What type of evidence is informing Health Canadas modernizing activities?
HG A variety of evidence supports the modernization process. There’s evidence that a problem exists (such as deaths, near-misses and consumer adverse reactions to products, both in Canada and internationally). Then there’s evidence to tell us how to deal with it. At the end of the day, this information is only important when someone decides to act on the problem. So, the really useful question is, “What type of evidence triggers action?” Sometimes, even in the presence of scientific evidence, it takes a marketplace event to trigger action. For example, during the summer of 2007, there were problems related to products with high lead levels. Despite previous attempts to modernize the Hazardous Products Act, it took public outcry over the paint on Thomas the Tank Engine™ before reform of the 40-year-old Act would begin. The bottom line is there’s not a simple evidentiary line; it’s complicated, with numerous sources of evidence that come into play. We also look at the international situa
