Firms failing to measure progress on innovation
The federal government has put years of policy development and billions of dollars into improving Canada’s lagging innovation record, but 40 per cent of domestic firms aren’t even measuring their progress on innovation, according to the Conference Board of Canada. Forty per cent of Canadian firms do not use metrics to chart their innovation […]
Science strategy, research funding top priorities for Rickford in 2014
Minister of State of Science and Technology Greg Rickford hit the road last week to promote new long-term funding for academic research announced in the latest federal budget, but critics say the Canada First Research Excellence Fund lacks detail and doesn’t take effect for another year. The federal government announced a new 10-year, $1.5-billion […]
Health
Trudeau’s Senate move could resonate well beyond Hill bubble
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s Senate gambit caught his Senators by surprise and the Conservative government off guard. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s reaction was swift and mocking. He derided the ejection of 32 Senators from the federal Liberal party’s caucus as a meaningless, trivial change. “Unelected Liberal Senators will become unelected Senators who happen to […]
Giving doctors more money does not improve access to care
The amount paid to doctors in Canada increased by $7.5-billion in the last five years to reach a total of over $30-billion per year. Put another way, the growth rate of physician remuneration expenditures—what our health system pays to doctors for health services—was more than twice the rate at which the Canadian economy grew […]
Inequality hurting social inclusion in Canada
Recently, I tabled a study in the Senate from the Social Affairs Committee about social inclusion. We wanted to know how significant poverty, homelessness, a lack of affordable housing and income inequalities in Canada have affected our cohesion as a society. Inclusion and cohesion are vital to the national social fabric. They are vital […]
Prescription drug spending flat, but not for long
Canadians spent almost $23-billion on prescription drugs at retail pharmacies in 2012/13—or over $650 per capita, according to the findings from the Canadian Rx Atlas published by the UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research. That is a lot of money. However, after adjusting for general inflation, spending per capita actually fell over […]
When more beds aren’t enough
Alberta’s provincial health authority has recently come under fire by opposition party MLAs and activists alike for closing 77 Calgary long-term care beds damaged by the June floods. The angry reaction demonstrates the common misperception that a shortage of beds is the major cause of persistent waiting lists for long-term care. Like other […]
More health specialists not the answer to health system woes
It was only a decade ago that headlines in Canada were filled with pessimism about the nation’s critical doctor shortage. Wait times for specialists were increasing, doctors were leaving for the U.S. and patients couldn’t find a family doctor. Yet a recent study from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada notes […]
It’s déjà vu all over again
The most surprising thing in the recent coverage of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada study, which notes that as many as one in six newly-graduated medical specialists can’t find a job, is that anyone finds these results startling. They’re not if you’ve been paying attention. The die was cast […]
