I have received over 800 emails and telephone calls from Canadians concerning Bill C-6.  So tonight, live from the committee room, I am blogging on the Social Affairs Committee proceedings concerning Bill C-6.  We we are hearing from Health Canada:

  Paul Glover, Assistant Deputy Minister, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch
  Robert Ianiro, Director, Consumer Product Safety
  Charles Ethier, Director General, Consumer Product Safety Directorate
  Diane Labelle, General Counsel, Legal Services Unit 

5:20pm:  Conservative senator Keon asks "why the paranoia over this bill?". Paul glover answers that the good guys want to catch the bad guys, the good guys being the ones who believe in safety. Don't we all? It hardly explains the need for extra powers. Keon persists ... Glover now says it's only one piece of legislation. Other acts would protect Cdns. So now Justice says you could always sue later. Lovely! After the damage is done???

I wonder if the objectives put forward by the federal governent make it sound like the Natural health food industry is filled with charlatans and snake oil charmers.  Many years ago (2003-04) the federal government held consulations across Canada asking for citizen's input regarding the Natural Health department. In the mandate of that department's creation was protocols aimed at protecting the consumer. Also standardization was implemented to make sure that all manufacturers were putting in ingredients that were claimed on the label. The government - through this department also instituted DIN numbers that all Canadian products had to have. These DIN numbers have been foisted upon every company, which increases their costs to make the product. Some of the smaller quality companies had to close due to financial hardship. i.e. they could not pay for 3rd party independent testing nor the fees required by health canada (5-10 thousand dollars per item)

If the Natural Health products Directorate is not living up to its mandate then the smart thing to do would be to revamp the department.www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/prodnatur/index-eng.php

Another element of this legislation is the removal of parliamentary debate and senate approval. If Bill C-6 becomes law any health changes are no longer brought forward as legislation but changed by the Minister of Health or his/her appointed assistant.  No longer will this legislation have to be posted in the Government paper - The Gazette.  In this manner the changes become active and the public is none the wiser.  Our freedom to choose is being violated, and other interests control my health.

As others have already commented the driving force behind this nonsense is big business (multi national corporations)  In my view this legislation smacks of a back door attempt to force the population to accept Codex Alimentarius. Codex was brough forward by the World Health organization in 2004. In this incarnation the legislation would have required an allopathic doctor to prescribe for patients any vitamins or herbs. Therefore, in North America since most allopathic doctors receive little or no training in vitamins or herbs, North American citizens would no longer be able to purchase anything other than the Registered Daily Allowance (RDA) of vitamins. For instance nothing more than 50 or 60 milligrams of Vitamin C or 100 international units of Vitamine E.

The function of Health Canada is to protect the health of Canadians. They are to make sure that we have quality products that do no harm. Over the years this ideal seems to been whittled away.  Why would the Government have to implement 'whistle-blower' legislation if the public was honestly being protected? Now it seems that hving some health casualties are ok as long as it is within a projected range. (Vioxx and Celibrix) The sudies being conducted by big pharma are not independent but in-house a lot of the time. The research is being manipulated and hastilly done to achieve the outcomes required by the corporation. Bad press hurst the company and reflects badly on company profits. The shareholders get testy, and stop investing.

Senator McCoy please stay independent and help get the word out about how this Bill C-6 is being railroaded into law without the consent of over 50+ 1 per cent of Canadians. Thank you!

Thank you Senator McCoy, this issue is important to many of us Citizens, most of whom are not aware of this bill. More public forums like this should exist, So the people can make their voice heard.

Thank you Senator McCoy.

For those Canadians wanting to make a diff & speak your voice to govt, please see this excellent website: www.faxthegovernment.ca

My deepest and heartfelt thank you Senator McCoy for taking the time to read my letter. (Of all the Senators, you were the only one who replied to my e-mail outlining the concerns over Bill C-6). I wish to thank you and  all Senators who are upholding and nurturing the trust of Canadians in this historic and unprecedented moment,  by making it clear that  you are not willing to let the brick and mortar of our democracy and freedoms as well as our very sovereignty crumble down, which is exactly what would happen in the wake of this Bill, if it was to pass. (Not to mention that we would all bear silent and powerless witness while the elite few behind the multinational corporations and organizations line up to grab everything else.)

