Candidates

IMPORTANCE OF HAVING SEATS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

The most effective way to help Canadians maintain and enhance their health is to have Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons that present Private-Members’ Bills and thoroughly question Government Health Care Bills (e.g., Bill C-6 in 2009, Bill C-51 in 2008). For example, if Bill C-51, tabled by Conservative Minister of Health Tony Clement on April 8, 2008, had been passed in the House of Commons and adopted by the Senate, the health of Canadians might not have been protected:

• Bill C-51 was in the best interest of big chemical drug pharmaceutical companies (big pharma), not in the best interest of the health and safety of Canadians. It provided a provision – amendment 15.1 (2) – that provided the Health Minister with the discretion to allow direct-to-consumer advertising, which would have made it easier for big pharma to mislead the public about the efficacy and safety of prescriptions drugs.
• Bill C-51 grouped natural health products with chemical drugs as “therapeutic products”. If Bill C-51 had passed, manufacturers of natural health products, which have not caused a single death in Canadian history, would likely have been required to comply with the same rigorous and expensive clinical trial licensing requirements as big pharma. This would have forced many natural health product manufacturers into bankruptcy.
• Bill C-51 was going to make it illegal for anyone to sell or give away up to 60% or more of the natural health products that are currently on the market. Yet, more than 70% of Canadians use natural health products with few adverse side-effects.
• If Bill C-51 had passed, parents could face criminal charges if they gave organic herbs or nutritional supplements to their children.
• Bill C-51 would not have supported the growth of the naturopathic, homeopathic or holistic health care industries. It would have supported the treatment of illnesses, disorders and diseases with prescription drugs.
• If Bill C-51 had passed, doctors would have been required to focus more on the chemical treatment of illnesses, disorders and diseases. It would be illegal for them to promote health by prescribing many of the natural health supplements and holistic nutritional products that are currently on the market.
• Bill C-51 would have made it easier for Health Canada inspectors to prosecute anyone who sells many of the natural health products that are currently on the market. The maximum fines would have increased from $500 to $250,000 for a first time summary offence and from $5,000 to $5,000,000 for an indictable offence.
• If Bill C-51 had passed, many naturopathic and homeopathic doctors who currently prescribe natural health products that prevent illnesses would have been forced out of business.

FIRST HPPC CANDIDATE – IN CONSTITUENCY OF PARRY SOUND MUSKOKA

David Carmichael will likely be the only candidate for the Health Promotion Party of Canada (HPPC) in the next federal election. He plans to run in the constituency of Parry Sound Muskoka against incumbent Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) and Industry Minister Tony Clement, the former Ontario Minister of Health (2001-2003) and federal Minister of Health (2006-2008) who owned 25% of a Toronto-based chemical pharmaceutical company that makes ingredients for big chemical drug pharmaceutical companies (big pharma) when he was appointed Minister of Health by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2006.

During the election, David will be talking about the need for the Government of Canada to:

• Invest at least 10% of the money presently spent on health care into health promotion programs that help Canadians maintain and enhance their physical, mental, social, and spiritual health.
  
• Invest at least 1.5% of the money presently spent on health care on research, with a minimum of 20% of the research funds granted to projects that are designed to gather information that will help prevent illnesses, disorders and diseases.
• Change the 1972 Registered Canadian Amateur Athletic Association (RCAAA) provision of the Income Tax Act to make community sport organizations eligible for charity registration numbers, so they can pursue local foundation grants and donations to help ensure that all youth in their communities have opportunities to participate in quality recreational and competitive sport programs to help reduce crime, drug use, depression and obesity, and to develop excellence.
• Establish a federal Ministry of Physical Activity and Sport based on the 2003 Physical Activity and Sport Act, which acknowledges that physical activity and sport are integral parts of Canadian culture and society and produce benefits in terms of health, social cohesion, linguistic duality, economic activity, cultural diversity and quality of life.
• Amend the 1990 Insurance Companies Act to make participant bodily injury liability insurance affordable for organizations that provide physical activity and sport programs for Canadians.
• Make prescription drug manufacturers operate in a more transparent way and hold them accountable for adverse side effects by amending the 1985 Food and Drugs Act so they face criminal charges for withholding results from clinical trials about the dangerous side effects of a prescription drug when seeking a Drug Identification Number (DIN) from Health Canada, and for making fraudulent claims about efficacy and safety in, for example, ghostwritten articles published in peer-reviewed medical journals.