2 May 2008 - 12:10Natural Health Products are Under Immediate Threat
Many Canadians rely upon natural health products for their health. These products are endangered and consumers need to act now to save them.
Since 2004 when the Natural Health Product Regulations were introduced, natural health products have been increasingly threatened. The new Regulations were Health Canada’s response to consumer demands for the government to protect their access to natural health products. The Regulations have had the opposite effect. To “legally” sell a health product the new Regulations impose a licensing requirement. The problem is that 60% of licence applications have failed. These have been the “easy” applications. Expectations are that 70-75% of applications will fail. For the NHP Community this means that 75% of NHPs we rely upon for our health will become illegal.
This creates the following scenario:
- 75% of natural health products will become illegal;
- illegal products must be voluntarily removed or be subject to Health Canada enforcement;
- Health Canada has publicly announced it is hiring more enforcement officers and is holding recruitment meetings at universities;
- Bill C-51 gives Health Canada unprecedented enforcement tools to force natural health products off of the market..
Bill C-51 reads like a Police State Manual
There has never been a death in Canada caused by a natural health product. Considering that there are multiple deaths every year caused by common foods such as peanuts and shellfish, it is clear that natural health products are extremely safe. When you consider the health benefits of natural health products, including that many of us rely upon them for our very lives, it becomes clear that the real danger in regulating them is to “over-regulate” them off of the market.
Bill C-51 gives Health Canada unprecedented power to take natural health products away from us.
Traditionally in Canada we have had the rule of law. This meant that it was not okay for the State to take our property without a warrant and without Court supervision to prevent arbitrariness and abuse. Now to “protect” us the State can seize the property of persons in the natural health product industry, including natural health practitioners, makers of natural health products, and retailers. This would be problematic even if there had to be a realistic safety concern for the seizure, but there does not have to be a safety concern. Under the new law the State can seize without a reason, without a warrant, without limits to what can be seized, without a time limitation, and without reporting the seizure to a Court.
In some cases seized property can be forfeited to the State without Court approval. Owners will have to pay the costs of the seizure, transport and storage of seized things, even if it turns out that there was not a safety risk.
The State still needs to get a search warrant if they are going to search someone’s home, but if it is not a home they do not need a warrant and can trespass on private property without any liability.
Small family businesses are subject to the same maximum $5,000,000 fines as large corporations. Directors, officers and agents of a company can now be personally charged for the misdeeds of the company.
Even more troubling is that the State does not have to consider the health risk caused by their seizures. When the State seizes our natural health products, they are taking away our right to choose. That is, they are making our health decisions for us. We are then forced to use other treatments such as chemical pharmaceutical drugs which can be dangerous and ineffective. For those of us who only get relief from natural health products, the State forces us to suffer and in extreme circumstances, to die. The seizure of Empowerplus is an example of where deaths resulted from the State seizing a natural health product that is now freely on the market.
There is something wrong with “health” legislation which allows the State to seize health products without considering whether we need the products. There is something wrong with the State making personal health decisions for us. Health decisions are fundamental to our personal autonomy. There is something wrong with the State being able to seize our property without prior Court approval, without clearly defined reasons for the seizure, without time limit, and without Court supervision. There is something wrong with the State being able to trespass on our property without any recourse. Surely we can draft “health” protection legislation that does not read like a police state handbook.
Urgent Call to Action
Bill C-51 was introduced into the House of Commons on April 8, 2008. The Bill is not yet law, but will become law unless Canadians act quickly. It is essential that you let key Members of Parliament know that:
- you are opposed to the police state powers in Bill C-51;
- you want them to vote against Bill C-51;
- you want your access to natural health products protected.
Members of Parliament pay attention to personal efforts by voters you should:
- send a hand written letter to:
- your local Member of Parliament;
- Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and
- Tony Clement, the Minister of Health;
- phone your local Member of Parliament and the Prime Minister’s Office to voice your concerns. Stephen Harper’s phone numbers are (613) 992-4211 and (403) 253-7990. Tony Clement’s phone numbers are (613) 944-7740 and (705) 746-9053. Click here to find out your local MP’s number.
You can send your letters without postage to:
Name of person letter is to such as Stephen Harper
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6.
For more information on Bill C-51 or on threats to Natural Health Products, visit www.nhppa.org
02 Jun 2008 - 17:37
I am heart attack surviver end I am using Natural Health Products witch are working very well and I don’t want to lose it .I think the Drag Companies started loosing money and want to kill more people with their medications to make more money. Thank You very much for Your website ! Paul .
06 Jun 2008 - 7:51
I have sent the following letter to all senators, to 230 Members of parliment and my MP. 1 Senator and 1 NDP returned my e-mail. 1 Liberal returned my e-mail as well saying this Bill is for the Good of Canada.
Look at the jobs that will be lost in my e-mail. Look at the media that GM is getting for 1000 jobs lost. Natural Products will cost way more jobs than GM (feel bad for these people as well). The PMO pond me off to Clement, who brought this bill forward. Go after the senators and the media, they both can help prevent this bill from passing.
Honourable Senators, thank you for taking a moment to read my comments and for being available for simple Canadians like myself. I love my country, I love our ways and our multiculturalism.
