Fixing outdated safety laws will not keep toys containing dangerous levels of lead off city shelves, a safety advocate said Tuesday, as more needs to be done to punish possible offenders.

Emile Therien, former president of the Canada Safety Council, said the Conservative Government needs to step up the law enforcement of unsafe consumer goods.

"The product safety branch as I know it is really a shell," he said. "It's got a long way to go to really restore its credibility to being a really effective enforcement agency."

The criticism comes the same day Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his government will overhaul Canada's outdated product safety laws.

"These measures represent an extraordinarily tough approach to consumer health and safety," Harper told a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Harper said several key pieces of legislation haven't been updated in decades, despite the fact products are flowing into Canada from factories all over the world.

"We need to set and enforce state-of-the-art safety standards on domestic and imported goods," he said.

The possible change in legislation comes after a Health Canada study reported 60 per cent of children's jewelry contained unacceptably high levels of lead.

Toy company Mattel recalled more than 21 million of its toys last summer. There were concerns about children's health from lead paint and small magnets in some products.

Pet owners were also shaken in 2007 by a recall at Menu Foods after concerns that it had sold pet food containing melamine.

Edmonton residents said the rash of recalls have shaken their consumer confidence.

"I just had a niece react to some paint and had to go to the hospital and they didn't know what it was," Vanessa Sabo said.

"I certainly have been more thorough in terms of what I will buy and checking what I will buy before I buy it," Kerry Channon said.

Health Minister Tony Clement said the government is tabling a new Canada Consumer Product Safety Act plus making substantial amendments to the Food and Drugs Act.

For the first time, he said, the government will take an approach to product safety that is both proactive and reactive at the same time.

"We're going to increase the fines, increase the inspections, increase the number of inspectors and we're going to make sure when it comes to the safety of our drugs that there's a mandatory reporting of adverse reactions so that we get the information a lot more quickly and are able to protect Canadian patients better," he told CTV Tuesday.

More staff will be hired to help the department carry out these new responsibilities. They will carry out more surveillance on products already in the marketplace, he said.

"For the most egregious offenders, our government is increasing the maximum fine for unsafe consumer products from $1 million to $5 million per offence," Clement said.

There were 90 recalls in Canada in 2007, nearly triple the amount in 2006, which saw only 32 recalls.

For a full list of product recalls, go to www.healthycanadians.ca.

With files from Scott Roberts and CTV.ca News Staff