‘A first step’: $2B health-care top up welcomed, but better collaboration needed to tackle challenges, say experts
Health industry experts are largely welcoming Bill C-17, which would see a $2-billion infusion of federal cash shared between every province and territory meant to address troubling backlogs in health-care systems created throughout COVID-19. But they also say the money is not nearly enough after so many months of a system stretched to the limit, […]
Overturning Roe v. Wade just the beginning of Trump’s legacy, warns Heyman
In the wake of what appears to be the undoing of the right to choose to have an abortion in the United States, former American ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman, who served under Democrat president Barack Obama, says he’s worries this is just the beginning. “I think that if we think it’s just Roe v. […]
Large-scale national data approach key to unlocking power of genomics
Genomic data is increasingly supporting new research across many sectors. To continue to maintain its scientific excellence in the new era of large-scale genomics, Canada needs a plan to translate the power of “big” genomic data into positive impacts for Canadians and the Canadian economy. Genomic data is the information coded in DNA—the chemical sequence […]
Beneath all the vague talk, the causes of populist chaos are clear enough
OTTAWA—The idea of motorcyclists rolling into town and sort of taking over is a unique North American postwar cultural phenomenon. The whole outlaw biker concept, which took shape after a raucous “invasion” by an unexpectedly large crowd of bikers during the July 4 weekend in Hollister, Calif., in 1947, was immortalized by Marlon Brando’s comment […]
Continued dawdling on vaccine waiver position leaves NDP and advocates ‘extremely frustrated’
Nineteen months after India and South Africa put forward an intellectual property waiver on COVID-19 vaccines, Canada’s continued delay to signal an opinion on the matter has left many with a bitter taste in their mouths. The waiver was submitted at the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council in […]
Online startup wins press freedom award for coverage of COVID’s impact on ‘neglected’ Peel Region
The Local freelance reporter Fatima Syed and editor Tai Huynh have been named joint winners of the 2022 Press Freedom Award for their coverage of the effects COVID had on immigrants and frontline workers in Ontario’s Peel Region, just outside of Toronto. Syed and Huynh, who is also publisher of the Toronto-based journalism startup, were […]
China and COVID: the cost of infallibility
LONDON, U.K.—Even the Pope claims to be infallible only on matters of faith and doctrine. On the chance of rain or the speed of a racehorse, he will freely admit that he is just as fallible as you and I. Whereas secular dictators, and especially ones who are building a personality cult, are implicitly claiming […]
Canada Disability Benefit needed now
Arguably, our country has made great progress over the past century with respect to disability rights, accessibility, and inclusion. For 100 years, Easter Seals has been advocating for progressive change that creates opportunities and strengthens independence for people living with disabilities from coast to coast to coast, from helping families obtain mobility devices for their […]
As the Conservative Party goes full MAGA, we all lose
OTTAWA—The Conservatives have removed their patina of integrity and propriety to go full MAGA. Finally. They’ve been swirling around this bowl for a while. If former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, who infamously defended the residential school system, was their great moderate hope, they have some serious problems. We are at a crossroads in this country. […]
Liberals can’t delay on post-COVID recovery in health care
The pattern from the Liberals to delay until things reach a breaking point before taking any action has proven ineffective at managing the pressures on Canada’s health system. Since the start of the pandemic, whether it was ensuring our health-care workers had proper personal protective equipment, securing vaccines, and now last to lift unscientific mandates, […]
