Reinvestment needed to develop a lagging biotechnology sector
The term biotechnology usually conjures up images of medical laboratories, but it has applications beyond human health. Agriculture and forestry use biotechnology to create new products and better crops. The chemical and manufacturing industries use biotechnology to enhance their performance and reduce the cost of their products. For much of the 20th century, Canada was […]
Ongoing uncertainty about prices will deter new drug launches in Canada
In April, the federal minister of health announced that the government would not proceed with two of three major pieces in its new regulatory guidelines for the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) after successive court rulings quashed changes that would have introduced complex “pharmaco-economic” calculations and required drug companies to disclose confidentially negotiated rebates. On July 1, the government implemented the one surviving amendment, which […]
How much closer does the health-care crisis have to hit?
ST. JOHN’S, N.L.—The challenged and fractured state of the Canadian health-care system was brought home to our family last week. Fortunately, the outcome was not dire, but eye opening. While sitting at home in Ottawa on Aug. 22, I received a call from a family friend that my mother was being taken to hospital by […]
Federal departments eyeing mid-September return to office, but unions pushing back
Two and a half years into a COVID-19 pandemic that has dramatically altered workplace arrangements, some federal departments are moving to implement return-to-office policies, in many cases looking for employees to return two days per week starting Sept. 12. But as the seventh wave of the pandemic continues, and with many employees working productively from […]
‘These are real people’: medical ethicist urges Parliamentarians to dig deeper on inappropriate MAiD applications
As reports about Canada’s medical assistance in dying law garner ever more attention from international human rights organizations, disability advocates and academics are urging the joint committee examining medical assistance in dying to stop dismissing the lived experiences of vulnerable Canadians as “anecdotes.” On Aug. 16, Global News reported a Canadian Forces veteran seeking treatment […]
To ‘build back better,’ Canadians need a shared purpose
TORONTO—If we are to ‘build back better’ as a country, Canadians need unifying goals and projects to show how a better future is possible. We also need credible evidence to demonstrate that we are headed in the right direction. Today, we don’t have much confidence that we are on the right track. We have a […]
The relationship between schizophrenia and nicotine could actually help end homelessness
“Several hundred workers were brutally murdered with machetes and machine gun fire around the South African gold mine owned by Leif Gregersen.” I had never been to South Africa, barely knew anything about it, but here the television was telling me I was some kind of despot-capitalist there. I wanted to cover my ears and […]
Ford helps undermine Ontario’s public health system, then eyes more privatization
OTTAWA—Swallowing a bee while discussing the possible privatization of Ontario health care, Doug Ford reflexively thought he might have to undergo emergency treatment. “I’ll be rushing to the hospital to get this bee out of here,” the premier speculated as he tried to continue with a press conference last week in rural Dundalk, Ont. Luckily, Ford […]
Time to reimagine downtown Ottawa as a place for people
OTTAWA—The last 27 months have fundamentally changed the dynamics of downtown Ottawa. Office employees, now working from home, no longer walk the sidewalks or stop at a local restaurant for lunch, leaving business owners struggling to find clientele. Hotels, once bursting with business travellers and tourists, now face dire prospects. And the LRT system, once […]
‘Everybody’s going to be at risk’: some public health advocates warn against focusing monkeypox messaging on GBTQ+ men
Canada’s top health officials are urging gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer men to get vaccinated and limit their sexual activity, following the World Health Organization’s declaration on July 23 that the spread of monkeypox was a global health emergency. But concerns are being raised that such messaging could contribute to stigmatization and leave the greater […]
