Ottawa appears to be getting involved in what children of a certain age can and can not watch on TV — at least when it comes to food advertising.
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According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the Senate social affairs committee has cleared a private Liberal bill to ban certain TV food commercials that target children but a final vote in the Senate is required to pass it into law.
“Our government supports restrictions on food advertising to children to protect them from the risks of chronic diseases caused by an unhealthy diet,” said a health department briefing note. “Almost one in three children in Canada, including two in three Indigenous children, lives with overweight or obesity. There is an increasingly urgent public health concern associated with excess weight because children who are overweight or obese are at an increased risk of developing chronic conditions.”
The bill passed in the Commons on Oct. 25, 2023, by a 208-to-115 vote and requires Third Reading in the Senate to become law.
Bill C-252, An Act To Amend The Food And Drugs Act, would give the Department of Health the ability to restrict TV ads to children younger than 13 of any foods containing “more than prescribed levels of sugar, saturated fats or sodium.”
Cabinet would determine the “prescribed levels.”
“Inaction will mean our children will continue to be manipulated by this multi-billion dollar industry,” Liberal MP and bill sponsor Patricia Lattanzio (Saint Léonard-Saint Michel, Que.), said in earlier debate.
“Relying on powerful multinational companies to self-regulate and reduce their targeting has only been proven unsuccessful.”
The Association of Canadian Advertisers estimated passing the bill would amount to $956 million a year in lost advertising.