Health Policy Briefing
Politics this morning
It’s not Star Wars day, and it’s not Cinco de Mayo. But it is Friday. And here’s what you should know before starting your day: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced changes in the upper echelons of the public service yesterday. Daniel Jean, who was working as the deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, was named National Security Advisor to the […]
Conservatives: Update pot policy or risk looking like prudes in poorly fitting blue suits
OTTAWA—Well, it didn’t happen like the Conservatives said it would! Remember leading into the last election campaign those Conservative Party of Canada ads that all but suggested Justin Trudeau and his Liberals would be peddling dope on a corner near you? So far, as best we can tell, none of that ilk has been busted […]
Connecting the Dots: Canada standing out in mental health innovation at APEC
Last quarter I wrote about Canada’s crucial, yet mostly unknown, leadership role in helping Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies adopt principles for ethics in the biopharmaceutical sector. Those exact principles will act as guidelines for industry within the 21-member countries to implement codes of ethics of their own. With Canada’s help we have the potential […]
First Nations children left out to dry in Liberal government’s priorities
Not long ago, I stood just a few metres back from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the day the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report on the Canadian residential school legacy. The air in the room was heavy, sobering, and rich with sage. Many, if not all, of our eyes, were clouded by […]
Insurance industry warns of price hikes as genetic discrimination bill passes Senate
Canada’s insurance industry is warning of price hikes for consumers if a senator’s bill banning unsanctioned access to personal genetic test results is passed. The Senate public bill (the upper chamber’s equivalent of a private member’s bill) won Senate approval last week with bi-partisan support and is on its way to the House of Commons. […]
Helping Attawapiskat takes time, not just a fire hose of money
The stories coming out of Attawapiskat are heartbreaking. Day after day we hear about more and more kids trying to kill themselves. It is easy to boldly proclaim, as many have, enough is enough. But it will be harder to address the mental-health woes of those suffering there quickly or effectively. It is going to […]
VISUAL CV: Mauril Bélanger
1994 POLITICAL BEGINNINGS Growing up in the northern Ontario town of Mattawa, Mr. Bélanger says he was convinced from an early age of the virtues of public service. “My family instilled in me a strong sense of community involvement and it’s that spirit that brought me to Ottawa so many years ago,” he tells P&I. […]
Why we need a made-in-Canada approach to physician-hastened death
Autonomy, it would seem, is an intoxicant. The more we have, the more we want. In tabling its draft legislation on physician-hastened death, the federal government has rejected several key recommendations made by the Parliamentary Committee on Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID). In the days ahead, as Canadians weigh in on Bill C-14, some will […]
Regulating cannabis must be done properly
VICTORIA, B.C.—The idea of legalizing and regulating cannabis was pretty radical until about two years ago. To say that it was counter-intuitive is almost an understatement. How on earth is legalization any way to make our streets safer? It just did not make any sense to many people, especially politicians. Thankfully, with repeated logic, facts […]