It is outrageous that the justice department representative would state that the Bill passes the Charter test.

Then how about this:

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT.

12. Everyone has the right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.

Maybe the justice department rep also needs to be reminded of the Canadian Bill of Rights?

Canadian Bill of Rights

Senator Day sums it up ... Health Canada has overreached themselves. 

My sentiments exactly! Bravo!

I am impressed to see so many Canadians reaching out to their Senators.  While the presence of this legislation is disheartening to many, the whole event deomonstrates the importance of our bicameral parliament.  Way to go citizens and way to go Senators!

If some MLA's and Senators are so certain that this bill is to protect canadian people then getting a warrant by a qualified judge will support his need to search a suspicious place.  If those in authority feel this is the right thing to do then why does the conservative government want to give free will in the hands of someone without the knowledge of law or the rights of citizens.  This is a democracy not a policed state and those that think they are only doing it for the protection of Canadian citizens need to understand the difference between protection and violation of the charter of rights. 

Thank you Senator McCoy, Senator Keon, Senator Day and other senators that are standing up for Canadians. 

Kind Regards

Thank you, Senator McCoy, Senator Keon and Senator Day (and others) for taking the time to read the fine print and for challenging the scary powers of this bill. 

Here's a fine example of why having a second chamber is so important to Canada -- and how well the Senate is doing its job.  'Second sobre thought' is what our founding Fathers had in mind for the Senate when they established it, and that's precisely what it is doing.  Thanks to the Senators who are living up to their (historic)  responsibilities.

This bill will set a dangerous precedent if it goes through, the state will be able to seize and confescate your personal property without a legal warrant.  What is the purpose of it? for an act that is not broke, except the need for more power and to impose totalitarian measures on a free nation.

Senator McCoy, my belief is that Health Canada thought they had a slam dunk with this, and you and Senator Day must be making them really nervous by now.  And they SHOULD get nervous, because the public is just now starting to wake up.  If this Committee had the nerve to ask Shawn Buckley, Kamloops lawyer, and the very same man who sounded the alarm in the first place, they would have their eyes opened full wide. 

I would also like to thank Elaine McCoy,and the other Senators who understand that We Canadians do not wish to have the federal governent and Health minsters give powers of search and seizer baised on "their Judgment" this is why we have the courts to prove this. I agree that we can't leave this power in the hands of those I believe may who have in the past indirectly caused deaths becuase of poor or possible manipulated judgment from pressures of the PM's office or anywhere else. They have the ability to do this already with the other acts, Being a soveriegn Canadian I see this as an assult on our charter of rights and due process. Sometimes we lose sight of a Bill, such as C-6 and realize to our horror, that only the Senate can stop it. I have over 600 + people on face book who are watching this and believe me they are behind me 100% on this! Never under estimate a group of determined Canadians to expose the truth behind this power grab, and selling out of Canadian Soveriegnty to foriegn Goverments and multinationals which I belive what this bill is really about and come election which maybe be sooner then you think! We will be letting you know about it!!

I would also like to thank Elaine McCoy,and the other Senators who understand that We Canadians do not wish to have the federal governent and Health minsters give powers of search and seizer baised on "their Judgment" this is why we have the courts to prove this. I agree that we can't leave this power in the hands of those I believe may who have in the past indirectly caused deaths becuase of poor or possible manipulated judgment from pressures of the PM's office or anywhere else. They have the ability to do this already with the other acts, Being a soveriegn Canadian I see this as an assult on our charter of rights and due process. Sometimes we lose sight of a Bill, such as C-6 and realize to our horror, that only the Senate can stop it. I have over 600 + people on face book who are watching this and believe me they are behind me 100% on this! Never under estimate a group of determined Canadians to expose the truth behind this power grab, and selling out of Canadian Soveriegnty to foriegn Goverments and multinationals which I belive what this bill is really about and come election which maybe be sooner then you think! We will be letting you know about it!!

Thanks to Elaine McCoy,and the other Senators who understand that We Canadians do care what is happening. Sometimes we lose sight of a Bill, such as C-6 and realize to our horror, that only the Senate can stop it. And it is good to know the Senate has taken notice of such concern and does not simly put a rubber stamp on it. 8000 emails and calls means that four times as many people care, but did not receive an email as to where to reply to a senator. People work, and are busy with families and cannot always respond to what they feel about Bills. But we do care!

