Let’s Do to Wage Inequality What We Did to Drunk Driving

 Women earn less than men do – sometimes even when they’re doing the same job. This is disgraceful, and it’s one of the reasons my union partnered with Ottawa Life to look at how women are treated in the workplace. Unequal treatment of females is rampant in the private sector,

Five Things We Know about Economic Inequality – and Why We Need to Act

 Certain segments of society encounter persistent disadvantages and lack of opportunity across the country.  This can affect everything from health outcomes of individuals and entire communities to social cohesion. It can also impact the economic growth of the country and the social mobility of Canadians. However, the extent of inequality

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

Canada’s Euthanasia Legislation: From the Perspective of Canadians with Disabilities

 By Peter McGrath. On Feb. 6, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Canada’s assisted suicide law, opening the door to physician-assisted suicide. This is an incredibly complex topic, one fraught with moral and ethical issues. Peter McGrath, a Counsel in the Department of Justice, gives his opinion from

Wage Equality: Lessons from the public sector

 By Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union As a general rule, women get paid less than men do. It doesn’t matter how you measure it. If you go by the average annual pay of all women in Ontario, women make 69 cents for every dollar

Three Things We Can Do to End Poverty in Canada

 Poverty degrades our economy, changes the nature of our cities and the cohesion of our society “Time to end poverty in Canada” has been the message from the Salvation Army coming across our TV screens this holiday season. A great idea from an organization that fights poverty every day in

Health in all Policies Approach Gaining Traction Across Political Spectrum in Canada

 By Danyaal Raza and Ryan Meili When counselling patients on health, physicians often focus on lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise or smoking. This kind of advice can be important for the individual, but does little to change underlying drivers of health like income, education and employment. These factors are