editor, Author at Monitor Telegram

‘Canadians are concerned’: Private data on the table in NAFTA negotiations

August 2, 2017

OTTAWA — The personal information of Canadians will be on the negotiating table when North American free trade talks begin this month.

The United States has served notice it wants an end to measures that restrict cross-border data flows, or require the use or installation of local computing facilities.

It is among the many American goals for the coming NAFTA renegotiation spelled out by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Privacy advocates say that means trouble for Canada’s ability to shield sensitive information such as health or financial data from the prying eyes of foreign agencies by storing it in computer servers on Canadian soil.

Canadians’ health-care costs have skyrocketed: Study

August 1, 2017

TORONTO – Health-care costs for the average Canadian family have increased by nearly 70% during the last two decades, a new Fraser Institute report says.

The study, which used data from Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information, says the typical Canadian family of four will pay $12,057 for health care in 2017.

Publicly funded opioid prescriptions increase, despite addiction risk

July 31, 2017

Doctors are prescribing more opioids to vulnerable people in three Atlantic Canadian provinces, despite years of warnings about the addictive prescription painkillers.

The number of publicly funded prescriptions for opioids increased by 26 per cent between 2010 and 2015, according to data compiled by the Canadian Institute for Health Information for CBC News.

Ottawa pushed to prosecute Purdue Pharma over ‘deceptive’ marketing of OxyContin

July 31, 2017

The harms to individuals, health-care systems and society from Canada’s opioid crisis are so grave that some physicians and lawyers are calling for criminal prosecution of OxyContin’s drugmaker.

As part of a Canada-wide settlement announced in May following a class-action lawsuit, Purdue Pharma (Canada) agreed to pay $20 million — including $2 million to provincial health plans — over how the company marketed and sold its pain medications OxyContin and OxyNEO.

Union calls long-term care violence ‘tragic symptom of a care system in crisis’

July 27, 2017

The union representing nurses and long-term care workers at Ottawa’s 17 facilities says “many tragic stories” could be avoided if Ontario increased its funding.

CUPE staged a rally at the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre on Thursday, urging support for Bill 33, a private member’s bill calling for higher levels of daily resident care, along with four hours minimum daily hands-on care.

Federal government can afford $8 billion a year on child-care program, IMF says

July 27, 2017

OTTAWA—International Monetary Fund researchers say the federal government can afford to spend $8 billion annually to reduce the cost of child care spaces nationwide because the program would pay for itself.

The proposal is more than 10 times what the Liberals have promised to spend annually over the next decade on child care.

Charges against Thunder Bay mayor show need for more local oversight, says Carleton professor

July 25, 2017

Criminal charges of extortion and obstruction of justice against Keith Hobbs, the mayor of Thunder Bay, Ont., are further proof that municipal politics in Canada need to be more transparent, and have more oversight, says a public policy expert in Ottawa.

The scenario unfolding in Thunder Bay is not an isolated incident, said Robert Shepherd, an associate professor in the school of public policy administration at Carleton University.

How Canadians can protect themselves from payment fraud

July 24, 2017

Fraud is an endemic problem for Canadian businesses and consumers alike. Criminals are using every trick at their disposal to siphon cash from Canadian consumers and businesses alike. What kinds of payments fraud do criminals carry out, and how can we prevent it?

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, a joint venture between the RCMP, Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau registered more than 10,000 mass marketing fraud complaints in the first half of 2017. They cost Canadians more than $38 million. ID theft cost another $5.5 million and affected more than 16,000 Canadians, CAFC said. The Centre estimates that these statistics, reported to it directly by Canadians, represent only around five per cent of actual fraud losses.

Canada should listen to wake-up call on health care: Editorial

July 23, 2017

Canadians take great comfort in the belief that our health care system — a key part of our national identity — is world class.

But an unsettling report ranking Canada near the bottom in a comparison of health care in 11 developed nations raises questions about the quality of care we’re actually receiving. It highlights the need for improvements – particularly making sure patients have better access to doctors – that Ottawa and the provinces must make to guarantee healthcare remains a source of pride for all Canadians.

Why are Canadian seniors worth more dead than alive?

July 23, 2017

If you are a Canadian senior, your life insurance policy could be worth a lot more money than you think — while you are alive. If only provincial governments and life insurance companies would let you sell it for its fair market value.

Recently, a 74-year-old friend of mine asked me if he could sell his term life insurance policy. He knew someone in the United States who had received more than $100,000 for a term policy she no longer needed.