the bill to make it as effective as possible, or so we hope.

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

2:10 p.m.

NDP

Bonita Zarrillo NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC

Madam Speaker, young kids would rather eat rocks covered with stickers than a fresh banana. This is what research has proved. On an episode of Dateline, kids were given a rock covered in cartoon stickers and a banana, and then asked which one they would rather eat. They chose the rock because of its affiliation to a well-known cartoon character. Advertising to children works, and companies know this.

Children under eight are the most susceptible to food marketing, because they are unable to understand its selling or persuasive intent. There is strong agreement among leading Canadian pediatric and allied health organizations that the impact of food and beverage marketing is real, significant and harmful to children's development.

Quebec accepted this reality over 40 years ago, and has consumer protections prohibiting advertising that targets children under the age of 13. Quebec children, all the way back to 1980, have been protected from this harmful practice perpetuated by corporations. Other jurisdictions around the world have also adopted similar legislation, including Norway, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden and Portugal.

Quebec's restrictions on advertising to children have been shown to have a positive impact on nutrition by reducing fast-food consumption by 13%. Quebec also has the lowest rates of obesity among children aged five to 17, and the highest rates of vegetable and fruit consumption in Canada. Quebec has proved that restricting marketing to children works.

Canadians are the second-largest buyers of ultraprocessed foods and drinks in the world, second only to the Americans. Nearly one in three Canadian children is overweight or obese. Research states that the relationship between obesity and exposure to food advertising meets all criteria commonly used to demonstrate the presence of a causal relationship in epidemiology. We know that overweight children are more likely to develop health problems later in life, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. With this proposed legislation, we have an opportunity to protect the health of the rest of Canada's children by reducing unhealthy food marketing.

Good eating habits and avoidance of unhealthy foods are key preventative elements of health policy. Canada's New Democrats have advocated for a ban on unhealthy food and beverage marketing to children for years. In fact, my colleague for New Westminster—Burnaby introduced legislation to expressly prohibit advertising and promotion for commercial purposes of products, foods, drugs, cosmetics or devices directly to children under 13 years of age back in 2012. We understand the link between this advertising and long-term health. We also know from research that children from socio-economically disadvantaged and ethnic minority backgrounds are disproportionally exposed to unhealthy food advertisements. This is simply unacceptable.

New Democrats want every child in Canada to develop a healthy relationship to nutrition and the foods they consume. That is why we are also calling for the establishment of a national school nutrition program to give every student access to nutritious food, and to make healthy eating a daily lesson for our kids to develop lifelong good food habits.

I will take a moment to give a shout-out to the City of Port Moody. Its council recently sent me correspondence that the City is in full support of the B.C. Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food. The coalition is a growing network of over 160 member organizations seeking public investment in a universal, cost-shared, healthy school food program for all children and youth in Canada. I raise my hands to this coalition, and I am fully supportive of its goal.

In Canada, 90% of the food marketed to children and youth on TV and online is unhealthy, and three-quarters of children in Canada are exposed to food marketing while using their favourite social media apps. Marketing to children has changed dramatically in the past 10 years. Today, it is seamless, sophisticated and often interactive. The line between ads and children's entertainment is blurred, with marketing messages being inserted into the places where children play and learn.

Online advertising, in particular, has become ever more prevalent. Marketers directly target children via websites, apps and other digital platforms. These ads are often presented as entertainment. They even have a name: “advergames”. An advergame is an interactive online game that contains embedded media content with the purpose of promoting specific brands or products.

According to scientific studies, advergames are widely used to market high salt, sugar and fat products, referred to as HSSF. A 2018 meta-analysis of 15 global studies focusing on children aged five to 17, found that 97% of all food and beverage advergames contain at least one food cue that is considered a brand identifier. These place a branded food item, such as cereal, a soft drinks or snack foods, in the mouth of a popular children's character. Children as old as 15 do not recognize these advergames as advertising.

Research shows that advergames persuade on a subconscious emotional level and can change children's behaviour without their conscious awareness. In a study presented in ScienceDirect, the authors even rose the fundamental ethical question about the use of this technique in children. In addition, as advergames do not typically include age restrictions, it is also likely that children are accessing advergames that are not age-appropriate. Parents and children are often unaware that advergames have a marketing element.

New ways of advertising do not leave traditional television off the hook. A 2019 study from 22 countries found Canadian children up to the age of 18 were exposed to 13 HSSF advertisements per hour during peak viewing times, while the global average was only three. The most frequently advertised food and beverage items globally were carbonated soft drinks, flavoured waters, chocolate and confectionery. Overall, the study found HSSF food items are promoted four times more than healthier food items, and the majority of these ads come from a small number of multinational corporations. These corporations are impacting the life-long health and eating habits of our children.

To add insult to injury, the correlation between unhealthy food advertisement and childhood obesity is being disputed by industry-sponsored reports that recommend promoting physical activity and weight loss campaigns rather than policies to limit exposure to their advertising. The reality is that we must do both. There are a number of peer-reviewed studies that support this dual approach. One study out of the U.K. went so far as to say governments should implement restrictions that would further limit exposure to TV and online ads of HSSF products, and Cancer Research UK has proposed introducing a total ban of advertising these products before 9 p.m. They further recommend a total ban on this type of food advertisement before 9 p.m. on all online streaming services, as well as a total ban placed on online advergames, which have been developed for the primary purpose of promoting unhealthy food. This highlights how serious this problem is.

