If Ottawa can build hockey rinks, it can build long-term care homes
It’s easy to see the importance of investing in big projects like roads, railways, and runways: they create and support job, help meet the challenges of the future. What may come as a surprise is what other types of infrastructure projects qualify for federal investment, and what does not. Over the next 12 years, Ottawa […]
There’s a war for your data, and health care is next
As consumers, we are constantly being encouraged to reveal all manner of data and detail about ourselves. When the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook data scandal exploded into the news headlines, it put into focus what we as consumers are, likely unknowingly, sharing about ourselves and how that same data may be used to the advantage of others. […]
Let’s have an adult conversation about how to improve Canadian health care
It’s important to look to the future needs of the health-care system and ensure that the plans of today meet the demands to come. Canada has an aging population. One in six citizens is a senior today, a figure that within 10 years is predicted to be closer to one in four. An aging population […]
Single-payer pharmacare is a cure worse than what ails the system
As we approach the 2019 federal election campaign, we seem to be moving towards to a major policy conflict between political parties on pharmacare and the federal role. The debate will hinge on whether we should pursue targeted or sweeping reforms, whether we prioritize clinician and patient choice or cost control, and whether we wish […]
We need a holistic approach to health care
Looking back, I now realize that I learned many fundamental lessons of good health care at a very young age. The traditional life skills my people demonstrated while living off the land taught that responsibility and resilience through social capital (we-chi-e-twin) were instrumental to the concept of preventing sickness, starvation, and other ailments. I mimicked […]
Despite initial ‘disappointment’ over make-up of pharmacare advisory council, pharma industry content with consultations
After initial concern over not having a direct representative on the advisory committee for the implementation of a national pharmacare plan, industry stakeholders say they are pleased with their level of involvement in the consultations. When the advisory council was formed last June, the Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) said in a press release that it […]
Two ways forward for national pharmacare
The case for universal pharmacare is compelling and clear-cut. But as the federally appointed advisory group led by former Ontario health minister Eric Hoskins prepares the blueprint for a national plan, Ottawa must brace itself for negotiations with the provinces and territories. Canada is the only OECD country with universal health insurance that does not include […]
Indigenous peoples left behind by unfair, unequal health services
Canada’s health-care system is a source of national pride. This conviction is challenged, however, when one considers the growing body of research that has identified an unequal and unfair application of health policy. There are significant discrepancies in the way health-care services are delivered to and accessed by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit as compared […]
Does this headline say what you need to decide whether to read the article?
Supermarkets are crowded with around 40,000 products, yet most shoppers spend fewer than 10 seconds selecting an item. That’s certainly not enough time to review current Canadian nutrition labels, which are on the back or side of packages and contain detailed information that’s often too complex for many consumers to understand. But nutrition labelling is […]
Inequality in system no reason to criminalize paying for fertility services, says Grit MP Housefather
The ability to pay surrogates as well as sperm and egg donors for their services will largely benefit wealthy and middle class people seeking to be parents, and not those of less financial means, but that’s no reason not to move forward with decriminalizing payments to surrogate mothers and donors, says the author of a […]
