Health Protection Act: Legislative Renewal
During the winter of 2003/2004 Health Canada consulted on its proposed changes to Canada's health protection legislation. The intent is to replace outdated statutes with a new health protection legislative regime centered on a new Health Protection Act. This will replace the existing Food and Drugs Act, the Hazardous Products Act, the Quarantine Act and the Radiation Emitting Devices Act. In 1998/99 broad consultations were held, in which OPHA was involved. The 2003/2004 process was designed to work out the specific details of the legislation, with the draft proposal "Health and Safety First" as the basis for these consultations.
A group of OPHA members actively participated in this process and worked to develop an organizational position and response to the proposed changes. At a preliminary meeting organized by the Toronto Public Health Department, a presentation by a Health Canada representative was heard and participants worked through some key components of the proposed Act. The minutes from that day's events are available. Following this smaller meetings were held on specific topics covered in the proposed Act (see links below).
Over the next months, Health Canada held meetings across the province. In order to participate, formal registration through the Health Canada website was required. OPHA members were encouraged to register and participate so that a public health perspective was consistently present throughout these consultations. They were also encouraged to submit individual comments electronically through the Health Canada website, where it was possible to view and comment on different sections of the proposal individually, by answering questions at the end of each section of the Web document.
At the end of March OPHA submitted a letter and extensive comments on the proposed Act to Health Canada. As a member of the Canadian Partnership on Child Health and the Environment (CPCHE), OPHA also co-signed the CPCHE response, which emphasized the need for the integration of a children's environmental health perspective into the proposed legislation.
Health Canada plans to analyse the comments it received and then draft a Bill that will eventually go before Parliament. No timeline is set for this process, however as the proposed Act makes its way through the parliamentary process there will be additional opportunities to comment on and inform its development. Updates on this legislative renewal process and OPHA's involvement will be made available as they develop.
Outcomes: