Oshawa Conservative MP Colin Carrie introduced a Private Members Motion into the House of Commons raising the opportunity for digital labels to improve access to health product labels for the sight impaired. The motion is aimed at encouraging Health Canada to incorporate the expansion of digital labelling “as part of its ongoing efforts to modernize labelling” to ensure that consumers are able to access product labels thus improving consumer safety. He is further encouraging the development and use of “audio product read-out technologies” in an incremental process as these technologies become practicable. Mr. Carrie’s proposed motion recognizes that:
The Parliament of Canada through the passage of “Vanessa’s law” in 2015, as well as more recent efforts now being undertaken through Health Canada’s “Self-care Framework” initiative, has made the modernization of product labelling including the use of “plain language” a priority, improvements in the labelling of consumer health products, as well as the use of digital labels”
Although Mr. Carrie’s motion is unlikely to be voted on before Parliament adjourns for the summer – and perhaps an election – he did indicate his confidence that by putting it onto the public record, “this framework for the modernization of product labelling that accounts for boundaries in linguistic and visual impairments can revolutionize the health, safety, and accessibility of consumers”.
A copy of Mr. Carrie’s Press Release is available HERE, and the text of the motion on the House of Common Order Paper can be found HERE at M-97.
