My biggest concern is that if you accept.... I'm not here to debate whether or not we have a nicotine patch problem for kids, although we are using emotional language and referring to kids and we're saying “vulnerable”, which makes it really hard to resist. Why doesn't the government, the minister, under paragraph 30(1)(a), pass a regulation saying that any vaping product is adulterated if it's flavoured? The power is there. Why isn't the minister prescribing standards of purity under paragraph 30(1)(c) of the Food and Drugs Act? The powers are already there, and section 9 prevents fraud.
The Minister of Health takes the position that this includes promoting off-label use, and the minister can make an order under section 27.3. The power's already there, and the powers in section 31 don't give the powers that the minister says the minister needs to address nicotine patches.
Off-label use is purely provincial jurisdiction. When a doctor sits down with a patient, understands the patient's medical history and decides to prescribe off label—and that's what we're talking about, ministers getting power to take steps to prevent off-label use—off-label use is by medical professionals making individual health decisions for patients. The federal government doesn't have jurisdiction there.
The Food and Drugs Act is a criminal law act and a little bit of trade and commerce. It's not a health act at all, and there's nothing in the Food and Drugs Act or regulations that charge the minister of Health to get good health outcomes. Why does the Minister of Health want to step in?
Let's say I'm right, and when you look at it all as a package, the real purpose of this is basically to address liability issues and prevent the promotion of other products during the next pandemic. Well, let's at least have that discussion open and honestly and not in the finance committee. This truly is an issue for the Standing Committee on Health.