Canadas Food and Drug act: Bill C-51 and why its a terrible idea.

  Recently, the Canadian government has been trying to spearhead a bill aimed to amend the food and drug act. Bill C-51 aims to implement tighter controls and regulations regarding “therapeutic products” and the industry regarding. Let me make this clear: I am absolutely against Bill C-51. I believe it unfair, discourages liberty and hinders free market fundamentals, as well as being racist to certain groups in Canada and is an excuse for the federal government to intervene in private affairs.

 If implemented, an estimated 60 to 70 percent of natural health products will fail Bill C-51 strict regulations and will become illegal - as well as criminalizing the people using them. This will cripple the alternative medicine industry, shutting down many small businesses. This is unfair to them as a company, and unfair to us, the consumer, because it forces the user to purchase conventional medicines, an unfair advantage to large pharmaceutical companies.

  Many believe, once passed, Bill C-51 will force all alternative medicines a prescription drug ( requiring a prescription.) This is stemmed from the bill where it states that “no person shall sell a therapeutic product unless they are a licensed practitioner and/or the sale was made in a prescribed manner.” What exactly is a “therapeutic product?” As a matter of fact, Bill C - 51 comes with a handy dictionary, full of new terms and definitions: doublespeak if you will. A therapeutic product is defined as “cells, tissues, or organs that are distributed for use of treatment, prevention of diseases and disorders, modifying the body etc…” Unless alternative medicines consist of something other than cells, then according to the act you could only purchase a homeopathic remedy with a prescription. However, many conventional doctors discourage use of natural health products, equating them to placebo. It is likely that no patient will ever have a prescription for alternative medicines. Speaking of prescriptions, unless vitamins and minerals consist of something other than cells, that would mean you would need a prescription for those as well…

  Further strict regulation also would take its toll upon personal liberty and privacy. Inspectors, appointed by Health Canada, would be given substantial authority over therapeutic products and anything related. These new powers give the inspectors authority to enter private property, whether it be a store or a personal computer, freely and without warning. They can take samples of products free of charge, and seize and destroy property. Inspectors can virtually do and command anything they wish if they feel it breaches the act. This bill eliminates personal freedoms and rights all Canadians deserve to have, economically and morally.

  Bill C - 51 would also suppress the spiritual and cultural rights of many Native American groups. If allowed to come into law, and alternative medicines were ultimately eliminated from the market, Native Americans couldn’t employ many of the certain and special herbs in their sacred ceremonies. Thus, these groups would be unfairly suppressed and many would be arrested as practising their traditions would be considered illegal without a prescription. This bill would directly breach the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms where it guarantees freedom of conscience and religion.

  Federal health minister Tony Clement claims the bill would allow the federal government to be able to continuously monitor the safety of products even after they have been approved. How can the federal government monitor the safety of “therapeutic products” when over 30,000 people die in Canada already from drugs that are already regulated and prescribed? If the federal government implements Bill C - 51, the penalties for infringement on the act increase a disturbing 1,000 times, compared to the penalty of the current food and drug act. As Canadians, we cannot let the federal government challenge our rights and freedoms. Bill C - 51 is immoral because it strips people of their choices in their own health, and because it suppresses ethnic traditions of the indigenous people of Canada. As Canadians, and champions of democracy, we cannot let this bill come to pass and undermine our liberty.