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Thread: Canadian Optical Industry is messed up............here seems to be the source........

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    Blue Jumper Canadian Optical Industry is messed up............here seems to be the source........

    I found an interesting piece of information, a letter on the problems in the optical industry in Canada which was dominated for many years by a corporation and still might be.

    EmergingConsiderations:

    This documenthas been developed based upon the past history of the industry and by current informationavailable on the websites of the Canadian Opticianry professional associations,governing boards and colleges. Most of the material we have researched isattached for supporting our views and perceptions. The names of the individualswere used as they were published in documents that have been accessible to thepublic

    History:

    Going back asfar as 1950, the Optical industry was dominated by the defunct ImperialOptical. Imperial wanted to control the retail and wholesale optical businessvia legislation:

    - Since they employed more than 90% of the workforce, it was very easy to incorporate "not for profit" provincial associations along with a national association, namely Canadian Guild of Dispensing Opticians.The loyal"employees of the company weres trategically elected or appointed to these associations and the membershipfees were paid to the employee/member as an employeebenefit. The control on associations was achieved and these organizations were used to "lobby"the governments for Opticiansregulations, etc.

    The Canadian Guild of Opticians was created and headed bythe Imperial executive and his family.

    Correspondence courses were developed to become the mainsource of training and education of
    Opticians. This organization was now a profit centre as anyindividual who wanted to become an
    Optician had to take the Canadian Guild course.

    All provincial associations (controlled by Imperial Optical)lobbied for regulating Opticianry in all
    provinces (the Province of Quebec has always beenan exception). Ontariowas one of the first provinces to get legislation. The Opticians and publicmembers were appointed by the Lt. Governor in Council.

    Imperial used its influence to have all of its trustedemployees and partners appointed to the Board of Ophthalmic Dispensers. Imperialoperated in several different trading names and some of the so-called "independentowners" were, in fact, 50% partners of Imperial. It was easy to ask thegovernment to appoint these partners to the governing body as they operatedtheir business partnership under their own names and were perceived as beingindependent.


    Read the whole letter...............you can not stop reading, like a thriller at:

    http://www.hprac.org/en/projects/res...fessionals.pdf
    Last edited by Chris Ryser; 01-08-2012 at 05:05 AM.

  2. #2
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    Thankfully monopolistic entities/empires such as Imperial are long gone and prevented by law to exist at that size in today's marketplace. However, the simple way around this obstacle is through vertical integration and it is on the rise.

    Vertical integration has similar properties to a chameleon. By nature is designed to blend into its own environment, change its colours, go undetected and prey on smaller entities to feed its greed and appetite.......then whammo!

    There's a giant one lurking in Canada - keep a sharp eye for it and stop feeding it.

  3. #3
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    There's a giant one lurking in Canada - keep a sharp eye for it and stop feeding it.?? E or L or both.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Ryser View Post
    I found an interesting piece of information, a letter on the problems in the optical industry in Canada which was dominated for many years by a corporation and still might be.

    EmergingConsiderations:

    This documenthas been developed based upon the past history of the industry and by current informationavailable on the websites of the Canadian Opticianry professional associations,governing boards and colleges. Most of the material we have researched isattached for supporting our views and perceptions. The names of the individualswere used as they were published in documents that have been accessible to thepublic

    History:

    Going back asfar as 1950, the Optical industry was dominated by the defunct ImperialOptical. Imperial wanted to control the retail and wholesale optical businessvia legislation:

    - Since they employed more than 90% of the workforce, it was very easy to incorporate "not for profit" provincial associations along with a national association, namely Canadian Guild of Dispensing Opticians.The loyal"employees of the company weres trategically elected or appointed to these associations and the membershipfees were paid to the employee/member as an employeebenefit. The control on associations was achieved and these organizations were used to "lobby"the governments for Opticiansregulations, etc.

    The Canadian Guild of Opticians was created and headed bythe Imperial executive and his family.

    Correspondence courses were developed to become the mainsource of training and education of
    Opticians. This organization was now a profit centre as anyindividual who wanted to become an
    Optician had to take the Canadian Guild course.

    All provincial associations (controlled by Imperial Optical)lobbied for regulating Opticianry in all
    provinces (the Province of Quebec has always beenan exception). Ontariowas one of the first provinces to get legislation. The Opticians and publicmembers were appointed by the Lt. Governor in Council.

    Imperial used its influence to have all of its trustedemployees and partners appointed to the Board of Ophthalmic Dispensers. Imperialoperated in several different trading names and some of the so-called "independentowners" were, in fact, 50% partners of Imperial. It was easy to ask thegovernment to appoint these partners to the governing body as they operatedtheir business partnership under their own names and were perceived as beingindependent.


