Canadian context 2006.11.23

Starting late next year, newborn babies in Ontario will be tested for cystic fibrosis in addition to 27 other diseases. Early detection of the disease in newborns will help ensure they receive proper care as soon as possible.

Air pollutants and green house gas emissions are still rising in Canada. Monitoring sites across the country between 1990 and 2004 detected that,

• human exposure to ground-level ozone increased an average of 0.9%
  
• greenhouse gas emissions rose 27%
  
• the 758 million tonnes of carbon dioxide exceeds the greenhouse gas reduction target of the Kyoto Protocol by 35% making Canada one of the world's highest per capita emitters of greenhouse gases
  
• the ability of fresh water to support aquatic life in Canada is rated as ‘fair' at 34% of 340 selected sites across southern Canada and ‘marginal' or ‘poor' at 22%
  
• GDP increased 47% during this time and the population grew 15%
  
• primary energy production rose 44% since 1990, largely as a result of increases in the production of natural gas and crude oil

Public intellectual Michael Ignatieff is a Liberal Party leadership candidate and a potential Prime Minister. Is he the philosopher king heir apparent to Pierre Trudeau?

A protocol published recently in the Canadian Medical Association Journal offers guidelines to health professionals on how to make the harrowing decisions about who not to treat during a flu pandemic. Essentially, it's about figuring out who has the lowest chance of surviving. "Having said that, there are many people - and I don't mean health-care workers, I mean members of the public - who would argue that . . . those who are younger may be able in the aftermath of a horrible tragedy like a pandemic . . . to make a different kind of contribution back to to society."

The Ottawa Health Research Institute, the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital and an affiliated institute of the University of Ottawa, has opened the Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research to focus on regenerative medicine. They will not use embryos....for now. The facility will have room for approximately 120 scientists, trainees, and staff in 30,000 square feet of state-of-the-art research space.

As if Canadian immigration agents didn't already have enough to worry about, they must now look out for organ trafficking. Citizenship and Immigration Canada has developed internal guidelines for processing visa applications by people who wish to donate organs in Canada -- but the trick will be to filter the illegal cases from the legitimate ones.