Canada should focus on game-changing technologies that can improve health care
With the federal election underway, Canadians across the country are going to be hearing a lot about health care over the next several weeks, and rightly so. With health-care spending exceeding 10 per cent of Canada’s GDP and accounting for nearly 50 per cent of many government budgets, it is an important topic and one […]
Biotech Policy Briefing
With drug plan, Trump tosses another nasty, disingenuous grenade into U.S.-Canada relations
OTTAWA—Blaming foreign “freeloaders” for the outrageous cost of pharmaceuticals in the United States, President Donald Trump has injected another potential irritant into his country’s vexed relations with Canada. The White House has been working on a proposal aimed at allowing American patients to import cheaper medications from outside the country, under the oversight of the […]
Party’s place in political ecosystem can influence platform rollout, strategists say
The Liberals under Jean Chrétien broke platform ground with the much-vaunted “Red Book,” which inspired copycats for its detailed accounting of the party’s promises. The Stephen Harper Conservatives stuck to a disciplined, five-point platform in the 2006 campaign. Progressive Conservative Doug Ford’s campaign for Ontario premier bucked tradition when he decided not to release a […]
Tale as old as time: Liberal ethics breach proves politics still about comforting the comfortable
OTTAWA—This past April, Prime Minister Trudeau spoke to the Daughters of the Vote delegation, which included Indigenous women protesting his treatment of former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould following her expulsion from the Liberal party over the SNC-Lavalin debacle. He pontificated in response that “diversity only works if there’s trust.” Now, after having been found to […]
Last chance to lobby MPs sees June numbers shrink, with influencers eyeing the campaign season
The waning days of the House’s busy legislative calendar were coupled with an unsurprising dip in lobbying, but some were making the most of the last month with MPs in Ottawa before an extended break for the campaign ahead of an October election. With party platforms still being written, June was a good time for […]
Scrapping e-cigarette ads would hurt adults trying to curb smoking, says vaping company
Re: “Dramatic spike in teen vaping and smoking requires urgent legislative remedies,” (The Hill Times, July 3, p. 15). Smoking kills. In Canada, 45,000 people die from smoking-related illnesses annually, and according to research from the University of Toronto, it takes a smoker up to 30 attempts before they quit. Health Canada says that “vaping […]
No Zoloft for this: KAOS malaise and public health
We’re all aware of the small, daily health effects of the drastic changes to our political landscape wrought by the collision of democracy and the reality-distorting innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Revulsion or outrage when observing certain world leaders in their depleted habitats; whiplashing disbelief at headlines we never thought we’d see outside a […]
Approved public service mental health claims pass 50 per cent threshold for first time
Claims involving mental health conditions represented 52 per cent of disability insurance claims approved for federal public service employees in 2018, according to data contained in a Public Service Alliance of Canada presentation on federal public service disability trends. This information was provided to The Hill Times and was based on the contents of a Sun […]
Health minister’s claims about Ottawa’s pharmacare plan deserve a second look
With the release of Dr. Eric Hoskins’ report on June 12, national pharmacare will likely be a central issue in this fall’s federal election. It’s therefore quite worrying that Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor recently made several statements on CTV’s Question Period that are either misinformed or purposefully misleading. The minister began the interview by […]
