Improved mental health access tied to workforce capacity
Canadians’ mental health has faced significant challenges during the pandemic. Stress has gone up, whether from uncertainty or from very serious problems such as job loss and the dramatic rise in violence against women, which the UN has called the shadow pandemic. Canadians are drinking more and the opioid crisis has gotten worse despite the […]
Mental Health Policy Briefing
Consider the costs of not acting on mental health
Mental health was dubbed the poor cousin of health care as a result of the 2006 Senate report, Out of the Shadows at Last: Transforming Mental Health, Mental Illness and Addiction Services in Canada. Two weeks ago, the government acknowledged the urgent need to remedy the inadequacy and inaccessibility of mental health services. Canada is recognized internationally for our […]
‘We have learned a great deal’: Green leadership race winds down after hitting some stumbles
As the Green Party enters into the home stretch of its leadership race this weekend, the group will be reflecting on the stumbles that have taken place, which could bring about changes to its governance structure, says one party official. “We have learned a great deal. I think it’s fair to say that, when you […]
Let’s not turn COVID-19 fight into Canadian versus Canadian
OTTAWA—Last week in this space, I wrote about the need to consider gradually opening the Atlantic Bubble. Let me just say, the reaction from my home region was not overwhelmingly positive. Note the sarcasm—if they could have burned me in effigy, they would have. I had not been called some of the names I was […]
Redrawing the political landscape as COVID becomes a way of life
OTTAWA—Throne Speeches are always aspirational, but the blueprint for the future that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rolled out goes a step beyond. It stands as the kind of comprehensive policy wish list political parties normally accumulate over the course of an entire election campaign. Touching on the full spectrum of social and economic policy, […]
Parliament returns with the theatre of building back better
CALGARY—It’s Fall 2020 and we still have a government. That’s nice. It’s the best one can hope for in the midst of a global pandemic, economic disintegration, and a society that is held together, not by a common purpose, but the tenuous glue of predictable racial fragmentation. A lot of people are telling on themselves […]
It’s time to bridge our country’s great digital divide
If you’re of a certain age, chances are you’ll never forget the screeching symphony of sounds your computer once had to perform just to get online. Today, dial-up internet is a relic of the 90s for most—something many reminisce and chuckle about. However, for many rural Canadians, particularly farmers, lack of broadband internet is still […]
Canada’s pandemic spending ‘barely sustainable,’ says PBO, projecting $328.5-billion deficit
Spending commitments outlined in the Liberals’ Throne Speech last week could plunge the country’s finances deeper into the red, says the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who released a new report estimating the federal deficit could hit $328.5-billion. Speaking to reporters through a videolink on Tuesday, Yves Giroux said that, under “current policy parameters” his office took […]
Has failing to call a fall election signalled Trudeau’s undoing?
Justin Trudeau possibly made his first fatal mistake when he prorogued Parliament on Aug. 18 rather than calling an election to reset the government agenda to face the ongoing challenges of the pandemic. His decision to prorogue was likely a calculation that Canadian voters would turn against the Liberals for calling a snap election in the […]
