Filed for publication with the Mirror
Dear (Health Minister) Mr. Adrian Dix, Premier David Eby and MLA Michele Babchuk:
I am very concerned about the status of health care in this province of BC. On Nov. 24, 2022 you quietly stabbed health care in the back in the form of Bill 36, which was rushed through the approval process with little notice and no opportunity for the 24 professions to discuss or debate, as it received royal assent on the same day.
I am told the NDP government invoked closure at clause 233, leaving more than 400 clauses unread and without proper scrutiny. This is an egregious lack of transparency, no matter which way you look at it. I am writing to you today to reverse this piece of legislation and give opportunity for proper debate and discussion amongst the professions.
• I do NOT trust this government to appoint any of the Six Proposed Colleges without having the appropriate professionals on each board. I do NOT trust that this government will make decisions in the best interest of my health. Keep in mind the recent debacles with flu shot supply and withholding information about COVID deaths in children.
• I do NOT feel safe talking to my doctor knowing that the government could seize and copy my clinical records at any time! The government does not have access to my private medical records now. Apparently, my legal right to confidentiality, a sacred principle upheld by physicians for generations, is relative in the province of B.C.
• I do NOT trust government appointees being able to impose arbitrary conditions of licensure, restrictions on the ability to practise, determine who has good character and who does not, and mandate medical interventions including vaccinations of any kind.
• The health minister will have overreaching power in the form of a discipline tribunal, but what will warrant disciplinary action? Could being critical of the government or the College bring reprisals on well-intentioned health-care professionals?
• I do NOT want my government, or my doctor (or any other health-care professional), making decisions about my health care. After all, according to Bill 36, the government will have the power through the courts to compel a doctor or other health professional to comply with government direction. Should this not be an informed discussion between a patient and their health-care professional? Forgive me for not seeing where the government enters into the therapeutic relationship!
Bill 36 compromises my right to confidentiality, and it creates a climate of suspicion and mistrust between the government and my health-care professionals. The government has left it open to new regulations to be added to this bill without notice. Many of the terms in Bill 36 are not properly defined. I do NOT agree that the government defines what the term “misleading” means.
Even now, I know of doctors and other health care professionals considering licensure in other provinces as a “backup plan,” in case the current government’s need to control and micromanage health care means they can no longer practise in B.C. How is this going to address the healthcare crisis we now have in BC?
Mr. Dix et al: will you listen to the united voices of BC citizens and the health-care professionals standing united against Bill 36?
Please do what is right and reverse this egregious Bill 36 and open it up to further discussion and debate by all parties involved.
(Citizens who cherish their Charter right to bodily autonomy, not to mention their Charter freedom of conscience, would be well-served to read Bill 36 and contact their elected Member of the Legislative Assembly voicing your concerns.)
Ingrid Pincott