Hello my lovely readers!
I have so much news to share about the fabulous feedback and success at the yoga show and conference as well as pixs and stuff from my trip to El Salvador, however this will not be the entry to do that just yet.
I have now received numerous emails regarding BILL C-51. I remember reading many articles in health magazines about this Bill but for some reason I thought that it was just an exaggeration and that there is no way that it could bring about the “devastating” effects that these “green” mags implied.
Now however, I’m growing more and more concerned and I wonder if there might not be something more to this.
If anyone has really good insight into the issue, please enlighten me.
In the meantime..here’s a brief commentary from naturalnews.com that notes some of the
possible repercussions (of course its very one sided but it raises some interesting concerns nonetheless)
(NaturalNews)
” A new law being pushed in Canada by Big Pharma seeks to outlaw up to 60 percent of natural health products currently sold in Canada, even while criminalizing parents who give herbs or supplements to their children. The law, known as C-51, was introduced by the Canadian Minister of Health on April 8th, 2008, and it proposes sweeping changes to Canada’s Food and Drugs Act that could have devastating consequences on the health products industry.
Among the changes proposed by the bill are radical alterations to key terminology, including replacing the word “drug” with “therapeutic product” throughout the Act, thereby giving the Canadian government broad-reaching powers to regulate the sale of all herbs, vitamins, supplements and other items. With this single language change, anything that is “therapeutic” automatically falls under the Food and Drug Act. This would include bottled water, blueberries, dandelion greens and essentially all plant-derived substances.
The Act also changes the definition of the word “sell” to include anyone who gives such therapeutic products to someone else. So a mother giving an herb to her child, under the proposed new language, could be arrested for engaging in the sale of unregulated, unapproved “therapeutic substances.”
Learn about more of these freedom-squashing changes to the law at the Stop51.com website: http://www.stopc51.com
New enforcement powers allow Canadian government to seize your home or business
At the same time that C-51 is outlawing herbs, supplements and vitamins, it would grant alarming new “enforcement” powers to the thugs enforcement agents who claim to be “protecting” the public from dangerous unapproved “therapeutic agents” like, say, dandelion greens. As explained on the www.Educate-Yourself.org website ((http://educate-yourself.org/cn/canadian…), the C-51 law would allow the Canadian government’s thugs enforcement agents to:
• Raid your home or business without a warrant
• Seize your bank accounts
• Levy fines up to $5 million and a jail terms up to 2 years for merely selling an herb
• Confiscate your property, then charge you storage fees for the expense involved in storing all the products they stole from you
C-51 would even criminalize the simple drying of herbs in your kitchen to be used in an herbal product, by the way. That would now be categorized as a “controlled activity,” and anyone caught engaging in such “controlled activities” would be arrested, fined and potentially jailed. Other “controlled activities” include labeling bottles, harvesting plants on a farm, collecting herbs from your back yard, or even testing herbal products on yourself! (Yes, virtually every activity involving herbs or supplements would be criminalized…)
There’s more, too. C-51 is the Canadian government’s “final solution” for the health products industry. It’s a desperate effort to destroy this industry that’s threatening the profits and viability of conventional medicine. Natural medicine works so well — and is becoming so widely used — that both the Canadian and American governments have decided to “nuke” the industries by passing new laws that effectively criminalize anyone
selling such products. They simply cannot tolerate allowing consumers to have continued access to natural products. To do so will ultimately spell the destruction of Big Pharma and the outdated, corrupt and criminally-operated pharmaceutical industry that these criminally-operated governments are trying to protect. ”
Below I’ve listed some resources that speak to the bill and I’ve also even attached my first email that I’ve ever directed towards my MP (those who know me will be in shock with this foray into the world of politics for sure :). It was written quickly and with a bit of ooomph behind it for effect,so it may sound brief,blunt,harsh and definitely one sided but hey, that’s how I was feeling at the moment and i’m curious to see what type of response I get (if I get one of course).
“I just wanted to let my voice be heard in regards to this Bill. This bill would in effect outlaw many natural health products/remedies that have been used throughout history from generation and generation and also sold in small independant health food stores that I prefer to support. This in itself is a crime, not to mention the “enforcement” powers related to this bill seem to be in direct violation of my rights. I do not need the pharmaceutical companies to control pricing and quantities of natural supplements that I have been using for many years nor do I need them to manipulate politicians into thinking they are “protecting” the public from dangerous products.
This bill is a slap in the face to those who prefer to use natural therapeutic remedies to safeguard and nourish their children and themselves with natural and affordable products versus many of those offered by the pharmaceutical industries.
I would like to know your position on this bill.”
Some Resources
http://www.stopc51.com/
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=3398126
http://nhppa.org/
http://www.acubalance.ca/
http://www.stopc51.com/c51/legal_review.pdf