Honourable senators, you will not be surprised to see me rise in support of Bill S-228, which is sponsored by Senator Nancy Greene Raine. This bill seeks to protect the health of children by prohibiting food and beverage marketing directed at persons under 13 years of age. As a strong advocate of healthy living, I recognized how important the principle of this bill was at first reading.

I have to be honest, Senator Greene Raine, and tell you that it is not the eloquence and passion of your speech that convinced me of the essential role this bill could play.

In fact, I became a true supporter exactly two days after the introduction of this bill when I lost a fight against a green fish cracker. Let me explain. I speak today as a senator but also as the proud mother of a three-year-old child. As such, I should know better than to go to the supermarket at dinnertime with a toddler. It is always a bad idea, but that is parenting in a busy world. You do your best every day.

So there I was with my little Elliot riding on my lap when he spotted exactly at eye level the now-infamous green fish cracker. That's when he went "Oh, maman, maman! Fish, fish!" To make it worse, the cracker box had his favourite movie character on it, very smart marketing. So Elliot was now on a mission. He wanted those fish. We don't let them in the house for health reasons, but they're in the supermarket; I was on enemy territory.

So to make the story short, I said no, and before I knew it, Elliot was off my lap on the run. Lucky for me I'm still a tiny bit faster. I caught him and stopped him before he could get his hand on this high-sugar, chemically-coloured empty food.

That of course was followed by a frantic toddler collapsing on the floor in front of everyone, not understanding why I, his mother, would refuse him access to his favourite movie character on a green cracker. That, honourable senators, is the exact moment when I became a full supporter of Bill S-228.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

Senator Petitclerc: I know, of course, that one toddler's tantrum does not scientific evidence make. This is when I went home and did my homework.

I read Bill S-228. It is pretty straightforward.

The bill prohibits food or beverage marketing directed at children under 13 years of age. It also prohibits food and beverages from being labelled or packaged in a way that is directed primarily at children, including the way that the label or package is presented.

It will also be prohibited to offer or provide, in exchange for the purchase of a food or beverage, any direct or indirect consideration, such as gifts or surprises, intended primarily for children.

I have to say that the timing of this bill could not be better, and it has been favourably received by leaders in the health field. The bill seeks to implement an important recommendation set out in the excellent report issued by our Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology in March 2016. The report recommended that the federal government assess the prohibition on advertising food to children in Quebec and design and implement a national prohibition on the advertising of food and beverages to children.

This bill is clearly part of Minister Philpott's recently released health care strategy.

Introducing her healthy Canada strategy, Minister Philpott's focus is on three pillars: healthy eating, including the updated food guide and new labelling and marketing rules; healthy living; and healthy minds.

I completely agree with the minister when she says that we must not use the complexity of the legal and regulatory environment governing marketing to children as an excuse to do nothing. We have to protect society and our young people.

In fact, in her mandate letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, she is asked to promote public health by introducing new restrictions on the commercial marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to children, similar to those now in place in Quebec.

My home province of Quebec, many have mentioned it, has been a trailblazer when it comes to protecting our children from aggressive marketing. The introduction of Bill S-228 has been very well received in Quebec because it would help the province fill some gaps that still exist.

Quebec's Weight Coalition has repeatedly reminded us that exceptions in the Quebec legislation, which allow packaging and advertising in store windows and display cases, remain problematic. Bill S-228 corrects those flaws. In Quebec, sections 248 and 249 of the Consumer Protection Act protect our children in that regard. Since 1980, Quebec law has prohibited advertising to children under 13 years of age because experts found that prior to adolescence young children cannot distinguish between information and advertising.

In 1989, after a nine-year legal battle, the Supreme Court finally ruled that Quebec's law was constitutional. That law has had some very positive impacts on our children's health.

On October, 6, 2016, an article in the Ottawa Citizen read:

Far ahead of its time, Quebec since 1980 has banned the commercial advertising of all goods and services to children under 13. The result? A 2011 study concluded that the law is associated with a 13-per-cent reduction in the likelihood to purchase fast food and that "the social welfare impact of such a ban can be significant. Quebec has the lowest obesity rate in Canada among children age six to 11 and the highest rate of fruit and vegetable consumption.

When we know how Bill S-228 would only strengthen the Quebec legislation, this is good news for my province. With the help of Bill S-228, plus if we can get our kids off the screens and in the field of play a bit more, then, honourable senators, we're on to something significant.

Of course, not everyone agrees with this bill. Some are skeptical and ask: Is marketing to kids really so efficient? It is, according to our own Social Affairs Committee study, according also to the World Health Organization who targets marketing as one cause for child obesity.

