Archives: Philipe Couillard on our health system

In 2011, Canada 2020 asked Dr. Philippe Couillard to provide some historical context on Canada’s “broken” health care system. Then, Dr. Couillard was out of politics, working as an adviser at the SECOR Group. Today, he is the newly elected Premier of Quebec, having just won an impressive majority mandate for the Quebec Liberal Party. His essay, Lessons from 2004, Perspectives for 2014, offers a glimpse into the new Premier’s policy thinking, not just on the issue of health, but on his overall approach to making choices in government.

Opinion: Searching for Canada’s Michelle Obama

Canada needs to confront its crisis in public health, and quickly determine how we can come together to combat obesity and related chronic diseases. Canadians are up against the same public health challenges as our American neighbours.

The First Lady of the U.S. has provided a very visible rallying point in that country. Here in Canada we do not have such a figure, but, encouragingly, we do have a federal government that is becoming more active in this space.

Opinion: The need to experiment in healthcare

Canadians are always wont to compare our system to the U.S. This makes sense, but only in geographic terms. There are numerous examples of mixed public-private systems around the world that exhibit substantially greater cost effectiveness and better medical outcomes than our own.

Canada 2020 Podcast: Don Newman and Dr. Eric Topol talk modern medicine

Last month, Canada 2020 and AMGEN brought Dr. Eric Topol to Ottawa to talk about his new book ‘The Creative …

Healthcare panelists ask: has the federal government abandoned its role?

Ottawa – The health care debate has evolved since the publication of The Canada We Want in 2020, prompting a …

Opinion: We can save money and improve health care

Ontario needs to find $2 billion in annual health care savings.
Provincial premiers and health care stakeholders had been gearing up …

Issues: Securing our health system for the future

The debate in health is far from where we expected it to be when we started work on The Canada …

Opinion: Whither the health debate?

The current federal health accord expires in 2014. Most expected that, by now, we would be entering a period of …

To improve health, tackle poverty

The Canadian Medical Association has released a new report showing how poverty is contributing to the poor health of Canadians. …

American Medical Association deems obesity a disease

In a landmark decision, the American Media Association has deemed obesity a disease. Read the Globe’s coverage here.

The 2013 American Fitness Index

The American College of Sports Medicine has published its 2013 American Fitness Index. This index evaluates public health at the …

$220,000

The amount the average Canadian uses of public health care over their lifetime. The Globe and Mail’s Andre Picard reports.

The complexity of obesity

Two articles in today’s Globe demonstrate the difficulty of making policy in the area of obesity and fitness. One talks …

The federal government’s withdrawal from the health area

André Picard writes about the meaninglessness of the government’s hollow boasts on the size of federal health transfers.

Budget likely another lost opportunity for health care

From today’s Globe & Mail, ANDRÉ PICARD explores today’s budget and its (likely) low impact on Canadian health system.

Proposal to restrict marketing of food products to children

A multi-author international call to restrict the marketing of food products to children in the interests of reducing obesity is …

Ontario panel reports on childhood obesity and health

Released today the report ‘No Time to Wait’ urges action on a variety of different fronts to make child health …

Tackling the obesity epidemic

John Millar from UBC suggests that the best approach to this complex and costly problem is to tax and regulate.

UK Government facilitates private provision of public health serves

The UK government has changed regulations to allow healthcare workers who transfer to the private sector to continue to pay …

Spending smart: why we need a national food program

Diana Bronson of Food Secure Canada discusses the importance of a national food program. Read it here.

The Hill Times reports on Ontario’s obesity epidemic

Differences in opinion as to how to tackle the problem that costs the province $2.5bn each year, could be harming …

Canada’s healthcare system lags in important ways

The 2012 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey of Primary Care Doctors reveals continuing issues with timely access to care, paying …

The budding health care costs of climate change

From New York Times Green blog, Dylan Walsh chronicles the growing global health care costs of climate change.

Denmark acknowledges that its “fat tax” does not work

After only a year, Denmark repeals newly-imposed taxes on foods containing saturated fats, saying they don’t work and are economically …

Slower growth forecast for Canada’s health-care spending

The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending is expected to increase by 3.4 per cent this year, after …

The home care crunch

Canada needs a strategy to address the evolving crisis in home care, argues Sherri Torjman of the Caledon Institute.

What Canada can learn from Obamacare

Canada 2020 author, Mark Stabile and co-author Sherry Gleid, draw lessons for Canada from US healthcare reform efforts.

Making choices about the kind of Canada we want

Jeff Simpson comments on our implicit choice to spend more on health and less on education.

Most Canadians believe healthcare should be top priority: EKOS

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq agrees that Ottawa has a role to play in healthcare, but says the choices are up to …

Canada’s Premiers forge ahead with health plan

Announced Thursday at the First Ministers’ Meeting, Canada’s Premiers are forging ahead with their own plan to secure health care. …

Canadians lacking confidence in Provincial and Federal governments

A new IRPP-Nanos poll suggests Canadians are not confident in our provincial and federal governments’ ability to tackle budgets or …

New efforts to develop a pan-Canadian approach to healthcare

The federal government has largely withdrawn from the healthcare area, but the provinces are stepping into the void and looking …

How should federal health transfers be calculated?

Livio Di Matteo argues on the iPolitics site that a strict per capita funding formula (as laid out in the new healthcare …

Senate committee calls for greater federal role in healthcare

The `no strings attached’ approach to federal health transfers undermines the possibility of transformative change across the country.

On healthcare, it is time to apply the lessons we should already have learnt

Francesca Grosso offers solutions for healthcare reform and cost-cutting in Ontario.

Jeffrey Simpson argues for a greater federal role in healthcare

Handing over money with no strings attached is not helping our health system.

Ivey School report on Strengthening Health Systems through Innovation

Anne Snowdon and Jason Cohen examine lessons from health systems around the world and assess their applicability to Canada.

NY Times on Canada’s Health System

The New York Times online has a 4 part series on how Canada regulates its economy with an interesting post …