Building a resilient and inclusive global health system together—Taiwan can help
The threat that emerging infectious diseases pose to global health and the economy, trade, and tourism never ceases. Pandemics can spread rapidly around the world due to international aviation and transport. As of March 2021, a novel form of pneumonia that first emerged in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 and has since been […]
StatsCan still on hunt for local enumerators in rural, remote areas
Canada’s national statistics agency says it’s still on the lookout for local enumerators in rural and remote areas to help administer the upcoming census, which is days away, a reflection of some of the challenges it’s had to anticipate and adjust for due to the worsening pandemic. Statistics Canada had to shift its approach, putting […]
Playing the blame game with pandemic politics
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Whoever coined the phrase “success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan” obviously never anticipated how society would react to the COVID virus. After all, the seeming inability of governments to effectively stop the spread of COVID, is a failure with many apparent fathers (and mothers). Just scan social media and you’ll see […]
Budget 2021 missed opportunity to unleash economic growth across cannabis sector
When Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland rose in the House of Commons to present her government’s budget, it was the eve of 4/20, the unofficial international day of celebration for many in the cannabis community. We took it as a positive omen that Minister Freeland had heard our call and accepted our offer to contribute more […]
Mixed reviews on budget supports for hard-hit tourism industry, amid calls for a national recovery strategy
The tourism sector has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, and while some were satisfied with the new budget’s announcements in the tourism sector, others were less enthused, with problems with current support being brought to the forefront. According to a March report from Destination Canada, the federal government’s tourism marketing arm, nine per […]
Partisan pile-ons won’t get us through this pandemic
OTTAWA—April and the third wave of the pandemic here in Ontario have been the most brutal of this 14-month journey. Provincewide, of course, intensive-care-unit admissions and case numbers have set records. Thankfully, vaccine distribution and administration are catching up. There most certainly is hope ahead, but it is hard not to feel like we are […]
‘Moral’ obligation to guide country out of pandemic trumps cynicism over governments’ ill-advised decisions, say experts
The pandemic has left some experts advising governments “jaded” about the political decision-making process, but that’s not necessarily going to deter others from serving in similar roles in the future. Alison Thompson, a public health ethicist with the University of Toronto who sits on Ontario’s advisory bioethics table, said experts like her have likely been […]
House Health Committee study should also dig into government’s response to variants, borders
For Canada and the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the top-of-mind issue since early last year. Justin Trudeau’s federal government and the governments of all provinces and territories have been almost entirely focused on the management of this once-in-a-century event. They have spent hundreds of billions of dollars to prevent the spread of this […]
StatsCan data suggests private sector PPE procurement out of step with science
Personal protective equipment is in high demand from Canadian businesses, but Statistics Canada data shows that much of the PPE businesses are after is designed to curb vectors of transmission that studies say aren’t the primary drivers of infection with COVID-19. Statistics Canada data released April 19 shows that throughout the pandemic businesses have focused […]
Liberals’ fiscal blueprint reflects pre-budget lobbying push, but gaps remain, say business groups
Business groups spent the majority of their March advocacy efforts focused on the April budget, lobbying that they say was successful in getting immediate concerns addressed to extend pandemic reliefs, though gaps still remain. The “vast majority” of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s 24 meetings were focused on the budget to push for pandemic-relief measures […]
