Environment committee  Let me take that one back with me. I'm familiar with the precautionary principle, but in terms of safe substitution, my comments are based primarily around surveys of substances that are not of concern right now. In terms of substituting substances that are of concern, I would li

Environment committee  Absolutely. I couldn't have answered it better myself. That's exactly what I would have said. It's the manufacturers who would know how these products are made, right? Supply chains are incredibly complex, so the vendor that the retailer might deal with is almost never going to b

Environment committee  If it doesn't meet the Canadian standards, absolutely. I think the best way to get at that is through information sharing agreements between governments.

Environment committee  Both mandatory and voluntary processes are used, and for greater clarity, I'm speaking specifically about finished consumer products. I think the approach that is being used right now for chemicals per se, which is also a combination of mandatory and voluntary, is working very

Environment committee  To a degree, yes. What we're talking about when we talk about mandatory surveys, though, are not the prohibited substances, right? These are the everyday chemicals that are being used to manufacture all sorts of things.

Environment committee  As I understand it, section 71 is not the provision that contains penalties. Those are in other sections of the act. As I said before, CEPA's CMP, chemicals management plan, is recognized as a world leader, so I think it does a really good job at penalizing the bad players.

Environment committee  Not in the retail sector, no. I'm not aware of any. The point that I was making with regard to section 71 is that it is highly effective. I think the chemicals management is highly effective when it comes to people who make chemicals and import those big drums and trains full o

Environment committee  Not on the glassware and the microphones and—

Environment committee  Right.

Environment committee  It's when you get the lawyers involved. It's the lawyers who say, “It's a legal document and therefore in order to cover your due diligence, write a letter to every single supplier you have because you never know.” Then, it just becomes an exercise in red tape.

Environment committee  For people who fail to report, absolutely.

Environment committee  Absolutely. For people who knowingly withhold information, absolutely yes.

Environment committee  I cannot, and just for greater clarity, it would be imported and manufactured, as opposed to appearing in the microphones and the suits and the ties. But no, I don't have that.

Environment committee  As far as section 71 is concerned, I believe, yes, it doesn't discriminate.

Environment committee  No, and it would then be up to the regulators, Environment Canada and officials at Health Canada, as they design the survey.