The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - Our health in whose hands？

00:00:00.000 hello and welcome once again to the blueprints this is canada's conservative podcast with new

00:00:14.420 content for you every single tuesday 1 30 p.m eastern time i'm your host jamie spale member

00:00:19.520 of parliament for haliburton 4th links brock we ask that you like comment subscribe and share

00:00:23.560 this program you can also download and listen to it on platforms like cast box itunes google play

00:00:29.180 and spotify a message that is not always said in the mainstream media and something ears need to

00:00:35.000 hear eyes need to hear this show and we need your help to do that another great program lined up for

00:00:40.380 you and another great guest he's coming back on the show a friend of the show dr stephen ellis from

00:00:45.600 cumberland colchester member of parliament for that writing and also the critic for health

00:00:49.840 the shadow minister for health a good man thanks for coming back on for myself and i think many other

00:00:56.700 mps uh they're getting calls emails and they you name it uh regarding some tinkering that health

00:01:03.700 canada is thinking about doing with their their regulatory uh requirements concerning uh natural

00:01:09.940 health products and this is something that the liberals seem to do every time they're in power 0.68

00:01:13.480 i remember this back in like 2004 they were tinkering with it or thinking about tinkering with it

00:01:18.140 and and luckily the conservatives won power in 2006 and all that kind of stopped and then of course

00:01:23.780 they're back in power now and here we go again so tell us about what is going on just so we can all

00:01:28.940 explain it before i go into to uh kind of more questions on on the specifics yeah you know what

00:01:35.180 maybe it's a harbinger that uh that there's an election coming up and and we can uh get control

00:01:40.000 again and and move forward with with the non-tinkering uh but that being said uh generally speaking

00:01:45.780 there are significant regulations around natural health products in canada they've been proven to be

00:01:51.200 very very very safe and and well regulated uh however as you mentioned the liberals once again

00:01:56.620 want to begin to make changes and most importantly as i've met with the uh with the natural health

00:02:02.660 products association is with regards to labeling and with regards to a cost recovery program as they

00:02:10.840 uh as they named it uh as the government the liberal government has named it so those are the

00:02:16.120 two main things that have caused significant consternation and concern uh for the association

00:02:22.580 and many of this association represents mainly small and medium-sized businesses which we all know is the

00:02:29.860 the backbone of of canadian business

00:02:32.540 so um why does this keep coming up over and over again when liberals are in power i think that's the

00:02:42.240 the one thing that i think i know the answer i can probably come up with a few but is it more about

00:02:47.820 uh uh kind of the the bureaucracy in general trying to come up with a another brilliant idea and then

00:02:54.020 and then not realizing that small businesses across canada could be put out of business altogether

00:02:59.460 because of some of their changes that they're proposing yeah i think it's i think it's obviously

00:03:04.660 uh you know a few different things they want control uh you know the liberal government loves to

00:03:10.120 control your life and and tell you exactly what you can and cannot do um so i think that's that's one

00:03:16.340 of the important things i think we also need to understand that uh they fail to recognize the

00:03:22.920 importance that natural health products are to canadians i would have to say that my office has

00:03:28.980 received more inquiries of concern with these changes than i want to say any other legislations that

00:03:37.420 has been proposed in the last 18 19 months since i've been in ottawa even more than bill c21 which

00:03:45.520 of course was related to to gun control it would be a toss-up but it's an amazing number of people who

00:03:51.520 use natural health products uh and it's their choice this is what they choose to do to use something

00:03:57.680 uh that they feel uh improves their health and and their outlook and well-being and in canada of course

00:04:05.000 knowing that this is already a safe space uh because there's been many many years of use of

00:04:10.560 natural health products that uh that we know that to add regulation is just unfair regulatory burden

00:04:16.760 to consumers and to manufacturers and distributors who are these small and medium-sized businesses in

00:04:22.700 canada and not only that there are some common sense common sense solutions to to this problem and

00:04:29.800 or so-called problem that you you would say one would be uh as you talked about off air was uh using

00:04:36.360 a qr code that could put the the requirements that health can is asking for and in many different

00:04:41.580 languages and and as it changes you can update the wording right rather than having to deal with

00:04:47.820 labeling issues like there are there are so many easy solutions to this problem that health

00:04:54.160 candidate has created because as you said off the top it is well regulated and it is safe

00:04:58.480 i really like what you said you know because this is a space where you could use some innovation

