Still behind the curve on COVID all these months later
OTTAWA—What does the fact that Canada’s prime minister lives in a nondescript old house that was once the accommodation provided to the governor general’s administrative assistant have to do with our ongoing struggle with COVID-19? The PM’s plain brick residence in the backyard of the governor general’s abode—instead of the government shelling out the cash […]
Doing our part to vaccinate the world against COVID-19: AstraZeneca Canada
On July 12, the Government of Canada announced that it will donate 17.7-million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to COVAX, a multilateral collaborative initiative aimed at ensuring fair and equitable access to World Health Organization (WHO)-approved vaccines worldwide. This is a welcome donation, made at a critical time. The world needs more doses of vaccines […]
‘Let the bodies pile high’: Boris Johnson’s gambling with people’s lives
LONDON, U.K.—“Let the bodies pile high in their thousands,” expostulated Boris Johnson in his private office, but the door was open and a number of witnesses heard him. This was last October, when the second wave of COVID-19 was gaining speed but the British prime minister was determined not to reimpose restrictions like masks and […]
Longer writ period ‘preferred’ by Elections Canada chief could hurt Liberal prospects, pollsters say
Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault says Elections Canada would “prefer” the duration of the next election campaign to be longer than the minimum 36 days to deliver a safe election which is expected to happen in the midst of COVID-19, but two leading pollsters say a longer campaign will put the Liberals at a political […]
‘If you listen to 15 years of stories, over and over again, of the worst and most heinous crimes against humanity, you cannot help but be affected’: departing Conservative MP David Sweet calls for more mental health resources for MPs
For Conservative MP David Sweet, one of the most rewarding aspects of his job was helping people facing persecution, while serving on the House Subcommittee on International Human Rights since 2008, including vice chair since 2019. But he also says the position took a mental health toll on him, which is partly why he’s not […]
Black public servants’ class-action suit litigants seeking $100-million mental health fund from feds
The legal team representing hundreds of current and former Black federal employees now part of a proposed multi-million-dollar class-action lawsuit against the federal government has filed a motion in federal court for the government to implement a $100-million mental health fund to address mental injuries and ongoing challenges faced by Black public service workers. The […]
Zoom meet-ups and chat groups: the unusual first term of Parliament’s class of 2019
Ottawa’s bracing for an election call that would end the 43rd Parliament, most of which has been spent in the shadow of COVID-19, and first-term MPs say that while the resulting shift to virtual helped level the playing field and bring welcome flexibility, it made for a “shadow” of an experience, made relationship building difficult, […]
Vaccine hesitancy: the need for informed consent
While the public has been informed that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the risks, a comprehensive and explicit risk assessment has neither been performed in Canada nor have any such assessments been communicated in detail to the public to allow for informed consent. Informed consent requires an understanding of the risks and benefits of […]
COVID-19: lessons learned and the path forward
It is said that one should never waste a good crisis. If that is received wisdom—and I believe it is—there is a treasure trove of lessons to be learned and addressed in Canadian health care from the COVID-19 pandemic. They come in different forms. Some include the accelerated adoption of technologies and practices that would […]
Road to recovery and lessons from the pandemic
As Canada slowly slides toward some form of normalcy during the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, deep assessments will commence on how the federal government has handled the once-in-a-lifetime health crisis; what lessons were learned in science and medicine; and how Canadians were impacted through a series of lockdowns and restrictions that changed the way they live […]
