A New Health Accord: leveraging health sector consensus
The Prime Minister’s mandate letter to Health Minister Jane Philpott makes it clear that one of the government’s priorities is to engage the provinces and territories in the development of a new multi-year national Health Accord. He writes that the accord should include a long-term funding agreement that supports the delivery and availability of home […]
Numbers on homelessness among Canadian vets just ‘tip of iceberg,’ say vets’ advocates: it’s time for action
A recent government report that found 2.7 per cent of Canada’s total homeless population using shelters are veterans is just the “tip of the iceberg” of a long-standing problem among Canadian veterans and a symptom of the government’s failure to provide sufficient support, say veterans advocates. But Canada’s Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr (Calgary Centre, Alta.) […]
Five ways we can reduce suicides in Canada
Despite recent headlines, Canadian rates of suicide and attempted suicide have remained largely unchanged over the last several decades (11 per 100,000). What has changed is that we’ve seen increasing rates of suicide in the Canadian military recently, after stable rates for decades. With over 40,000 Canadian soldiers deployed to the mission in Afghanistan, there […]
Why a new Health Accord needs to include better planning for health human resources
There is growing talk of a new Health Accord between the federal government and the provinces and territories. This is such good news—great news, in fact. If I were asked to have one thing on the agenda, it would be for an explicit conversation about the merits of having a dedicated health workforce agency in […]
Biotechnology
Health lobby looking to kick-start conversation on campaign’s top sleeper issue
Canada’s health-care lobby groups are targeting ridings and prioritizing small, easily implementable changes with the hope that their issues will gain traction when the election campaign heats up this fall. Health care consistently ranks as a top concern for Canadians in public opinion polls but it hasn’t received much attention so far in this campaign, […]
Health
Four things needed to make pharmacare work for Canadians
A growing number of health professionals, patients, community groups and even politicians are calling for national pharmacare. But many Canadians likely wonder what pharmacare is and whether Canada is ready for it. Let’s start at the beginning. Affordable access to safe and properly prescribed prescription medicines is so critical to patient health that the World Health […]
Research at Canada’s colleges a boon for business and social innovation
Research at Canada’s colleges and polytechnic institutes has been increasing in scope and in scale, building connections that will expand their contributions to the lives of Canadians in the years ahead. Colleges and polytechnics have made enormous strides in recent years in their efforts to engage external partners in applied research. The most recent figures […]
Canada’s economic priority must be innovation
Green economic principles are pragmatic. Thanks to the influence of Green parties around the world, these core principles have been tested. They work. Central to our policies is understanding that there is no conflict between environment and economy. A smart economy is one that is resilient. A smart economy is diversified, less vulnerable to global shifts. A smart […]
