Territorial Development
Cannabis bill missing one thing: quick action on dose control
We are approaching monumental change in Canada—one that touches all corners of society, from the justice system to job creation to the expansion of the definition of agriculture. The Senate is in the midst of reviewing cannabis legalization. The House will then be able to look at the Senators’ suggestions for areas that align with […]
Questions abound on drug-impaired driving bill as clock ticks down to cannabis legalization
With the Liberals’ summer deadline for legalization of marijuana seemingly set in stone, a bill setting out rules around drug-impaired driving is still raising questions in the Senate committee tasked with studying the legislation. And committee members aren’t making any promises they’ll stand by the government’s proposed timeline. Bill C-46 makes changes to the Criminal […]
Canada and the world need Taiwan at the World Health Assembly
Delegations from the World Health Organization’s 194 member countries, including Canada, will from May 21 to 26 be attending the World Health Assembly (WHA), the most important annual meeting of the global health forum. Taiwan, however, has not yet been invited to participate, causing a serious gap in the world health-care system. Canada should support […]
Senate committee split on amendment to delay cannabis bill
Senators on the committee studying the government’s controversial cannabis legalization bill are divided so far on whether to recommend that legalization be delayed by a year, and on how many amendments to the bill should be sent back to the House of Commons. The Senate Social Affairs Committee received reports from three other committees studying […]
Feds ‘not ready’ to roll out cannabis legalization given ‘huge gap’ in police training: critics
Police won’t be ready to properly test Canadians for drug impairment when cannabis is legalized, say critics who point to “terrible” new data showing 665 Canadian police officers as of Feb. 1 are certified to do the additional test if a driver fails the standard sobriety check. That includes 196 RCMP officers, of which 149 […]
Half a cup of peanuts: starvation diet for diabetes offers lessons
A century ago, a diagnosis of diabetes was a death sentence. The only treatment that was able to somewhat slow the progression of the disease was a starvation diet. Eating no more than 400 calories per day was advised, equivalent to about half a cup of dry roasted peanuts. Ironically, some people with diabetes died […]
Lymphoma Canada urges governments to speed up access to approved cancer drugs
Strides in cancer research have increased survival rates and provided a better quality of life for patients under treatment. But getting the best treatment as soon as possible remains a matter of life and death for many Canadians. Speed is of the essence. Patients and families live with the hope that a new, effective treatment […]
What’s needed to close the Indigenous health-care gap
My perspectives herein apply primarily to First Nations, where I have spent the majority of my years as a dental and health-care provider, before being appointed to the Senate. As the history of access to health care is markedly different for the Métis and the Inuit, it would be unrepresentative to place all three Indigenous […]
Liberals pledge 10 times the money to legalize pot as they do tobacco control
With important elections looming both provincially and federally, it is natural that Canada’s health-care system will a big part of electoral discussions. One in six Canadians is a senior, and that number is expected to be nearly one in four in the next 10 years With an aging population, strategies to address this challenge are […]
