Providing benefits not burdens

 By Jennifer Zwicker and Stephanie Dunn “Providing benefits not burdens” is how former Health Minister, Judy LaMarsh once described the vision for disability policy in Canada. Unfortunately, this vision is not a reality when it comes to one of the main benefits open to Canadians with disability: the federal Disability Tax

Why it’s Never too Late for Low Income Canadians to File Their Taxes

 Those earning $40,000 a year or less may be eligible for a range of benefits. Most Canadians would like to see an end to poverty.  What if we told you that one organization, using the existing social benefits system, found a way to get $21 million into the pockets of

Interview: Why do Canada’s Children Lag so Far Behind?

 In a recent UNICEF report, Canada ranked in the bottom half of the world’s richest countries in overall child well-being and child equality. Experts say that a lack of access to healthcare and inadequate supports for parents are reasons why Canada lags behind. In the video below, Dr. Denis Daneman and

What Real Inclusion Looks Like

 How community building to include kids of all abilities is important for everyone. Getting to be a valued member of their community should be the norm for all kids – but for kids with autism, it is too frequently not the case. Media stories are full of parental struggles to

Time to Re-Think Health Care Policy for the Elderly

 As the Canadian population continues to age, there is a need to revisit conventional thinking regarding the provision of health care services for seniors to ensure that the system is sustainable for all Canadians. There are a number of misperceptions in current thinking. First, there is a belief that a

Inner City Children’s Vision Is Being Left Behind

 Why Ontario needs a universal vision screening program for preschool children By Anand Bery and Wynn Peterson We can remember many of them, leaning forward, almost off their tiny kindergarten-sized chairs, squinting with one eye to try and make out a rather large 'H’ or ‘O’ on a chart across

The Scientific Link Between Culture and Health for Canada’s Indigenous Populations is Strong

 Wab Kinew has been telling scientists and health care professionals for years that culture is medicine. Epidemics of obesity, diabetes, infectious diseases and suicide that plague First Nation children across Canada are complex and multi-faceted.  Yet government solutions often focus on simplistic bio-medical approaches – when they address the crises

It’s Time for the Federal Government to Enforce the Canada Health Act

 Extra-billing, user fees for health services on the rise across the country. Extra-billing in Ontario, private MRIs in Saskatchewan and user fees in Quebec: violations of the Canada Health Act are on the rise across the country. Canadian doctors are concerned about the impact of this trend not only on

Advanced Directives for Assisted-Dying a Dangerous Step

 The moment we are born, our lives take flight; and the longer we are airborne, the greater the chance of encountering turbulence along the way. While every flight is destined to land, some landings are harder to contemplate than others. The parliamentary committee tasked with advising the federal government on

We Must Speak for Those Who Can’t

 Hospitals and health facilities across the country are not equipped to deal with physician-hastened death. On June 6, the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision making physician-hastened death legal will come into effect. A parliamentary committee asked to help the government plot how that would roll out in Canada has made

It’s High Time We Had Policies Guaranteeing Sick Time for Canadian Workers

 Letting sick workers stay home is good policy and smart business. A food handler going to work with a cough, a parent sending their sick child to school, or an emergency room nurse making snap decisions through the fog of a flu. It doesn’t take a medical degree to appreciate

How Future Doctors See Social Factors Shaping Their Medical Practice

 Medical students learn how to manage and treat disease. But once they start meeting patients in clinics and hospitals, they are also confronted with the fact that social factors have a huge impact on health and that their medical interventions might sometimes be limited. Two medical residents, Laura Stymiest and

It’s Time to Think Beyond National Pharmacare

 Make the evidence on drug safety and effectiveness public Recently federal and provincial health ministers agreed to create a working group to explore how to improve Canadians’ access to pharmaceutical drugs. In the wake of this, there is new optimism that pharmacare, publicly funded and universally available to Canadians, might

Albertans Must Get Inventive in Healthcare as Price of Oil Slides Further

 As world oil prices and the Canadian dollar slide perilously, Albertans must become more inventive and rigorous in managing our costs – and our expectations – especially in high-cost areas like infrastructure, education and health care. Health care is the biggest challenge. We cannot turn off the population’s health care

The New Health Accord could be Trudeau’s Most Significant Achievement

 Photo by Jean-Marc Carisse. Health Ministers Must Spend Smarter and Negotiate Wiser. This week the country’s 14 health ministers have been gathering in Vancouver for a pan-Canadian summit to begin negotiating a new Health Accord. The previous accord saw $41 billion transferred to the provinces over the last decade. This

Toward a True Health Accord

 This week Canada's Minister of Health, Dr. Jane Philpott, will meet with her provincial and territorial counterparts in Vancouver. This is no ordinary get-together. In his letter to the Minister, Prime Minister Trudeau tasked Philpott with "engaging provinces and territories in the development of a new, multi-year Health Accord with long-term funding

Three Things the Federal Government Can Do to Improve the Registered Disability Savings Plan

 Many of us in the disability community were pleasantly surprised when the Liberal party promised to create a National Disabilities Act that would safeguard disability rights, reduce systemic barriers and establish a foundation of opportunity for those affected by disability.  Canada is an outlier among developed nations for not having

Canada has too many kids in care – and the situation is not improving

 It’s time for national leadership. What happens to kids who authorities determine can't live safely with their own parents or caregivers? Thousands of Canadian children are in this situation right now. Many children are sent to foster homes, while others are sent into other types of out-of-home care on behalf

Why the Federal Government Needs to Keep its Promise to End Income-Splitting

 Children’s Health More About Good Social Policy than Medicine Alone. More of Canada’s children are living in poverty than ever before. A new report reveals that child poverty rates in Canada remain unconscionably high. Almost one-third of children in Toronto live in low-income households. Population measures of child health in Canada are also troubling,

Pharmacare is for Kids Too

 Written by Avram Denburg and Steve Morgan You are the parent of a sick child. You have a limited budget and you must decide to buy the medicine the doctor prescribed for your child or provide food and shelter for your family instead. What do you do? Sadly this dilemma is one too

Saskatoon’s housing crisis is a health emergency

 Recently, a disturbing photo of five people sleeping in a Saskatoon bank lobby became headline news and filled social media feeds. An earlier photo had contrasted the lush yards on the east side of the riverbank with tents in the bushes on the west side. A few days later, homelessness

What I didn’t learn in medical school

 Sometimes doctors can’t fix what makes their patients sick in the first place. I began medical school optimistic about what becoming a physician meant I could do for my future patients. Naively, I presumed my career would involve treating patients’ illnesses so they could return to lead full and fulfilling

Do Canadians Spend Too Much on Taxes?

 Here’s why that’s the wrong question “There are lies, damned lies and statistics” is the well-worn phrase, but nothing better sums up the recent Fraser Institute scare mongering about taxes being the single largest budget item of Canadian households.  “Your family’s largest expense may surprise you,” the ideological-driven think tank

Why We Need to Think Twice About Adopting an Australian Model of Pension Reform

 In a recent nation-wide commentary, authors Charles Lammam and Stephen Kirchner of the Fraser Institute urge the Province of Ontario to adopt an Australian model of pension provision instead of expanding the Canada Pension Plan as proposed in the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. This creates an interesting debate as it

Arrested for Sleeping?

 The struggle to occupy public space. As humans, we need to sleep. It is biologically unavoidable. Yet, on both sides of the border, sleeping can be considered a criminal act, especially if you are homeless and have no place to rest your head other than in public spaces such as