Surrey mom Sydney Carlaw wants to boost her trade show for nontoxic baby products to the next level—politics—but her elected representatives aren’t exactly jumping at the chance to be included.

In late June and early July, according to Carlaw, she e-mailed and phoned federal health minister Tony Clement, provincial minister of healthy living and sport Mary Polak, and her local MP, Conservative Russ Hiebert (South Surrey–White Rock–Cloverdale). By August 19, none had confirmed they’d be attending or sending a representative to the October 25 Sheraton Wall Centre event. Clement’s office hadn’t responded at all, she said.

“It makes me feel this [managing consumer toxins] isn’t as important to them as they’re saying, and they’re not really as concerned as they’re advertising that they are,” Carlaw told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview. “It’s a huge issue. You go to the grocery store, and I’ve got, like, 10 different chemicals in my head that I know I have to be careful of, and I am responsible for remembering what they are. What is the carcinogenic one? What’s the really bad one? And you can only handle so much. So I think a lot of women end up saying, ”˜No, I’m not interested; no, I don’t care,’ or ”˜It’s better if I don’t know anything,’ because of how overwhelming it is.”

By deadline, neither Hiebert nor Clement’s office had returned the Straight’s calls. Anne McKinnon, Polak’s communications director, called the Straight to say her office had spoken with Carlaw after August 19 but wasn’t planning to confirm attendance until September.

Carlaw said she also invited Playtex and Mattel, two corporations she described as being “in the hot seat” after recent safety concerns about some of their products. She said that both companies declined to be represented on a panel at the trade show.

Confirmed speakers at Carlaw’s event include representatives from Healthy Child Healthy World, baby-product manufacturer Seventh Generation, and the Environmental Working Group.

Common toxins continue to make news. With the April 2008 ban of bisphenol A in baby cups and bottles, the federal government completed its first headline-making action on addressing the chemicals Canadians face in grocery stores. Hundreds of other chemicals are under review through the three-year federal Chemicals Management Plan Challenge.

On August 23, for example, the challenge confirmed that four more common chemicals—ethanol 2-methoxy-acetate, ethanol 2-ethoxy-acetate, ethanol 2-(2-methoxyethoxy), and 1-propanol, 2-methoxy—are a “high hazard to humans”. They’re found in some floor-covering adhesives, nail polish, brake fluid, and hair conditioners.

But how can shoppers know if what they’re buying is dangerous? On May 29, NDP MP Peter Julian (Burnaby–New Westminster) presented a federal bill on right-to-know labelling. The bill—if it passes—will force manufacturers to print warning labels on products that contain known toxins.

According to Mae Burrows, the executive director of Toxic Free Canada (formerly the Labour Environmental Alliance Society), the bill would be a great first step, but ultimately, the federal government’s departments of health and the environment are responsible for banning harmful chemicals and ensuring Canadians’ safety. Consumer choice as promoted by Carlaw’s event and Julian’s bill, therefore, is just part of the equation.

“Market campaigns have their place, but it can’t be a market campaign that’s just for rich people,” Burrows told the Straight, noting that some nontoxic-product manufacturers are overcharging shoppers, playing on their fears.

Carlaw wasn’t alone in having trouble speaking with her representatives about toxins. In May, when Burrows travelled to Ottawa to deliver 1,000 letters supporting right-to-know labelling, the security surrounding the prime minister’s offices almost kept her and the letters out.

“It was Monty Python–like,” she recalled. “Having access to our decision makers has got to be a fundamental human right.”

Three months later, Burrows said, no one has acknowledged receipt of the letters.