What Minister Lebouthillier Doesn’t Know About Diabetes.

 When my son was 14 he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It came out of nowhere. It was the long weekend before Labour Day; he was about to start grade 10. That summer he had an adolescent growth spurt. When a colleague met him that summer he jokingly asked

Health Reform in Ontario Must Include Oral Health

 A healthy mouth is part of a healthy life. The Ontario government’s proposed reform of the provincial health care system is going forward with a glaring omission: primary mouth care. To make this reform truly "Patients First," Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long Term Care, must include primary

Future Energy: It’s Time for Canada to Lead

 Over the past decades, oil became everything for Canada. It was sign of economic stability, new jobs and progress. Today, oil’s low cost is dragging down the country's economy. Environmental concerns are only rising. The new reality seems here to stay. On the bright side, Canada is now on the threshold of

Response to Refugee Crisis Must Include Expanding Refugee Healthcare

 The haunting image of Alan Kurdi’s lifeless body lying face down on a Turkish beach, and the subsequent revelation of the Kurdi family’s intention to seek asylum in Canada, have prompted many Canadians to ask what we can do as a country to help Syrian refugees. So far, our search

Is Waiting Longer for New Prescription Drug Approvals Necessarily a Bad Thing?

 Why Canada’s ‘slow and low’ approach to new pharmaceuticals may be the prudent approach. The newest report from Canada’s brand name drug makers on access to new drugs has one key message: compared to other countries, Canada goes slow and low.  New drugs are slower to be covered by our

Putting kitchen costs on the chopping block

 Save your kiss for the cook and not for bidding your money goodbye. Staying within budget is one of the most challenging parts of home improvement. Keeping costs in line, while not compromising dream renovation plans, sometimes seems impossible, especially when it comes to the kitchen. Luckily, there are ways

What Do Canadians Need from Pension Reform?

 A gentle policy nudge to enhance coverage and pension contributions—here’s how.  Pension reform continues to hold interest across the country, especially given the willingness of the federal Conservatives to at least talk about expanding the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). Pundits and politicos are weighing in now with blunt talk of

Ambulance Fees are an Obstacle on the Road to Care

 Imagine you’re a physician seeing a six month old child in clinic. She has a fever and cough, she’s working hard to breathe and her oxygen levels are falling. You know she needs assessment in the emergency room and requires transportation in an ambulance in case her condition worsens en route.

Silencing a Voice: The Closing Of Sun News

 Image: huffpost.com By Michael Coren It’s been a few weeks now since the Friday the 13th that I will never forget. That was the day – 5 a.m. to be precise – that Sun News closed down. I hosted a nightly show called The Arena on the network for almost

Do’s and Don’ts for Choosing a Contractor

 How to go about choosing a contractor is a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly but it doesn’t have to be an intimidating one. By arming yourself with a plan, you can be sure to land the perfect contractor to execute your type of renovation. Don’t simply rely on one

Five challenges for bending the health care cost curve in Canada

 By Greg Marchildon and Livio Di Matteo Why health reform remains a challenge Canadian economists received a pleasant surprise this year: expenditure growth on public healthcare in Canada finally appears to be slowing down. However, it is unclear if this slowdown is the result of explicit success in sustainably bending the cost-curve

It’s Time to Include Dental Health in the Healthcare System

 Canada’s most vulnerable populations have the highest rates of dental pain, decay, disease and the worst access to care. There are many reasons why some Canadians choose not to go to the dentist, but a new report released recently from the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) found that cost

Oil: A High-Stakes Game of Chance

 Popular wisdom has it that the only certainty in life is death and taxes. Until a few short months ago, most economists, politicians, political pundits and journalists would have added to that short list a perpetual increase in the price of oil. But, in today’s interconnected world, much can happen

Your Car Crash Survival Guide: 8 Mistakes to Avoid After an Accident

 As accident and injury lawyers, we know how chaotic a car accident can be. We’ve had countless clients come through our doors wishing they had known what steps to take right from the start. Here are some of the major missteps we’ve seen over the years, and how you can

New Hospital Funding Model is a Leap of Faith

 Activity-based funding may discharge patients from hospital ‘quicker but sicker’ Most Canadians probably don’t realize that health care in Canada is quietly undergoing a major transformation in funding that could significantly impact patients.  Three provinces—Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia—are implementing a new funding model for hospitals and other provinces are

Capital Consignment: AMHstyle

 Stepping into AMH Style is like stepping into the closet of your most fashionable friend. All the enviable, personality pieces she’s been sporting? She found them here. The women behind this cream of the crop consignment shop are sisters Alison and Joanna Hughes. Citing experience in the fashion industry as

Ontario Spends More than $11 billion a Year on Prescription Drugs

 Why an income-based drug plan would not be good for Ontario’s economy or its seniors Ontario spends $11 billion per year on prescription drugs. Nearly half of this is spent on medicines used by senior citizens, a group that receives public subsidies for nearly all of their prescription drug costs

An Era of Restraint in Health Care Spending in Canada

 The question is whether the current decline represents a permanent bending of the health care cost curve or a temporary pause In the wake of new health expenditure data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), the evidence continues to mount that Canadian public health expenditure growth is moderating.

Is It Time For Canadians to Demand Action on Child Care?

 After years of inaction from Stephen Harper's Conservative government, it is time for Canadian families to join together to demand high quality, affordable child care. As it stands right now, millions of parents lack access to affordable, quality day care in Canada, with one care space available for every five

Canada Relying too Heavily on Unpaid Caregivers—At a Cost

 Almost half a million Canadians go without necessary homecare. The unexpected and largely unreported good news about homecare in this country is that the vast majority of Canadians who receive home help or homecare for a chronic health condition are getting all the services they need. According to a recently

An Eye for a Picture

 Even if you have a good eye for images and detail you can still make some basic mistakes once you try to put things down on paper. If you are learning to draw or paint and teaching yourself, perhaps with the aid of the Internet you may find it difficult

Bidding the Bathroom Blahs Bye-Bye

 As with every large purchase decision in life, there are many factors that should be considered. Take for instance the purchase of a new home build, with so many available options and upgrades, the decisions can be overwhelming. We all want the model home look without the model home price.

Is this the end of the Prince of Wales Railway Bridge?

 I fear for the future of the Prince of Wales railway bridge that crosses the Ottawa River a mile upstream from Parliament Hill. You've probably seen and admired it many times, without knowing its name. Just a short walk from the new Canadian War Museum, the old railway bridge crosses