Elaine Hyshka

How Doug Ford made the drug problem on the TTC worse If we want to see less public drug use and people sheltering on transit, we must begin by reopening and expanding supervised consumption sites and by addressing housing unaffordability.

How Doug Ford made the drug problem on the TTC worse

#Opinion from @dianachanmcnally.bsky.social

From Cost to Investment: Reframing Social Spending in an Affordability Era - IRPP Affordability pressures in Canada remain elevated. In 2024 — the most recent year for which there is comprehensive data — food insecurity reached record highs, nearly half of Canadians reported diffic...

New commentary by @gillianpetit.bsky.social & Selvia Arshad: Canada's new budgeting framework puts most social programs in a fiscal category that makes them easier targets for cuts & harder to justify. This has real consequences for households facing affordability pressures.
irpp.org/research-stu...

Around 100 lawyers and justice system folks are protesting the UCP government’s moves re: the legal system at the legislature today. Notwithstanding clause, law foundation, appointment of judges. #ableg

Indigenous chiefs go to Alberta legislature, pressure province to nip separatism push EDMONTON - More than a dozen First Nations chiefs and even more band councillors and elders were at Alberta's legislature Monday, calling on Premier Danielle Smith's government to stomp out

Indigenous chiefs go to Alberta legislature, pressure province to nip separatism push

From me and @reportrix.bsky.social today:

www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/prairies_bc/...

At #CND69, govs rejected US attempts to strip the proceedings from addressing the #2030Agenda.

The (unprecedented) early vote signals support for global drug policy debates to be rooted in rights and development.

More on the #CNDBlog:
https://cndblog.org/2026/03/plenary-monday-morning-session/

Alberta separation talk already affecting more than a quarter of surveyed Calgary businesses | CBC News Ongoing discourse around the prospect of Alberta separation is emerging as a top concern for Calgary businesses, many of whom say the debate is already impacting the local economy, a new Calgary Chamb...

Cutting off noses to spite faces. Thank you to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce for the Injection of some common sense to this noxious debate. #ableg #abpoli #yyc #Calgary

Chiefs deliver fiery message to Alberta Premier over separation More than a dozen First Nations chiefs and even more band councillors and elders were...

Over a dozen First Nations chiefs, band councilors and elders were at Alberta's legislature Monday, to call on Premier Danielle Smith's government to stomp out the push for Alberta to quit Canada.

Journalism Spotlight Justin Ling “Telling the Truth In Hyperreality: Journalism in a Time of Lies” The Faculty of Business, Communication Studies and Aviation of Mount Royal University is proud to present a public lecture featuring distinguished ...

As the White House posts videos blending real footage of its war in Iran with clips from movies and video games, this talk from @justinling.ca is incredibly timely.

It's this Wednesday evening, at Mount Royal University in Calgary. Also will be livestreamed.

And it's free!

Registration ends soon:

Health Canada’s rebuff of compassion clubs predates DULF: Here’s why it matters. Compassion clubs have resurfaced in recent years as a response to the toxic unregulated drug crisis in British Columbia (BC), and more specifically the need for community-based safer supply programs a...

NEW: Analysis from Marilou Gagnon on Health Canada's rejection of compassion club models in the context of the DULF case

themainlander.com/2026/03/09/c... #drugsky

Similarly, Canadians shouldn’t be okay with 18 per day, even if that’s down from the 23 during the pandemic. One death is a tragedy. So many hospitalizations, not even considering how many survive with permanent (hypoxia-induced) brain damage.

The Canadian Library Challenges Database | Centre for Free Expression The CFE-CFLA/FCAB Canadian Library Challenges Database provides access to challenges libraries have faced to items in their collection, and to displays, programs, room usage, and computer access.

The Centre for Free Expression has done far more legwork, contacting every Alberta school division, asking how many removed books, and sending access to info requests to every division that said they did remove materials. The results they have so far are in this national challenge database #AbEd

By the book: Alberta schools pull at least 160 titles from shelves to meet provincial order | CBC News Alberta school divisions complying with a provincial order have removed dozens of graphic novels from their shelves, from illustrated versions of literary classics to coming-of-age memoirs and dramati...

What books did Alberta schools *actually* pull off the shelves in response to a provincial order? It took a lot of work to find out. We still don't have a complete picture. And some schools are still pulling material.

Free speech advocates say it's ban unmatched in Canadian history. #AbLeg By me.

How Congress can restore the independence of US science Members must go beyond reinstating US government research spending and re-establish decentralized governance at the National Institutes of Health and other agencies.

The most impt change at #NIH and to US science this year is bigger than grant cancellations— it’s how the agency is governed.

For 75 years NIH has been largely independent of presidential control. That’s changed this year. New piece from me and @nataliebaviles.bsky.social in @nature.com
🧪

‘Mass Death on This Scale Is Incomprehensible’ | The Tyee Overdose deaths are trending down, but BC is still in the thick of a crisis. Here’s what the data tells us.

