2018
Front-of-package symbols proposed for foods high in sodium, sugar, saturated fat
February 9, 2018
Petitpas Taylor was accompanied at the news conference by representatives of health advocacy groups such as Diabetes Canada, Dieticians of Canada and the Canadian Public Health Association, as well as the Retail Council of Canada. They lauded the proposed warning labels. "We've all heard the troubling news that, in Canada, diet-related factors are now the leading risk factor of death," said Yves Savoie, CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation.Health Canada wants to make sure you know your food is high in sugar, sodium and saturated fat
February 9, 2018
The Canadian Public Health Association and Heart & Stroke both applauded the regulations. “Millions of Canadians are living with diet-related disease, taking a huge toll on their health and their families,” said Yves Savoie, CEO of Heart & Stroke. “Adding a clearly visible and easy to understand symbol on the front of unhealthy food and beverage packages will help steer people away from these products and support them to make healthy choices.”Health impacts ignored
February 2, 2018
And then there is health. In 2009, a major report determined that “climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.” In 2017, a report by the Canadian Public Health Association included in its recommendations that “health impact assessments” should be integrated as a core component of the federal environmental assessment process. Can we trust the offshore petroleum boards to include health impact assessments? Do we trust them to protect our health, as well as the fossil-fuel industry? I certainly don’t! Their track record would point to “no.”Two Toronto Police officers suspended after allegedly consuming edibles at work
January 30, 2018
We speak to a member of the Toronto Police Services Board about the suspension of two officers after they allegedly ate edible marijuana, hallucinated, and then called for backup. We also dig into the effects of edible marijuana with the head of the Canadian Public Health Association.The flu pandemic of 1918, a reported in 1918
January 15, 2018
In October of 1918, the Canadian Public Health Association’s Public Health Journal reproduced a newspaper broadside from Chicago’s Commissioner of Health and the U.S. Surgeon General aimed at informing “every man, woman, and child” about the disease. There’s nothing here that sounds strange today: if you get sick, stay in bed and take plenty of liquids; seek medical attention if conditions worsen. Most people, after all, recovered after 3-4 days. Death usually came from complications, notably pneumonia. As a “catching disease,” severe attacks could be spread to others from the germs of someone who only manifested mild symptoms. (Cover your nose and don’t spit!) The term of art here is “germ.” “Virus” in its modern sense dates to Dmitri Ivanovsky’s 1892 discoveries, but the word does not seem to have been in general circulation.2017
When pot is legal, do fewer teens use it?
December 18, 2017
"I'm not overly surprised that there's a decrease in use because there's an increased awareness of cannabis amongst parents and guardians and other adults," says Ian Culbert, executive director of the Canadian Public Health Association. "It is a positive upside of legalization, that we're talking about use and why people use and how you use," says Culbert. "When it's illegal, we don't necessarily have those conversations, we just say, 'It's illegal, it's bad, don't use it, end of conversation.'"Details starting to come out about how P.E.I. plans to handle legalized marijuana
December 17, 2017
I also suspect actual marijuana use will be much higher when tourists start flocking to the Island next summer. With some clever marketing, Canada’s Food Island could also become Canada’s Pot Island. Eating lobster on the beach and watching the sunset with some P.E.I. bud – sounds like a plan. But it’s a non-starter. The government says it isn’t planning to advertise legal pot, consistent with the wishes of the Canadian Public Health Association.P.E.I. just says no to cannabis advertising
December 15, 2017
"There's been a lot of concern about the advertising and the Canadian Public Health Association wants a complete ban on advertising for cannabis." Roach said the province will begin educating people on P.E.I. about what is to come when the federal cannabis legislation is brought forward in more detail.Could decriminalization of all drugs actually lower overdoses and violent crime rates?
December 12, 2017
As with any radical plan or change in policy, there will be people resistant to the change. Critics of Portugal’s plan say that decriminalization will increase the likelihood of use or make the government look soft on drugs and crime, but Ian Culbert of the Canadian Public Health Association says there is no evidence to support those claims. “In fact, the only risk is that we’re going to start treating people like human beings and not like criminals and giving them the proper supports to reintegrate them into society,” Culbert told Your Morning, “And who knows, we might even save tax dollars because it’s cheaper to support people and give them treatment to fight their addiction than it is to incarcerate them.”Should Canada be decriminalizing more than just pot? Portugal did
December 12, 2017
In 2001, Portugal decriminalized possession of personal amounts of all drugs. Since then, the country has seen a dramatic drop in overdose, HIV infection and violent crime rates, leaving some to wonder if the model could work in Canada. We spoke with the executive director of the Canadian Public Health Association, Ian Culbert, to find out.