The Current

End federal tax on tampons, says NDP MP Irene Mathyssen

Since 2004, the NDP have been on a quest to get a private members bill passed and finally end taxes on feminine hygiene products. We speak to MP Irene Mathyssen who says products like tampons are essential and the gender-based tax is discrimination.
No Tax on Tampons: A campaign to remove the GST charged on menstruation products (Classic Film, Flickr cc)

In 2011 we spoke with Katie Lingard, whose father has Huntington's disease. Multiple companies denied Katie insurance coverage for her practise as a chiropractor because she refused to be screened for the disease. 

Eventually Katie Lingard did manage to get insurance, but her story is not unique.

Senator Jim Cowan, the leader of the Opposition in the Senate, has been advocating to make genetic discrimination illegal. But his bill was gutted last month... and is now likely to fail.

Senator James Cowan joined us from Halifax.


This segment was produced by The Current's Sarah Grant.