Bill C-51 Still Being Debated. More Letters Needed ASAP.

[Guest guest]

Poster's Comment: Please repost to all Canadians you know.

 

Originally planned for April 28, 2008, deliberations for Bill C-51 are

continuing as we write, so HANS is encouraging everyone to keep those letters

and

e-mails coming.

 

The high level of consumer concern over Bill C-51 is definitely reaching the

House of Commons, where we have insider reports of your letters being read

and reread by Members of Parliament, most of whom are just now learning

firsthand of how important this issue is to Canadians.

 

To reiterate, HANS is concerned that Bill C-51 - a bill that proposes

changes to the Food and Drugs Act - may detrimentally impact consumer freedom

to

purchase from amongst a variety of safe, affordable natural health products.

 

For starters, changing the definition of both drugs and natural health

products to " therapeutic products " , as Bill proposes, does not acknowledge

fundamental differences between the two. HANS feels that maintaining this

distinction will be vital if Canada is to have an appropriately regulated

natural

health products industry.

 

In 1999, the 53 recommendations put forward by then federal Minister of

Health Allan Rock and the Standing Committee on Health were intended to ensure

natural health products did not get regulated using a pharmaceutical-type

framework, which is exactly what has happened.

 

Bill C-51 progresses this type of thinking, both in its definitions and its

bestowing of greater powers on Health Canada and federal inspectors to

enforce regulations and demand industry compliance - a move that could result

in

reduced product availability. On the matter of monetary penalties for

non-compliance, the Bill also doesn't make distinctions for the size of an

operation;

a small family retail business or a multinational manufacturing giant could

be fined the same maximum amount of $5,000,000.

 

Shawn Buckley, LLB, is president of the Natural Health Products Protection

Association (NHPPA) and keynote speaker at a public event on June 2, 2008, in

Vancouver, cosponsored by HANS and Common Ground Magazine. Buckley, in a

recent statement, summarizes the situation:

 

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 percent of license applications have

failed. These have been the " easy " applications. Expectations are that 70 to 75

percent of applications will fail. For the natural health products community,

this means that 75 percent of natural health products that we rely upon for

our health will become illegal.

 

This creates the following scenario:

- 75 percent 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 the market.

 

 

HANS - Health Action Network Society - is a non-government funded, natural

health consumer network representing our membership and the general public's

interests in Canada since 1984. Related to Bill C-51, HANS echoes the concerns

of the NHPPA, concerns also expressed by the trade-based Canadian Health

Food Association, as well as other groups naturally and internationally.

 

How to Get Involved

 

1) Contact your Member of Parliament ASAP.

Inform him/her that:

- you are opposed to Bill C-51;

- you want him/her to vote against Bill C-51;

- you want your access to natural health products protected.

 

To find out who your MP is, search by postal code at:

_http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOf..._

(http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOf) ...

 

2) Send a copy of your e-mail to nhp.

 

3) Support HANS by joining as a member for $35 a year. Memberships and

donations by natural health consumers are the primary source of funding that

enables us to do this work. Sign up online at www.hans.org. Or, make a

tax-deductible donation to HANS; every bit of support helps.

 

4) Forward this e-mail to everybody you know and request that they do the

same.

 

5) Sign up for the HANS e-News, a free service via www.hans.org, in which we

will be including Bill C-51 updates.

 

6) Phone your MP and the Prime Minister's Office to voice your concerns.

Dial toll-free 1-866-599-4999 and ask to be transferred to any MPs office.

The hours of this service are:

Monday - Thursday, 8:30 - 6:00 pm Eastern standard time

Friday only, 8:30 - 5:00 pm Eastern Standard time

 

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.

 

7) Introduce this issue to your local media.

 

8) On June 2, 2008, attend the " Endangered Natural Health Products " public

event in Vancouver, co-hosted by HANS and Common Ground Magazine

Speaker: Shawn Buckley, LLB and president of the Natural Health Products

Protection Association

When: Monday June 2, 2008 7-9 pm

Where: St Andrew's - Wesley Church, 1022 Nelson Street, Vancouver

Tickets: available at www.hans.org or by calling 604-435-0512, or at the door

 

9) Also write a handwritten letter to:

- your local MP;

- Prime Minister Stephen Harper;

- Tony Clement, Minister of Health.

 

You can send your letters without postage to:

(Name of person)

House of Commons

Ottawa, ON

K1A 0A6

 

10) Get more information

Read the transcript of April 30th's House of Commons debate on C-51 here

(note that the debate has not finished yet):

_http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication..._

(http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E & Mode=1 & Par\

l=39 & Ses=2 & DocId=3

453748#SOB-2442132)

 

_http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E & Mode=1 & P

arl=39 & Ses=2 & DocId=3453748#SOB-2442132_

(http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E & Mode=1 & Par\

l=39 & Ses=2 & DocId=3453748#SOB-2442132

)

 

Read a copy of Bill C-51:

_http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication..._

(http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication) ... &

 

Read a Draft Discussion Paper on Bill C-51 by Shawn Buckley, president of

the Natural Health Products Protection Association: _http://www.nhppa.org_

(http://www.nhppa.org/) /

 

Watch this video:

_http://www.jameslunneymp.ca/video.htm_

(http://www.jameslunneymp.ca/video.htm)