Edward Xie

Carney government is silent on prospect of pharmacare deals for provinces like Ontario Prime Minister Mark Carney’s silence on Ottawa’s outstanding pharmacare deals with provinces and territories — including Ontario — have health experts questioning why the issue no longer appears to be

Just 30 mins after giving this interview, I saw a patient with diabetes who hadn't fill their prescription, for months.

They get sicker every visit - all because they can't afford their meds.

If this govt rips away a pharmacare lifeline, I fear for their future.

www.thestar.com/politics/fed...

What if 2025 isn't just one of the hottest years ever,
but also the coolest year for the rest of our lives?

Join @cdndrsformedicare.bsky.social tomorrow (Aug 5) at 7pm ET for a chat about #heatwaves and what we can do to achieve a healthier future: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

#cdnhealth

"I knew that if we were in Canada, this is a boy who would easily be treatable . . . and yet we just had to sit there and watch him die."

Doctors and aid workers describe watching helplessly as Palestinian children die of starvation and treatable injuries
www.bmj.com/content/390/...

An image of socks that say “justice for cyclists”

What a great day to get these!

Thanks @thebikinglawyer.bsky.social

#bikeTO

Join us to celebrate our Charter challenge win tomorrow, Thursday, July 31st at 5:30 pm. We'll be hosting a rally starting near the Scales of Justice bike rack at 361 University, followed by a ride.

Learn more and RSVP now:
www.cycleto.ca/victory_ride...

Webinar on Heatwaves: protecting health in a climate crisis Canada is heating up twice as fast as the global average. Extreme heat is putting increasing strain on our health and health systems. Join us on August 5 at 7 pm ET to learn about ways to cope with heat and how better Medicare could save lives. To register for the webinar follow the link We’re thrilled to welcome Dr. Melissa Lem and Dr. Monika Dutt to the panel, with Dr. Edward Xie moderating the discussion. We look forward to seeing you there!

With most of Canada under heat 🚨 warnings this week, I'll be hosting a conversation on #heatwaves and #health with @drmelissalem.bsky.social & @monikadutt.bsky.social

Join us August 5 at 7pm ET / 4pm PT us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Thanks @cdndrsformedicare.bsky.social & @cape-acme.bsky.social

Most costly places in the world to build #publictransit?

“Toronto has a very solid claim to being the second worst in the world”

Why do costs rise? According to this researcher, private for-profit delivery, fragmentation, and disabling the public sector.

… but maybe it’ll work for health care 🤔

Report suggests arms still flow from Canada to Israel despite denials | CBC News The government of Canada is adamant — with certain, shifting caveats — that it has not allowed arms shipments to Israel since January 2024, and yet Israeli import data and publicly available shipping ...

Report suggests arms still flow from Canada to Israel despite denials. Tax and shipping records appear to contradict Ottawa's claims
www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Find out more at nationalnewswatch.com

Screenshot of registration page for Canadian Doctors For Medicare's Webinar on Heatwaves: protecting health in a climate crisis

On August 5, @cdndrsformedicare.bsky.social is hosting a webinar to explore how to cope with heat—and how better medicare could save lives.
Can't wait to join 2 of my heroes, @monikadutt.bsky.social + @edwardxie.bsky.social, and all of you, in conversation.
Register: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Extreme heat is the number-one weather-related killer in North America. As #climatechange makes heat waves more severe and frequent, we'll see escalating harms to human health.
Yesterday I appeared on CBC's The National to talk about it for @cape-acme.bsky.social.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn4l...

Helsinki goes a full year without a traffic death A city traffic engineer credits the success to lower speed limits and smarter design.

"Helsinki has not recorded a single traffic fatality in the past 12 months, city and police officials confirmed this week."

This is the direct and predictable result of policy decisions, not random happenstance.

#visionzero #publichealth

yle.fi/a/74-20174831

Why is universal, first-dollar coverage for birth control so important?

New @bmj.com study in British Columbia finds that costs were a barrier to using the most effective forms of contraception. This has major implications for self-determination, cost of living, health and health care.

Health advocates shocked as Carney Liberals back away from pharmacare program Health advocates say they’re shocked to hear the federal government may not sign more pharmacare funding deals, which would leave coverage uneven across the country.

"Dr. Amanda Black, past president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, said if the government does not sign new [ #pharmacare ] agreements, it will be a step backward for women’s health in Canada"

www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art... #cdnpoli #cdnhealth

After another missed opportunity to end EU complicity with Israel, we reiterate our call on the EU to turn its words into actions and to end its double standards. Every state has a moral and legal responsibility to recognize and stop the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.

This is very troubling from a new government that is supposedly about nation-building. Fracturing a promising national pharmacare plan during a health care and affordability crisis would be the opposite of unity and solidarity.

