About the video:
Paul Glover, Canada's Associate Deputy Minister of Health, recognizes the importance of standards in safeguarding the products we buy and use.
He discusses the role of standardization and SCC in ensuring access to safe products with the highest level of consumer protection in mind. This is just some of the work made possible by the dedicated contributions of SCC staff, the participation of volunteer experts, and the support of key industry and government stakeholders.
Tags:
- Testimonials
- Standards Matter
Transcript:
Paul Glover, Associate Deputy Minister, Health Canada: We at Health Canada and, in particular, at the Consumer Product Safety Directorate really believe that the best way to make sure that Canadians have access to safe products is to prevent problems before they happen and standards are a key part of doing that. So, whether those are standards are set internationally or domestically, they really make sure that Canadians will have access to safe products.
I believe it’s very important for all parties to work together, to share their expertise and their experiences when setting standards. Industry has a role to play, the government has a role to play and so do consumers to all work together to contribute expertise and expectations to make sure that standards are relevant and responsive to the needs of consumers and the industry that delivers the products to those consumers.
The Consumer Products Directorate at Health Canada really believes that industry, consumers and us as government all have a role to play. Part of the best way that we can ensure that the products that Canadians buy each and every day are safe, is having clear standards that outline what is safe and then industry can work to achieve that. That, then, allows us to play our important role of oversight to make sure that the products that are available meet those standards and when they’re not, we’re able to enforce; take the appropriate action. It really levels the playing field for industry, informs consumers and allows us to do our job efficiently and effectively.
I think it’s really important that we celebrate success and I would applaud the Standards Council of Canada for the work that they’ve done in creating this kind of an environment.
Standards take work; they take people coming together to figure out what should the standard be and setting up that kind of an environment.
So, stepping back and recognizing best practices and celebrating them is important for everybody involved, not just to recognize the work, but to celebrate best practices and hopefully to allow other people to aspire to that level of excellence.