The draconian lockdown policies of the Nova Scotia government have long since crossed into authoritarianism
It’s a well-known saying and a generally accepted truth that power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. There’s much less consensus, however, about what absolute power looks like. How do we know the difference between legitimate power and when a person or institution has too much and must be resisted? The draconian lockdown policies…
Nova Scotia’s authoritarian response to the pandemic
Born and raised in Halifax, I currently live in Munich, Germany. I have been monitoring the Nova Scotian response to the pandemic from abroad by reading the news and keeping in touch with family and friends. I write this article to lend some perspective on the pandemic through the lens of a Bluenoser living much…
The N.S. Health Authority lets an inefficient telephone system act as an important barrier to timely care
If there’s any way to inconvenience patients and embrace antiquated methods, the Nova Scotia Health Authority will find it. Ask the sick patients who are trying to arrange appointments with specialists, or for imaging tests or for blood work. Most enterprises try to encourage and support increased consumer access to worthwhile services. Not the Nova…
The plan seems to depend on methods developed in part in other countries that rank poorly for health services delivery
Is anyone surprised to learn that credit reporting agencies, Facebook and retail stores scan many sources and gather your personal information? Although many people have several credit cards, several loans and deal with many retail merchants, the credit reporting agencies have no difficulty aggregating your information, from all sources, to learn all about you. They…
A private retail model offers more entrepreneurship overall, particularly in rural areas, and better distribution
Allowing private cannabis retailers in Nova Scotia would be most consistent with the One Nova Scotia Report and good for entrepreneurs. Yet the online survey the Nova Scotia government organized to ‘consult’ the public about cannabis distribution betrayed a preference for the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. (NSLC) to monopolize retail. New Brunswick and Ontario will…
Nova Scotia Health Authority insists on deciding who will have primary-care physicians and who will not, leaving seniors and expecting parents in the lurch
Canadian seniors are a privileged group. The Conference Board of Canada reports that life expectancy today is 10 years longer than in 1961. And the average Canadian can expect to live three years longer than the average American. According to The Milbank Quarterly, people with better access to primary care have better health and live longer…
Canadian health care violates human rights when governments cause limited or delayed access to primary and specialist care
Government administration has created unhealthy inequity in the delivery of health care. An editorial in the Nov. 1 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal recognizes, as have the Quebec courts, that Canadian health care violates human rights when governments cause limited or delayed access to primary and specialist care. In Nova Scotia, medicare is evolving…
Provincial governments need to start re-examining how their health-care dollars are spent or implementing meaningful health-care reform now
By Bacchus Barua and Milagros Palacios The Fraser Institute Health care is the single largest budget item for every provincial government in Canada. Increases in spending on health care can therefore have a significant impact on resources available for other government programs (such as education and social services), the tax system, and the government’s fiscal…
It’s a well-known saying and a generally accepted truth that power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. There’s much less consensus, however, about what absolute power looks like. How do we know the difference between legitimate power and when a person or institution has too much and must be resisted? The draconian lockdown policies…
