(soon to appear in Health Naturally magazine, in Canada)
Shame on You, Toronto
Politics is the art of convincing others that the power one wields over
them is for their own good. Most politicians fear that if their true
motives ever become known, they will be thrown out of office. Mr. Mel
Lastman, Mayor of Toronto, take note.
On March 1, the City of Toronto went into the business of licensing
holistic therapy practitioners. Applicants must show up in person at the
Licensing Commission and provide (a) proof of training at an "approved"
facility, (b) proof of eligibility to work in Canada, (c) two pieces of
identification, (d) two passport sized photos plus pay an annual fee of
$143.
Those practitioners who work out of their homes must obtain both a
"Holistic Practitioner's Licence" and a "Holistic Centre Licence." They
must also hold $1 million in comprehensive insurance, file corporation
documents, and submit to a police check. Approval if granted may take
up to eight weeks, during which time the applicant must sign an agreement
not to practise. Licences will be refused to those working out of their
homes in non-commercial zones. Hundreds perhaps thousands of
therapists will either be forced out of work or compelled to rent offices
(provided there are enough available and affordable).
What excuse does Toronto give for wielding this incredible power over the
livelihood of alternative practitioners? Why, it has to protect the
gullible public from body-rub parlours masquerading as therapy centres. In
its attempt to legislate morality, "Toronto the Good" does not care how it
affects the dignity or incomes of honest practitioners. Apparently, no
price (paid by the innocent) is too high in the crusade to stamp out sin.
What Toronto is doing is both discriminatory and unconstitutional. No city
has the legislative authority to license health care practitioners. The
Constitution Act, 1867 makes health care the exclusive domain of the
provinces. In 1993 the Province of Ontario enacted the Regulated Health
Professions Act, which abolished the licensing of all health professions.
How does the City of Toronto presume to be a higher authority in
"bestowing" (or refusing) the right to practice?
Mr. Lastman, why are
you carrying out the agenda of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of
Ontario (CPSO)? Are you in their pocket or merely their unwitting pawn?
The CPSO is one of the world's strongest trade unions one that will go
to great lengths to try to eliminate its competition. The CPSO was dealt a
severe blow by the Regulated Health Professions Act, which stopped them
from prosecuting alternative practitioners for "practicing medicine
without a licence." Undaunted, the CPSO tried another approach. In a
landmark case, an alternative therapist was charged with fraud for
providing a non-medical form of treatment. Had this man been convicted,
you can bet the CPSO would have wasted no time in laying fraud charges
against a whole slew of alternative practitioners. Fortunately, the ploy
didn't work. The charge of fraud didn't stick.
Medical tyranny is being handed a golden opportunity. If Toronto can get
away with restricting alternative practitioners, then the CPSO and its
counterparts in other provinces will certainly do what it can to persuade
other cities to follow suit.
Mr. Lastman, whether you are helping the CPSO by accident or by design
does not matter. The results are the same. To prove conspiracy or
collusion under the Competition Act, one does not have to prove that
conversations actually took place between the two parties involved. It is
only necessary to demonstrate that one party is the direct beneficiary of
the actions of the other.
To the CPSO I have this to say: Why do you fear competition? Do you not
have confidence that orthodox medicine could survive in a health care
market that offers consumers freedom to choose?
Note: This editorial was e-mailed to Mel Lastman prior to publication
asking him to respond, and telling him the date by which he needed to
reply to meet our press deadline. No response was received.
