Via The Lancet, an editorial: Canada's healthy future?
Justin Trudeau, Canada's new Prime Minister-designate, laid out several policies in his Liberal Party's manifesto in the run-up to the Oct 19 national election, which will see the return of the Trudeau family to 24 Sussex Drive, Ottawa.
There are promises to re-engage with First Nation Canadians, abandoned from health service planning by the Stephen Harper stewardship of the past decade; appoint a Chief Science Officer within government (to help the nation re-connect with a community often viewed by the previous administration with mistrust and suspicion); legalise cannabis; commit to stronger action on climate change; and increase funding for the devolved provincial and territory health systems to offer improved services, notably in the areas of elderly care and mental health.
Delivery on these policies could have positive effects on Canada's future health and reverse a decade during which health has been largely ignored by the federal government.
Beyond the election pledges, Trudeau's new administration should articulate the meaning of public health for Canada at a federal level, how it can influence policy in the devolved regional health systems, and how it can redistribute resources to help contribute to national health equity.
Globally, the new government should build on Harper's Muskoka Initiative—one surprisingly positive legacy of the Harper years, which highlighted Canada's outstanding advocacy for a global health programme that has already had a substantial impact in maternal, newborn, and child health across seven low-income settings, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Canada has committed a further CAN$3·5 billion over the next 5 years to the next phase of the Muskoka Initiative. We would like Trudeau to embrace the Muskoka movement and broaden it to define Canada's future global health strategy in the new era of sustainable development.
Pre-election excitement and post-election euphoria bring high expectations. But If Trudeau appoints bold, progressive, and technically able ministers—and we will learn more when his cabinet is announced on Nov 4—then Canada could well have a healthier future, and recover from its lean Harperesque past.
