The US to slash UN funding by more than a quarter of a million dollars

 The Trump administration is preparing executive orders that will reduce the US’s role in the United Nations in 2018. US Ambassador Nikki R. Haley, Permanent Representative to the UN, has officially announced the quarter of a million-dollar cut to the UN’s annual budget. The negotiated $285 million reduction for the

Reforming Healthcare Funding to Address the Needs of Our Aging Population

 Why we need a publicly funded insurance program for home care and long-term care By Réjean Hébert Funding home care and long-term care is fast becoming the main challenge of our outdated medicare system – a system developed in the mid-twentieth century for a young population that mostly required acute

Dear Health Minister – Please Reinstate Funding for Cochrane Canada

 Cochrane is a key global healthcare resource that needs Canada’s involvement Imagine you’re our new Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. Despite a grueling election campaign, you’re flush with energy and idealism in a country where “better is always possible.” One key priority is improving Canada’s prosperity but there are also many

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

A Plan for a Vibrant and Sustainable CBC

 The Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications has released a report on the future of the CBC. I was a part of that study, but I could not support the report. Some Conservative members of the committee spent too much time denouncing the CBC and not enough time on

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

Private Delivery of Healthcare Can Work in a Publically Funded System but Comes with Risks

 What the rest of Canada can learn from Alberta’s experience If you look at an old map of Canadian healthcare policy, just near Privatization Island is a big warning: “Here be dragons.” So it proved for Alberta Health Services last month when a seemingly innocuous decision—to swap the tender for

Naturopathic and Conventional Medicine Team Up to Fight Cancer

 The Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre (OICC) and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) have been given a $3.85 million research grant to look into the effects of naturopathic medicine combined with conventional medicine. The two Ottawa-based institutions will be researching the effectiveness of different types of medicines used in conjunction with one

A New Paradigm for Cancer Prevention

 There have been several advances in the treatment of cancer over the last 20 years. We have new targeted oncology drugs with fewer side effects and improved technology allowing for more sensitive and earlier detection. Evolving research guides oncologists not only when to use chemotherapy, but more importantly, when not

Why Canada Shouldn’t Compete with the U.S. for the Worst Performing Health System in the Developed World

 B.C. Court Challenge Looming The latest Commonwealth Study ranked Canada’s health care system a dismal second to last in a list of 11 major industrialized countries. We had the dubious distinction of beating out only the Americans. This latest poor result is already being used by those bent on further

Trouble in a fool’s paradise: The problems with our Canadian Forces

 By Dan Donovan and Jennifer O'Meara The HMCS Chicoutimi was only days out of port on its maiden voyage when disaster struck. An onboard fire would leave one sailor dead and an entire crew bobbing in the North Atlantic for days as they waited for a towline to take them back

Reg Alcock navigates by an ethical compass

 By Jennifer O'Meara Treasury Board president Reg Alcock has been rocking the boat this past year, but then he always was a bit a monkey. It was a long time ago, when someone gave him a simian as a pet. Alcock needed to establish dominance, so he bit the monkey.