‘Mass Death on This Scale Is Incomprehensible’ -- Overdose deaths are trending down, but BC is still in the thick of a crisis. Here’s what the data tells us, by @michellegamage.bsky.social thetyee.ca/News/2026/03... via @thetyee.ca

Danielle Smith drags the judiciary deeper into her partisan mud slinging The Alberta Premier’s referendum is a direct threat to the proper functioning of our justice system

"This isn’t about constitutional reform. It’s about politics. More specifically, it’s part of a broader and increasingly brazen [UCP] effort to either control the courts or, failing that, convince the public not to trust them. "
www.canadianlawyermag.com/news/opinion...

Accounting watchdog to investigate Deloitte over fake citations in $1.6-million healthcare report – The Independent Chartered Professional Accountants N.L. is leading the investigation after Deloitte admitted AI was involved

NEW: Deloitte is being investigated by Newfoundland & Labrador's accounting watchdog over the firm's use of #AI in a $1.6-million government healtcare report that contains at least four fake citations #artificialintelligence #nlpoli
theindependent.ca/news/lji/acc...

Smith says she's cutting access to social support programs because she "heard that people were moving here just to be on social programs."

This sort of hearsay framing is a dangerous rhetorical device employed by populists. Consider Donald Trump. +

Alberta ‘excessively vulnerable’ to foreign interference, experts warn | CBC News Alberta is not ready to deal with the threat of online disinformation coming from foreign actors in a possible referendum campaign on separation this fall, according to national security experts.

“Alberta is not ready to deal with the threat of online disinformation coming from foreign actors in a possible referendum campaign on separation this fall”

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

“It is no longer sufficient to rely on reactive moderation from technology companies, especially if that moderation is unpopular with users.” Perspective “Dual Public Health and Regulatory Dilemmas of ‘Relational’ Artificial Intelligence” by Nicholas Peoples, M.D., M.Sc., M.S., and Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Ph.D., M.A.

The authors of a new Perspective warn that emotionally dependent attachments to #AI companions may potentially carry significant risks and argue for proactive clinical, research, and policy responses to anticipate harm and maximize societal benefits. nejm.ai/3YqXczH

#MedSky #MLSky

Declining Population Means Fewer People Left To Die by Sarah Auger, Petra Schulz and Angela Welz

heartsalberta.substack.com/p/declining-...

Our new paper led by Javiera Navarrete looks at the state of implementation science research on #harmreduction services delivered by pharmacy staff. 🧪

bmjopen.bmj.com/content/16/3...

Family science professor hopes her study supports the need for a national caregiving strategy  – WCHRI Shame compounds stress on caregivers of rural drug users

If you aren’t already following the work of Dr. @hollymathias.bsky.social you should be!

www.wchri.org/our-impact/s...

Alberta's flu season is now the deadliest in recent memory as experts call for action | CBC News Influenza deaths have soared to new heights in Alberta this year, according to nearly two decades worth of data, prompting concern from health experts.

Influenza deaths have soared to new heights in Alberta this year, according to nearly two decades worth of data, prompting concern from health experts
Latest from me👇

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Cover of The Lancet:

@thelancet.com
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

NM, Facing Rising Deaths, Calls for Overdose Prevention Center Study - Filter On February 9, New Mexico state senators will discuss a proposal to study the feasibility of overdose prevention centers (OPC). ...

🧵As proven through an array of studies & folks' lived experiences in the U.S. & abroad, #OverdosePrevention centers ( #OPCs) save lives, improve #PublicHealth outcomes for entire communities, & uplift the well-being of people who use drugs. We'll continue advocating for these...

bit.ly/NMOPCs

"Danielle Smith's government is acting as an embassy for the worst we've seen from south of the border, and it's time to say no.”

The Assembly of Treaty Chiefs has passed a unanimous vote of non-confidence in the UCP government.

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

Ontario must do more for international students seeking health care International students contribute billions to Ontario but remain excluded from OHIP. Why fair health care access matters.

Pleased to see this commentary in Policy Options published by @ualberta.bsky.social MPH student Pranav Sabde. This piece started as an assignment in the health policy course I co-taught with @jaredwesley.ca last term.

policyoptions.irpp.org/2026/02/inte...

If you watch 2 minutes of video today…

Make it this.

A masterclass on oratory and personal responsibility is on full display.

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

What do U.S. adults think about the legal use of #psychedelics & other drugs?

% supporting legal use:

#Cannabis-65%
#Psilocybin-23%
#LSD-10%
#MDMA-9%
#Cocaine-8%

New @rand.org report does a deep dive, going beyond this simple yes/no/don't know question ⬇️

www.rand.org/pubs/researc...