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

A: I think that it’s always important to report accurately, and we were doing that, and I guess I did not foresee that someone might be inaccurately communicating about the bill. So, in the meantime, we have created an amendment which is much more explicit about some of the protections and some of the requirements for Health Canada. For instance, it is clear that Health Canada has to act reasonably. The purpose of the bill has been made much more explicit in the amendment to the amendment that I tabled in June. So I think that now you can read the bill and understand how it interrelates with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms or with the Criminal Code of Canada. Whereas before, perhaps one had to be a lawyer in order to draw the lines and draw the connections. So that’s a lesson that we learned and now we’ve made the appropriate adjustments, and I think it’s a better bill as a result of those amendments. The other thing that I’ve concluded is that the natural health product industry wants to be inside the tent. They don’t want to just be reacting to Health Canada, reacting to decisions made by Health Canada. And so what I’ve done in my amendments to the bill is made it clear that we will have an advisory body made up of interested parties from the natural health products industry, practitioners, and even perhaps users of natural health products. They’ll be around the table—an advisory body that will assist Health Canada in understanding the industry and understanding the implications of any future decisions that it makes. That is a very positive step, one that’s unprecedented for the natural health products industry. And for the natural health industry to be on the inside, to be part of an advisory body of Health Canada, I think that’s a great marriage. It’s an unprecedented degree of access for a branch of health care. I really believe it.

Q: One of the most common phone calls that I get from readers is, “Will Bill C-51 remove Canadian consumers’ access to natural health products?” How would you answer that?

A: Absolutely, no. The answer is, in fact, quite the opposite. As I said, if you look at the bill, it’ll take a risk-based approach to approving natural health products. And that approval process has been around since 2004, as you know. We’re going to take a risk-based approach. So what we’re saying is for the vast majority of natural health products, the risk is very low. You’re talking about ingredients associated with food products, or herbs, or other natural products that have, in some cases, been used for hundreds or even thousands of years with no ill effects having been identified. So those products are going to be fast-tracked. That wasn’t the case under the previous regulations. So I’m actually making it easier for natural health products to be on the store shelves. And I think that’s going to be a great improvement for the choice that Canadians need and desire.

Q: Does Bill C-51 relax the safety regulations currently in place for pharmaceuticals?

A: No, actually it does quite the opposite. For the first time, I’m requiring mandatory reporting of adverse reactions to prescription drugs. And I’ll be requiring all hospitals to report all cases of reactions, whereas before, this was not necessarily the case. So what we’re trying to do is to not only have stringent approvals for drugs as they move onto the market, but we’re saying, “We’re going to continue to oversee you. We’re not just going to wash our hands the moment you get approval and say it’s somebody else’s job now to worry about any unintended impacts of drugs.” We’re still going to be there reviewing, watching, getting the information in, and if the drug has an adverse reaction that was not picked up in the original approvals process, then we’ll have the ability to recall that product, whereas before I did not have that ability.

Q: Another concern that comes up often is your connection to the pharmaceutical industry and to Prudential Chem in particular. I understand that you’ve already divested yourself of these interests. Is that right?

A: Yes. I divested myself willingly without a requirement to do so over two years ago. And I can go on. Prudential Chem actually has a connection to natural health products as much as it does to pharmaceutical products. But that’s really immaterial, quite frankly. It’s also close to defamatory to suggest that I’m in the pockets of Big Pharma. You only have to look at my record as a provincial Minister of Health. I was the first minister in Ontario to get the ball rolling for traditional Chinese medicine and naturopathy to be considered as approved and regulated professions. So my record is very clear on this. I’m a big believer in consumer choice. I’m a big believer that people should have the right to choose natural health products. That’s my record.

Q: Many people in the natural health industry are not only upset by the bill itself but also the way they saw it apparently rushed through readings. And as a result, several “Stop Bill C-51” websites have sprung up and many concerns have arisen. I’ve personally heard from many people who go to these websites and get very afraid. For a lot of people that’s where they’re getting most of their information. One concern that I hear raised continually is that it was lobbying by the pharmaceutical companies that brought about the revision of the Food and Drug Act. Is this true?

A: Absolutely not. I mentioned to you the origination of this bill was the fact that we had a major spike, a four-time spike, in recalls in this country and in our realization that our legislation was antiquated. I didn’t have the power of recall. Currently, I only have the power of recall for food. I have no power of recall for prescription drugs. No power of recall for deadly consumer products. That’s got to change. We’ve got to move into the 21st century here.

Source: alive Special Web Exclusive