    Read the whole letter...............you can not stop reading, like a thriller at:

    http://www.hprac.org/en/projects/res...fessionals.pdf
    this is what i hear
    ironic but his son fazal khan was the president of NACOR !!! he kept it low keyed
    does that tell us something

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    Redhot Jumper An Organization of Canadian Regulatory Agencies........................

    In case anybody does not know what NACOR is, check it at : http://www.nacor.ca/
    Welcome to the Web Site of the National Association of Canadian Optician Regulators
    An Organization of Canadian Regulatory Agencies

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Ryser View Post
    In case anybody does not know what NACOR is, check it at : http://www.nacor.ca/
    Welcome to the Web Site of the National Association of Canadian Optician Regulators
    An Organization of Canadian Regulatory Agencies
    nacor is a money grapping association what i hear off
    go on their website
    it like a secretive society does not disclose the exective or whose in charge
    kinda of strange for me am i imagining it or what
    would appreciate input
    thanks

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    I just did not know NACOR so I looked it up and posted the link. Most probably I am not the all knowing guru and probably most of the OptiBoard members probably do not know either.

    So please do not use this thread to start bashing again and keep it to your bashing threads. The report I partially posted and its full value is interesting information and facts. It would be more interesting to participate in a positive way and make some contributions on the theme of the thread.

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    I find this rather interesting...some valid questions come to mind...

    For a standard 3 year term of each director, there are no names of who these people are?

    I'm assuming this organization is funded by the conglomerate of all its members across Canada knowingly or not?

    It lists as incorporated within Canada but does not list that it is a not for profit organization, so one must assume it is operating as a corporation to generate a profit???

    The address is the same location as the Opticians Association of Canada - so besides co-habitation, what is the purpose/relation between both???

    I'd be obliged if anyone out there paying ridiculous fees like myself would ante up a valid explanation for all these layers of regulation. PM me if needed.

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    Last edited by idispense; 01-25-2012 at 07:52 AM.

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    edited
    Last edited by Golfnorth; 01-10-2012 at 05:29 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Golfnorth View Post
    edited
    why the hesitation
    why edited it if you were right

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    NAD Reviews Social Media Endorsements......................................

    NAD Reviews Social Media Endorsements

    December 2011

    In a case of first impression, the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (NAD) - the advertising industry's self-regulatory forum - considered social media promotions, social media endorsements, and what it means when a company advertises that Facebook users "like" it. Specifically, NAD evaluated (1) an advertiser's offer for "free glasses" to people who "like" the advertiser's product (which NAD termed a "like-gated" promotion), and (2) the advertiser's statements about how many people "like" its products (which NAD said is an endorsement). NAD investigated the statements made by Coastal Contacts, Inc., after a competitor, 1-800 Contacts, filed a challenge with NAD.

    Coastal Contacts offered the following promotion on its Facebook page: "Like This Page! So you too can get your free pair of glasses!" Coastal Contacts also made statements on its Facebook page and in press releases about how many people "like" its products. 1-800 Contacts challenged the promotion by arguing that Coastal Contacts should have disclosed the material terms and conditions in conjunction with the offer, such as consumers would be charged shipping and handling charges, not all styles of glasses were available as part of the promotion, and only a certain number ..................................................

    continue:
    http://www.loeb.com/nadreviewssocialmediaendorsements/

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    and here is another interesting website...............................

    The Purpose of the Competition Act Canada

    Section 1.1 of the Competition Act states:
    "The purpose of this Act is to maintain and encourage competition in Canada in order to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy, in order to expand opportunities for Canadian participation in world markets while at the same time recognizing the role of foreign competition in Canada, in order to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises have an equitable opportunity to participate in the Canadian economy and in order to provide consumers with competitive prices and product choices."
    Some of the issues addressed are:
    • regulation of mergers and acquisitions among businesses with the policy goal of ensuring adequate and healthy competition within the economy;
    • conspiracy to lessen competition;
    • an agreement or arrangement between or among two or more persons whereby one or more of those persons agrees or undertakes not to submit a bid in response to a call or request for bids or tenders;
    • to limit unreasonably the opportunities for any other person to participate, as a player or competitor, in professional sport or to impose unreasonable terms or conditions on those persons who so participate;
    • agreements to fix prices;
    • knowingly or recklessly make a representation to the public that is false or misleading in a material respect;
    • engaging in a scheme of pyramid selling;

    check it out: http://www.canadianlawsite.ca/antitrust.htm

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    "This documenthas been developed based upon the past history of the industry and by current informationavailable on the websites of the Canadian Opticianry professional associations,governing boards and colleges. Most of the material we have researched isattached for supporting our views and perceptions. The names of the individualswere used as they were published in documents that have been accessible to thepublic

