Appendix A | Appendix B
August 3, 1988
The Honourable Jake Epp, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Health and Welfare
Brooke Claxton Building
Tunney’s Pasture
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0K9
My dear Minister:
The Commission has recently been contacted by , with whom I think your office
may already be familiar. suffers from environmental hypersensitivity, and is concerned that the
nature of that complaint has not been sufficiently recognized by government authorities and that
this, in turn, has added to the social and professional hardships which and other sufferers from
this condition are subject to.
Some years ago, lodged a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission;
the Commission did not feel the complaint could properly be dealt with under the Canadian Human
Rights Act. I am sure it was not the Commission’s intention at the time to question the
authenticity of ’s condition. It is my understanding that environmental hypersensitivity is
a true medical problem, and that we owe it to people who have the misfortune to suffer from this
syndrome to be more public and more positive in acknowledging that fact.
As you know, recently brought concerns to the Standing Committee on National
Health and Welfare, where received a sympathetic hearing (HC Issue No. 48, May 26, 1988). On that
occasion, expressed the hope that the Health Minister would state publicly that he is sympathetic
to the plight of those who suffer from environmental hypersensitivity and considers their concerns
legitimate.
My purpose in writing to you is simply to let you know that we consider this
request a reasonable one and that anything your department can do to increase public awareness of
the legitimate concerns of people like , would, in our view, be most useful.
Yours sincerely,
Maxwell Yalden
Chief Commissioner
Canadian Human Rights Commission
90 Sparks Street, Ottawa, ON K1A 1E1
January 22, 1996
Dear :
In your letter of January 13, 1996, you make some erroneous statements which
need to be corrected. At no time has the CMA encouraged the media or others to think of the
concerns of those individuals with environmental sensitivities as synonymous with those of
practitioners whose methods are unacceptable or not mainstream. We have not made any public
statements on alternative therapies other than that the term “alternate” for
alternative therapies covers a wide spectrum of activities, some of which are becoming more
accepted into usual medical practice and others that are devoid of any evidence of therapeutic
value to patients.
I am glad that you do accept that there are many physicians who are acutely
aware of the problems of environmental sensitivities and have expertise in this area and are
addressing the needs of patients with such sensitivities. I am sorry that you think that the
prevailing impression is that organized medicine does not consider the health complaints of
these consumers legitimate.
I am sure that you agree that confusing individuals with health problems with
therapies used to address them is counter-productive and leads neither to a better understanding
of complex problems nor of better care for individuals.
Yours sincerely,
Carole A. Guzman, M.D., FRCPC
Associate Secretary General
Canadian Medical Association
P.O. Box 8650, Ottawa, ON K1G 0G8
1867 Alta Vista, Ottawa, ON K1G 3Y6
CC: John Krauser, Ontario Med Assoc;
John Dwyer, CHRC;
John Molot, CSEM
Appendix A | Appendix B
