Why hiring consultants to fix our healthcare system doesn’t work
There are three main reasons why governments turn to consultants for help. First, they often believe that the leadership of health organizations will be unwilling to deliver budgetary restraint and innovation because they want to protect the status and budgets of their organizations. Consultants are seen to provide independent and objective advice. Second, there is often the related belief […]
Veterans complain government’s new ‘centre of excellence’ for PTSD prioritizes research over in-patient treatment
Veterans advocates are criticizing the Trudeau government’s new Centre of Excellence on post traumatic stress disorder and related mental health conditions for wrongly prioritizing researchers and doctors instead of improving in-patient treatment for Canadians dealing with the psychological pains of war. “This is a bag of money for them to do research, and that is all […]
Palliative care, the next step for Canada
With Bill C-277, “An Act Providing for the Development of a Framework on Palliative Care in Canada,” receiving royal assent in December 2017, there is a real opportunity to accelerate plans to fill the gap that exists in palliative care across Canada. Consider that upwards of 70 per cent of Canadians have no access to palliative […]
Why are the Liberals shuttering Canada’s community-based HIV organizations?
In 2016, Canada brought together leaders from around the world in Montreal for the Fifth Replenishment Conference of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. This conference represented an historic opportunity for Canada and the world to end three of the world’s most devastating diseases by 2030. The Global Fund supports programs in more than 140 countries which have resulted in an estimated […]
Proposed price cap regulations will impact Canadian R&D, says big pharma, but academic not convinced
Brand name drug companies are warning the government to think through its proposed regulations for the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board, saying it could curb investment in Canadian research and development. However, one University of British Columbia academic is calling the claims “rhetoric.” The Patented Medicines Prices Review Board (PMPRB), founded in 1987, is a […]
Let’s get building: Senate committee aims to put northern corridor on the map
PARLIAMENT HILL—Two major challenges have plagued Canada since its earliest days—how to move an unparalleled wealth in natural resources across an immense landmass and how to improve quality of life in the country’s most remote areas. A northern corridor would offer a solution to these in the form of a great, new national project. Late […]
Health
Cannabis legalization will be a mess, says reader
Re: “Cannabis Policy Briefing,” (The Hill Times, Jan. 22, pp. 15-25). Come July 1, this will be a new problem across the country, since provinces are treating it very differently. This reminds me of the famous quote of Laurel and Hardy: “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into.” And it will be a mess. […]
Embracing new technology for a new cannabis industry
With Bill C-45, Canada’s cannabis legalization bill, moving through the Senate, politicians and pundits have furiously debated our best path forward. Reduction of youth consumption, decriminalization of adult possession, and the eradication of black-market profits are shared objectives between government and industry that have driven legalization discussions to date. While these priorities are often discussed […]
Liberals to put sexual harassment, cannabis, transparency bills in the window as opposition parties hammer ethical lapses
Bills on sexual harassment on the Hill, political fundraisers, and cannabis legalization top a list of the legislation the federal Liberals will prioritize when the House returns Jan. 29, according to the Office of the Government House leader. The opposition Conservatives will get back to hammering Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) for breaking the […]
