I was recently reading Iva Lloyd’s Excellent book “The History of Naturopathic Medicine: A Canadian Perspective”.
In it, I uncovered a remarkable set of facts about the history of Naturopathic medicine. In i952 in British Columbia a number of private citizens decided to establish a hospital for Naturopathic Doctors to practice in, financing it themselves. They were refused dues to clauses in the medical practice act and the B.C. Hospital act. Similarly a private individual, Sir Victor Sassoon, offered to personally finance a University Chair in Naturopathic Medicine in 1943. The British Columbian government again turned him down.
When medicare was institutued throughout Canada, Naturopathic Doctors were for the most part excluded. Inclusion did occur in British Columbia, but has lost ground over time due to billing structures being direct towards allopathic standards of practice(1).
The situation in 2015 is quite similar. NDs enjoy a large scope of practice in many provinces, but have access to almost no public health funding. Patients must either have benefits which cover Naturopathic medicine, or pay privately in order to enjoy one of the only sources of professional, preventative health care. Naturopathic health care, by the way, has been studied in a number of situations and found to actually cost much less than the standard of care delivered under publicly available conventional medicine. For examples please look here, here, and here.
A similar situation exists with respect to other health professions, such as Acupuncturists and Chiropractors. Neither now has much access to public funding despite being far more effective and cost effective than the standard of care in many conditions.
The fact is that right now, the government is deciding which kind of treatment Canadians have the greatest access to. This decision has nothing to do with which treatments are most effective, but far more to do with historical precedent and with politics. Other jurisdictions such have Oregon have begun to privilege holistic treatments over the conventional due to the massive side effects of the opiate drugs which are a mainstay of conventional pain management.
I am a firm believer in public medicine. I do think Canadians should have access to the treatment of their choice for dealing with their health problems. This is not currently the case, and I have yet to see any reason, other than politics and precedent, that this is so.
(1). Lloyd, I. http://www.bcna.ca/about-bcna/about-naturopathic-medicine/ .