    History:

    Going back asfar as 1950, the Optical industry was dominated by the defunct ImperialOptical. Imperial wanted to control the retail and wholesale optical businessvia legislation:

    - Since they employed more than 90% of the workforce, it was very easy to incorporate "not for profit" provincial associations along with a national association, namely Canadian Guild of Dispensing Opticians.The loyal"employees of the company weres trategically elected or appointed to these associations and the membershipfees were paid to the employee/member as an employeebenefit. The control on associations was achieved and these organizations were used to "lobby"the governments for Opticiansregulations, etc.

    The Canadian Guild of Opticians was created and headed bythe Imperial executive and his family.

    Correspondence courses were developed to become the mainsource of training and education of
    Opticians. This organization was now a profit centre as anyindividual who wanted to become an
    Optician had to take the Canadian Guild course.

    All provincial associations (controlled by Imperial Optical)lobbied for regulating Opticianry in all
    provinces (the Province of Quebec has always beenan exception). Ontariowas one of the first provinces to get legislation. The Opticians and publicmembers were appointed by the Lt. Governor in Council.

    Imperial used its influence to have all of its trustedemployees and partners appointed to the Board of Ophthalmic Dispensers. Imperialoperated in several different trading names and some of the so-called "independentowners" were, in fact, 50% partners of Imperial. It was easy to ask thegovernment to appoint these partners to the governing body as they operatedtheir business partnership under their own names and were perceived as beingindependent."

    What you say is true and Imperial Optical was forced to separate and create the retail division Standard Optical with Imperial Optical becoming the wholesaler to the industry. Perfectly legal and seemed to satisfy both the public and the government.

    They were also the first to provide accredited in house training for their lab technicians and had a highly skilled work force. Now due to digital technology you can take some one of the street, pay them close to minimum wage and Viola! you are a technician with little understanding of optics. A privileged few who now operate their own independent labs can give thanks to Imperial Optical for their training. Most former technicians were put out of work because they were over qualified.

    They also strongly supported higher education for opticians at various Colleges and Institutes across Canada. As an employee you enjoyed good wages, health benefits, pension plan and plenty of perks. I would gladly go back to those days compared to what we have now. If you wanted to strike out on your own back then you had a much greater chance of success with or without having Imperial Optical as one your suppliers. We now have a global market with no rules or ethics just a facade with the various governing bodies. The Hermandt family may have what seemed like a monopoly to some people but they did a lot of good. I consider myself fortunate to have been around long enough to have worked for them. As opticians we were proud to be a part of this company.

    The majority of employees deeply regretted it when they went under. I believe this marked the beginning of the present decline in our industry.
    Just my 2 cents.



    Last edited by ex-optician; 01-10-2012 at 10:07 PM.

