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Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse

Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse.

Time to #deletefacebook

The biggest social media outfit on the planet is in desperate grovelling mode. Legislators and regulators around the world are demanding answers. Facebook users are peevish and distressed. Mark Zuckerberg is trying to look contrite, but it isn’t going very well. On Wednesday, his company put out a statement that began: “Protecting people’s information is the most important thing we do at Facebook.”

Well, not exactly. Selling people’s information is the most important thing they do at Facebook. It’s the basis of their business model. It is how Mr. Zuckerberg became one of the world’s richest (and now most besieged) men.

Read more at The Globe and Mail

Police raid Merck pharmaceutical plant amid mysterious drug crisis

In the six months since pharmaceutical giant Merck reformulated a thyroid hormone replacement drug distributed in France, patients there have filed dozens of lawsuits. Hundreds of thousands signed a petition to reverse the change, and around 9,000 reported illnesses and side-effects, some dramatic. They complain of hair loss, cramps, weight gain, extreme fatigue, headaches, diarrhea, dizziness, memory loss, and heart palpitations.

The outcry has created a political and media blitz. Rumors and conspiracy theories have flown, including that Merck switched production of the drug to a plant in China to cut costs. (The drug, which has no competition in France, is produced in Europe.)

Read more at ARS Technica

War on drugs: big pharma fights NHS bill curbs

With NHS budgets under pressure and medicine prices inexorably going up, something had to give.

Nevertheless, the decision by some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical firms this summer to challenge public sector powers to limit drug bills in the High Court still raised eyebrows.

The action brought by trade body the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) divided the sector, with Britain’s two largest drug makers, FTSE 100 giants GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, distancing themselves from a move driven by overseas conglomerates.

Read more at The Telegraph

In World First, MDMA Will Be Used To Treat Alcohol Addiction In Clinical Trial

Scientists in the United Kingdom are preparing to conduct the world’s first clinical trial looking into the potential therapeutic effects that MDMA, the active ingredient in Ecstasy, could have on people grappling with alcohol addiction.

Researchers at Imperial College London have announced that they were granted ethical approval to conduct a small MDMA trial on people with alcohol addiction in the city of Bristol, The Guardian reported last week. For the trial, 20 patients — all of whom are heavy drinkers whose previous treatments for alcoholism have failed — will undergo psychotherapy sessions while under the influence of 99.99 percent pure MDMA.

Read more at huffingtonpost.ca

 

Chinese lawsuit alleges multi-million dollar Canadian immigration scam

A case of alleged immigration fraud is now headed to the Yukon Territory Supreme Court in Whitehorse.

The plaintiffs are Chinese companies, Ningbo Zhelun Overseas Immigration Service Co. Ltd., and Mega International Labour and Immigration Services Inc. (Mega)

Eleven defendants are named including USA-Canada International Investment Inc. (UCII), Tzuchun (Joyce) Chang, Yukon Resources Investment Inc., and the Elite Hotel and Travel Ltd.

Read more at rcinet.ca

More than 1.2 million adolescents die every year, nearly all preventable

16 MAY 2017 | GENEVA – More than 3000 adolescents die every day, totalling 1.2 million deaths a year, from largely preventable causes, according to a new report from WHO and partners. In 2015, more than two-thirds of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries in Africa and South-East Asia. Road traffic injuries, lower respiratory infections, and suicide are the biggest causes of death among adolescents.

Most of these deaths can be prevented with good health services, education and social support. But in many cases, adolescents who suffer from mental health disorders, substance use, or poor nutrition cannot obtain critical prevention and care services – either because the services do not exist, or because they do not know about them.

read more at who.int

Stop being a ‘safe haven’: How Canada could do a better job keeping ‘dirty money’ out of the country

The discovery of $2 million sent to Canadians from a suspected money-laundering network designed to hide dirty Russian money highlights the weaknesses of a financial intelligence system with too many loopholes and not enough teeth, say experts.

International banking documents provided to CBC News reveal 30 Canadian companies and individuals received dozens of payments between 2008 and 2013 from accounts in Cyprus and Lithuania.

The accounts are suspected to belong to an international web of companies created to obscure the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars connected to elaborate Russian tax frauds.

read more at cbc.ca

Mental health patients strapped, held down in Australian public hospitals, report reveals

New data has revealed how often mental health patients in Australia’s public hospitals are being restrained — either by being strapped or held down — with advocates warning the practice re-traumatises people and delays their recovery.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report revealed people were being held down on average at a rate of nine times for every 1,000 days spent in a facility.

Mechanical restraints such as straps, belts and manacles were less-commonly used, at under two events per 1,000 bed days.

Nationally, children were being physically restrained 10.9 times per 1,000 days in a mental health bed, while forensic services — which includes prisoners — was far higher at 110.2 incidents per 1,000 days.

read more at abc.net.au

 

How a Clinton or Trump presidency could affect Canada

Canada’s neighbour elects a new president Tuesday with either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump to take up residence in the White House. Each are proposing different agendas for the U.S. that pose questions, opportunities and challenges to cross-border relations.

Hillary Clinton

Connections: Clinton is a known quantity to Canadian officials from her time as a U.S. senator and secretary of state, which has also given her an understanding of Canada’s role in the world, says Gordon Giffin, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada: “Sometimes there’s too much focus on what we sell back and forth across the 49th parallel and not enough attention to the fact that Canada is quite engaged with the United States all over the world on issues and principles and values that we share. And she knows all of that, so she starts from a pretty strong foundation of engagement with Canada.”

Trade: Frustrations over the long-running dispute over softwood lumber could receive a boost with Clinton in the White House, as Giffin predicts Clinton would want to resolve the years-long impasse with a long-term agreement. Clinton is also likely to look for changes to the Trans-Pacific Partnership having expressed criticisms on the campaign trail to maintain support from Bernie Sanders backers. Canada is among the countries negotiating the agreement, and could use the opportunity to find changes for Clinton that help Canada and the United States. Another trade opportunity: Changes to the cross-border labour mobility rules in the North American Free Trade Agreement that Clinton may also be open to updating.

Source: http://www.cp24.com/news/how-a-clinton-or-trump-presidency-could-affect-canada-1.3148395