Only legislation will work to stop these multinational corporations from trying to increase consumption of unhealthy food, especially to our kids. Study after study shows that voluntary bans are ineffective and there are data that prove that exposure to unhealthy food advertising is similar before and after any introduction of a voluntary ban.

In closing, New Democrats have been calling for a ban on unhealthy food advertising targeted at children for years. We believe that it is wrong to let wealthy corporations manipulate the near- and long-term eating habits of our children. We stand unambiguously on the side of children's health and welfare, and not on the side of corporate profits. It is time to do what we know works to protect children and to help them develop a healthy relationship to nutrition and food.

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

2:20 p.m.

Liberal

Sherry Romanado Liberal Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC

Madam Speaker, I first would like to thank my colleague, the member for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, for her bill, which I fully support. I am really pleased that she has introduced it because, as we heard today, it is a very serious issue.

I also want to commend Quebec for taking the initiative to address this issue. As another member mentioned, this has resulted in a 13% reduction in obesity.

This is the first time I am getting up in the House to give a speech since Easter, when I became a grandmother for the very first time. I would be remiss if I did not specify that I am a “glamma”, a glamorous grandma. I just wanted to get that on the record and in the Hansard.

In all seriousness, when I was growing up in the late seventies and early eighties, I remember the Saturday morning cartoons. We would take our big bowl of Fruit Loops or Count Chocula and we would watch the cartoons. What is funny is that, in preparing for this debate, I actually recalled the song from Honeycomb, “Honeycomb's big. Yeah, yeah, yeah”. We are talking about it 30 years later, and I still remember the song. That is what this bill is about. I cannot remember last week because I am so busy, but I can remember the Honeycomb song, so obviously advertising toward children works. We need to stop it, because we know for a fact that children nowadays are watching a lot more TV. They are online. They are constantly plugged in. Let us be real.

When my children were growing up, I made a point of wanting to make homemade baby food to make sure they did not have a lot of sodium in their food. We have always had a little vegetable garden in our yard to grow cherry tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, and so on. I always wanted my kids to know that good, healthy food was available. They would want to go to McDonald's and have chicken nuggets, but it was very rare they were allowed to. As a new grandmother, I want that for my grandson, as well. I want him to grow up healthy, and I do not want him to be bombarded with advertising, whether it be online, in print or on TV, that is going to expose him to bad habits for the future.

As my colleagues have already said in the House, when we look at a lot of the diets now that children are exposed to, 49% of children between the ages of one and four, and 72% of children between the ages of four and 13, have diets that exceed the recommended limits of sodium. For sugar, which is probably the worst factor with respect to health, 78% of children aged one to eight and 86% of children aged nine to 13 exceed the WHO recommendations. When we look at the magnitude of unhealthy diets among children as a public health concern, the good news is that we are going to do something to address the issue. That is what this bill is about: making sure that this next generation of children is not exposed to all of this advertising to influence them into wanting sugary, high-calorie, high-fat and high-sodium treats.

To understand the magnitude of the problem, we can look at a study done in 2019. It found that children aged two to 11 were exposed to an average of 1,733 food advertisements per year on TV: the equivalent of 33 food ads per week, which is close to five food ads per day for the average child. What do we do about it?

When looking at this, we are very reactive. We have people who are being exposed to the sugar, high fat and high sodium that lead to disease. We have heard about it today in the debate, whether it be diabetes, obesity or eating disorders because children who are bullied in school because of their weight take extreme measures to try to lose weight. I know for a fact that when I was in high school, I would restrict eating because I wanted to lose those last pounds, not realizing it was the sugar or the soda I was drinking that was actually impacting that.

This is about prevention, and the billions of dollars that we spend every year in health care to treat diabetes, to treat cancers related to obesity and to treat heart disease. What if we were to flip it on its head? What if we were to prevent it?

Prevention is key. Good habits formed early in life tend to stick. If a five-year-old child watching YouTube, television or an online program sees a lot of ads featuring TV personalities, games and songs, they do not understand. They want the same things.

At school, when they see their friend's Twinkie at lunch and then they look at their apple, they want the Twinkie and the song they heard online.

This bill would, in the long term, actually reduce health care costs, because more and more people will be making wiser choices and being educated about the foods they are ingesting.

I remember the Kool-Aid Man. He would run through the wall and crash through. What is in Kool-Aid? It is basically water and sugar. It tastes great, but there is nothing in it other than water and sugar. However, I still remember the Kool-Aid Man running through that wall, and I wanted Kool-Aid. As a kid, I had a Kool-Aid stand and I was selling Kool-Aid, because that was what we drank. There were those little plastic drinks with the aluminum on top, and we would poke a hole and squirt, to see how far we could go with the squirting. That was basically sugar water.

The advertising to children sticks with us. We remember that.

The importance of this bill cannot be expressed enough. We need to prevent health care problems in children. We need to support children, and I fully support this bill.

Child Health Protection ActPrivate Members' Business

May 6th, 2022 / 2:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès) Liberal Alexandra Mendes

The time provided for the consideration of Private Members' Business has now expired and the order is dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the Order Paper.

The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until Monday at 11 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 2:30 p.m.)