00:05:04.820 and heaven forbid you could use common sense here to make these changes to say you know instead of

00:05:11.820 um you know making these tiny print on plastic labels uh that are peel off on a on a bottle of

00:05:21.640 say vitamin d that you could actually be innovative and and move forward and say

00:05:27.160 because we know that many people from different backgrounds who speak primarily a language other

00:05:33.840 than french or english would then be able to use a qr code to have it in their native language that

00:05:39.200 would that would be more helpful to improve actually improve understanding which would also improve

00:05:44.140 safety uh that would allow us to be very respectful uh to to people who have chosen to make canada their

00:05:50.860 new home and we could also do it for indigenous populations as well uh because it appears there

00:05:56.540 perhaps is uh uh percentage wise or per capita wise more indigenous and more immigrant people who

00:06:03.080 would use natural health products than perhaps someone like myself who was born here in canada

00:06:07.660 be that as it may it's important that we're respectful of people have chosen to make canada their home

00:06:13.260 and people live here now so if there's innovative ways we can make changes that also doesn't involve

00:06:18.520 adding a bunch of plastics and i think we would all agree that that would not be a great idea

00:06:22.860 that we could make those changes very simply personally i i think those labels where you

00:06:28.640 have to peel off are just a pain because sometimes you rip the whole thing and then you've got a piece

00:06:33.500 of whatever laying around or in the garbage it drives me absolutely crazy so having something like

00:06:38.740 this and and this is something we talked about a few shows ago common sense with this government is

00:06:43.360 out the window nothing seems to make sense with this government but of course to to to get away with

00:06:49.180 you know moving away to for the elitist opinion you have to go with what is opposite from the common

00:06:54.900 person right so you have to and then somehow do the mental gymnastics to make what you're saying

00:06:59.940 new and otherwise uh sound reasonable which never really does well it's it's an impossibility when it's

00:07:07.100 just not reasonable you you can't you know when you begin to think about it you say i can't wrap my

00:07:12.220 mind around that what is the sensibility because there isn't any there's no common sense attached to it

00:07:17.340 and i and i think the other thing that we know very clearly with these regulations the other

00:07:22.540 non-common sense thing of course is is that they as they have named it the liberal government has

00:07:27.760 named it their cost recovery program uh and we all know that these these uh these remedies these

00:07:34.000 natural health products are already subject to gst and hst so there is an element of cost recovery

00:07:39.360 there but they again want to go beyond that and and my only thought is related to the fact that

00:07:45.760 because they spend money like there is no tomorrow they have to start recovering money somehow and

00:07:52.340 this is of course it's another a tax on businesses it's not just a tax but it is an attack on businesses

00:07:59.700 small and medium-sized businesses who manufacture and distribute natural health products in canada

00:08:05.140 and we know that this these exorbitant fees that the liberal government is asking them to pay

00:08:10.640 is going to drive them out of business and for me that's a huge concern we know that

00:08:15.080 canada is built upon small and medium-sized businesses and this will drive them out of business

00:08:21.340 death by a thousand cuts which is some people describe what the liberal government is doing

00:08:26.080 to small business right across canada it really doesn't matter what field you're in it's it's one

00:08:31.120 regulatory burden one hurdle one more uh red tape uh hurdle that you have to go through and

00:08:37.640 figure out where your small business you should be focusing on on on keeping your business going

00:08:42.660 or innovating or coming up with the next great thing though big corporations they have lots of

00:08:46.680 resources at their disposal and they can do that often quite easily while putting barriers in in in

00:08:52.660 front of a small business while lobbying government to do that right it's quite the cozy relationship

00:08:57.440 the uh the big industries have with with government and they love it well you know what the the concern

00:09:04.100 i have on top of that is is with these costs associated with labeling changes and their quote

00:09:10.920 unquote cost recovery program once we drive canadian businesses out of business not we once the liberal

00:09:17.700 government drive them out of business the difficulty is is then canadian consumers who still have a desire

00:09:24.140 for natural health products will have to obtain them internationally and um i don't know if i mentioned it to you

00:09:30.520 or not jamie but i had a conversation with the health minister minister jean-yve duclos about these two

00:09:35.680 things and i asked him very specifically is would these new burdensome regulations be applied to

00:09:42.800 internationally made product uh and he couldn't answer me that question and therefore you know all we're

00:09:49.540 doing then as a country is putting our own businesses at a significant disadvantage and of course you know if

