Since becoming available in 2017, Mifegymiso, commonly called the abortion pill, has transformed reproductive health care in Canada. Before the drug’s legalization, medical abortion was a relatively rare procedure, and surgical abortion services were often only available through hospitals and specialized clinics in major urban centres. Because any physician or nurse practitioner in Alberta can […]

Ontario municipalities are asking the province to appoint a minister to tackle homelessness as leaders sound the alarm on the growing housing, mental health and addictions needs of their communities. Leaders from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario kicked off the organization’s annual conference in Ottawa on Sunday with a news conference to lay out […]

As the world continues to recover from massive business and travel disruptions caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, malicious actors are trying to exploit the situation for their own gain. Government cybersecurity agencies across the globe and CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz are warning businesses and individuals about new phishing schemes that […]

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — An initiative to ask voters if they want to protect the right to a pre-viability abortion in Montana’s constitution has enough signatures to appear on the November ballot, supporters said Friday. County election officials have verified 74,186 voter signatures, more than the 60,359 needed for the constitutional initiative to go before […]

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas isn’t enforcing a new law requiring abortion providers to ask patients why they want to terminate their pregnancies, as a legal challenge against that rule and other older requirements makes its way through the courts. Attorneys for the state and for providers challenging the new law along with other requirements […]

The EPA’s Inspector General is investigating why the agency didn’t get its specialized plane loaded with advanced sensors into the air over East Palestine until four days after the disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment last year. The Associated Press reported on a whistleblower’s concerns this spring about the delays and discrepancies in the way the Environmental […]

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission did not allow the public enough access to information about COVID-19 vaccine purchase agreements it secured with pharmaceutical companies during the pandemic, the EU general court said Wednesday.  The decision came a day ahead of a vote at the European Parliament at which European Commission President Ursula von der […]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California became the first U.S. state to bar school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child’s gender identification change under a law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law bans school rules requiring teachers and other staff to disclose a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation to […]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two of five people charged with conspiring to bribe a Minnesota juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash in exchange for the acquittal of defendants in one of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud cases pleaded not guilty Wednesday.  Said Shafii Farah and Abdulkarim Shafii Farah were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge […]

SEATTLE (AP) — A judge has paused parts of a new Washington state parental rights law derided by critics as a “forced outing” measure.  King County Superior Court Judge Michael Scott on Friday paused portions of the law while a lawsuit brought by civil liberties groups and others is pending, The Seattle Times reported.  The […]

Author: Atieh Razavi Yekta, Sessional Lecturer, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia The rise of technology in the workplace, labour market deregulation and the decline in union representation have all significantly impacted the occupational health and safety field.  Occupational health and safety is a critical area of public health aimed […]

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas doctor who calls himself a whistleblower on transgender care for minors is accused of illegally obtaining private information on patients from the nation’s largest pediatric hospital who were not under his care. Federal prosecutors said Dr. Eithan Haim, a 34-year-old surgeon, snatched the information and shared it with a conservative […]