If you have emailed us with a question, or if you are thinking of emailing us with a question, do check the information on this page, it may be that your concern is something you have in common with the thousands of your fellow citizens who are engaged, angry and active.
As you will know if you have emailed the NHPPA, we can’t reply to each and every message, but if you have asked for information you will receive a reply, even if it takes a while. It’s also a good idea to check our recent E-Blasts, many of which contain useful ‘CLICK HERE’ links to information on our website. If you do not yet get our E-Blasts please sign up here. This means that your question is so popular, we have devised, written and uploaded a page especially to answer it.
It does sometimes take time to get back to you. This is because there are hundreds of you writing to us, and because our answers have to be researched if we do not have the exact answer. We do not leave anything to our imagination but source the current truth/facts in all legal, regulatory or industry inquiries.
In order for your questions to receive answers in a timely manner, this page houses a few supporter FAQs to help you…
…HERE ARE THE TOP 11 QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK:
“I WANT TO WRITE TO MY MP, BUT I’M NOT SURE EXACTLY WHAT TO SAY.”
This question came up repeatedly during the run up to the last Federal election. We devised a series of letters in English and French for you to download from our website. Each letter had a different spin on the situation but contained irrefutable facts and figures. Each contained a space for you to add your own concerns and individualize the contents. We learned from Parliament’s reaction to our letter writing campaign to Senate , when similar letters were dismissed as ‘computer generated’, and we advised you to go through your chosen letter(s) with a highlighter and ask your MP to address your specific concern in a reply. Although the letters on our website were written some time ago, they are still completely relevant today. Many of you are taking up our suggestion of writing to your MP once a month, and thank you for sending us the replies you receive! We may not reply to you every time, but we use the information to inform our research into what MPs need to hear.
CLICK HERE to access NHPPA’s Writing Letters to MPs Action Kit.
“MY MP DOESN’T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM.”
You sent us the replies you received from your MPs. They were invariably the same. A standard letter, containing Health Canada’s assurance that the system was for your safety. This made you really angry. ‘How can I make my MP get it?’ We asked one of our stakeholders, an experienced industry retailer, to put together an education pack which would outline the situation, the history and the problems with the 2004 NHP Regulations so simply that even an MP would understand. It remains the single best introduction to the natural health crisis in Canada and we recommend it to anyone who wants to get up to speed with the details so that they can begin conversations with their networks.
CLICK HERE to access NHPPA’s 308 Freedom Network Citizens’ MP Package.
“I WANT TO SEND LINKS TO PEOPLE BUT THEY’RE DIFFICULT TO FIND.”
Many of you see or hear an interview with Shawn and think, ‘that would be a great thing to email to my networks’ but by the time you go back to look for it, the link has been taken down by the TV or radio station. When you write to us asking for the link, we have had the same problem. We have solved this by capturing permanent copies for our YouTube channel. And to make things even easier for you, we have a page of links on our website telling you exactly how long each clip is, so that you can save some time looking for the perfect segment.
CLICK HERE to access all of the videos on NHPPA’s YouTube Channel.
“I’VE BEEN COLLECTING SIGNATURES FOR THE PETITION BUT EVERYBODY SAYS IT WOULD BE BETTER TO HAVE AN ON-LINE VERSION.”
Yes, on-line petitions go viral very quickly and some governments take notice of them, but currently Canada doesn’t. This query came up so frequently that we called the Clerk of Petitions in Ottawa to check the situation. Our decision to stick with an ‘old fashioned’ petition is based on the fact that the Canadian government MUST respond to it. We have researched the current protocols in Ottawa fully and have the answers posted on our website. We send the link to anyone who wants to know more about the petition before collecting signatures.
CLICK HERE to read NHPPA’s full report on Paper vs On-Line Petitions.
“MY LOCAL HEALTH FOOD STORE DOESN’T HAVE ANY OF YOUR MATERIALS, WHY DON’T YOU CALL THEM?”
Many local stores are reluctant to be seen by Health Canada to be ‘rocking the boat’. Yet nearly half of the others do not know what we do or know how to access our information. There is no database of current emails to store owners or managers for NHPPA to use to directly contact each and every store across Canada. There are roughly 4500 health food stores, most of which would be willing to help collect petition signatures for The Charter of Health Freedom, and put up posters for local events. We have been suggesting that you, the customer, might have the greatest influence to have stores create an area for NHPPA’s material and help as them to support our work financially. Many of you have been taking petitions to your local stores and have been telling us that even retailers seem uninformed about the way regulation is taking the industry.