00:09:56.300 there's no financial burden for international companies then they are not going to go out of

00:10:01.900 business or feel the sting at all and then canadians will be driven to use internationally made products

00:10:07.640 which when we have our our own here in canada those are the ones we should be supporting another issue i

00:10:14.180 have with this whole thing is it to my understanding this won't be brought forward in legislation

00:10:18.800 correct this will be more of health canada bringing in a regulation that has the force of law

00:10:25.720 without parliamentary approval giving these unelected bureaucrats and the minister

00:10:32.100 to uh some extraordinary power to start to bring in sweeping rules that could put businesses out of

00:10:39.780 business and and and parliamentarians don't have the opportunity to debate this in parliament you know

00:10:46.000 what as as you well know and and viewers need to understand this as well listeners need to understand

00:10:51.820 this this is a trick of the liberal government we saw with the order in council around handguns and

00:10:58.160 banning guns in general uh and we saw with uh an automatic escalator tax on alcohol uh things that we

00:11:06.300 don't get to vote on in parliament that they have just enshrined into their regulatory and burdensome

00:11:11.320 processes that normally would have the checks and balances of everybody looking at and saying hey does

00:11:16.520 this continue to make sense uh you know why are they doing it please explain yourself tell us the pros

00:11:22.840 and cons we'll tell you the cons because we already know what they are uh tell us why you think this is

00:11:28.780 necessary explain to canadians why it's necessary and once again what we see is this uh as you mentioned

00:11:36.240 this ability to create laws that are not created by the usual means but create these unnecessary and

00:11:43.860 ridiculous financial and regulatory burdens for for canadian business isn't it interesting that

00:11:50.100 no matter what happens when these regulations are brought in by regulatory means right not a vote in

00:11:57.080 parliament that none of the bureaucrats actually lose their job right like if a rule of regulation

00:12:03.180 comes in that shuts down a mill or oil and gas or a small business with these uh regulatory changes

00:12:10.780 to health canada nobody is punished like nobody loses their job so if you put a mill out and 0.99

00:12:16.260 there's hundreds of people out of work which then subsequently shuts down the whole town because of

00:12:21.340 all the spin-off businesses like nobody gets punished because of it and and they and it's not a law in

00:12:28.500 parliament no and of course the other difficulty is is you know just as well as i do that this liberal

00:12:34.700 government has continued and continued and continued to add civil servants to their ranks and now the i

00:12:42.700 think the civil servants from a federal perspective is has increased by 30 percent uh in the last eight

00:12:49.120 years of this uh liberal trudeau government and we know that the the the cost associated with that is

00:12:56.000 significant in terms of pay and sadly uh bonuses even when a good job is not being done

00:13:02.340 and benefits cmhc is a classic example you know they haven't created one new house for one canadian

00:13:09.920 and boy they still love to get their benefits how about the cbc they still got their bonuses and their

00:13:15.920 benefits uh as the cmhc did and and uh you know when we look at those things uh that doesn't make any

00:13:23.140 sense there is absolutely no common sense associated with that we both know that this is this is something

00:13:29.320 that um has been going on a while so as the liberals decide okay we're back in power we're going to

00:13:37.460 regulate these health products we tried back in the early 2000s the conservatives came into power that

00:13:42.760 kind of went away for a bit now we're back in charge uh it's just a rehash of the old agenda which

00:13:48.700 basically is as you said off the top a bit of control but also the fact that why would the government

00:13:53.900 let let the let pesky canadians make make decisions they might hurt themselves right this is

00:13:59.260 this is we know best and that and look at everything the liberals are doing it all comes back to that

00:14:05.900 trying to control your life saying what you can do what the government approves of and what they don't

00:14:10.740 and and and if you rail against them or come out against them they'll put you on the naughty list

00:14:15.720 absolutely i mean this is a solution looking for a problem and it's uh adding smaller print

00:14:23.020 to a bottle which is already impossible to read is is not going to solve anything uh you know maybe

00:14:30.880 it's the government trying to say well you know you must read this you must do this you must do that

00:14:36.160 the liberal government as you mentioned is is absolutely insincere and and opaque or non-transparent

00:14:43.160 in their approach to why they're doing this and again uh it taking it is taking away the choice

00:14:50.300 of canadians of how that they want to manage their health care and we know there's there is already

00:14:56.780 6.5 million canadians without access to primary health care so it stands to reason that more and