Cities around the world are banning fossil fuel ads. Toronto could become the first Canadian city to follow suit, but their draft policy isn't strong enough. Tell Toronto city council to take a bolder stand to protect our health: https://loom.ly/TlsXPlA

I think about this conversation with Dr. Yasser Khan every day.

He is haunted by every patient he could not save.

He came home to Canada only to face smears from some of his fellow doctors in the OR.

If there was ever a moment for the medical profession to wake the hell up it is now.

Landmark court ruling a stark rebuke of Canadian position on climate change The ICJ finding is a watershed moment in the fight against climate change that should send shivers down the spine of the fossil fuel industry, while threatening to upend the legality of Prime Minister...

Huge climate win from the ICJ that sharply rebuked Canada which argued it was not bound by international law to seriously fight climate change.

Going forward “Canada's pursuit of mega fossil fuel expansion projects stands in stark defiance of the ICJ." www.nationalobserver.com/2025/07/23/n...

Matt Elliott: Doug Ford helped usher in an era of outsourcing at Toronto city hall. Olivia Chow may be finally pushing back New reports suggest there are good reasons to question whether letting private companies carry out public services is the best for the city.

Please read this great piece by @graphicmatt.com about privatizing city services.
It's super relevant to Toronto residents, but applies to any city that has outsourced public services since the 1990s.
Privatization always ends up costing more.
(Paging #healthcare)
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

PRECIOUS CARGO, by Hurray For The Riff Raff from the album LIFE ON EARTH

Looking forward to seeing Hurray For The Riff Raff 😎

hftrr.bandcamp.com/track/precio...

Thank you Scott! Some would argue that pro-growth outcomes (under the status quo) would be problematic, so I’m looking for analyses on whether UBI has a pathway for post-growth approaches or alternatives would better fit.

Canada needs to follow through on its promise to help people in Gaza Ottawa’s ‘special measures’ visa program for Gaza has so far proved to be little more than a cruel taunt

Canada says it's a refuge. It has dangled only false hopes to Palestinians seeking to study here after Israel bombed their universities, or who have applied to be reunited with family.

I co-wrote this piece with Deborah Cowen, Kyo Maclear and Madeleine Thien www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/7a8fbe1...

Ontario Could Face ‘Decarbonization Bankruptcy’ as Provincial Plan Boosts Nuclear, Stalls Cheaper Renewables Ontarians are on track to pay more than $400 billion for an electricity system built to be 70% dependent on nuclear power by 2050, as the Ford government abandons its promises of affordable, reliable ...

Ontario’s $400B energy plan risks “decarbonization bankruptcy,” says Mark Winfield. The province is betting big on nuclear while sidelining renewables, and skipping oversight.

Full interview: www.theenergymix.com/ontario-coul...

Myth: "Privatization" can help everyone access health care Seeking to strengthen and improve Canada's universal publicly-funded health care system. Evidence-based, values driven.

As Ontario pushes forward, outsourcing publicly-funded care to private (mostly for-profit) groups, here's a good reminder of what the evidence says:

www.canadiandoctorsformedicare.ca/myth_privati... via @cdndrsformedicare.bsky.social

Canada’s most expensive election promise was climate inaction - CCPA The following is a re-print of the April 2025 edition of Shift Storm, the CCPA’s monthly newsletter which focuses on the intersection of work and climate change. Click here to subscribe to Shift Storm...

The trillions of dollars in climate damages looming over the economy cannot be ignored forever.

Last month's Shift Storm newsletter is available now: www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Sign up ASAP to get this month's edition this week! mailchi.mp/policyaltern...

The largest privatization of core hospital services (orthopedic surgeries) is underway in #onpoli

Private facilities profit from your tax dollars

Their biz model is based on performing routine procedures & "cream skimming" most profitable, lowest acuity patients

Public hospitals serve everyone

Canadian Dental Care Plan leaves dentists and patients facing uncovered costs People trying to access the program and dentistry professionals say a federal program to cover dental care costs is leaving patients on the hook for part of the fees and

When a publicly funded program is outsourced to a private insurance company & delivered by private business

A wake-up call about the perils of two-tier health care w/ private insurers

We need universal dental care w/ public administration & non-profit delivery

www.thestar.com/news/canada/...

The zombie policy question that just won't die, but won't go away.
Asked over and over again. Answered over and over again.
The answer? NO
www.cbc.ca/news/health/...

BREAKING: Zeteo has released, globally, the film the BBC so controversially refused to air.

"Gaza: Doctors Under Attack" is now available to watch in full at gazadoctors.film and zeteo.com.

Here's the trailer:

Israeli Soldiers Killed At Least 410 People at Food Aid Sites in Gaza This Month The U.S.-backed system for food aid in Gaza is a “tactical intervention in humanitarian wrapping,” per an Israeli professor.

Israeli soldiers and officers have said they were ordered to shoot at unarmed civilians waiting for food in Gaza.