Canada on drugs at the UN: Standing up for a long-overdue policy shift
The applause persisted until the chair of the session eventually gavelled it to an end. The occasion? Canada’s statement last month at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna, where countries were negotiating the text of a declaration to be adopted next week at the UN General Assembly’s Special Session on drugs (UNGASS) […]
Drought tightens the screws on Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable
It was the fourth time Nelia had planted; and still, the rains were not enough to germinate her seeds. She had buried her first seeds in the Zimbabwean soil in December. But the regular, predictable rains she remembered from years past never materialized. The second and third crops also failed. I met Nelia in Zimbabwe […]
Lib MP Bélanger well-liked in Ottawa-Vanier, says Romain
Re: “Bélanger, who’s battling ALS, brings MPs to tears as he leads Speaker’s Parade, just for one day,” (The Hill Times, March 14, p. 1). After 10 years in the wilderness, the Liberal Party might examine closely the politics of the Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Vanier, Mauril Bélanger, during this time. In the fall of […]
Time for feds to enforce Canada Health Act as extra billing, user fees on rise
Extra billing in Ontario, private MRIs in Saskatchewan and user fees in Quebec: violations of the Canada Health Act are on the rise across the country. Canadian doctors are concerned about the impact of this trend not only on their patients, but on our public health care system as well. Health Canada is required to […]
Mandatory referrals for MAID: is there a better way?
TORONTO—The report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying will serve as a guide for the federal government as it prepares legislation to amend the Criminal Code by the Supreme Court’s June 6 deadline. The report is clear and specific in identifying for which patients medical aid in dying (MAID) should be made available. It […]
Time to rethink the tax on self-care
OTTAWA—Access to affordable medicines is a big focus of the recently rejuvenated federal-provincial-territorial dialogue on health care. Ensuring that people can get the right medicines when they need them and without financial hardship is vital to achieving the outcomes Canadians expect from our $200-billion-a-year health-care system. The emphasis is on ensuring access to often life-saving […]
Grégoire Trudeau a role model for Canadian women: reader
Well done Sophie Grégoire Trudeau for being such a positive role model for Canadian women and not because of what she is wearing. I was so thrilled to hear Ms. Grégoire Trudeau speak to the vital importance of safe, quality education for all, especially for girls in helping to create more peaceful, democratic and economically viable societies. […]
Ailing Grit MP Bélanger gets turn in House Speaker’s chair, MPs cry
Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger got the chance last week to temporarily do the job he wanted before dropping out of the running last year after learning he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrigh’s disease. His House colleagues gave him the chance to be acting Speaker for about 30 minutes on Wednesday […]
Politics This Morning: Trudeau heads to Washington
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Washington, D.C., today for various events ahead of his state dinner with U.S. President Barack Obama tomorrow. More than 75 Canadian members of the media made the trip to cover the first state dinner between a Canadian prime minister and American president since 1997. Canada 2020 is hosting a […]
Philpott wants new Health Accord in place by 2017, a ‘fundamental change’
Health Minister Jane Philpott says she wants a new Health Accord in place by 2017. The 55-year-old physician, whose party campaigned on establishing a new era of federal-provincial relations, especially on the health file, said she has the provinces and territories on board in their ‘initial conversations’ and said Health Canada officials are working behind the scenes […]