Senator McCoy, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, for having the courtesy to listen to what so many Canadians are now saying about Bill C6.  It shouldn't have gotten as far as it did, and it's dangerous for Canadians - giving power to an already corrupt Health Canada.  Instead of Bill C6, there should be an investigation into Health Canada itself, who fear-mongered this Bill into getting through the House of Commons.   I was alerted to the problems associated with Bill C6 by a Calgary university professor, who wrote in a local newspaper about how dangerous it is.

Please ask  Paul Glover, Assistant Deputy Minister, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch

why 9 Health Canada and RCMP searched and seized a naturopathic alternative known to heal ?

Here is an example of the power of abuse by Health Canada
From: Mary-Sue 
Date: April 17, 2009 11:49:48 EDT (CA)
To: "John - M.P. Baird" 

Dear Mr. Baird:

Eldon Dahl had no criminal record. He was not selling any addictive or harmful products. Yet for some unknown reason it was thought that four armed officers would be needed to invade his home in order to protect five Health Canada investigators. That's a total of nine people! Is this a reasonable use of manpower? In a time when we are being told that Canada is at risk from violent terrorists, is it reasonable to send four armed officers against a peaceful taxpayer who is simply engaged in helping people to use common sense about their diet and to keep themselves well? A five-minute investigation by police prior to this raid would have enabled them to see that the excess firepower was not needed.

However illogical the reasons may have been for this raid, it was Mrs. Dahl who answered the door. This woman had to face a drawn gun and a home invasion without any information being given to her. And as a woman who had grown up under communism, this was all too familiar as a memory of what had happened in her home country. Dr. Dahl had reassured her that Canada was a free society and that she would never again have to face gestapo-like police invading the home. This would never happen here, he'd told her.

Dr. Dahl is asking why he was dealt with in his heavy-handed manner. His wife and daughter were terrorized, his private home and private records were seized, including contents of a home safe that were personal, not business-related. Why was he not treated as a corporation (his personal business is incorporated) and according to corporate law?

Equally important, how is it that completely safe and non-toxic items were listed in the warrant (which they finally showed to him after saying he didn't have any right to know why they were there), as if some kind of crime is involved in advising people to nourish themselves properly?

The cops themselves were expecting to deal with a narcotics pusher; Dr. Dahl found out from talking with them that they didn't even know what was in the warrant. One of the charges listed against him was that he was selling folic acid with a higher dose than is available in Canadian drugstores, although everything listed there is being sold over the counter in the United States. As a criminal charge, selling folic acid as a therapeutic agent is ridiculous. Folic acid is not only safe, it's an essential nutrient. So many toxic chemicals to which we are exposed, as well as UV light, tend to deplete our bodies of this important biological compound. The typical dose available in drugstores may not provide enough to compensate for all these stresses on the system, although all we'd have to do would be to take two or three tablets instead of one to achieve better health protection.

In the strongest possible terms, I wish to register my objections not just to this raid, nor just to the idea that vitamins and herbs are dangerous. I object to the whole privatization and change of direction in Health Canada, turning that agency into an arm of the pharmaceutical industry. It is no longer the citizens of Canada, but the multinational drug companies which are now their clients. This is simple fact; it's stated on the HC website.

By no stretch of the imagination does criminalization of herbs and of therapeutic levels of vitamins constitute protection of the consumer! Enthronement of toxic drugs as "health products" is not based on superior science, just on science that has a lot of financial clout. If the whole pharmaceutical paradigm can only be sold to the public by forcibly removing the alternatives, then there certainly is not any obvious superiority in either its scientific foundation or in its results.

Bill C-6 does not protect Canadian families from risky products, nor does it defend our basic human and legal freedom. The government which put forward this abhorrent piece of legislation is not upholding justice which your party was given a sacred trust to carry out. Instead of defending human rights and freedoms, your government is now poised to inflict on us Bill C-6, which will further constrict our rights and unleash more such reprehensible raids.

Please protect the legal rights of Canadians engaged in legitimate health and other forms of business by withdrawing your support for this bill.

Thank you for your attention and for action on behalf of the rule of law and of human and legal rights.

Respectfully,
Mary-Sue Haliburton
(street address removed)