By Ruth Magnusson Davis

The new Health Professions and Occupations Act of British Columbia (HPOA) mimics the new law that was passed in California on January 1 this year, in attempting to gag doctors and to punish them for expressing opinions contrary to those that the government approves. However, while the California law targeted physicians and surgeons, the HPOA casts the net much wider. It may also affect nurses, physiotherapists, massage therapists, acupuncturists, naturopaths, chiropractors, and other health practitioners.

The HPOA was tabled on October 19, 2022, by NDP Health Minister Adrian Dix as Bill 36. It was then pushed through with little opportunity for discussion and became law in British Columbia on November 24, 2022.

The HPOA contains new provisions that can only be described as Orwellian. It gives the Health Minister power to appoint College Boards, which then:

1. must impose vaccination requirements on all health practitioners under their authority, for any illness the government deems necessary.
2. must impose proof of up-to-date vaccination status as a condition of licensing.
3. must dismiss, without notice or a hearing, any application for licensing or renewal of license that does not contain proof of vaccination.
4. if any health worker dissents (speaks out against College policies or fails to comply), may be disciplined with loss of license.
5. if an individual is deemed to have made a false or misleading statement (as determined by the government), may without notice to the person affected, apply for court orders to:
   • enter into premises to search, seize, or copy property [section 506],
   • lock up premises and prevent an owner from entering [section 511],
   • fine healthcare workers up to $200,000 for non-compliance [section 518(1) a-c], and
   • order jail time up to two years, in addition to a fine [section 518(1) a-c].

Corporations are subject to stiffer penalties, including fines of up to $500,000. In addition, directors may be fined up to $200,000 or be sentenced to up to two years in jail, or both [section 518(2) a-b].

By this new law, the BC government encroaches upon the professional autonomy of healthcare workers and their governing bodies. It also removes hitherto protected rights of bodily autonomy for the workers. It also threatens their livelihood if they, for any number of valid reasons, believe they should not or cannot comply with government dictates.

All this destroys proper democratic functioning. Further, since healthcare workers can be fined or imprisoned for providing information or advice that the government deems misleading, the government is now, in effect, the people’s doctor through coercion: only its opinion is allowed. Further, patients are effectively barred from seeking a second opinion concerning “taboo” topics.

The chief taboo topic on the government’s agenda will no doubt, at least in the short term, be Covid vaccines. While information pointing to their risks is withheld from the public by a silent media, along with studies from all over the world that highlight serious concerns, now healthcare workers will also be obliged to keep silent or lose their livelihood, face stiff fines, or suffer imprisonment.

Finally, the HPOA threatens to harm the public by creating further service shortages. The BC healthcare system is already struggling with chronic staffing shortages, due in part to the firing or retirement of health workers under Covid vaccine mandates. These harsh new measures could only worsen the situation if more practitioners choose to retire, or move to provinces where their rights are protected.

Ruth Magnusson Davis, a resident of Vancouver Island, practised law in British Columbia for 28 years before retiring to work in the New Matthew Bible Project.