A panel of doctors at a conference in BC said the province’s Bill 36 threatens health care professionals and patients and could be emulated by other provinces.

Bill 36, the Health Professions and Occupations Act, was passed Nov. 24, 2022, but has not been proclaimed. The NDP government invoked closure at clause 233, leaving most of the 645 clauses unread and not exposed to scrutiny.

Whereas college boards that regulated professions had half the appointees made by the government and half by members of the profession, Bill 36 puts the appointment power solely in the government hands. The number of colleges would be reduced from 15 down to six.

The bill allows a health professional to be fined up to $200,000 or jailed up to six months if they knowingly provide “false or misleading information to a person who is exercising a power or performing a duty under this act, or a person acting under the order or direction of that person.”

The fine is $500,000 if the doctor has incorporated his or her practice.