After many years of success, EvidenceNetwork.ca is no longer in operation. We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the organization over the past decade including our dedicated researchers, newspaper editors, readers and funders. However, now it is time to move onto new ways of looking at knowledge mobilization and policy. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Shannon Sampert at s.sampert@uwinnipeg.ca.

Does this headline say what you need to decide whether to read the article?

Of course not, in the same way nutrition labeling on the back of food packages doesn’t communicate what we need to know before buying food*   Supermarkets are crowded with around 40,000 products, yet most shoppers spend fewer than 10 seconds selecting an item. That’s certainly not enough time to review current Canadian nutrition labels, […]

Don’t dismiss Healthy Eating Strategy

Proposed new Food Guide and Nutrition Labeling policies are crucial steps in helping Canadians towards better health The long process of updating Canada’s Food Guide and reforms to nutrition labeling will soon become a reality. Collectively called Canada’s Healthy Eating Strategy, the proposals by Health Canada have been open to public consultation — and, unfortunately, industry lobbying. […]

“What happens to our sons and daughters with disabilities when we die?”

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, […]

Death’s tug of war with mystery and science

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. […]

A tsunami of antibiotic resistance is coming—and Canada must take charge

At the beginning of the last century, illnesses due to bacterial infections ranked as the most common cause of death in Canada.  By the latter third of the century, the diagnosis, prevention and management of infectious diseases had advanced dramatically, raising hopes that many of these infections would be consigned to history. The dramatic improvements […]

Purdue Pharma given free reign in Canada as it is sanctioned in the United States

Opioid manufacturer admits to illegal activity in the United States but faces no penalties in Canada   Purdue Pharma recently announced that it will stop advertising opioids to doctors in the United States after pleading guilty to misleading marketing more than a decade ago. This is a major, albeit belated, departure from the company’s playbook […]

Eat more plants, less meat

Canada’s Food Guide revamp is good for people and the planet   What is a healthy diet? New Year’s diet conversations still abound around water coolers Canada-wide as people debate the various merits and shortcomings of sugar, gluten, meat, dairy, tofu and other edibles.  Scientific articles, shiny celebrities and representatives of various groups who produce, […]

Social media can help drive health-care change

Why Change Day is a step in the right direction A version of this commentary appeared in Ottawa Life, the Hamilton Spectator and the Waterloo Chronicle Over the past few months, patients and healthcare providers alike have been encouraged to make pledges to improve compassionate quality care in Ontario as part of an inaugural movement […]

Why is Health Canada aiding private blood firms?

A version of this commentary appeared in the Toronto Star, Winnipeg Free Press and the Huffington Post As the snow begins to fall and the mercury begins to drop, Health Canada has found itself in some hot water. The trouble has been years in the making — since at least 2013. That was when Canadian Plasma […]

Most Canadians don’t understand food nutrition labels

As January comes to an end, those who vowed to eat better in 2015 have probably already given up. Not very surprising, considering that most people grossly underestimate the amount of calories they consume, and underestimate their fat, salt and sugar consumption, even after consulting nutrition labels.