Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/72312
WHAT'S UP IN CANADA? DISADVANTAGES OF REGULATION If or when regulation goes through, many people agree that start-up can be expensive. Ongoing operating costs aren't inconsiderable either; the annual budget for the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario for 2006 was more than $4 million. When asked about the disadvantages of regulation, Parr is frank, "Your costs are a little higher. There are always cost issues when you regulate a group of individuals and … this tends to drive consumer costs up somewhat." Higher educational standards mean it takes longer to enter practice so there will be fewer people able to provide the service, he adds. However, Parr emphasizes that the benefits outweigh the costs and there are safeguards in place so standards don't change so fast as to be prohibitive. The phenomenon of "creeping credentialism" in which higher and higher standards are fobbed on therapists too fast is prohibited by the governmental oversight process, Parr says. "You have to follow the law and work within the regulations … which means you are not a free agent in the world," says Deborah Worrad, registrar for the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario. "You have professional obligations and responsibilities. And you have financial obligations. I don't necessarily see that as the downside, but it is a reality." There's a cost involved to balance out the benefits, she says. "Some people like to be freer and of course anyone has the option to be an unregulated bodyworker; they don't have to belong to the profession." Marchand provides a personal example of how regulation restricts his practice. "As an MT in British Columbia … we are not allowed to use any sort of medical electricity [like] TENS machines, ultrasound, or cold laser. The general public can go buy a TENS machine and use it on themselves … and yet I'm not allowed to take training and use that because it's outside my scope of practice as a healthcare professional. That's a challenge." THE ROAD AHEAD There are many broader challenges ahead as letters are written, governments are lobbied, and the paper piles up. Proponents of single-category and multi-category systems all desire regulation, yet the obstacles are laid down not just by provincial governments but by the competition itself. Marchand makes no predictions when more provinces will be regulated, though he says a lobby group like the AMTWP slows the march to regulation of massage therapy. "One of the difficulties we've heard from the provinces [is that] if there's more than one association, governments have told them, 'We want to deal with one association,'" he says. "If there were some compromise toward adopting the multi-category model, many of the obstacles on the road to regulation would be cleared," MacDougall says. However, as it stands "We have no identification yet as to when [regulation] would occur. Some of the provinces have said no, outright. They're not going to move forward with regulation. Quebec, in 1999, declined. Saskatchewan is no. Manitoba said all the profession needs to come together to see what it would look like and even then they weren't sure it needs to be regulated. Nova Scotia is no. They [the provincial governments] haven't been convinced there's significant risk of harm. I know it's purported that they're on the brink of regulation, but that's factually incorrect," MacDougall says. 60 massage & bodywork january/february 2008 An official for Nova Scotia's Health Ministry said his office was flooded with letters that opposed regulation outright or expressed concern about the form of proposed regulation so the legislation didn't go through. A source at the Massage Therapy Association of Nova Scotia who preferred not to be identified said the board intends to take it back to the membership to see if they will take another run at establishing a regulatory college. "New Brunswick has some legislation in front of them, but we spoke in opposition to it," MacDougall says. "It's not multi-category based nor were we consulted on development of that regulation. The last two years all I've heard is that [provinces are] going to be regulated. I hear, 'It's coming soon! It's coming soon!' If they were going to be regulated, why aren't they already regulated?" Robert Chute is a writer and massage therapist in Ontario. NOTES 1. Quoted with permission from The Fraser Institute, Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Canada: Trends in Use and Public Attitudes, 1997-2006, published May 2007. 2. At press time, the AMTWP changed its name to the Natural Health Practitioners of Canada.