Public Health in Ontario - A Municipal Lens
"Ontario’s municipal governments are deeply invested in the public health and health care systems. This level of involvement has been evolving over time and is not generally understood by the public, Province, or stakeholders. Municipal involvement includes direct, legislated funding and service delivery, as well as indirect and sometimes voluntary efforts to address local gaps in health services. It also includes the myriad municipal services that contribute to health outcomes."
Over the past several years as the Chair of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Health Task Force I have worked alongside some outstanding experts in municipal health delivery and policy.
These papers, recently released, outline our findings and guidance to Provincial and Municipal leaders in Ontario.
It's said "no matter how bad it gets, at least you have your health".
This Task Force and AMO as a whole want to make sure thats true throughout Ontario. While its important we tackle challenges in our finances, our environment and our infrastructure - unless we are collectively healthy we are risking our greatest provincial asset: a healthy population.
Please read:
Partners for a Healthy Ontario, A checkup on the municipal role for health.
Its not just what you have, it’s how you use it...
In the weeks before Christmas, Ottawa Citizen columnist Randall Denley contacted me to share that he was working on a series looking at the costs and consequences of housing policies across Ottawa. We spoke for over an hour on the housing continuum, the need for sharper policies and more strategic investment.
Read on to read his series as well as the report I prepared in 2018.
Designing a National Seniors Strategy for Canada
In 2015 I took part with partners and the Institute for Research and Public Policy in producing a report drawing on a comprehensive review of the latest research on issues affecting older Canadians, a consultation exercise that included a series of interviews with experts and stakeholders, as well as a round table discussion.