Health
FTW Friday: The call for transparency in the food industry
When I was nine years old I was reading The Baby-sitters Club and eating, what some would say to be, way too much lasagna. This nine-year-old girl, however, left her home in Kelowna, B.C. to attend the 2013 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting for McDonald’s Corporation in Chicago on May 23—and it wasn’t for a sneak peek at the… More »
WTF Wednesday: Conflict of Interest in the DSM-5
The DSM-5 is the newest edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual—the book of mental illnesses. The tome has been around since the ’50s, and updated editions have reflected changing social norms— homosexuality was taken out in 1973. Over its five editions, names have changed, symptoms have changed, and new illnesses… More »
In memory of Kyle Scanlon
Yesterday, I learned that Kyle Scanlon, a well-loved and respected member of the trans* activist scene in Toronto, had died. Kyle committed suicide last week in his Toronto home. He’s not someone I knew well, but I’d reported on a couple events featuring Kyle’s presence in the past. It was a shock to think that… More »
WTF Wednesday: The New Abortion Caravan is pro-life
Over 30 years ago, the pro-choice movement in Canada was at its peak. In 1970 the Vancouver Women’s Caucus travelled across the country as part of the Abortion Caravan. Stopping in various cities and towns on their way to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the women spent their evenings hearing the stories of other women so… More »
Reopen the abortion debate?
On May 10, the annual anti-abortion rally was held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. This year’s event has come at a very interesting time in the Canadian abortion debate. Only weeks earlier, Stephen Harper denounced fellow Tory Stephen Woodworth’s bid to reopen the debate in the House of Commons. Woodworth, a Conservative backbencher, recently proposed… More »
Flashback Tuesday: “A Very Sick Business”
In this week’s flashback, we’re taking you to 1994 with Rachel Giese’s piece on the shady cross-border trade in life insurance policies. Giese introduces readers to the sleazy world of so-called “viatical” companies, businesses that turn a profit buying life insurance policies from the terminally ill at reduced value and then auctioning them off to… More »
Following Insite ruling, safe-injection sites planned for Montreal and Quebec City
In September, an eagerly-awaited Supreme Court ruling allowed Vancouver’s Insite injection clinic to remain open indefinitely. And now, Quebec is joining the ranks of Canadian cities with safe-injection sites. Yves Bolduc, Quebec’s Health and Social Services Minister, in October announced his support of an initiative to open injection clinics in Montreal and Quebec City. While… More »
