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The B.C. Court of Appeal will decide Friday whether a lower court erred in a landmark decision that upheld key components of the province’s public health care system and dismissed a challenge that critics charged would prioritize access based on ability to pay over medical need.
The pandemic has laid bare the vulnerabilities of Canada’s health system and left many demanding change.
“From a policy perspective, the question is: Would this actually be solved by having a two-tier health care system?” said Colleen Flood, University of Ottawa Research Chair in Health Law and Policy. “And then the legal question is: Can you stop someone with money, or private insurance, from accessing private health care if they are claiming a Charter right when there are long wait times?”
The plaintiffs in the case – led by Brian Day, an orthopedic surgeon and president and chief executive of Cambie Surgeries Corporation – argued that patients have a constitutional right to pay out-of-pocket for medically necessary care when wait times in the public system are too long.
Dr. Brian Day is arguing that patients have a constitutional right to pay out-of-pocket for medically necessary care when wait times in the public system are too long.Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press
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Hockey Canada reopens investigation into 2018 sexual assault allegations
Hockey Canada is reopening a third-party investigation into allegations of sexual assault involving eight Canadian Hockey League players, after the organization’s handling of the alleged incident triggered federal committee hearings and the suspension of corporate partnerships.
In an open letter Thursday, hockey’s national governing body said it will take a number of measures to “end the culture of toxic behaviour” within the sport. Among the actions outlined is the resumption of a probe into allegations that a group of CHL players, including members of the 2018 gold-medal-winning world junior team, sexually assaulted a woman after a Hockey Canada Foundation gala in London, Ont., on June 18, 2018, reports Kathryn Blaze Baum.
The fallout from the allegations has been widespread. Ottawa paused its funding to Hockey Canada as it conducts a financial audit to confirm that taxpayer dollars weren’t used in a settlement related to the alleged incident. The National Hockey League launched its own investigation, since a number of players who attended the 2018 gala may now be in the league.
Ripudaman Singh Malik, acquitted in 1985 Air India bombings, shot dead in Surrey, B.C.
Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombings, was killed on Thursday in what police described as a targeted shooting in Surrey, B.C.
Malik was among three people charged with the June 23, 1985, attack, which killed 329 people, including 280 Canadian citizens and permanent residents, aboard an airliner that originated in Vancouver and exploded off the coast of Ireland. Two baggage handlers at the Tokyo airport were also killed in another explosion the same day.
The terrorist attack, Canada’s worst mass murder, exposed flaws in the country’s security systems and drew attention to Sikh extremism in this country. A 2010 report from the public inquiry that followed blamed a “cascading series of errors” by police, intelligence officers and air safety regulators. It prompted then-prime minister Stephen Harper to apologize to the victims’ families.
Bank of Canada blames oil price shifts for inflation forecasting errors
The Bank of Canada says it consistently underestimated the trajectory of inflation over the past year, pointing to unexpected increases in global commodity prices and shifting patterns of consumer spending that it failed to fully account for.
This misreading of inflation means it has to play catch-up, pushing interest rates aggressively higher and increasing borrowing costs to prevent consumer prices from spiralling out of control, reports Mark Rendell. Its latest rate hike, announced this week, was an increase of a full percentage point, the biggest move since 1998.
Errors in forecasting have a major impact on monetary policy. Because changes in interest rates take time to trickle through the economy, central bankers have to adjust their policy based on where they think inflation will be many quarters out. That makes accurate forecasting important.
- Explainer: Bank of Canada rate hike questions: You asked, we answered
- Editorial: The Bank of Canada bares its teeth. But can it bite into inflation and avoid recession?
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Also on our radar
Russian missiles leave wreckage in heart of Ukrainian city far from the front lines of war: The attack on Vinnytsia, a populated city centre in west central Ukraine, has killed at least 23 people, including three children. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said civilians were deliberately targeted in locations without military value.
- Canadian volunteer fighter who was severely wounded in Ukraine has returned home
Pascale St-Onge on breaking the culture of silence around abuse in sports: Canada’s Sport Minister wants to be a “change maker” in federal politics. The rookie politician is starting with the Canadian sport landscape, working to break the culture of silence surrounding abuse and to bring joy back to sports: “It can’t only be about performance.”
Health Canada approves first COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 5: Canada’s drug regulator has cleared the way for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to be given to young children between the ages of six months and five years old in doses one-quarter the size of that approved for adults.
- Explainer: The summer COVID wave is here. What Canadians need to know about BA.5, boosters and more
- Canada bringing back mandatory random COVID-19 testing of travellers arriving at main airports
Draghi’s resignation offer rejected: Italian President Sergio Mattarella refused to accept Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s offer to resign, ending the immediate threat of a government collapse but leaving unclear how the political turmoil might be resolved.
Beyond the Stampede, these women in rodeo hold the reins: Like most rodeos, the Calgary Stampede, will be short on female competitors: women only compete in barrel racing, one of the six events. But women have been riding bucking horses at smaller rodeos across the West, and The Globe saw them in action.
Morning markets
Global stocks attempt recovery: World markets felt some relief after two Fed policymakers denied rumours that an aggressive 100 basis-point rate hike was coming, but fears remain that central banks will be vigilant about tamping down inflation. Around 6:15 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.60 per cent. France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX grew 0.52 and 1.44 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.54 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2.19 per cent. U.S. futures were slightly higher. The Canadian dollar was trading at 76.41 U.S. cents.
What everyone’s talking about
How a panicky mood in Germany forced Canada to give Putin his turbines
“From these comparatively calm shores, the decision appeared wrong and purposeless. It looks more understandable, politically and emotionally at least, if you’ve been observing the mood of wild-eyed anxiety and dark prognostication that has overcome the people and media of Germany. It’s still the wrong decision, but you can see where it came from.” - Doug Saunders
Boris Johnson may soon be gone, but Britain’s woes have just begun
“A new leader could send a strong message that ‘Britain is back.’ Mind you, there’s no guarantee of that. Britain’s Conservative Party is now stuck in a ditch it could struggle to escape. To neutralize threats to his authority, Mr. Johnson purged the party of much of its best talent. As a result, a leader chosen from a less-than-stellar pool of candidates will take over a party that, for all its storied history, faces a clouded future. And Mr. Johnson’s Brexit actually leaves them a poisoned chalice.” - John Rapley
Today’s editorial cartoon
Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
Moment in time: July 15, 1997
Queen Elizabeth hosts a party for golden anniversary couples
The Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, meet guests, all couples celebrating 50 years of marriage, at a Buckingham Palace garden party on July 15, 1997.AFP / Getty Images
Reaching 50 years of marriage is something to celebrate for most couples. But the Queen went even further when she and Prince Philip marked their golden wedding anniversary on this day in 1997. The Queen invited 4,000 couples who had also hit the 50-year mark to a garden party at Buckingham Palace. The date wasn’t the Royal couple’s actual anniversary – they were married on Nov. 20, 1947 – but it fit with a national summertime commemoration of their marriage, which also included a show featuring 1,300 horses and 4,000 men, women and children who honoured the contributions horses have made to civilization (needless to say the Queen is a major horse enthusiast). The party came at a difficult time for the monarchy. The previous year had seen Prince Charles and Prince Andrew go through very public divorces, and support for the Royals plummet. In the run up to the party, Charles’s former wife, Diana, upstaged the event by teasing journalists that she had a major announcement coming: “You are going to get a big surprise with the next thing I do,” she said. Sadly, she died in a car crash in Paris six weeks later. Paul Waldie
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