Nadeem Esmail Senior Fellow and Jason Clemens Executive Vice President The Fraser Institute Paul Martin and the Liberals are trying to make healthcare the wedge issue in this election. Their contention is that Canada cannot reduce tax rates, as proposed by the new Conservative Party, while simultaneously providing socialized healthcare. Martin’s assertion is based largely on […]

When I was in the US Air Force in the 1960s in charge of the Pulmonary Clinic, Pulmonary Function Lab and the Allergy Testing program, I was called to the Operating Suite to help manage a cardiac arrest that occurred during surgery under anesthesia. When I arrived, the chest was wide opened and the surgeon […]

The Private Cost of Public Queues for Medically Necessary Care, 2016 finds that long waits for surgery and medical treatment cost Canadians almost $1.2 billion—or $1,304 per patient—in lost income and productivity.  Read more . . . The study, The Private Cost of Public Queues for Medically Necessary Care, calculates the average personal cost of time lost […]

By JIM YARDLEY | NYT | FEB. 18, 2016 ABOARD THE PAPAL AIRLINER — Inserting himself into the Republican presidential race, Pope Francis on Wednesday suggested that Donald J. Trump “is not Christian” because of the harshness of his campaign promises to deport more immigrants and force Mexico to pay for a wall along the border. 

Colonel “Bernie” Sanders Half-Baked Recipe for Health Care By Devon Herrick Filed under Health Alerts on January 27, 2016 Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders rolled out his proposal for a single-payer Medicare-for-All health system, similar to what’s found in Canada and Britain. Sanders’ proposal is a fairytale of wishful thinking and Robin Hood schemes. Whereas Colonel […]

Do not use “rights” in arguments or disputes. Though they feel like a trump card, rights are abstract and not amenable to reason by evidence. – Joshua Greene Democracy is all very well as a political device. It must not intrude into the spiritual, or even the aesthetic world. – C. S. Lewis   The […]

Pierre Boulez, composer and conductor, died on January 5th, aged 90 The Economist | From the print edition | Jan 16th 2016 FEW figures were cooler or calmer than Pierre Boulez on the podium. He conducted without a baton, lifting the phrases and flicking them away with long, elegant fingers. The rest of his body […]

A 30-year-old female came in for her appointment. She never looked me in the eye. Her eyes were roving from one side of me to the other. When I asked her what she was looking at, she stated that she wasn’t sure. She wasn’t looking at me and seemed unfocused. Her husband stated that she […]

Review: Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air is an exquisitely moving exploration of mortality SANDRA MARTIN Special to The Globe and Mail Paul Kalanithi’s memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, begins with a wallop. A neurosurgical resident in his final year of training, he’s examining the CT scans of a patient with Stage 4 lung cancer. He’s […]

My Last Day as a Surgeon By Paul Kalanithi In May of 2013, the Stanford University neurosurgical resident Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic lung cancer. He was thirty-six years old. In his two remaining years—he died in March of 2015—he continued his medical training, became the father to a baby girl, and wrote […]