Tailoring a program to tackle homelessness and alcoholism saves lives Maybe it’s time we woke up and realized that how we’ve been dealing with a certain segment of homeless people in this city just isn’t working. You probably know the ones I mean: you pass by them if you walk downtown on your way […]
Music interventions are evidence-based with positive results — so why don’t we use them more often? My son is practicing the piano as I write this and it’s the sweetest sound. He’s spent two years working slowly through the same level, but it doesn’t matter; he’s improving and the benefits of both music therapy […]
Older Canadians living with frailty tell us what they need to live better Within a decade, the number of frail, elderly Canadians will double. What does getting old look like in Canada? We need to start listening to the people with lived experiences of frailty and aging in planning and providing care, say Dr. Kathy […]
Dr. Jino Distasio of the University of Winnipeg discusses the systemic problems that contribute to homelessness in Canada — and the local and national efforts required to stop the revolving door of homelessness. Photo Credit: AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
When I was an economics student many years ago, the last living student of John Maynard Keynes and noted economist Joan Robinson gave a lecture to a packed hall. During the question period, one smart aleck student asked, “Why should anyone study economics?” After a prolonged pause, her answer was simple, “So you know when […]
Fix the RDSP and close the poverty gap of Canadians with disabilities Canada’s Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) is the first poverty-fighting tool for people with disabilities in the world. This remarkable example of federal/provincial/territorial cooperation, which was created in 2008, has already changed the lives of more than 150,000 Canadians with disabilities. Unfortunately, […]
An obsession with ‘present mindedness’ wipes out concerns about past or future. ~ Harold Innis I count myself as lucky to have been born when death was still pretty much a mystery, more the prerogative of poets and other artists, philosophers and religious teachers than of scientists and doctors. I grew up surrounded by death. […]
The guards on Parliament Hill have a nickname for her. It’s “the Perfect Storm” and when Sen. Marilou McPhedran found out that’s what they were calling her, she was delighted. The Manitoba senator, named as an Independent to the Red Chamber in October of 2016, says she’s aware that she sometimes makes people uncomfortable but […]
Postpartum OCD is frequently misdiagnosed and misunderstood – but it is treatable In January, a new mother in California became part of a viral Facebook post that described her baby’s four-month postpartum checkup. As a result of the thoughts she shared with her health care providers, the police were called and she was escorted […]
A basic income guarantee has been back in the news a lot lately, thanks to Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, Elon Musk and other tech giants who have been publicly endorsing the concept. But it’s not just talk in Canada. Ontario is piloting a basic income across three cities, Quebec has brought in a basic income […]