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    Hey I have been looking over the AIT agreement. Look at the labour mobility section 700. Notice that Optician are not listed as exception in any province. So provinces can no longer, without much documentation, just opt out of labour mobility. If you are licensed in one province in good standing. You have to be accepted in all. Have you read your provincial regulatory college ACT and bylaws. I have read mine. It allows the province to select their own education sources. I comfirmed that with email conversations with govt. I believe that is the case with all provinces. If we hold on to that power and use it we can break free of the control of the national bodies. I believe this accreditation that is being required on the colleges by Nacor is another avenue for control over money and power. If we are really worried about national standards being lowered than we should make the national licensing exam more difficult. This is a lot simplier than making these colleges jump through hoops and pay fee to Nacor. Problem is I dont hear too much public outcry with our current levels of compentencies. Our liablity insurance rates our not going up. So statistically our level of testing is covering the needed protection for public safety. This is really the whole purpose of why provinces set up self regulating bodies in the first place. Risks to public harm. So if we asked trained individuals to be tested beyond these measures you have created unnecessary obstruction to licencing and labor. In this light just part of the AIT 700 is very interesting.
    Article 706: Certification of Workers
    1. Subject to paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 6 and Article 708, any worker certified for an occupation by a regulatory authority of a Party shall, upon application, be certified for that occupation by each other Party which regulates that occupation without any requirement for any material additional training, experience, examinations or assessments as part of that certification procedure. 2. Subject to paragraphs 3, 4 and Article 708, each Party shall recognize any worker holding a jurisdictional certification bearing the Red Seal endorsement under the Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program as qualified to practice the occupation identified in the certification. 3. It is understood that a regulatory authority of a Party may, as a condition of certification for any worker referred to in paragraph 1 or 2, impose requirements on that worker (other than requirements for material additional training, experience, examinations or assessments), including requirements to: (a) pay an application or processing fee; (b) obtain insurance, malpractice coverage or similar protection; (c) post a bond; (d) undergo a criminal background check; (e) provide evidence of good character; (f) demonstrate knowledge of the measures maintained by that Party applicable to the practice of the occupation in its territory; (g) provide a certificate, letter or other evidence from the regulatory authority in each territory in which they are currently certified confirming that their certification in that territory is in good standing; provided that: (h) subject to paragraph (5)(c), any requirements referred to in paragraphs (a) to (f) are the same as, or substantially similar to but no more onerous than, those imposed by the regulatory authority on its own workers as part of the normal certification process; and
    (i) the requirement does not create a disguised restriction on labour mobility.
    4. Nothing in paragraphs 1 or 2 limits the ability of a regulatory authority of a Party to:
    (a) refuse to certify a worker or impose terms, conditions or restrictions on his or her ability to practice where such action is considered necessary to protect the public interest as a result of complaints or disciplinary or criminal proceedings in any other jurisdiction relating to the competency, conduct or character of that worker; (b) impose additional training, experience, examinations or assessments as a condition of certification where the person has not practiced the occupation within a specified period of time; (c) require the worker to demonstrate proficiency in either English or French as a condition of certification in cases where there was no equivalent language proficiency requirement imposed upon, and satisfied by, the worker as a condition of the worker’s certification in his or her current certifying jurisdiction; (d) assess the equivalency of a practice limitation, restriction or condition imposed on a worker in his or her current certifying jurisdiction to any practice limitation, restriction or condition that may be applied by the regulatory authority to a worker in its territory, and apply an equivalent practice limitation, restriction or condition to the worker’s certification, or, where the regulatory authority has no provision for applying an equivalent limited, restricted or conditional certification, refuse to certify the worker; provided that: (e) any such measure is the same as, or substantially similar to but no more onerous than, that imposed by the regulatory authority on its own workers; and
    (f) the measure does not create a disguised restriction on labour mobility.

    I put(i) (f) in bold. Is NACOR's accreditation requirements of colleges creating a disguised restriction on labour mobilty? The answer is NO. But are the provinces that enforce these restrictions? They are the ones that have to satisfy govt with answers. What do the numbers say? The province of BC has now allowed internet dispensing which has no legal Optician standards and sees no concern over public risk of harm. Where was the outcry from NACOR and OAC? How can they now justify the restricted accreditation for every province to raise the bar higher without sounding self serving and hypocritical. Are they saying that the individual provinces are too incompetant to police a national standard of competencies?
    "Your deregulated now and a computer image can mark PD's and seg ht's a thousand times better than you. We will sell our old software to you, you poor deluded faithful national adherent. Keep jumping higher to those standards. We will discipline you if you dont. They are quite the medals on your chest. They are so bright at the national meetings that no one sees our anemia.
    Find out what colleges our accepted by your province and ask why do we have this standard. No one has given me a logical answer yet.
    Last edited by inside out; 01-19-2012 at 04:29 PM.

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    Last edited by idispense; 01-25-2012 at 07:52 AM.

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    When she went to law school in the early 1980s.................................

    Visible minority lawyers

    When she went to law school in the early 1980s, Abena Buahene was one of six visible minorities in a class of 140 students.

    I moved this post to the thread about the Ontario registrar, .................my mistake
    Last edited by Chris Ryser; 01-20-2012 at 05:05 AM.

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    OAC set it up. It controls the Provincial regulatory bodies on a national level. As I have said it is the Provincial regulatory bodies that have the legal power. As an assocation OAC can not have a say in Regulatory matters. But with the arm of Nacor they powerfully influence regulatory standards. By directing the provinces to standardize nationally it shifts the work load off the provinces. They like that. But the provinces give up their power. One major source to hold power is through Optician licencing courses. By make all colleges get NACOR accreditation they control where this education can be accessed. There is a major funding source to the provinces through education. OAC through the NAIT courses controls this funding source. By becoming involved at many of the provincial con-ed they control this funding to the provinces as well.

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    At our last Con-ed an advertiser was not allowed to place their ad on our con-ed agenda program because OAC did not like them. We were told that if we accepted the ad that they would withdraw their lectures from our con-ed. This would have caused us to cancel our provincial con-ed as we had depented on them for much of the weekend content. We sent our regrets to the advertiser and the funds froms it. I believe this is just the beginning.

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    Can't argue with Ghandi!

    I believe this applies to our Canadian optical industry



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