Minister urges Senate to pass consumer protection bill
Last Updated: Monday, December 14, 2009 | 4:04 PM ET
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Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq holds a press conference on Parliament Hill, Monday. (CBC)Canada's health minister has again urged the Senate to stop delaying the vote on a bill to overhaul consumer product safety legislation and give federal inspectors more power to pull dangerous or faulty products off the market.
Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Bill C-6 would allow the government to prevent harmful products from reaching consumers.
"More and more we see products being sold out of homes, some counterfeit products," she said, adding that some are being sold over the internet, with claims they can cure H1N1 influenza.
The bill would allow the federal government to order a mandatory recall of products. Currently, if a consumer product that is not regulated or prohibited poses a health or safety risk, it is up to industry to voluntarily issue and manage a product recall.
A group of Liberal senators has been seeking changes to the bill, arguing federal health inspectors would have too much power and the legislation could infringe on constitutional rights.
Liberal Senator George Furey said the bill, as it's now worded, would allow an inspector to legally enter the home of someone who is storing consumer products whether or not they were suspected of being unsafe, even if they don't intend to sell them.
Liberal Senator Joe Day said one of the amendments would prevent inspectors from carrying out "a fishing expedition" on private property.
Bill C-6 — passed in the House of Commons last June — would give federal inspectors new powers to search for, seize and recall consumer products ranging from toys to baby cribs and food items.
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