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Search results for: “site/Pat Armstrong”

  • Swamp Donkey Dam, Photo: Vicky Husband

    Easy Water: Time bombs, fracking dams and the rush for H2O on private farmlands

    The number of unlicensed and potentially dangerous dams built in recent years in northeast British Columbia is nearly double what has been reported, according to one of the province’s top water officials. At least 92 unauthorized dams have been built in the region where natural gas industry fracking operations consume…

  • Beware of sales pitch for unnecessary CT scans

    I sometimes wonder if former prime minister Brian Mulroney still feels any pain. Back in 2005, Mulroney received full-blown chest surgery after having undergone a “preventive” health screen. His surgery and subsequent re-hospitalization for complications came after what the media called a “routine CT lung scan.” What Mulroney probably wasn’t…

  • A path through the Bush visit

    Beyond the obligatory niceties, next week’s visit by George W. Bush will reveal little about the actual direction of Canada-U.S. relations. But it does provide an occasion to reflect on where we are going and what are our choices. In my view, the most important question facing Canada over the…

  • Public Interest Research Project (BC)

    Government Not Enforcing Health Laws

    The provincial government recently stated that user charges for emergency health care services provided at the new False Creek Urgent Care Centre are legal. Minister of Health George Abbott says he would not have any basis for legal action because the doctors providing urgent care at the clinic are from…

  • Injured workers with chronic pain: the serious human costs of the WorkSafeBC system

    I have been a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation for over 30 years. A significant portion of my practice involves injured workers who have developed chronic pain and have been denied compensation by WorkSafeBC (WCB). Workers with injuries that heal in weeks or a few months are usually treated…

  • An Apple a Day

    We need real health care, not an illness-treatment system A few years ago, one of the Wizard of Oz comic strips showed a doctor standing outside his office glaring across the street at a vendor with a cart full of apples. “Beat it!” yells the doctor. “I’m trying to make…

  • Labour Matters

    Fast Facts: Manitoba Needs Programs like BUILD

    A version of this article was published in the Winnipeg Free Press January 11, 2022 Just before the holidays, BUILD, Inc. announced the closure of its training program upon the breakdown of funding negotiations with the Provincial Government. BUILD (Building Urban Industries for Local Development) is a social enterprise. Its…

  • Paths to Union Renewal

    Canadian Experiences This new book focuses on the efforts and progress of union revialization and organizing, and documents the renewal initiatives undertaken by unions in Canada. Unions, separately or in coalition with other unions or social groups, have begun to re-examine the basis of their organization and activity in the…

  • Canadian workers’ paycheques in 30-year holding pattern : Study

    OTTAWA – Canadians are working harder and smarter, contributing to a growing economy, but their paycheques have been stagnant for the past 30 years, says a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). Rising Profit Shares, Falling Wage Shares finds that Canada’s economy grew steadily and workers’…

  • Fast Facts: The Gaslighting of Manitobans in Health Care

    First published in the Winnipeg Free Press on June 25, 2019 The health care overhaul has been well-documented in the media, and routinely questioned in the Legislative Assembly, yet transparency and accountability are lacking. In fact, our government has embarked on a communication strategy that can only be explained as…

  • Boondoggles in the Boreal

    Abandoned mines, oil and gas wells pollute our boreal forest A mid-March report — A Forest of Blue: Canada’s Boreal Forest, the World’s Waterkeeper — focuses on the health of our vast northern forest ecosystem, which covers 60% of Canada’s land mass. Issued by the Pew Environment Group (a U.S.…

  • BC is flush. It’s time for more robust investment in the common good.

    Can BC afford to make major new public investments to address crises in housing, climate change, health care, child care and toxic drugs, among others? The simple answer is yes, can we ever.  A new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ national office shows that despite dire predictions…