I have often written about the legislative and regulatory challenges facing the CASE industry in Canada. The implications of such challenges impact every industry in Canada, as many leading industry groups have recently pointed out. That is true for the CASE industry more than ever before. All industry is asking for is fair, evidence-based, and reasonable regulations. As a respected partner with the law firm, Gowling WLG, recently reminded Government in the Globe and Mail: “A regulator that does its work through transparent, inclusive, fact-based processes is important both for the quality of the determinations made, and for facilitating public confidence in, and acceptability of those determinations.” Every company in the CASE industry must find effective ways to ensure that is the case with the many federal regulations coming down the pipe over the next one to three years. It either deals with it now to get more reasonable regulations, or lives with the consequences later. Many large industry groups have called for the Federal Government to seriously reconsider the ratio of harm versus benefit as a matter of public policy, which has always been the key metric. It also needs to be reminded of its own Cabinet directive on regulations: “Regulations have to be evidenced based and support a fair and competitive economy, leading to economic growth and increased trade alignment.” CPCA has shown repeatedly over the past number of months that this is no longer the case in Canada. Something has to change. It seems as if Canada now has a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ approach to regulation of critical inputs used in thousands of already heavily ‘regulated’ products. It is not an approach that focuses on regulating chemicals ‘of highest concern,’ as the Government has always maintained. This has led to the three-fold increase in regulations our industry has experienced in recent months. That’s why a ‘whole-of-industry approach’ for the CASE sector, and other groups, is now required to advocate for a strong, vibrant, and sustainable industry for the foreseeable future. The CASE industry has made many significant advances on the sustainability front. For example, the industry reduced VOC emissions in consumer paint products by more than 90%, for a total of 42 kilotonnes over the past decade. There are ‘many’ other examples in this regard, and regularly reported on by CPCA’s monthly Prime Time News. However, things have changed drastically with respect to sustainability goals, most often referred to as ESG goals. More sustainably sourced inputs are now used regularly in a wide range of product categories in the CASE industry. That will continue to be the way forward, but regulations must consider the time needed to experiment with sustainably sourced alternatives in thousands of formulated products. The R&D required cannot be done overnight.