Hansard Issue: L086

Session: 38:2
Date: June 7, 2006
FOOD SAFETY

http://hansardindex.ontla.on.ca/hansardeissue/38-2/l086.htm

Mr. Pat Hoy (Chatham-Kent Essex): I have a question for the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Recently, at the Art in the Park festival in Windsor, the public health unit inspected the food to be served at the event and subsequently destroyed one of the vendors' products. I know that safety is very important, but this group has been preparing sandwiches for this event for 20 years without incident.

It seems to me that the health unit acted very aggressively without proper cause. Please tell me that the actions of this particular public health unit are not the norm and that we are not putting undue pressure on organizations that wish to sell food to raise funds for charity.

Hon. George Smitherman (Minister of Health and Long-Term Care): I want to say to the women who were working as Friends of Willistead that today on radio in Windsor I indicated that I'm going to make a personal contribution to support the work they've been doing, in recognition that across Ontario community comes together, and one of the things they often come together around is the idea that everybody brings a little something, that there is a contribution of community resource for a wide variety of community fundraising events. I've characterized as offensive, and in a variety of other ways, the circumstances related to the actions of that health unit, and I stand by those remarks.

We have had a regulation on the books since 1990. Health units have chosen to move forward with various forms of enforcement. I want to let members know that cabinet has approved an alteration to the regulation, and a communication will be coming forward as that goes into effect on June 15. At the heart of it, public health units will not be spending their time enforcing the idea of the risks of egg salad sandwiches, but rather helping people to be better informed --

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Thank you. Supplementary?

Mr. Hoy: It's indeed good to hear that the unique needs of community events are being recognized and that this inappropriate behaviour will cease.

Public health units, however, play an important role in our communities, and their talents should be put to better use. If public health units are no longer investigating church suppers and community events, does this mean they will have no involvement in the food being prepared there, and will the public lose out as a result of this?

Hon. Mr. Smitherman: Obviously our public health units are taking seriously the responsibilities associated with the problems that food can present -- a little too seriously, I think we would all agree, or far too seriously in the case of the circumstances that are before us.

With respect to farmers' markets, we will exempt farmers' markets from the regulation that had public health officials treating them the same as restaurants and grocery stores. As relates to church suppers, we're going to adopt the policies that have been used on wild game suppers, which is to give advice to all the people who are there that the food has not been inspected, and that the notion of the awareness we have of risks with consuming a variety of products -- the common sense associated with that, developed over a period of decades -- ought to suffice.

We will move the energy of public health units to proactive communication -- to assisting people in highlighting risks -- and seriously curtail enforcement activities that undermine the work of our public health units.