Advocacy work often comes with unexpected challenges.
Recently, NHPPA launched an ambitious mailing campaign to deliver Shawn Buckley’s brief supporting Bill C-368 to every Member of Parliament and the Standing Committee on Health.
This brief highlighted that Health Canada’s push to classify natural health products as therapeutic products—akin to pharmaceutical drugs—is unnecessary and harmful. It reminds MPs that Canadians have been pushing back against these changes since the 1990s and emphasizes that Health Canada already had the power to protect public safety under existing laws long before Bill C-47 in 2023.
When the Canada Post strike threatened to derail our plans to deliver Shawn Buckley’s brief to Members of Parliament, we knew there was only one option: find a way to make it happen.
With a car full of carefully packed envelopes, NHPPA team member Ruby made the 6-hour journey to Ottawa, where she passed the torch to Jessica, another dedicated member of our team. Jessica took the final step, delivering all 338 MP packages directly to the House of Commons mail depot, ensuring that our message reached MPs without delay.
Nothing—not even a national mail strike—can stop us.
Due in part to these efforts, this week we made history at the Standing Committee on Health! Damaging amendments were struck down and Bill C-368 was passed back to the House of Commons for Third Reading.
Our next steps are just as important—and we need your help to keep moving forward.
