I just got an email back from my local MP, Libby Davies, about Bill C-51. This bill proposes to regulate and illegalize consumer use of natural health remedies - the issue is currently a hot debate in Canada’s Parliament, and it’s nice to see so many of my neighbours getting riled up about it. Of course, Vancouver East residents are particularly fond of their natural health remedies.

While Bill C-51 is hardly the USA Patriot Act, it does contain some pretty scary stuff that infringes on our rights as private citizens. The Stop C-51 website lists some of the entries in the bill that are of particular interest, including information pertaining to the seizure of private property without a warrant and at the cost of the property holder. Check it out…

Here’s what her letter said, if you’re interested.

Dear Malloreigh,

Thanks for your message expressing your opposition to Bill C-51, An Act to Amend the Food and Drugs Act.

This bill contains a lot of proposed changes. Some of there are necessary and have been long needed. Others are more troublesome.

I am particularly concerned that this bill opens the door for direct-to-consumer advertising from pharmacological and other companies, which is currently banned in Canada. I do not feel this bill allows for strong enough pre-market testing of pharmaceuticals and do not feel it creates a transparent system of drug safety and testing.

One of the biggest issues I have heard from people in Vancouver East are the proposed changes to the way natural health products may be addressed. I favour an approach that will balance the right of Canadians to choose health products for themselves, with the need for oversight and regulation, to ensure the safety of consumers. As it is, I think the bill needs to be changed, in terms of what type of oversight it will mandate for natural health products.

My colleague, MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis, is the NDP Health Critic. She, and all of us, will be watching the progress of this bill very carefully, and will be representing the NDP on the committee that will study the
bill. She will be bringing all these concerns, and more, forward to the committee and will get this bill changed. I am including a link to the debate in Parliament about this bill, here:

Bill C-51 in Parliament

Thanks again for writing - letters like yours help me keep the pressure on here in Ottawa.

Sincerely,

Libby Davies, MP
Vancouver East

In case you were wondering, I whole-heartedly support Barack Obama’s campaign for the United States Presidency in 2008. I even purchased an Obama Spoke Card. (Proceeds from the $1 spoke cards do not go to Obama’s campaign, but instead to the production of spoke cards which are then distributed to bike co-ops and cycling groups to promote the cause for change.)

I strongly believe that if Obama becomes President, a lot of the wrongs that have been committed over the last however-long in North America can be reversed or at least patched up. I am super excited to see how things work out.

By the way: I’m not American, so I’m not going to be covering any of this in my blog. Sorry, guys, but I’m not informed enough. If you’re American, though, you really should be. Voter apathy is tragic. You have at least a little bit of power to affect change, and it won’t just make a difference within your borders. There’s an unjust war going on and it needs to end, amid a number of other international issues.