Trudeau’s ‘activist’ health care policy ‘likely in the rear-view mirror,’ reports Hill Times
This week’s edition of who is saying what about public health care is compiled by Pat Van Horne.
Carney reframes health care policy in terms of cost-of-living
“I think it’s a recognition that the activist health policy days of the [Justin] Trudeau era are likely in the past,” stated Peter Cleary, principal at Santis Health, to The Hill Times. “This is going to be a retrenchment of how the federal government has traditionally supported health care with provinces and territories.”
“Health care remains in the frame—just from a cost-of-living angle,” said Kevin den Heijer, a senior consultant at EnterpriseHealth, in the same story for The Hill Times, June 2, 2025
Nurses issue national apology to Indigenous Peoples for harm in health care
“Indigenous people deserve the very best care possible. They deserve to feel safe in our care and to trust that nurses are effective advocates for them. Too often, this has not been the case,” explained Linda Silas, CFNU President in a media statement on June 3, 2025. “We have been silent on the racism and harm Indigenous people have experienced in our health care system, and the ways they continue to. This silence is complicity, and we must break it. Acknowledging this truth with humility and a willingness to learn more lays the foundation for a path towards meaningful reconciliation.”
“Worst measles outbreak since 1986 necessitates stronger public health response”: Friends of Medicare
“It’s clear the previously announced public campaign and steps for increased access to immunization in the central and south zones have not been enough to stop the spread in Alberta,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare, to CBC on May 29, 2025.
Alberta premier’s ‘post-pandemic chaos’ is ‘putting children at too much risk’
“For a variety of reasons, including vaccine hesitancy, conspiracy theories, apathy, religious beliefs, isolation, a profound loss of trust in public health and the arrogance of experts, only 50 per cent of children in southern Alberta have received two doses of the vaccine. . . Without a 95 per cent immunization rate, measles can fester away. No health zone in the province currently commands that threshold. Some rural areas have vaccination rates as low as 30 per cent. . . Many doctors and health experts may privately lament falling vaccination rates but they don’t want to ruffle any feathers while anti-vaxers control the political conversation in Alberta. At the same time many officials aren’t engaging in real time with real communities about their doubts and concerns for fear of the political fallout. . . If Alberta can’t marshal a credible response to a measles epidemic, then God help the republic of Alberta in the next pandemic,” wrote Andrew Nikiforukc in The Tyee, May 28, 2025
Mental health and addiction post gone from Carney Cabinet
“Having a designated minister for mental health and addiction certainly created way more attention on the need . . .This is just a huge step back on a file that [the Liberals] still haven’t paid enough attention to . . . (The Cabinet role meant) we could target our focus in opposition, and it was effective,” said NDP MP Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, B.C.) to The Hill Times, May 26, 2025
Strengthen public health care in Newfoundland-Labrador, says nurse
“Each province and territory is responsible for implementing its own system of delivery with the federal money they receive. Newfoundland and Labrador’s system is the medical care plan, better known as MCP. . . Founded in 1969, MCP covers the cost of insured services for residents who qualify, in compliance with Canada’s Health Act. The MCP system lets physicians, surgeons, pharmacists and dentists bill MCP for eligible services so people don’t have to pay for these services out of their own pockets. Residents can present their MCP cards to hospitals or clinics and receive free access to care. . . Nurse practitioners (NPs) have been excluded from the list of care providers eligible to bill MCP, which forces them to work only in health services run by the provincial health authority, such as clinics or hospitals. If they want independence, or if they see a need or a gap in services in an underserved community, they can set up private clinics but must charge people out of pocket, since MCP will not cover them. . . It’s time to stand up for the basic principles that universal healthcare was founded on and build a public system to provide universal healthcare to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador,” wrote Kari Brown, RN, who has spent over three decades caring for people in street, emergency, hospital, and community settings as both a Registered Nurse and Nurse Practitioner, in The Independent, June 3, 2025
One ambulance can’t serve Thompson, Manitoba
“We can really only hope and pray for slow days when we’re so critically understaffed . . . “We’re definitely just piecemealing stuff together at the moment, and that’s just a result of our staffing situation that, frankly, has been an issue for years,” said Eric Campbell, president of the Thompson Professional Firefighters Association, who is calling on the federal, provincial and municipal governments to address the staffing crisis, to the Winnipeg Free Press, June 2, 2025
Canadian Medical Association challenging Alberta’s trans-gender ban
“It is encroaching upon sort of the autonomy of physicians and our ability to provide what we believe is best, and individualized, evidence-based care for patients. . .It forces me to sort of stand on the sidelines and refuse to provide care to patients who would otherwise, in all likelihood, significantly benefit from it. . .From the standpoint of gender-affirming care, what we are able to do in the medical world is help people. . .There’s good evidence behind what we’re doing, [and] there are guidelines that we follow. Nobody’s making decisions willy-nilly,” said Dr. Jake Donaldson, one of three Alberta-based doctors involved in the court challenge by the Canadian Medical Association, to CBC, on May 28, 2025
More than 400,000 Canadians suffer from myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome
“Theoretically, it should be relatively straightforward to diagnose; there are diagnostic criteria that have been adopted. . .The problem is a lot of doctors have learned certain things about it that are no longer useful, that are outdated both in the diagnosis and the treatment. . .The approach needs to be multi-modal and to help people find strategies to learn to live with this condition as well,” said Dr. Stephen Goulet, internal medicine specialist at St. Boniface and Grace Hospitals, Manitoba, to the Winnipeg Free Press, May 26, 2025
Family doctors working in emergency departments, instead of comprehensive family medicine, contributing to Ontario’s family doctor shortage
“It’s not enough to just train more family doctors. We have to support them and ensure our systems and incentives are in place so that they preferentially choose family medicine in the community. . . We don’t have enough family doctors, but we also have don’t have enough doctors working in other parts of the system . . . And that’s partly why family doctors are struggling,” said Dr. Tara Kiran, a family physician and researcher at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto, to CP24 on May 28, 2025 for a story about a study published in the Annals of Family Medicine.
