Don't scrap college regulating traditional Chinese medicine, critics warn province

Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners are rallying against a bill proposed by the Ford government that they say would endanger patients and allow unqualified people into the profession.

They're reacting to Bill 88, recently tabled labour legislation that would, among other things, scrap the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario, which was established in 2013.

"There has been no consultation whatsoever on the part of the government that they were even considering this move," said Heather Kenny, president of Traditional Chinese Medicine Ontario, an advocacy group.

"We are absolutely doing everything we can to speak out against what's happened."

Traditional Chinese medicine involves techniques like acupuncture, herbal remedies, cupping, proper nutrition and Chinese massage. According to Kenny, the bill has been tabled at a time when these treatments are becoming increasingly popular in Ontario, with almost 2,800 practitioners each managing a caseload that ranges from 100 to 250 people.

If the legislation becomes law, it would revoke all certificates of registration and authorization and scrap all active investigations into practitioners. Critics say patients and practitioners would no longer have a main regulatory body to submit complaints to..

The government says it's making the move because the current system shuts out prospective practitioners who speak only Cantonese or Mandarin, and it says other provincial bodies will oversee the profession. 

But Kenny says a coalition including thousands of practitioners, acupuncturists, educators and some of the country's biggest traditional medicine advocacy groups has come together to stop the plan. There is now a petition against the proposal that has about 25,000 signatures.

"We know that health care in Ontario is already incredibly stressed, and here we have this government removing viable options for health care."

As a practitioner with more than two decades of experience, Mary Xiumei Wu has pushed for regulation in Ontario and Canada since the mid-1990s and has joined the coalition to oppose the bill.

"We lobby to work with the government, the opposition, the politicians, [and] with our own people, trying to get our profession regulated," said Wu.

"We want recognition," she told CBC News.

Wu, who is also the president and founder of the Toronto School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, says she's been fielding calls and emails from anxious students. She says the move would make programs offered by at least 15 Ontario-based schools unnecessary.

She also says under the proposed legislation, practitioners of Chinese medicine and acupuncture will be on the same level as tattoo artists and ear piercers.