Canadian Society of Homeopaths


PROFESSIONAL REGULATION IN ONTARIO:
UPDATES

HOME      >>POLITICAL ACTION      >>PROVINCIAL REGULATION  






April 29, 2010:
The next meeting of the Transitional Council of the College of Homeopaths of Ontario will be held on Monday, May 10, 10 am to 5 pm at 163 Queen Street East, 2nd Floor, Toronto.  The meeting is open to the public, however seats are limited and pre-registration is required.  Contact info@collegeofhomeopaths.on.ca or 416-862-4780 for details.




February 24, 2010:
The College of Homeopaths of Ontario launches its official website at www.collegeofhomeopaths.on.ca.  The site features information on the transitional council, including its members and mandate. Also available are numerous frequently asked questions about regulation and the transitional process.

Note that the next Transitional Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 10, from 10 am to 5 pm.  Interested observers are welcome to attend although you are advised to provide advance notice of your intention due to space limitations.




February 23, 2010:
CSH Associate member, Andrea McClintock provides a series of candid and in-depth reports on the organization and progress of the Transitional Council on Andrea's Blog.




October 23, 2009:
The Ontario Public Appointments Secretariat announces the appointment of a transitional Council of the College of Homeopaths of Ontario.  The new members are:  Whitney Collins, John Curran, Kathy Desjardins, Jim Dunsdon, Eden Gajraj, Ron Harris, Violetta Ilkiw, Ling Goh, Joseph Lloyd-Jones, Margaret Martin, John David Millar, Wangari Muriuki, Luba Plotkina, Bhupinder Sharma, Kelly F. Warren, Mirsada Vins.

The inaugural meeting for the transitional Council is open to the public to observe.  It will be held on Tuesday, November 3 at 9 am at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel (Raptor Room), Once Blue Jays Way, Toronto.

Space will be limited so please reserve a seat by contacting the Registrar, Basil Ziv, at 416-862-4783 or basil.ziv@collegeofhomeopaths.on.ca.




June 29, 2009:
The Ontario Public Appointments Secretariat announces the appointment of Basil Ziv, CCH to the position of Registrar to the Transitional Council of the College of Homeopaths of Ontario.  Click HERE for a copy of the official announcement.




March 2, 2009:
The Ontario Minister of Health and Long-term Care has asked for input to another report from HPRAC, which is entitled Critical Links: Transforming and Supporting Patient Care.  This report contains a recommendation for amendments to the Naturopathic Act, 2007 that would expand the Naturopaths' scope of practice to include the prescribing, dispensing, selling, and compounding of many drugs, including homeopathic medicines.

Many homeopathic stakeholders (including CSH) with membership or students in Ontario consulted about how best to respond to this recommendation and several of them agreed to co-sign a group letter.  Although the CSH Board could not support elements of this letter (and therefore was not a signatorie), we did respond to the Minister on behalf of our members.

Your Board believes that it is important that any scope of practice changes involving homeopathy should not be extended to naturopaths before they are recognized for homeopaths.  Therefore we have encouraged the Minister to direct the transitional councils under the Homeopathy Act, 2007 and the Naturopathic Act, 2007 to work in tandem to propose amendments to their respective Acts that will grant the controlled act of prescribing, dispensing, selling, and compounding homeopathic medicines to both professions at the same time.

Our concern is based on the federal government's proposals last year (Bill C-51) that contain the potential of restricting the availability of certain natural health products -- including homeopathic medicines -- except by prescription through practitioners who are authorized access by their provincial governments.  In such an eventuality involving homeopathic medicines, we feel that it is essential that homeopaths have at least equal access as naturopaths.

CSH members are encouraged to read more about the HPRAC report and to contact your MPP to express your thoughts about its recommendations.




August 12, 2008:
The Public Appointments Secretariat has posted a webpage [Click HERE ] that will provide updated information about the status of the Transitional Council of the College of Homeopaths of Ontario.




April 10, 2008:
We have been informed by the Ontario Ministry of Health that the positions for members of the Transitional Council and for full-time Registrar have now been posted.  Click HERE for full details about these positions and the process required to submit an application.  Please note that the deadline for receipt of these applications is May 30, 2008.

It is expected that the Minister of Health will select 9 Transitional Council members from within the profession and 8 from the public sector.

For those of you who are willing and able to take on this important commitment, please let us know of your interest in applying for either position.  Contact us at homeopathy@csoh.ca and we will keep you up to date with any additional news or suggestions that may assist you in your application.




September 30, 2007:
Many professional homeopaths in Ontario are understandably concerned about their ability to practice once the College of Homeopaths of Ontario becomes established.  Will they be grandfathered into the new College?  Will they be required to upgrade their training?  Will they be able to afford the annual fees required to maintain a licence to practice?

Unfortunately, no one in government is able to provide answers to these concerns.  All decisions will be made by the new Transitional Council, positions for which will not be posted until after the October 10th election.

Of particular interest at this time is the grandfathering option, which refers to the practice by new professional bodies of initially fast-tracking the intake of members based on their registration with other professional bodies.  With the new College of Homeopaths, grandfathering would help to demonstrate broad participation and consensus within the profession.

However, there is no way to predict whether or not the Transitional Council will use this method of building a membership base.  If they do choose to use the grandfathering option, registered members from all professional organizations should have equal opportunity of being accepted.  Should it occur that members of an association were not fairly represented on the Transitional Council, that association could bring the matter to the attention of the Minister of Health, who could either encourage the Council to act more inclusively or dissolve the Council and select new members immediately or some time in the future.

Although there is no guarantee that the Transitional Council will agree to the grandfathering option, we advise all professional homeopaths in Ontario to become registered with one of the professional associations within the next year.




June 4, 2007:
Bill 171, Health Systems Improvements Act, 2007, received Royal Assent on June 4, 2007.  With respect to the Homeopathy Act, 2007, only Sections 1, 2 and 12 came into force on Royal Assent.  Section 1 provides the name of the new College as being the College of Homeopaths of Ontario; Section 2 provides that the Health Professions Procedural Code is deemed to be part of the Homeopathy Act; and Section 12 provides for a transitional period before the remainder of the provisions come into effect.

During the transitional period, the government will appoint a Transitional Council and Registrar to develop and implement regulations, by-laws, and policies necessary for the implementation of the Act.  These positions, which will be open to all residents of Ontario, will be posted on the website of the Public Appointments Secretariat, probably later this year.  When these postings occur, the CSH Board will notify all our members in Ontario in order to support those who may want to apply.