Centre for Health Science and Law

Reasearching Canada and Ontario's progress in achieving the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development goals and reporting results to public office holders and the public. Advocating strong disease prevention, conflict-of-interest safeguards, and other public health measures in the United Nations High-Level Meeting and polical declaration on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases and Canada's implementation of same. I am the Chair of the Canadian Environmental Network's Toxic Caucus and, as such, will represent the Caucus's interests concerning the regulation of toxic chemicals in Canada, especially in relation to the Chemicals Management Plan co-administered by Health Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada and funding from those departments to conduct work of the Caucus that is managed by the Canadian Environmental Network. Urge various law reforms and program innovations to facilitate the government's poverty reduction strategy, especially in relation to nutrition and affordability of healthy food particularly in relation to the work of the National Advisory Council on Poverty housed at Employment and Social Development Canada. Urge the federal government to improve reporting and compliance with international human rights law, particularly in connection with Canada's Universal Periodic Review through the United Nations Human Rights Council. Sodium Reduction in Processed Food: Reducing the amount of sodium added to food as proposed in the Government's election platform Propose revisions to the regulation of pesticides and toxic substances in Canada, including but not limited to lead, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos, and changes to the oversight of the Pest Management Regulatory Authority to ensure that evaluations and re-evaluations of pesticides are conducted in a timely, transparent manner, properly consider all available evidence (including studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals), and apply conflict-of-interest safeguards to supplier-sponsored studies, and other measures to protect public health, occupational health, and the environment. Natural Health Products (NHPs): Revise or better enforce regulations to ensure regulations provide adequate safety standards and acceptable standards of evidence for verifying health claims related to NHPs. Marketing and Safety Safeguards for Energy Drinks: Improving the regulation of energy drinks, the current regulation of which is described in "Energy Drinks: An Assessment of the Potential Health Risks in the Canadian Context, 2013", namely the Supplemented Food Regulations. International Health and Trade Policy: Urge the Government of Canada (esp. through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada) to adopt health-promoting positions in negotiating global standard-setting by the World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization's Codex Alimentarius Commission, particularly warning labels on alcoholic beverages and foods that make major contributions to greenhouse gases, such as ruminant animals internationally and in Canada. Institutional Conflicts of Interest: Implementing safeguards against institutional conflicts of interest in federal law as, for instance, elaborated in the World Health Organization Framework for Interaction with Non-State Actors, May 2016 and "Technical Report: Addressing and Managing Conflicts of Interest in the Planning and Delivery of Nutrition Programmes at Country Level," October 2015 Generally, enforcement of food-related law in comparison to other federal laws in light of enforcement statistics Food Taxes: Amend definition of "Basic Groceries" in the Excise Tax Act to ensure that food taxing policies promote, rather than discourage healthy eating. Food Dyes: Urge Health Canada to revoke the approvals of food dyes for which evidence indicates they are possible human carcinogens (e.g., ammonia process caramel used in soft drinks) or exacerbate the symptoms of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disor