Here’s an idea: cut the programs that offend our intelligence
By Emma Teitel - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - 0 Comments
Our gravy-conscious government should pay more attention to which belts they’re tightening
Peter Cade/Getty Images
The verdict is in: governments far and wide must “tighten their belts,” “cut the fat,” “purge the gravy” and “stop the insanity” in order to curb their enormous debts. The euro is hanging on for dear life (apparently), America is going to hell in a handbasket (allegedly) and Canada is—though decidedly okay—accumulating household debt at a very risky rate, according to our patron god of finance, Mark Carney. Ontario, or Onterrible, as it’s known elsewhere, is particularly gifted in the art of acquiring debt (the province is supposed to exceed $250 billion) and Toronto’s most polarizing mayor in history—Rob Ford—has, of late, spent more time tightening his own belt than his city’s. By “eating like a rabbit,” says a slowly shrinking Ford, he has shed up to 10 lb. in the past week. Toronto’s fiscal situation, meanwhile, hasn’t been so fortunate—and its citizens (myself included) haven’t exactly warmed to the idea that controversial budget cuts may be in order. So what to do? Can Ford curb the debt? And more importantly, can any Canadian leader curb his constituents’ debt without slashing popular public programs and policies?
Probably not. It would be a potential insult to our intelligence to think so. But I have a proposal: why don’t leaders cut every program and initiative that offends the average person’s intelligence, and save money in the process. What programs, you might ask? Take the one I encounter every time I use a public washroom:
“This is a message from the Public Health Agency of Canada: Wet your hands. Put a small amount of liquid soap in the palm of one hand. Rub your hands together for 20 seconds so you produce lather. Rinse your hands well with clean running water for at least 10 seconds. Dry your hands with a single use paper towel. Use hand lotion to put moisture back into your skin if your hands are dry. Model good handwashing technique to your children … Have them sing a song like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star while rubbing their hands together to teach them the amount of time it takes to clean their hands properly.”
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Shaking all over?
By macleans.ca - Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 12:30 PM - 1 Comment
NO HANDSHAKE for the Dalai Lamai in Memphis; the mayor greeted him with a fist bump
There is a great deal of good news in Ottawa’s recent end-of-year report on the H1N1 flu. But would you want to shake on it?
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, most regions in the country now report either sporadic or no evidence of H1N1. Hospitalizations have been falling sharply since mid-November and the flu threat appears to be in rapid decline in Canada, as well as the rest of the world. While any death from disease is a tragedy, the toll of the flu seems substantially less than the worst-case scenarios initially presented. Whether this is due to overstated risks or sound public health management is unclear. What is obvious, however, is that the most significant impact of last year’s H1N1 flu scare is the threat it still poses to one of our oldest and most recognized public customs—shaking hands.
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Swine flu fiasco
By Cathy Gulli - Monday, October 19, 2009 at 11:26 AM - 233 Comments
Everyone needs the H1N1 vaccine. Few plan to get it. What you need to know. What you need to do.
In a few weeks, every adult in Canada will decide if they (and their children) will get the flu vaccine to protect against H1N1. At the best of times, it seems the decision of whether or not to get the seasonal flu shot is tough to make. Only about one-third of Canadians do each year. Now, with the pandemic vaccine arriving in doctor’s offices in November, Canadians are being asked to get a second shot this fall.But will they? Probably not. A recent poll shows that, as of the first week of October, only one in three Canadians plan on getting the H1N1 vaccine, according to Harris/Decima. That’s down from 45 per cent in late August. Experts say this reflects the public’s growing apathy toward the pandemic in light of seemingly contradictory information about H1N1 (which is commonly referred to as swine flu, even though it’s a combination of flu viruses from pigs, birds and humans). People are being bombarded by “on the one hand” and “on the other hand” studies and recommendations. “There is confusion,” says Dr. Sarah Kredentser, president of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. “And I think it’s warranted confusion, because the messages keep changing.” Continue…
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Playing chicken with antibiotics
By Cathy Gulli - Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 11:44 AM - 8 Comments
Antibiotics injected into chicken eggs is making Canadians resistant to meds
Disturbing data from the Public Health Agency of Canada reveals that antibiotics such as cephalosporin used in chicken hatcheries across the country is causing human resistance to the medicines, according to a startling report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal today.Surveillance information from the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance (CIPARS), which is funded by the public health agency, “strongly indicates that cephalosporin resistance in humans is moving in lockstep with use of the drug in poultry production,” the CMAJ explains.
