Update Canada 09-12-22
We’ve had some really good conversations this week with our legal teams concerning what’s going on in BC as well as in other parts of the country. I want to share with you that information, so good stuff for you today.
Good morning, Canadian chiropractors and allied health professionals. My name is Bharon Hoag. I am the Executive Director of the Chiropractic Defense Council coming to you today, September 12th, 2022, for your weekly update.
I had a great conversation with our legal team, actually just yesterday, on what’s going on in BC with the X-ray issue. They have literally read every piece of what’s been going on and how that came to be and are absolutely confident that we have the ammunition we need to make that change in British Columbia. So we are very close to going back to the college and getting our judicial review scheduled. There has not been a date scheduled.
I know, I told you before that October would be the date, but that has not been scheduled yet. We are going to start forcing that timeline now that we feel more prepared to be able to go after that. And just to remind you, there were some amazing chiropractors that had really worked on this primarily and got legal counsel to represent them. And then the CDC took over the fight approximately three months ago.
So it’s been taking some time for our legal team. One, they had to finish some of the work they were doing to open up some time for this, but they’ve been just really scouring and doing the research. Now, I want you to understand the importance of this case in BC. This applies to everybody throughout Canada and applies to other specialties, even our allied health, that when we’re going after our colleges, we’re setting the precedent.
Let me be clear, we’re not targeting them just for the sake of going after them. Whenever they’re really just doing a behavior that is reckless, and it’s outside of the protocols, it’s not in the best interest of the general public. Those are the things that need to be stopped. And across the history of Canada, we’ve seen this over and over and over again these colleges can operate unchecked.
It doesn’t mean that we’re going after them to shut them down. That’s not going to happen. But we want them to understand that there is now a check and a balance in place. They’re not going to get to just exert their authority without any consequences if they’re not following proper protocol.
And so that’s what’s been happening in British Columbia. And we believe, with this case, we’re going to be able to force them to do a better job of doing their due diligence.
When they created this X-ray rule, to begin with, they used one article. They had an agenda. It’s very obvious in looking through all of the data that they already knew what outcome they wanted, and then they went and they cherry-picked the information they needed to make it happen. And we’ve been having some people email us, and ask, “What is the X-ray issue in BC?”
To be very clear… I’m assuming it’s about two years ago. I was not a part of it at then, but I think it was about a year and a half, two years ago that the BC college introduced a new policy stating that you could not take routine X-rays, that only if you had serious findings that would necessitate that particular diagnostic test, can you do it. So this takes away the ability of providers that do CBP, Activator, AO, NUCCA, all of these types of techniques that are very X-ray dependent when we’re looking at certain things. They can’t take them just to take them for their diagnostic purposes. They have to have some significant findings.
That means these providers if they’re still doing their protocols the way they were trained and taught, have a potential for a violation with the college for violating that rule. It’s unacceptable. There is no data, really, to support that in the marketplace, any true data. And that’s what’s been happening.
And so now we have a team that is diligently doing their due diligence, and we’re going to fix this. But that doesn’t just apply to the chiropractic college. It applies to all the colleges. So the allied health people that support us, I want you to know this, we would be doing the same thing if your colleges were coming at you. It’s just chiropractic’s extra special. It tends to get a lot of debris.
And because we’re so unorganized and because we’re so segmented, it’s very easy to start picking at our profession. And that’s exactly what the CDC is trying to prevent. We are now coming together. We are now one group that will not allow them to overreach and abuse our profession simply because they can.
So lots of work is being done there that’s setting a precedent. The other case that we have going on with the chiropractic college in BC has to do with their process of doing investigations when a complaint comes in. That was already won, but they’re appealing it. This is important to our allied health and other specialties as well. In this appeal, they’re bringing in other colleges from other specialties because our case sets precedent for all colleges in the way that they do their investigations.
We’re actually excited about that. Our attorney still believes we’re in a very good position to uphold that decision. And this is going to set precedent for everyone.
Please understand, those of you that are not chiropractors, that the work we’re doing isn’t just for chiropractic. It happens to be in the chiropractic space because that’s where the issues lie. But they’re affecting the precedent for all colleges moving forward even in other provinces.
As we start looking in Alberta and Ontario, and we start looking in these other provinces where they have weird rules for marketing and rules that just don’t make a lot of sense, that inhibit your ability to communicate the truth about chiropractic, those things we’re going after, which will again affect every college. So please understand that the work we’re doing is designed to create a better environment, honestly, for the citizens of Canada where they have access to the appropriate kind of care, and they can be educated properly on why they’re seeking our care versus going against the traditional allopathic model.
So lots of work is being done. I need your help to continue to spread the word, letting people share this video. I spend a lot of time really going through, in-depth, the actual work we’re doing that makes a difference, and we want our professions to understand the work that we’re doing and why we’re doing it. I am trying to give you a little bit more meat in these videos.
I gave you a lot of information about the X-ray case. Next week I’ll share with you a little bit more about what we’re doing. I’m going after some of the rules as far as marketing and things of that nature. So I’ll just break these things down a little bit so you understand the work that we’re actually doing.
But please, we need your help. We’re very, very active in Canada. We need to continue to grow our influence. I told you my goal is to be at a thousand Canadians under our umbrella by the end of the year. We’re right at 580 right now.
So we’ve got some work to do. I would really appreciate your help spreading the word to your colleagues, letting them know that there’s an organization that’s working on their behalf to create an environment that is more conducive to our messaging. So that’s what’s going on in Canada. We love you. We appreciate you. Have an incredible remainder of your week, and we will talk to you next week. God bless you. (This is a computer-generated transcript. Please excuse any errors.)
