Finance committee  While the Governor in Council making publicly available all relevant information, taking into account the amending of schedule 1 or 2, would be contrary to maintaining cabinet confidence, certain relevant information would be disclosed and shared through a significant consultatio

Finance committee  If I might just add to that, it might alleviate the concern. Where there's scientific evidence, using equally valid methods, that the product both meets and does not meet the criteria, the product must be classified.

Finance committee  Sure. If you have two studies that are deemed to be equally valid, where one study says this product does not cause cancer—because we used “cancer” before—and another one that say this product does cause cancer, then we always go with “it does” and it needs to be classified appr

Finance committee  Not to get too scientific—and I don't deal with precautionary principle—but it's a very similar kind of standard whereby we would always be as conservative as possible.

Finance committee  That is correct.

Finance committee  So we don't know what the intended purpose necessarily is for the product that's coming in, but again, if it has a hazard, an intrinsic hazard, it would be labelled appropriately before it makes its way to the workplace.

Finance committee  Correct. I would also add that the amendment duplicates proposed subsection 20(1) of the Hazardous Products Act, under which the minister already has the ability to request information relating to formula composition, chemical ingredients, hazardous properties of a product mixtur

Finance committee  The minister has the ability to request that information.

Finance committee  That is the scope of our program.

Finance committee  And of the Hazardous Products Act itself.

Finance committee  That's perhaps a mischaracterization. What I am saying is that it's not within the scope of the Hazardous Products Act and the scope of the program that we are responsible for.

Finance committee  I think the point that we're making is that Parliament enacted the Hazardous Products Act for a specific reason, which included protecting the health of workers, specifically with regard to disclosure of the intrinsic properties of the hazardous chemicals. This falls well outside

Finance committee  We deal with the intrinsic hazards of products. We look at whether or not something causes cancer. If it does, then you need to label it appropriately. You need to indicate that on the safety data sheet and on the label.

Finance committee  Correct.

Finance committee  As we stated earlier, the WHMIS program really sets out the requirements for the safe use of hazardous products in the workplace and how those are provided to workers. So information around what's included in fracking fluids, etc., falls outside of the scope of the WHMIS program.