Health committee  I think it's an acknowledgement of those complications that we are proposing a categorical legislative mandate to phase out cancer-causing substances and substances that are toxic to reproduction in consumer products. It would of course be very difficult and expensive to pinpoint

Health committee  I did mention in my comments—and I'd be happy to provide you with a copy of them—that the interpretation section of the bill specifically includes chronic health effects, which I believe is what you're referring to in the definition of “danger to human health or safety”. That's v

Health committee  Well, brominated flame retardants are a good example. All PBDEs have been banned in the European Union in electronics. Canada, under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, has just recently issued a draft proposal to catch up with a similar regulation that will be in place in

Health committee  Again, I guess I would come back to a comment I made earlier. I think the legibility of labelling is an important detail that Health Canada would be able to deal with in the implementation phase of this type of provision. I think what's needed right now is a strong legislative

Health committee  The reality is that where leading jurisdictions are prohibiting certain categories of toxic substances in consumer products, those manufacturers are looking for markets elsewhere in the world. So we know that in the absence of those kinds of restrictions in Canada, the products w

Health committee  I'll be brief so that others can comment. The amendments I proposed that require the phase-out of priority categories of toxic substances and require their labelling, to the extent they remain in products, must apply to both imports and domestically manufactured products--anythi

Health committee  In general, I think we appreciate the way that this bill is structured so that it does put more of the onus on the manufacturers to ensure that their products are safe before they bring them to market rather than always putting government regulators in the position of catch-up, t

Health committee  In some ways, that's an important implementation detail. If the committee and Parliament could see their way to giving the Minister of Health a clear legislative mandate to move in the direction of phase-out for categories of toxic chemicals and for labelling if those remain in p

Health committee  Could I comment on that?

Health committee  Labelling can be used to achieve different objectives, or used in pursuit of different objectives. With alcohol warnings, tobacco warnings, clearly the objective is to reduce the abuse of those drugs.

Health committee  Right. Consumer product labelling I think is in pursuit of a different objective, and that's to allow consumers the right to make informed decisions about the products they buy. I know if I were a consumer in California I would have a better chance of being able to avoid certai

Health committee  Actually, I think Kathleen referred earlier to a comprehensive review of Proposition 65 that she has offered to make available to the committee, so that will probably be of interest. Broadly, Proposition 65 is located within a suite of policies that is designed to make Californ

Health committee  My comments are very much aligned with what Kathleen just said. Labelling, on the one hand, can be an interim step that promotes transparency to pave the way for other policies in the future that will get those substances out of products. It's also an acknowledgement that there

Health committee  I think the acute warning system on products already provides a good example. When we see a product with an explosive sign, it's not a guarantee it's going to explode. Consumers know that. It's an indication of an inherent property associated with that substance or container, and

Health committee  I can only speculate. I guess you've heard some answers to that from other members on previous panels. All of you in government will be familiar with a bit of resistance to any change on the part of manufacturers. It is true that a labelling requirement, for example, is going t