The nervous, joyless journey to legalize marijuana
GATINEAU, QUE.—The adults of Canada are deeply conflicted about marijuana. By “adults,” I mean most politicians over 30 years old. By “conflicted” I mean that our leaders are in the process of legalizing recreational pot, but they don’t want anyone to think they approve. The grudging message seems to be: you can smoke, as long […]
An open letter to the Honourable Commissioner Judge Horace Krever
Justice Krever, On behalf of all of our employees at Canadian Blood Services, as well as the many donors, volunteers and countless individuals whose lives have been touched by Canada’s national blood system, it’s my privilege to offer you our collective thanks. Your remarkable contribution to health care in this country is felt to this […]
Pot bill sponsor wants to shake up Senate schedule, but Tories push for status quo
The man who’s set to sponsor the Liberals’ priority cannabis legalization bill in the Senate wants to shake up the normal legislative process, even proposing a field trip to a pot-production facility, but opposition Senators are pouring cold water over his ideas. The Senate should tackle the bill in the same way it approached the […]
City bends rules to burden struggling area near the Hill with huge homeless shelter
OTTAWA—The House of Commons regularly reverberates with paeans to equality, the aspirations of Canadians seeking to better themselves, and fairness for all. Yet only a few miles down the street in Ottawa, these values are being largely ignored in an effort to stick the city’s poorest neighbourhood with an enormous institutional shelter so that tourists […]
Cannabis Act, finance minister’s ethics controversy to be front-and-centre for last sitting stretch of 2017
The House is back for the final four-week legislative stretch of the year and while the government is looking to make progress on its Cannabis Act, Bill C-45, opposition House leaders say they will continue to hammer away at Finance Minister Bill Morneau in the daily 45-minute drama Question Period. “We have a prime minister […]
Better to be done right than on time: Senate, opposition concerned about marijuana legalization deadline
The Liberals are sticking to their July 2018 marijuana legalization deadline, but the opposition, Senators, and other stakeholders say their push-it-through approach risks setting the policy up to fail. NDP health critic Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, B.C.) said he sees the bill as too restrictive when compared to alcohol regulations. “It’s changing a hundred years […]
Money talks, but collaboration drives innovation
Fifteen years ago, the Senate Social Affairs, Science, and Technology Committee summarized the public’s expectations of the federal role in health in what’s known as the Kirby Report: “Canadians want and expect the federal government to continue to be a major player in Canada’s publicly funded health care system.” Being a major player, to most, […]
Fight obesity in kids, tax sugary drinks
Canadian children are bombarded with advertisements for food and drink everywhere. They see three to four on television every hour. Ninety per cent of the 25 million ads they watch online annually promote foods that are too fat, too sweet or too salty. Much to the chagrin of parents, these foods attract them; this marketing […]
Pharmacare not really the answer to lowering drug prices, say industry associations
As the House Health Committee studies a national pharmacare program, industry associations representing pharmaceutical companies and private health insurers say although they are not opposed to the plan, they believe the country’s high drug costs are the result of skewed data and that pharmacare savings won’t be drastic. Pharmacare is public prescription drug insurance. A […]
Declaring opioid crisis a public emergency legally questionable under current law, experts say
If the federal government declares the opioid crisis a public health emergency through the Emergencies Act, it would be on shaky legal footing and outside the scope of what the law is intended for, legal and public health experts say. The federal NDP and British Columbia government have called on Ottawa to declare the rise […]
