Fewer students are enrolling in postsecondary education since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasing tuition, high debt loads and uncertain COVID-19 learning environments are discouraging young people from pursuing higher education. But what are they missing out on and what is society losing by this disturbing trend? We know that people with higher levelsContinue reading “Higher education is worth the investment”
Category Archives: Community
Alberta Health Services needs strengthening, not dismantling
During her campaign for leadership of the UCP party, Danielle Smith made clear her plans to overhaul Alberta Health Services (AHS). She threatened to fire the entire AHS board and appoint an interim health commissioner reporting directly to herself and the health minister. While concentrating power into her hands, she says she wants to decentralize health careContinue reading “Alberta Health Services needs strengthening, not dismantling”
Primary health care in crisis
Primary care is the corner stone of a high-functioning health care system. Yet, many Albertans are struggling to find a family doctor, or if they are lucky enough to have a family doctor, to get an appointment in a timely fashion. In response to this crisis, the UCP government announced the Modernizing Alberta’s Primary Health CareContinue reading “Primary health care in crisis”
Food for a healthy planet and healthy people
Agricultural land covers 40% of the global land mass and food production accounts for up to 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Now more than ever we have to pay attention to how we eat in order to keep ourselves and our planet healthy. Agriculture continues to encroach into forests and other carbon rich ecosystemsContinue reading “Food for a healthy planet and healthy people”
Cleaning up our act on plastic pollution
They are convenient, inexpensive and versatile but plastics are harming our health and our planet. Recognizing the damaging effects of plastic pollution, the federal government recently announced regulations limiting single use plastics. But they do not go far enough to protect human health or ensure environmental sustainability. Eighty billion tons of plastics have been producedContinue reading “Cleaning up our act on plastic pollution”
Rethinking our understanding of mental health and mental illness
Canadians were in a mental health crisis well before the COVID-19 pandemic. But as with many other things, the pandemic served to shine a spotlight on the depth and breath of this serious issue. According to Statistics Canada, a shocking 1 in 3 Canadians suffers from mental illness during their lifetime. Five to 10 percentContinue reading “Rethinking our understanding of mental health and mental illness”
We must live within our means
Two months ago, the federal government announced an increase to the percentage of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) that employers in Canada will be allowed to hire. Given a ready solution to the labour shortage problem, many businesses breathed a collective sigh of relief. We can expect that employers in the Bow Valley will be takingContinue reading “We must live within our means”
Road traffic deaths are preventable
When a pedestrian is killed crossing the highway on the way to “community” housing, it is not an accident. It is death by design – or some would say – a lack of design, and we all have blood on our hands. From the urban planners who designed the housing project in its current location,Continue reading “Road traffic deaths are preventable”
Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic
It has been two years since an invisible but formidable foe shook up our lives. Since the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, we have all learned a great many things. We learned to bake bread, sew masks, use videoconferencing not only to get through our workday but also toContinue reading “Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic”
Addressing anti-Indigenous racism in our health care system
Joyce Echaquan, Gordon Sinclair, Jordan River Anderson – our health care system failed these Canadians in the worst possible way. All three suffered unduly and died within a health care system that did not give them the care they deserved simply because of their Indigenous identity. Their powerful stories are not isolated anecdotes but partContinue reading “Addressing anti-Indigenous racism in our health care system“
The Engaged Citizen 