Tag Archives: policy

Wildfire damage can be greatly reduced

Albertans are no strangers to the destruction of wildfires. Jasper, Fort McMurray, Slave Lake, and Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation are all communities devastated by wildfire in recent years. We empathize with those who lost their homes, their businesses or their jobs and bear witness to the challenges they face to rebuild their communities and theirContinue reading “Wildfire damage can be greatly reduced”

We are sick of sick notes

There is one thing doctors and patients can readily agree upon: we both hate sick notes. Patients loathe waiting long hours in overcrowded waiting rooms to request a note and doctors detest the added burden on the healthcare system in providing one.  Sick note policies increase use of scarce healthcare resources as employees are forcedContinue reading “We are sick of sick notes”

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”

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”

Climate change is a health crisis

An update version of this article including the carbon tax is now available here: https://engagedcitizen.ca/2024/09/05/climate-change-is-a-health-crisis-2/ As we cope with extreme heat waves and unpredictable wildfires this summer, it is hard to deny that climate change is a reality. With record setting high temperatures in many places in the West, this stretch of hot weather isContinue reading “Climate change is a health crisis”

Public policy determines health and well-being

If you have read my previous commentaries, you may have found yourself wondering why a medical doctor would write about public policy. In the first twenty years of my career, I worked in clinics, emergency rooms and intensive care units.  Sometimes, it seemed that no matter how hard I worked or how much I caredContinue reading “Public policy determines health and well-being”