Red Deer- Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins bill to roll back regulations on natural health products has passed second reading in Ottawa.
Bill C-368 passed second reading on Wednesday with the support of the NDP, Bloc and Green Party and will be referred to the Standing Committee on Health.
Last December, Calkins introduced the private member’s bill, which would repeal a handful of sections of the Liberal government’s omnibus budget Bill C-47, part of which deals with the regulation of natural health products in Canada.
Under the new legislation, natural health products (NHP), including supplements, herbal remedies and traditional and homeopathic medicines and certain topical products like toothpaste and sunscreen will be subject to additional labelling and reporting requirements.
Calkins’ efforts are supported by the Natural Health Products Association, which says the regulations will reduce choice, increase costs for consumers and drive businesses, investment and product development out of Canada.
Health supplements were previously exempt because of the minimal risk they pose to users from the so-called Vanessa’s Law, which requires hospitals to report any adverse reactions to the products. Introduced in 2014, Vanessa’s Law also gives Health Canada more powers to Health Canada to request additional information from manufacturers or stop the sale of certain products deemed to be health risks.
Under Bill C-47 the exemption has been removed.
Calkins has been criss-crossing the country, meeting with health food store owners, health product users and local MPs to raise awareness about the issues.
"I want to thank all Canadians who called in from coast to coast to their Members of Parliament. I want to thank all the business owners, everybody involved in the industry for coming together to rally around the various campaigns to protect our access to natural health products," said Calkins in a video posted Thursday on his Facebook page.
Calkins took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government for not backing his legislation, "which means they do believe that natural health products should be regulated the same as therapeutic products.
"They're going to risk our industry. They're going to risk our health. They're going to risk our access to natural health products that people have come to rely on for years, decades in Canada.
"We already have one of the safest, most well-regulated industries in the world."
Calkins said the pressure must be kept on the Liberal government and the Liberal MPs who sit on the health committee.
"We need to make sure that the Liberals there don't alter or in some way change this bill and undermine the ability for this industry to continue to provide great products to Canadians."
