The response of governments was heavy-handed, lead-footed, wrong-headed and inept
2020 forever will be associated with the coronavirus sweeping Canada and the world. However, its impact on the economy was much greater than on our health. Far fewer people were stricken by the virus than the initial apocalyptic warnings from health care experts, while its impact on incomes, jobs and government deficits was larger and…
Our debt is rising and our population growth is slowing. The result will be a massive fiscal burden on taxpayers in decades to come
Caught between a rock and a hard place. This best sums up the position that Alberta’s United Conservative Party government found itself in as it announced new, stricter lockdown measures for Christmas. The government is attempting to bend the rising curve of COVID-19 infections. Premier Jason Kenney and his most trusted ministers lined up to…
We cannot blame COVID-19 alone for the current LTC crisis, writes Shawn Whatley
Nursing homes struggled long before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Canada. Now, during the second wave, many front-line clinicians say our long-term care (LTC) system has all but collapsed. In the pre-COVID era, patients waited a median of 159 days to get a bed in Ontario, with some areas at 263 days. Thus, it was…
Many consumers are revisiting their relationship with animal proteins, both at the meat counter and in the dairy products section
Think plant protein is just a passing fad? Think again. You likely noticed that the plant-based counter at your favourite grocery store is growing. There’s good reason: people are buying. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the chaos surrounding containment and vaccination rules, consumers are quietly enjoying products made from plant proteins and milk alternatives. According…
We’re in the midst of both a COVID-19 pandemic and a childhood physical inactivity epidemic. That creates a dilemma for young athletes and their parents: Is the risk of playing organized sports during the pandemic greater than the risk of the negative physical and mental impacts of not playing? Young people need to move their…
There's that little matter of actually rolling out the vaccines on a much wider scale in Canada
Sad to see 2020 go? You’re in the minority … of one. Everyone else was quite ecstatic to roll out the welcome mat for 2021. The biggest issue we faced in 2020 was obviously the coronavirus pandemic. More than 85 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 worldwide, leading to nearly 1.85 million deaths as…
In the midst of the pandemic, a great deal of pressure has fallen on managers. Here are some tips to help deal with the increased stress
Lucy is a manager who oversees a large team of sales reps. Like many other organizations, hers quickly made the transition to work-from-home. It was a new experience for a team used to working from their downtown office. Lucy used to be able to monitor her team with regular walk-arounds and check-ins. She had a…
Pandemics have a way of changing the world. The Plague of Justinian hit the Mediterranean area in the 500s, not only killing millions but crucially weakening the Byzantine Empire and helping ruin its plans to reconquer western Europe from the barbarians. The Black Death of the 1300s wiped out over 100 million people in Europe…
Far-left activists and politicians are recruiting and radicalizing in the same way far-right groups did back in the 2008 crash
COVID-19 lockdown measures are opening the door to extremists, not just because people are spending more time on the internet at home, but because of the huge impact lockdowns had on the economy and employment. Much like the 2008 stock market crash, which facilitated a substantial rise in far-right extremism, lockdown measures impacted low-wage workers…
Being rooted and attentive to a guiding motto, principal or goal can keep us from being distracted
It was icy and the pickup truck on the road in front of me started sliding out of control as it rounded a corner on our way back from the ski hill the other day. While others in the car with me were shouting distracting instructions, in my head I could hear my father’s voice…
The pet economy represents tremendous growth potential for the food service industry. Pets are already influencing the market
According to a recent report by Narrative Research, 18 per cent of Canadians say they got a new pet since the start of the pandemic. That means more than 6.8 million pets were adopted since March. That can be added to the more than 16 million cats and dogs Canadians had in 2019, prior to…
If he can’t figure out that his family’s involvement with the WE Charity was a conflict of interest, then he really does have an ethical blind spot
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been criticized for his seemingly cavalier attitude with respect to parliamentary procedure and taking ethical stands. The running joke has been that either he doesn’t know, doesn’t care or experiences things differently than others. Here’s yet another example and it’s one of the strangest to date. Trudeau, like many of…
Instead of focusing on a problem concentrated in our long-term care facilities, politicians have closed vast swaths of our economy
Despite the relentless media drum-banging around the alarmist COVID-19 narrative, this virus is not the Black Death. Official numbers have the Canadian death count so far just over 14,000, bad for sure, but not hugely off the yearly flu toll in Canada that kills 6,500 to 8,000 people. The average age of those people who…
Athletic facility could provide space for at least 100 beds during COVID-19 pandemic if needed
The University of Alberta’s Butterdome has once again been seconded into Alberta’s fight against COVID-19. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, recently announced that Alberta Health Services (AHS) is working with the Red Cross to transform the venerable U of A track and field facility into an alternate care centre should the need…
Leaders are ‘locked’ into a lockdown model that does more harm than good
In a crushing blow to small business and morale, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister has ordered a return to the very lockdown model that the World Health Organization (WHO) warned leaders to avoid. Premiers are being pressured by a prime minister who threatens to withhold money unless they once again shut down restaurants and small businesses…