It will really take only 30 minutes of research to be overwhelmed with how much serious data has been documenting the efficiency of marketing to children. This one is my favourite: A reliable study in the U.S. tells us that when on a cereal box a character is placed 23 inches off the ground with eyes looking down at 9.6 degrees, kids prefer it 28 per cent more than other cereals.

I'm not sure what scares me the most, that it works so well or that those big, big companies obviously invest a lot of time and money to make sure that they do target our kids.

Some will also say you are taking the fun away from the food. I only have one reply to this: How much fun will we have when our kids grow up to be unhealthy, overweight adults with all the well- documented related health problems?

The priority here is the health of our children and making sure that we have all the tools we need to protect them. Some may call this meddling and accuse the government of falling into the trap of moralism. It is true that we must be very careful when interfering in people's lives. The real trap in this case would be failing to carry out our responsibility to protect our children out of fear of being too intrusive.

Senator Raine said it herself:

As a Conservative, I believe government shouldn't unnecessarily interfere with our lives. It is up to parents to do the parenting. But we need to support parents in being able to do the right thing.

Senator Eggleton makes the same argument when he states that the time has come for the federal government to take action to support parents who are trying to make good choices. I could not agree more. The situation is alarming and it is right that we intervene.

One other argument that I read in a few newspapers is that this bill will deprive parents of a great opportunity to teach their kids how to make good choices.

Allow me to be blunt here and say, "Please, give me a break." I mean it. As a busy working mom, give me a break. I need a break. The Canadian family needs all the help they can get. This is one good side effect of this bill. It gives parents a break.

That's not the reason I'm supporting it, but if it can help parents while saving our kids, why not? I can guarantee you that all parents will find dozens of other opportunities to teach their kids valuable life lessons.

Then there are, believe it or not, some people who still wonder: Is our kids' health really that big a concern and a problem? Well, it's not just a problem. Everywhere I read, they call it an epidemic, because that's what it is.

Globally, the number of cases of obesity has doubled since 1980, and in Canada it has tripled. The term "epidemic" is not too strong.

Let us not be fooled. This legislation will not solve everything. The reality is that the main cause of excess weight and obesity in children is the energy imbalance between the calories consumed and the calories burned. In general, more calories are consumed than burned. There is still much work to do. Junk food and its marketing are one aspect of the problem, but physical activity is another challenge that must be addressed. This bill is an excellent starting point.

My question is very simple, honourable senators: What are we waiting for to take action? Clearly, the studies, research, and recommendations have been done. Despite everything, the epidemic of child obesity has still not been resolved.

This bill would be a very concrete start in the right direction. And the reality is, unless we take action, it's a lost fight.

In one corner, you have multi-million-dollar companies investing billions of dollars in marketing. And let's be honest; they would not do it if it did not work. And in the other corner, you have three-year-old Elliott wanting a fish cracker, with no judgment skills and no ability to differentiate a fictional character from reality. So it is a lost fight, until and unless we have someone in the middle to set some ground rules, and that's exactly what our job is, to protect the most vulnerable — in this case, our children.

That is why I commend Senator Greene Raine's initiative and why I am pleased to support it.

Hon. Joan Fraser: Thank you very much, Senator Petitclerc. I too had young children who used to have tantrums in the supermarket, and like most senators, I have a great deal of sympathy for the challenges you've had to overcome.

I am from Quebec and, as you indicated, advertising directed to children has been banned there for 40 years or more. I understand that Senator Greene Raine's bill was inspired by the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology study that focused on obesity. Nonetheless, do you really think that we have any chance of success if we try to amend this bill to ban all advertising directed to children? When my children were little, when we travelled to other provinces, I remember being shocked every time by the amount of advertising, not only for food, but for all kinds of toys, each more harmful than the last. Why should we stop at protecting children only from advertising for food and beverages?

Senator Petitclerc: I grew up in Quebec and I was 10 when that legislation passed, so that was all I knew, and I now recognize the benefits. With your years of experience, you are in a better position than I am to answer that question. Personally, I would love to see this bill cover other things besides food and beverages, but as I said in my speech, this is an excellent first step. Does it address all the problems caused by marketing? Of course not. Could the bill be amended? I don't have the expertise to answer that question at the moment. The purpose of Senator Greene Raine's bill is to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic that is now sweeping our society.

Senator Fraser: If I understand correctly, the answer is that too often the perfect is the enemy of the good and that we should focus on the good that might be attainable. Thank you, senator.