November 6, 2014
Ottawa, ON
Check against delivery
Good afternoon everyone.
Today I am proud to stand by my colleague, Terence Young, to celebrate the passage of Vanessa's Law, significant legislation that will make a difference to the health and safety of all Canadians.
Terence and his wife Gloria lost their daughter, Vanessa, after she took an unsafe prescription drug. It was a tragedy that led Terence to become a tireless advocate for patient safety.
He has worked over days, weeks and months--for fourteen years--to change our laws and make sure no other family has to endure the pain that he and his family did.
No parent should ever lose a child, especially so senselessly. We are here today to prevent this tragedy from happening again.
As you all know, late last year, following the Speech from the Throne, we introduced Vanessa's Law which is designed to better protect Canadians from harmful drugs and medical devices.
This law is an historic step in our government's continuous improvements to patient safety over the past several years.
Our government's five-year $38 million investment in the Canadian Patient Safety Institute is part of our broader approach for improving the quality and safety of patient care.
Plain Language Labelling Regulations have made drug labels easier to read and understand.
We have expanded the focus of our National Anti-Drug Strategy to include prescription drug abuse. And we are looking at ways to improve prescribing practices for opioids and other drugs that pose a high risk of abuse.
Health Canada has achieved progress in transparency through its Regulatory Transparency and Openness Framework.
These concrete initiatives make relevant health and safety information easy to understand and more available to Canadians.
Vanessa's Law builds on these improvements and contains the most profound and important changes to the Food and Drugs Act since it was introduced more than 50 years ago.
With this law, information about Canadian clinical trials will be posted on a public registry, and Canadians will have access to new information about Health Canada regulatory decisions.
In addition to providing new information, Vanessa's Law enables the Government to take action and better protect Canadians. Now we can:
- Require revised labels, clearly stating health risks and warnings for children;
- Compel drug companies to do further testing on a product; and
- Mandate adverse drug reaction reporting by healthcare institutions.
And now the Government will have new authority to keep unsafe products from the market. We will be able to:
- Recall products considered unsafe; and
- Impose new penalties for drug companies; including jail time and fines up to $5 million dollars per day; and
- We have also more clearly defined confidential business information, so we can disclose more information if a product poses a serious risk.
Canadians have a right to understand the facts about their healthcare, and to feel confident in the safety of the drugs they are prescribed. The changes of Vanessa's Law will make all Canadians safer and better informed.
I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the widespread support Vanessa's Law has received.
All members voted in favour in the House of Commons, and I want to personally thank Prime Minister Stephen Harper for his leadership in bringing about this historic change.
As Minister of Health, nothing is more important to me than the safety of Canadians and their families, and with Vanessa's Law, I am confident that Canadians will be better protected and lives will be saved.
Of course, this would not be possible without my colleague Terence Young's tireless determination to enact Vanessa's Law.
It is incredible that he has been able to turn his family's tragedy into real change that will profoundly impact other Canadians and their families. This is a remarkable accomplishment.
And now I would like to ask Terence to say a few words about what this moment means to him and his family.
Thank you.
