Citizens for Choice in Health Care (CCHC) has launched an important initiative for natural health product retailers across the country to have their customers take action and stand up against Health Canada. See NHPPA’s original July 14, 2017 blog post below action steps.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?
IF YOU ARE AN NHP RETAILER:
ABC
1) Make as many copies as you can of the article “What Health Canada Won’t Tell You About Their NHP Proposals… but you should tell your MP“, to have at your checkout point.
- It’s a .pdf, formatted to print on 1 page. Print double sided, black and white
2) Make an equal number of copies of the MP Form Letter to have at your checkout point.
- It’s an 8 1/2 x 11 .pdf, formatted to print on 1 page. Must be printed double sided, black and white.
3) Insert both CCHC’s article and the MP Form Letter into customers’ shopping bags.
4) Support your staff with details to explain the issues, and the action, to your customers at your store’s checkout points. Encourage your customers to complete the MP Form Letter and mail it.
5) You can also urge your customers to make an appointment to meet with their MP to hand deliver the letter and discuss why retaining access to the safe and effective products they use and love is so important to them.
Retailers can download an introduction letter from CCHC.
IF YOU ARE AN NHP CONSUMER:
ABC
1) Read CCHC’s April 29, 2017 article, “What Health Canada Won’t Tell You About Their NHP Proposals…but you should tell your MP”
2) Download and print the MP Form Letter.
- It’s an 8 1/2 x 11 .pdf, formatted to print on 1 page. Must be printed double sided, black and white. Do not print on two separate pages.
3) Fill in the name of your MP, and ideally, add a few of your own personal comments.
4) Sign it, tri-fold it and seal the letter with tape only. Do not use a staple!
5) Mail it to your MP.
- It’s pre-addressed. No postage necessary.
Want to make even more impact? Hand deliver a copy of the letter to your local MP’s constituency office and request an appointment to personally discuss your concerns.
Find your MP and the constituency address of the Parliament of Canada website.
For more information and advice on how to prepare for a meeting with your local MP, see NHPPA’s Visiting Your MP Action Kit
If your health food or supplement dispensary does not have these MP letters for their customers, please let them know about this campaign.
Learn more about the threat Health Canada’s proposed new regulations pose by reading Shawn Buckley’s October 2016 Discussion Paper on the Regulation of Self-Care Products in Canada.
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NHPPA’s original July 14, 2017 blog post
Citizens for Choice in Health Care (CCHC) is a non-profit association based in Alberta whose primary goal is to advocate for the integration of complementary therapies as an accepted part of traditional medical practice. NHPPA endorses their work. On April 29, 2017, CCHC published a provocative article that sheds light on the hidden agenda for proposed “modernization” of Health Canada’s regulations on natural health products.
As a follow up, CCHC has launched an initiative for natural health product retailers across the country to have their customers take action. The campaign asks Canadians to write to their local MP and demand that they prevent the enactment of Health Canada’s proposed new NHP regulations. NHPPA encourages retailers and consumers to participate. Many of Canada’s MPs are newly elected and are not aware of Health Canada’s history to restrict access to NHPs and limit Canadians’ freedom of choice. These actions target how we identify ourselves and undermine our pursuit to live according to natural health principles. CCHC’s campaign is critical to making your voice heard by making all MPs aware of the unconstitutional nature of Health Canada’s plans.
Take part in this national initiative
It is likely that Health Canada’s new NHP regulations will come into law simply by being published twice in the Canada Gazette as an amendment to the Food and Drug Regulations. This means that there will be no parliamentary process. We are asking all NHP advocates to help monitor the Canada Gazette by using search terms such as “natural health products”, “self-care” or “Food and Drug Regulations”
Learn more about the threat Health Canada’s proposed new regulations pose by reading Shawn Buckley’s October 2016 Discussion Paper on the Regulation of Self-Care Products in Canada.
