The nurse-patient relationship is being re-shaped by the proliferation of technology
When Gillian Lemermeyer decided at age 17 to become a nurse, she was following in her mother’s footsteps, so she expected her mom to be thrilled when she told her the news. “I was surprised when she grew very serious,” Lemermeyer remembers. “She said, ‘Okay, but do you understand what it means to be looking after…
Advice for resolving sticky situations
So many leadership lessons lurk in the events that have plagued the political landscape in both Canada and the United States recently that it’s hard to know where to start. Leadership lessons that emerge from crises are easy pickings; they’re so obvious and it’s so easy to be self-righteous. A much tougher question is: What…
After escaping from Afghanistan, Aftikhar Mominzada feels an obligation to create opportunities for others
It was the worst case of bad timing. Aftikhar Mominzada was elated after graduating from the Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad, India, in the spring of 2021. When he started the academy’s international baccalaureate program in middle school, it was the opportunity of a lifetime, freeing him from the parochial religious education he was likely to receive…
Vaccines can’t only go to the highest bidder. Industry must be made to do what’s best for the public good
Two years ago, Matt Colvin was the most hated man in America. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he had almost 18,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and was charging up to $70 per bottle, delivered. Colvin had been making a living by following the supply-and-demand principle of economics. He would study market trends, buy…
The world is watching Canada. Trudeau must separate his blend of public health and authoritarianism
Public health doctors created vaccination mandates and vaccine passports. Doctors tabled the ideas. Politicians docilely followed doctors’ advice and turned it into policy. Ideas shaped the policy and policy formed a protest. Public policy made the truckers’ Freedom Convoy a reality. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s response turned the protest into a global movement. The historic…
These three key accountability reforms a good place to start
With trust in government having declined significantly over the past two years, it’s well past time for politicians to try to regain the confidence of the people they’re supposed to represent. Three key accountability reforms would make major strides in that direction. It’s time to end taxpayer handouts for political parties, stop giving more generous…
We’re the 99 per cent and the one per cent is powerless without our co-operation
As we move into a new year, we see many problems in the world and much that needs to change. We often forget, however, that the most significant force for good looks back at us each time we gaze into the mirror. We live in a capitalist society, and capitalism has brought us many good…
Using the pandemic as a weak excuse to justify raiding the treasury
If your wallet feels lighter, it’s not just because of the rising cost of living and inflation. Ontario’s political parties have teamed up to take $14 million out of taxpayers’ pockets this year, and they’re just getting started. Back in 2014, former premier Kathleen Wynne introduced the per-vote subsidy. Under Wynne’s plan, political parties would…
Actions speak louder than words
The age-old expression that actions speak louder than words conveys an important insight: character is best judged through action. Anyone can say or promise anything, but following through requires ability, skill, discipline, and commitment. So the simplest test of character is to pay attention to deeds. Plutarch, the first-century Greek biographer, refined the test. He…
There needs to be caution about any coercion that could harm our children
The Canadian Academics for Covid Ethics (CA4CE) is a group of researchers and scholars from fields spanning the natural and social sciences and humanities. It is concerned with the mismanagement of the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic response in Canada and around the world. The following commentary was written by Alexander Andrée, PhD, Valentina Capurri, PhD, Claudia…
And is leading to the rise of a new inquisition to persecute and ostracize dissenters
The ongoing campaign against COVID-19 has several religious attributes and analogues. I’m not talking about Mologic or Luciferase, or the way “Build Back Better” looks like code for 666, given that ‘b’ is a cipher for ‘6’. I’m not referring to the dozens of ways millenarians enthusiastically uncover apparent connections between this period of tribulation…
It’s possible to live a principled life, working hard to make a better world and still enjoy relative comfort
Growing up Christian in an affluent society, there was a passage from scripture that always left me perplexed: “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other. … You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24) Did this mean that I was to sell all I owned and become…
Former UN commander leads ‘critical conversations’ on impact of moral injury
The term “moral injury” is relatively recent in our understanding of trauma. When Canada’s Lt.-Gen. Roméo Dallaire led United Nations peacekeeping troops in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi that took a million lives over 100 days, few Canadians beyond the military were aware of the severe psychological damage that witnessing such moral…Major news outlets have opted to focus on our more primal emotions to keep us tuned into their programs
Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, tells us, “Trust is the glue of life. … It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” Yet trust seems to be in short supply today. Many people don’t trust the mainstream media, the government, large corporations or the medical profession. Their trust is…
Marie Henein is unapologetic and controversial, largely due to her defence of Jian Ghomeshi
If you buy criminal defence lawyer Marie Henein’s new memoir hoping for the inside scoop on her high profile cases, you’ll be disappointed. Ethically, she considers those details off limits, confined there by the parameters of the lawyer-client relationship. However interesting the stories might be, Henein believes they aren’t hers to tell. They belong to…