Seven political winners for Trudeau to strengthen environmental protection
PENDER ISLAND, B.C.—In Ottawa, the machinery of government is reversing course after a decade of environmental backsliding. Newly-minted Cabinet ministers and reinvigorated public servants are scrambling to fulfill the extensive green commitments set forth in the Liberal platform, Throne Speech, and mandate letters. Barring some unexpected cataclysm, it seems likely that most of these pledges […]
Canada’s biotechnology industry ready to take centre stage
With the Canadian dollar and the price of oil hitting historical lows it is not surprising that while at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked about Canada’s economic prospects in the face of this economic headwind. Trudeau quite correctly noted Canada’s economic strength lies in its diversity which […]
Physician-assisted death law needs ‘clear definitions’
Canada’s lawmakers have until June to sculpt a new reality in the country: what a nation-wide framework for physician-assisted death (PAD) will look like. And as this major public policy begins to take shape, legal and medical authorities are stressing that the contentious new option to choose when, and how one dies, is going to […]
Health
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, […]
