First published in the Winnipeg Free Press May 16, 2019
Health, health care system, pharmacare
Google (Alphabet), Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon. They are among the world's most valuable and most trusted companies, but increasingly the most scrutinized for their data-hoarding practices, monopolist tendencies, poor treatment of workers and willingness to bend or even break privacy laws in the pursuit of growth. More data gives these and other tech firms a more accurate picture of individual tastes and broader societal trends.
TORONTO—Today’s Ontario budget will do serious damage to the public services Ontarians depend on, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Ontario office (CCPA) says.
“Cuts like these don’t make Ontario ‘a place to grow,’ they make it a place where people have to just try and survive,” says Sheila Block, CCPA Ontario Senior Economist. “This is a bad news budget.”
First published in the Winnipeg Free Press April 8, 2019
The overhaul of Manitoba’s health care system has been met with repeated calls to slow down from those on the front lines of care. The consistent and persistent stories from patients and front line workers alike detailing chaos and upheaval within the health care system are numerous.
First published in the Winnipeg Free Press March 23, 2019 as Three thousand patients in a bind.
As British Columbia moves to support a role for community health centres (CHCs) within a larger agenda for reforming primary care, this piece explores what we can learn from other jurisdictions where CHCs are integrated into the broader primary care system, and how can we support CHCs in BC to be leaders in improving the quality of care for the entire health system.
This piece was originally published on Policy Note.
Regina — Canada ranks very poorly among peer nations for overall quality measures and rates of access to regulated child care, and Saskatchewan ranks the lowest of all Canadian provinces. A new report from the CCPA-Saskatchewan explores the piecemeal way in which child care policy has been developed by successive governments of all political stripes since 1969, and offers several recommendations for how to improve child care services that are of vital interest to the public.
Canada ranks very poorly among peer nations for overall quality and rates of access to regulated child care, with Saskatchewan ranking the lowest of all Canadian provinces. This study examines the history and consequences of the province's neglect in the important area of child care.
Recently the Manitoba Government made a decision to reject a core funding application from the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities (MLPD) for the 2018-19 fiscal year. It can be very difficult for an organization to function without core funding which diminishes its capacity. The organization (formally known as the Manitoba League of the Physically Handicapped) has existed since 1974 as a consumer-based organization of people living with disabilities.
The Trailer Overdose Prevention Site (TOPS, as its usually called, or Area 62) in Vancouver. Photo by Travis Lupick.