CLICK HERE to access NHPPA’s Store Support Action Kit.
“MY LOCAL MEDIA DOESN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS, WHY DON’T YOU DISTRIBUTE PRESS RELEASES?”
We do! All the time! Mainstream media seem reluctant to pick up on the issues, as with our MPs they seem content to allow Health Canada to write the news. However, if you have a contact who would be interested in some information, we will research and write whatever they need…and we have done this several times over the last year. We can also arrange telephone interviews with Shawn, so check your networks for media people!
“WHY IS HEALTH CANADA DOING THIS?”
Alas, this is a question we can’t answer. But so many of you are angry now, the reduction in available products is touching the lives of the people around us and you write to us about terrible suffering. We read your stories and they impel us on to work harder for change. The level of anger out there is new and it has given us a new idea. Watch the toolkit section of our website, there are buttons for tools we haven’t supplied yet, this just mean we are still working on getting them exactly right. We will be supplying you with letters to send to Health Canada decision makers! These have to be very carefully worded (and checked by lawyers!) but they will include space for you to tell a named individual that they, personally, are causing you suffering. This is a big step to take, it’s taking a while to perfect, but it is something you are asking for and we are responding.
“HOW CAN I HELP?”
We love this question. There is so much you can do and you will receive a reply littered with ‘CLICK HERES’! You can collect signatures, write and visit your MP, contact your local media and, of course you can support us as we support you. We need volunteers and we need funds. Both enable us to get the tools you need out there faster. For example, a small team of 3 volunteers, working half a day a week on the telephone would speed up some of our projects by a matter of months. It would free up our experts to write more extensively, allow our core team to ramp up engagement for the legal challenge and develop and execute public campaigns and rallies to produce the pressure we need to forward NHPPA’s solution.
CLICK HERE to access NHPPA’s 8 Citizen Action Steps flyer and work it!
“CAN YOU HELP ME TO…?
We love this one too. Do you have a great idea to motivate your network? Ask us for support and you’ll get it. This year we have sent out .pdfs of information leaflets to countless individuals who have identified a great local spot for a petition station. We have sent out DVDs of Shawn’s presentations to those great people (you know who you are) who have had an information and movie night at home. What a great idea that is! We have supplied leaflets for, publicized and assisted with web development for a great public rally at the BC Legislature. We have organized meetings, presentations and discussion groups across the country. Do you want Shawn to speak in your town? We’ll support you all the way.
There’s a web page for that too, CLICK HERE to find out what sort of timescale and facilities we’d need to work with to make it happen.
“WHY DON’T YOU…?”
We receive many, many ideas and suggestions. Some are policy changes, some are website changes, some are changes to our media profile, some are ideas for events. We read them all. We consider them all. Some are ideas we have either tried and found unsuccessful, or have considered and rejected on balance as taking funding or time away from another core function. Sometime we’ll write back and say ‘what a brilliant idea, can you volunteer some time to help make it happen?’ Please don’t be offended if your suggestion doesn’t happen, we’ll usually write back and explain why and often it just comes down to not enough funding. We love to hear from you, we love that you’re engaged and angry.
“WHY IS THE LEGAL CHALLENGE TAKING SO LONG? WHAT’S HAPPENING?”
We know that the pace legal issues take to pursue can be frustrating. Our challenge to the 2004 NHP Regulations as unconstitutional, if it is to succeed at law, must be meticulously researched and that takes time and funding. We know that a defeat in the courts could set our cause back irreparably and we are sufficiently convinced that our case against Health Canada is strong enough to win, that we won’t risk acting too soon.
There has been significant progress, we can only tell you about a very small part of it for confidentiality reasons, however, our legal team is in place and their research is complete. We update those in our 308 Freedom Network database on any news that can be shared publicly. There will be news soon, we ask you to bear with us as we work behind the scenes to ensure a watertight presentation of legal fact. If you are not already, please consider offering your support to move through this process to a victory.
WE’RE CRAFTING THE TOOLS
But only you can use them.
We can support the grass roots, we can energize the citizens, we can educate, advise, inform and encourage but we cannot BE the citizens of Canada.
Only you can do that. One by one. And you are.
Thank you.