00:15:02.060 more canadians are choosing uh to look after their own health in their own way and as as that problem

00:15:08.900 continues i suspect that there will be more and more canadians choosing to look after their own

00:15:13.460 health in the way that they wish to do so which really is the country that everybody should want

00:15:18.800 to live in less government interference in your life and more freedom to make the choices which

00:15:24.700 you think are appropriate for you and for your family and i think after the pandemic coming out of

00:15:30.120 that a lot of people kind of woke up to to kind of you know how their health and bodies are looked

00:15:34.780 after and kind of we're looking for different options and and and like you said we should have

00:15:39.320 options options are good you know competition is good you know this this type of thing should be

00:15:46.140 should be uh you know regulated so it's safe but at the same time available to those who choose to

00:15:52.960 to try something and i think that that's uh you know that's the environment that exists at the current

00:15:58.940 time so as i said i mean this is a solution looking for a problem and you know i talk to many people

00:16:05.460 here in my local town and of course you know they say i when i go to buy something i also talk to the

00:16:13.720 person who's selling it who has knowledge related to that product uh or if i'm you know if i'm buying

00:16:20.020 it at a pharmacy if it's a vitamin or it's a coenzyme or whatever it is then i will talk to the

00:16:25.380 pharmacist pharmacist about it and ask questions uh to say hey it does this make any sense is this right

00:16:31.780 for me does this have any excuse me interference with the medications that i'm taking is it okay

00:16:37.500 to take with you know with the other uh illnesses that i have is it going to raise my blood pressure

00:16:42.820 etc so i don't believe that what they're asking is going to tell you to do that uh again the common

00:16:50.620 sense to say i'm i'm on some perhaps on some medications i'm trying to avoid medications and how

00:16:55.700 does this fit into my overall plan because ultimately as canadians we are responsible for

00:17:02.620 our own health we should not be abdicating that responsibility listen i know i'm a doctor but you can't

00:17:09.240 abdicate that responsibility to your doctor either or to your any of your primary care providers you

00:17:15.660 certainly cannot abdicate that responsibility to your government nonsense nonsense from the common

00:17:23.340 people uh doc ellis uh the word is always given the floor is always given to the the guest you can

00:17:30.820 clean it up from here uh how would you like to close it out well you know what i want to make it clear to

00:17:35.940 folks that we have abdicated on your behalf to ask for an extension of the consultative period

00:17:41.300 that is something that i specifically asked to the minister of health the johnny duclos and the second

00:17:47.460 thing is to say that these regulations if heaven forbid they're enacted they need to be also uh

00:17:55.660 used in the same manner with internationally produced products so when we look at those

00:18:02.100 things i think that's important i'm very very very sad to report that he really had no answers

00:18:07.480 for those two questions that i laid at his feet uh but as conservatives of course and i know uh my great

00:18:13.960 friend jamie smale is is is always excited to do this but we will hold this government to account

00:18:19.560 and we will ensure that canada continues to be the freest country in the world love that doc ellis

00:18:26.400 member of parliament card for uh cumberland colchester also the critic for health the shadow minister if

00:18:31.380 you will we appreciate your time we haven't had you on in a while and i do apologize i i don't know

00:18:36.040 why but we we'll fix that we'll have you on again there's no shortage of uh health related stuff we

00:18:42.060 could talk about and i absolutely uh thank you for having me here today jamie anytime thank you for

00:18:47.480 your time doc and thank you for your time as well please like comment subscribe and share this program

00:18:52.720 this is something i think is affecting many people i'm sure you heard about it in your conversations

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00:19:19.420 freedom that's the blueprint

00:19:38.960 freedom that's the plan for you now it's gonna be okay to make out Mm va-dank for the 0.98

00:19:41.140 term almost all of a bit of a bit of a burden that's not very cheap as it is but

00:19:43.940 you know the isaac band that platforms you get was aesthetic that

00:19:48.960 if you say i'm creative and you're not doing that right this is is what's gonna be

00:19:53.320 the internship you're not doing that well it's going to be something that has really

00:19:58.120 or something that's an awesome script that's been helpful it's satisf этой

00:19:59.880 of its w Ripmond's tiene so it's probably a couple of the latest and videos

00:20:02.160 you of got it that was totally unbridged where and that was kind of a full

00:20:05.920 intention with the technology that I understand how many of the shootings I you show it

00:20:08.140 Thank you.

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The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - July 21, 2023

Our health in whose hands？

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