Liberal calls for Trudeau to step down on the rise

The Special Advisory Committee on Toxic Drug Poisonings releases a report and P.E.I. announces plans to develop a food waste strategy. On that, and more, here is your Syntax Weekly Health Round-Up.

Around the Hill

• Following the loss of a reliably Liberal seat in the Toronto – St. Paul’s byelection, public speculation on the future of the prime minister has graduated to open calls (both anonymous and non-anonymous) from Liberal MPs for him to step down or otherwise provide demonstrable proof of change within his team of advisors and cabinet ministers to calm an increasingly hostile public and to shore up whatever support the Liberals can get. For his part, the prime minister insists that he will remain in the job as he spends his days calling his caucus to quell internal dissent.
• The House of Commons and Senate are adjourned for the summer recess.

Around Government 

• The federal, provincial, and territorial Special Advisory Committee on Toxic Drug Poisonings released a report on the latest surveillance data on opioid and stimulant-related harms in Canada from January 2016 to December 2023. In 2023, there were 8,049 opioid-related deaths in Canada. Since 2016, there have been 44,592 opioid-related deaths. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Ya’ara Saks issued a statement in response to the report, highlighting that the government has relaunched its Ease the Burden campaign to support men struggling with substance use and to share the message that “it takes strength to ask for help.”

Around the Dominion

• The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced it has reinstated a recruitment and retention incentive for retired registered nurses and nurse practitioners seeking to return to work or who are already employed by Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services. Retired registered nurses and nurse practitioners who meet licence eligibility requirements are eligible for reimbursement of licence-related fees up to $500 with a return for service commitment of 390 hours per year.
• The Government of PEI announced it is in the preliminary stages of examining food waste and developing a plan for a Provincial Food Waste Reduction Strategy. The province is undertaking public consultations on the strategy until August 14, 2024.
• The Government of Nova Scotia announced it has expanded electronic health records access province-wide after a successful three-month pilot project with 15 family doctors and seven nurse practitioners at six clinics. Anyone with a valid Nova Scotia health card now has access to information about hospital and clinic visits, family doctor and virtual care visits, their medications, lab results, and diagnostic imaging scans.
• Still in Nova Scotia, the provincial government announced it will cover full tuition costs for more than 460 people who want to become a primary care paramedic or emergency medical responder in exchange for a four-year return for service agreement for paramedics and a two-year return for service agreement for emergency medical responders.