Bill C-51: An Interview with Federal Minister of Health, Tony Clement
by author Terry-Lynn Stone

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As part of its Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan, the Conservative Government of Canada has tabled Bill C-51, which proposes a number of amendments to the Food and Drugs Act. This bill has caused considerable concern and is currently top of mind for a vast number of Canadians.

Rumours about Bill C-51 abound. Some think this bill will strip Canadians of both their rights and their access to natural health products. Others worry that Bill C-51 will violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by permitting search and seizure measures the likes of which have never before been allowed in Canada. There is even concern that Bill C-51 will allow Big Pharma to take over the natural health industry. alive wanted to cut through all the rumours to give our readers some real insight into the truth behind Bill C-51. So alive was delighted when Tony Clement, the Federal Minister of Health, contacted us to respond to our readers’ questions.

Q: Good morning Minister. Could you please explain to our readers what exactly your intention is with Bill C-51?

A: Sure. I’ll give you a bit of context. Last year at this time, of course, the whole country was reeling, as indeed other parts of the world were, with a whole series of recalls that were going on. The recalls were mainly on consumer products like children’s toys, chew toys, and there were some food products such as American lettuce that had been recalled as well. It became clear that we were seeing a spike in these warnings and recalls that were all across the whole range of products—whether food or manufactured products such as children’s toys or kids’ jewellery. When I delved into this a little bit as Minister of Health, I realized that our umbrella oversight and regulation really had not been meaningfully changed in close to 50 years. I also realized we were quite behind the times in our abilities to react—and even proactively ensure—the health and safety of Canadians. I’m speaking generally now, not just about the natural health products industry per se. In addition we had the Vioxx scare, which indicated that there was a need for a greater overview for prescription drugs. And generally when I looked into what our trading partners were doing, such as the United States and Europe for instance, they had many more modern techniques to ensure better safety and better information for consumers as well. So that was the context in which I created Bill C-51 and its companion piece of legislation, Bill C-52.

Q: Given that premise, why do you think there’s been so much public and media confusion regarding the purpose of this bill?

A: You know, I think that there’s certainly been a lot of scaremongering within the natural health products industry that has led people to draw false assumptions and false conclusions. This bill was not targeted against the natural health products industry, contrary to some accusations. And in fact, Bill C-51 and Bill C-52 will make it easier for approvals to take place for natural health products, rather than more difficult.

Q: It’s easy to say, “Well, some people have been scaremongering.” But that wouldn’t have been relevant had they been able to fully understand the bill. How do you think your government could have improved communications?

Source: alive Special Web Exclusive