Opinion

Licence to kill: The pandemic on our roads

Many vehicular deaths are preventable. Traffic violence happens frequently but we don’t take these incidents seriously, judicially, socially nor traffic engineering-wise.

Rethinking research priorities

The future of health research depends on a balanced approach – one that fosters innovation while staying rooted in the urgent challenges of today's health-care systems.

How do patients feel about research ethics review?

Research ethics reviews in Canada have come under the media spotlight, with claims the process is exploitative and calls for innovation or reform.

How to support safe driving decisions for individuals with dementia

Assessing driving fitness in dementia patients is one of the most challenging aspects of care, requiring a delicate balance of medical, emotional, ethical and practical considerations.

What kind of freedom are we fighting for?

We doctors take an oath to honour the health of those we serve, prevent illness whenever we can and first do no harm. These values aren’t a political preference; they’re enduring, evidence-based principles of healthy systems.

Bridging gaps in care: Reimagining Ontario’s health system for immigrants and refugees

It's time to reimagine a health-care system that truly works for everyone, especially those at the intersection of social and clinical disadvantage.

It’s not just the measles . . .

Many have forgotten how serious infections from Measules, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella can be because we have not seen them for many years. I am reminded every day by my mumps-induced deafness.

Let’s keep politics out of measles

No parent should have to bury their child because of measles. Unfortunately, politicizing public health by downplaying the risks of measles and normalizing vaccine hesitancy puts us on precisely this trajectory.

Breathing for both of us

I walked into the obstetrics unit – 36 weeks pregnant, out of breath and scared. I had been here before, but this time was different.

Community oversight essential to improving primary care in Ontario

It’s time to roll up our sleeves and choose to build a primary care system that can truly stand as the foundation for Ontario’s health and social systems.

HPV vaccination more than just women’s health issue

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination historically has been framed as a women’s health topic, but a gender-neutral approach to prevention may boost health benefits for both females and males.

‘I want to pat dogs until I die’: End-of-life planning should be more than just Living Wills

Flipping the script on Advance Care Planning doesn’t mean I don’t agree with it. But what my approach has done is to take note of what makes up a “good day” and try to incorporate as many as possible.

Changes to the Canada Health Act could help address Ontario’s health system issues. Will the province be on board?

The successful implementation of the Canadian Health Act (CHA) reform due to take place in April 2026 will depend on provincial cooperation rather than competition between health-care professionals.

More than just words: Record-setting speech gives hope to Parkinson’s community

As a neurologist specializing in Parkinson’s disease, I was profoundly touched by Sen. Cory Booker’s emotional, record-setting speech to the U.S. Senate on March 31.

Harms from fossil fuel expansion are absent from this election campaign. Why we need to worry

Calls for rapid scaling of fossil fuel projects not only ignore the impacts of these industries on atmospheric warming but fail to consider their direct effects on human health.

Who’ll be Canada’s next Chief Public Health Officer? You should care

We need someone who learns from the past, applies the precautionary principle, engages with evolving science from multiple disciplines, and earns public trust by speaking hard truths.

Canada’s next government must prioritize perinatal mental health

Perinatal mental health should remain a political priority for the next government. There is substantial urgency to act so that people at risk can get the help they need.

Integrating environmental justice into environmental health research. How are we doing?

The journey of embedding of environmental justice principles in health research has only just begun. But it is more important now than ever for researchers to undertake this work.

DEI dying: Why sex/gender in health research should matter to us all

As the U.S. disengages with sex differences research, Canada must double down on its own research program. Science takes years to bear fruit – the research we invest in today are the therapies we have tomorrow.

My birth sex is part of my medical history; it should be as private as the rest of my medical history

Insisting on primary birth sex identification for trans people does little to improve the health of trans and gender diverse persons; it merely exchanges one theoretical set of adverse health care outcomes for others that are definite and far more impactful.