What Is The Charter of Health Freedom?

The Charter of Health Freedom is a piece of proposed legislation that protects your constitutional rights by giving natural health products (NHPs) and traditional medicines their own Act. It has been drawn up using the knowledge and expertise of a wide-ranging consortium of natural and traditional health stakeholders.

The Charter would protect access to NHPs and traditional medicines by creating a separate legal category for them that is neither foods nor drugs.

Instead of being treated as though they dangerous drugs under the Food and Drugs Act, the Charter would deem NHPs and traditional medicines to be safe unless there is evidence of harm. This is the reasonable and effective assumption underpinning natural product regulation in the United States.

In short, the Charter is A Law For Natural Health Products.

The Charter of Health Freedom enables the definition and regulation of NHPs as a true third category with foods and drugs, a move that Canadians have specifically demanded of their government. It offers an appropriate, healthy, beneficial, safe and well-rooted change for regulating the nation’s natural health products industry; permanently.

The principles of the Charter of Health Freedom are universal in nature, but the language is specific to the Canadian legal/constitutional system. The Charter reaffirms in law the long-standing relationship citizens of our great nation have enjoyed with government as a servant, rather than master in our affairs.

TAKE ACTION: COLLECT PETITION SIGNATURES!

Most of Canada’s current MP’s are unaware of the true nature of Health Canada’s regulatory changes. Many have never even heard of the Charter of Health Freedom. It is up to us to not only educate our MPs, but also make them understand the strength of a desire for change among Canadians. NHPPA’s petition in support of the Charter of Health Freedom is being circulated across the country and is currently the second largest federal paper petition in Canada’s history. We are currently in our final push for signatures before finding an MP to introduce the Charter to the House of Commons. Help us have an even greater impact by signing, and getting as many people in your network to sign the petition.

In order to force Parliament to understand the strength of feeling among Canadians for change, a petition in support of the Charter of Health Freedom is being circulated across the country.

DOWNLOAD THE PETITION

CHARTER OF HEALTH FREEDOM PETITION

Collect as many signatures as you can and mail your completed petitions to:

Natural Health Products Protection Association
PO Box 151 STN MAIN
ST. ALBERT, AB, T8N 1N3

Learn more about the petition

WHY IS OUR PETITION IN PAPER AND NOT AN E-PETITION?

Find out more about why it started in paper and why it must remain that way.

WHAT ARE SOME OTHER WAYS TO GET INVOLVED?

COLLECT SIGNATURES IN YOUR STORE OR CLINIC

Help drive the Charter of Health Freedom petition signature count higher by setting up a petition station in your store or clinic.

Download the Store & Clinic Support Tools: Petition Station Essentials for everything you need to help share the importance of the Charter of Health Freedom with your customers and clients.

The Charter of Health Freedom is a solution that is needed more now than ever. It was drafted to prevent the overregulation of NHPs while, at the same time, actually giving the government more powers to deal with those very few products that do pose a risk.

In the Spring of 2018, Health Canada published a time-line for regulating NHPs in the same way as chemical pharmaceutical drugs. Between the Fall of 2018 and early 2020, the landscape of NHP regulation in Canada is going to dramatically change. This will lead to a further loss of NHPs and further censorship of truthful health claims. For an analysis of these proposed changes, read the NHPPA’s Discussion Paper, Repeal of the Natural Health Product Regulations.

We are also facing other risks that would be prevented by the Charter. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the European Union and Canada (“CETA”) has been finalized. It is not yet clear how this trade agreement will affect NHPs. It is likely that the current Health Canada plan on regulating NHPs with the same regulations as chemical drugs, is connected to this Agreement.

We need a balanced and reasonable law for the natural health community.

We need a legal foundation designed to protect natural products, their manufacturers and retailers and the citizens who choose to use them. We also need a legal framework for effective regulation of the industry.

The courts tell us we have the freedom to choose how to treat ourselves and our families, but we can’t experience our freedom of choice if there is restricted access to safe, effective and high quality NHPs. The Charter of Health Freedom gives the government the powers needed to address safety concerns while at the same time charging them to respect our rights and freedoms.

In 1999. the Canadian people demanded an equal category for NHPs, treating them as neither foods nor drugs, and the government agreed. Despite this, NHPs are currently regulated as a subset of drugs within the Food and Drugs Act. This legal framework has led, inevitably, to the decline in products we have seen (and will continue to see) on store shelves, through expensive, inappropriate sometimes impossible regulatory demands.

The Charter of Health Freedom is a proposed legislation that gives NHPs their own Act. It is not a tweak, a change or a softening of current regulations, it offers natural and traditional products permanent legal protection.

Unless, we can move forward with a solution like the Charter, future generations will not even appreciate what we lost, control over our own bodies.

POWERFUL INTERVIEWS WITH SHAWN BUCKLEY ABOUT WHY THE CHARTER IS NEEDED NOW

To find out more about the current threat and why the Charter is needed now, more than ever, check out Shawn Buckley’s interviews with Hugh Reilly of ThatChannel.com and Robert Scott Bell.

More and more, Canadians are seeking to incorporate NHPs and alternative treatment options into their healthcare plan. The Charter of Health Freedom has the potential to set Canada apart as one of the most progressive countries in the world. The Charter envisions a health care system that is fully sustainable, culturally diverse and able to encompass natural, traditional and conventional medicine.

The Charter of Health Freedom is supported by a broad cross-section of Canadians, including consumers/citizens, NHP manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, natural health practitioners from many disciplines and cultures, and NGOs.

HOW WILL THE CHARTER PROTECT YOU?

The Charter seeks to ensure that the rights guaranteed to Canadians in our Constitution and our common law heritage aren’t extinguished by actions, well-intentioned or otherwise, of any governments, domestic or foreign.

Public pressure will bring this change about, as citizens who care about their health and their rights and freedoms educate themselves, their networks and their politicians. With publicity, media interest, a cross-country petition campaign and ever-increasing social media activity, the people are speaking.

The Charter of Health Freedom is a reminder to exercise the rights and freedoms we enjoy as Canadians.

INTERACTIVE CHARTER

The Charter of Health Freedom is drafted as complete legislation to be enacted word-for-word, letter-for-letter. Not all of us are lawyers, politicians or technically-minded.

Watch these short video clips to hear Shawn Buckley explain each section of the Charter of Health Freedom.