Dear Minister of Health.
I am writing to you again concerning Bill C-36, and even the need for it.
Increasingly I am hearing of invasions of people’s homes and businesses by Health Canada Inspectors backed by RCMP to close the businesses and confiscate their stock of goods.
Dr, Eldon Dahl of Edmonton Alberta.
Marigold Compounding and Natural Pharmacy of Courtenay, BC.
In the case of Marigold Compounding Company of Courtney BC they were also accompanied by inspectors of the College of Pharmacists of BC. What rights do those COPBC inspectors have to be there, and to then decide that the business should stay closed until they choose to let a competitive company open again?
The very nature of compounding suggests that ingredients should be combined for the purpose of bringing relief to a physical problem. In the case of drugs this is a forced and potentially dangerous procedure. In the case of natural health it is a question of offering the body what it needs in one form or another so that it can mend itself.
The so called problem is that these compounded products do not have a DIN and that is the reason for Marigolds being closed and its stock confiscated. You of all people must be aware of how long it takes to get a DIN for natural health products – anywhere up to 2 years or so,( as opposed to a couple of days for pharmaceutical products) thus by the time the DIN is granted for a new natural health compound it is no longer relevant because:
a) the patient is dead from the problem or from the drugs administered by a doctor who may or may not know what he or she is doing, but they are doing it legally,
or
b) the then new but now old proposed compound is outdated.
This is all being done already in the name of Safety under the regulations of the Food and Drug Act, and I fail to understand why there is any need for Bill C-36 if it really is for the safety of consumer products as claimed.
The suggestion that Health Canada does not have the power to recall is simply stupid in the face of what they are doing in seizing products and closing businesses, with RCMP assistance, on the suspicion of wrong doing and with no criminal act being involved. Why should it matter if it is under the regulations above or the Hazardous Goods Act, the power IS there, it is just an excuse for Bill C-36 to say that it is not.
Bill C-36 is not designed for the safety of the people of Canada at all is it?
It is a mechanism through which you will bring in some more of these damaging regulations to ensure that the rights and freedoms of Canadians are stripped away for corporate gain.
I must hand it to you and your Reform /Alliance coalition government, particularly the Minister of Justice, for the way which you side step the Bill of Rights by doing the dirty deeds through regulations which do not have to go before parliament for approval rather than through the Acts themselves. However with Bill C-36 there is more than enough evidence of your intentions. Foreign governments and bodies of foreign states are clearly to write the regulations for you.
I repeat my claim that Bill C-36 is absolutely unnecessary for the safety of Canadians, and combined with the regulations you will bring in from abroad will be damaging to the Rights of all Canadian People, and in case you had not realized it, that also means you.
In closing I would point out that in a letter to Charlene Simon concerning the labeling of GM foods, which she shared with me and gave me permission to quote, you clearly aligned you and your department to Codex Alimentarius
I quote you from that letter:
Health Canada has established a rigorous process for evaluating the safety in novel foods, including those foods derived from biotechnology, before they enter the Canadian marketplace. The department’s Guidelines for the Safety Assessment of Novel Foods describe the criteria for safety assessment, which are consistent with the recognized international standards adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
So am I right in assuming you consider GM foods to be novelties, not to be treated seriously enough to have their own labeling, yet Natural Health foods have to have a DIN number?
Minister, you also said in that letter to Charlene Simon:
To date, it has not been necessary to require special labeling for health and safety reasons for a GM food.
Thus I determine that a novelty food without any real food value but loaded with weed killers such as Roundup (toxic when ingested) can be foisted on an unsuspecting Canadian public disguised as real food, yet a naturally grown health food cannot even be allowed to be consumed by the same Canadian public unless it has a DIN.
If this Alliance / Reform coalition government, Health Canada and you Minister are to be taken seriously I suggest you understand what you are not only writing but also doing.
I do not approve, as one of your employers, with what you have been and are planning to do (Bill C-36) with your portfolio.
Jeremy Arney.