SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Nicole Redvers is hoping that soon she will be able to join the territory's medical doctors, dentists and veterinarians in calling herself a doctor.

Nicole Redvers operates the Gaia Naturopathic Clinic out of her home on Bigelow Crescent. She said she would like to see legislation put in place in the NWT covering naturopathic clinics, since right now she says anybody can open up shop here and call themselves a naturopathic doctor. - Kevin Allerston/NNSL photo

Redvers owns Gaia Naturopathic Clinic out of her home on Bigelow Crescent and is pushing the territorial health department to certify naturopathy as a recognized health service. However, since there is no legislation in the NWT regulating naturopaths, for now the title of "doctor" must remain off her business card.

"The NWT is one of the last jurisdictions in Canada to have even basic legislation in place, particularly in title protection but also outlining scope of practice, which is in our mind sort of a safety issue for the public but also for the profession as a whole," said Redvers.

Another issue for Redvers is the term 'naturopathic doctor,' which she said is widely used in Canada. Without being able to refer to herself in that capacity, Redvers is at a loss on what to call herself.

"At this point I've been working very positively with the health department and have been in talks about developing at least preliminary legislation that would identify naturopathic doctors in the territories and ensure that they are licensed, because right now, anybody can come set up a practice and call themself a naturopathic doctor and there's no real oversight with regards to what they can do and what they can't do

"We believe there is more inherent risk with naturopathic medicine because the scope of practice is so large and we're primary care physicians in our training.

"We are able to order lab tests, diagnose, in some jurisdictions prescribe drugs - so to not have any oversight over that is a safety concern."

In February Redvers went to the government and registered the NWT Association of Naturopathic Doctors as a body to represent professionals working in the field of naturopathy. Redvers is hoping the move will be a step in the right direction towards getting some legislation on the books representing health professionals in her field.

The next step, she said, is another meeting with the health department in the next few weeks to try and figure out what legislation covering naturopaths might look like.

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