Canada is the only G7 nation that does not have legislation that protects individuals from having their own genetic information used against them by employers or the insurance industry.
It’s a cause that the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) has thrown its weight behind, primarily because a number of genetic mutations and illnesses have been identified first in the Jewish population.
All three political parties support the idea in principal and said so during the recent federal election campaign, said Richard Marceau, general counsel and senior government adviser for CIJA.
READ: WHY GENETIC TESTING MATTERS
Getting actual legislation passed, however, is a much slower process. A bill sponsored by Liberal Sen. Jim Cowan is back in committee for a second time, with a second round of hearings now being scheduled.
A bill sponsored by the Conservatives in the House of Commons died when the election was called last year.
CIJA has joined forces with a number of disease-focused groups to ensure that Canadians cannot be compelled to submit to genetic testing or reveal information, as a condition of employment or to get insurance, Marceau said.
It’s becoming an increasingly urgent problem, he said. Thirteen years ago, there were genetic tests for 100 diseases. Today there are more than 32,000.
“As we move toward personalized medicine and more widespread genetic testing, we would not want that advance in medicine to have the flipside of causing people to have trouble with insurance or with employment,” Marceau said.
During the first round of hearings in the Senate in 2014, medical experts testified that patients had turned down genetic testing because they were concerned they or their children could be denied life insurance or long-term disability coverage.
While the insurance industry said that this type of legislation would make insurance costlier and more problematic, in the G7 nations and Israel, which have instituted genetic non-discrimination laws, there has not been an issue, Marceau said.