There is a new Bill that will be before you soon, it was tabled in April and has already had two readings. Canadians haven’t yet understood the full impact of this bill and I need to advise you of part of the economical impact this Bill will have.
Bill C-51 is a bill that will destroy an estimated 15,000 jobs / businesses in Canada. I am against Bill C-51 as Natural Products have made a positive impact in my life. With the addition of Health Canada’s - Natural Product Codes, I do feel safer than ever with the products that are available on the market.
The part that everyone is missing is the Economical Impact this bill if passed will have. A quick look on yellow.ca and you will find:
2539 Listings for Natural Stores
998 Vitamin based listings
2334 Acupuncturists
6074 Chiropractors
2513 Holistic Health Services
554 Homeopaths
607 Nutrition Consultants
11 Manufacturer’s that I know of.
Assuming there is only 1 person’s job is harmed / lost due to this bill passing, that is 15,630 people that will potentially be out of work. Realistically, each place will have more than 1 person working, stores will average 3, clinics 2 (receptionist), Manufacturers multiple.
The number could be over 30,000 people that can no longer work in the field they have spent there lives building and learning about. Chiropractors were considered Witch Dr.’s only a few short years ago. Acupuncture was not recognized, however it is now offered in most hospitals. Along with both of these philosophies is general wellness of the body. Clearing energy, toxins, etc. so that the body may work the way it is supposed to.
Whether you believe in Natural Products or not, you have to understand that 70% of Canadians do visit these businesses. They are not harmed and we are not reading on the cover of your News Paper “Man dies from high dose Vitamin C over dose”, “Women dies from High Dose Garlic Pills while trying to clear her skin of Acne”.
Wording in any Bill is critical and the wording in this bill will destroy most all Natural businesses in Canada.
Now all natural health followers will be force to the medical Doctor. Problem is, we don’t have enough Dr.’s, wait times are already too long, and the costs are already too taxing on our health care system. Rather than fix that system, this Bill will inject a few hundred thousand more Canadians into the system just to get a prescription for High Dose Vitamins, Enzymes, etc.
The medical world has shot down Vitamins, Herb, Supplements, etc. in favor of medication. My family Dr. told me that vitamins were a waste of time. Now these same people that generally don’t support the idea of natural products are going to be responsible for prescribing them to us?
I asked another Dr. outside of his work, how do you keep from getting sick in Cough Cold season… He told me that he takes 1000 mg’s of both Vitamin C & E as well as garlic pills.
The main fight seems to be that Natural Products are not clinically tested / proven. The reason for this is simple; you cannot patent a natural product! Who would spend the millions to clinically test natural products, with no way of protecting or recouping their investment. Rather medical companies study remedies with an intent to make a synthetic version that is patentable. They then recoup the investment over the duration.
51% of all Americans are on a monthly prescription. This was reported last week, and the ages are toddlers to seniors. Commercials now tell you to ask your Dr., maybe you qualify for a prescription. I recently saw a commercial for a women…. I had itchy legs, so I asked my Dr. and it turns our I have Irritable Leg Syndrome. The commercial then shows the women sleeping comfortably as she has her new monthly prescription. While the show her sleeping, the list the possible side effects. My Dr. told me that vitamins just mean bright and expensive urine. This I would prefer over any one of the possible side effects of some of these medications.
I spoke to a person very high in one of Canada’s largest Drug Stores. He was unaware of the detail of the bill and thought it would not effect them. Once I forwarded the Bill to him, he said, this is serious and then forwarded it to the executives. This Bill is being pushed quitely, quickly, and is not reflective of nearly all Canadian’s. How could we possibly tell our Aboriginal, Inuit, new Canadians from Asia, Europe, etc. that the natural remedies that have been in their families for years are now ILLEGAL. Wording is dangerous in a Bill and stating natural products are like pharmeceuticals is just irresponsible. Coffe is caffiene which is natural. Most of us have 2-3 a day to get a little lift. This could technically require a Dr.’s prescription, a very extreme statement, but how can officials pick and choose with a bill that would consider all natural products, herbs, devices, etc. to have to be regulated be the medical profession. Dr.’s will not prescribe vitamins & herbs, they will move us to medication that they know about.
Let’s save the jobs, the businesses, and continue to give the people of our great country a choice in their health care decisions. Don’t get me wrong, we have the best emergency medicine in the world, we have great drugs and treatments, however, I just would prefer to not get critically sick in the first place. I would rather be using natural products for prevention than to be like one of the 51% of Americans that are now on a monthly prescription. How will we tell our Inuit, Indian, Asian, European, other cultures that the natural remedies that have been in their family’s for years are now illegal. Common sense must kick in at some point. This bill is bad for the economy, bad for our people and is driven by fear tactics which will ultimately force us to see a Medical Dr.’s that we don’t have.
Please vote Bill C-51 Down!
Thank you for your time and should you have a hearing on this Bill I would value the opportunity to appear before you.
Greg Staley
12 Jun 2008 - 18:38
I am a 52 year old male from Texas, this effort to take away natural products from the public is not just a Canadian problem! I believe it is global effort of the huge drug cartels of the world.
You Canadians fight this tooth and nail because we Americans will continue fighting keep natural
products for public use.
Thank you.
David Mitchell
Sour Lake, Texas