On improving dialogues between scientific illiterate and politically clueless
GATINEAU, QUE.—The interactions between politicians and scientists are undergoing more scrutiny these days. And well they should as science underpins much of what constitutes public policy. It is also a two-way street. Science needs to better grasp the oft-complex context behind policy and the polity needs to better understand the growing knowledge agenda. Thirty years […]
Next steps toward a more innovative Canada
Canada is poised to raise its innovation game, a job that calls for a multi-faceted approach merging the creativity and cooperation of industry, government, academia, and all other players. Last October, the Coalition for Action on Innovation in Canada (CAIC) released its report, “An Action Plan For Prosperity,” which offered a series of practical recommendations […]
Innovation: Canada’s entrepreneurs must show us how
Canada’s economic prosperity depends on us becoming a more innovative and productive nation. Innovation makes businesses and societies more competitive and prosperous. But Canada is weak in innovation. Legions of studies have investigated the issue, including a February 2010 Conference Board of Canada report that assigned the country a “D” for innovation and ranked it […]
New ideas open doors for women around the world
Canada’s Innovation Strategy, launched in 2002, is based on a simple premise: Our prosperity depends on investments in science, technology, and innovation (STI). In economic terms, innovation means converting knowledge into value. Put more simply, it means improving people’s lives by finding ways to do things better than before. STI is as critical in the […]
Private-sector innovation: investing in universities and colleges makes good business sense
When the University of British Columbia licensed a novel drug technology to a leading global provider of healthcare products at the end of last year, it highlighted the Centre for Drug Research and Development’s role in closing the gap between discovery research and commercial opportunity in Canada. The technology, which allows potentially toxic drugs to […]
Feds’ approach to internet regulation disastrous for consumers
When you look at the Conservative government’s approach to internet regulation what you get is a confusing maze of announcements, reversals and half-measures all resulting in disastrous outcomes for consumers. Canadians pay more than most other OECD countries for internet service while receiving a comparatively lower level of service, particularly with respect to download speed. […]
Here’s a prescription for emergency room overcrowding
Fifty two per cent of Canadians agree that our health-care system is broken and needs to undergo fundamental change if it is going to meet our needs in the future. One essential change must be reducing the back-logs in Canadian emergency rooms. As a physician who practised emergency medicine, most of the beds in my […]
Health care in the North: Imagining a different future
WHITEHORSE, YUKON—What qualities lead to happiness and high achievement? Current brain research suggests the unconscious mind—emotion and intuition—play a much larger role than hitherto thought. Mental health depends upon connection. “Happiness is determined by how much information and affection flows through us covertly every day…” (D. Brooks, ‘Social Animal,’ The New Yorker, Jan. 17, 2011, […]
Federal-provincial health accord expires in 2014, experts say it’s time feds talk about their plans
Sustainability of the publicly-funded system, access to primary care, the rising cost of pharmaceuticals and human resource shortages are the top issues facing health care in Canada, say stakeholders and opposition MPs. All these issues are interconnected, however, and as Canada moves toward the end of the 10-year health accord signed in 2004, the federal […]
Evidence and the privatization of health care
Evidence-based medicine has been enthusiastically embraced in Canada and elsewhere, and broadened to include evidence-based policy. Meanwhile, we are faced with a clamour for the privatization of important features of our public health-care system in Canada. The evidence is clear that privatization means increased costs, reduced accessibility and even reduced quality. Why then this clamour? […]
