Zoomer Week in Review

(3:38) Over a million Canadians use medical Cannabis to treat everything from nausea to chronic pain. But there is a lack of rigorous, clinical evidence demonstrating its efficacy for specific conditions. That's why the university health network is launching a new clinical trial in partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart to help doctors prescribe the right medicine for the right patient at the right d...

There's more to being healthy than staying physically fit. Mental health is just as important, but a lot of the time gets buried beneath the stigma that surrounds it. Unfortunately those long held, negative beliefs have led to nearly two-thirds of the world's population refusing to seek help. Dr. Murali Rao is a geriatric expert and psychiatrist from Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago. He...

He's was Ontario's first NDP Premier before switching parties and becoming interim Liberal leader. Now Bob Rae becomes Canada's ambassador to the United Nations at a trying time: in the midst of a pandemic, after the loss of our bid for a security council seat, and as the UN is increasingly dominated by authoritarian regimes. But he told Libby Znaimer that the appointment is taking him full circle...

Will a woman's perspective help navigate policing during these turbulent times? Chief Antje McNeely of Kingston becomes the third woman to serve as President of the Ontario Association of Police Chiefs and she sees change ahead. AND This week we learned the economy dropped 11.6% in April, the largest monthly drop on record due to the pandemic. The massive expansion of government spending and debt...

A new report confirms a shameful statistic: Canada’s proportion of COVID 19 deaths in long term care is double that in other Western countries. But Tracey Johnson of the Canadian Institute of health Information says the numbers point the way to preparing for a second wave. AND The pandemic has us spending much more time in the kitchen which is now the centre of most homes. It wasn’t always like th...

In the midst of an international and national conversation about systemic racism, a very familiar voice of the Zoomer generation is stepping forward with his experience. Hal Johnson, recounts how BodyBreak came about. The popular fitness segment he starred in, and produced, with his wife Joanne McLeod since the late 80’s was created as a way to overcome the racism and normalize interracial relatio...

Former federal health minister Jane Philpott dishes on the pandemic, the fix for long term care, and her new assignment trying to organize all the Covid related data in Ontario. AND The financial and emotional toll of Covid-cancelled weddings. We talk to a lawyer who is also a groom trying to reschedule his big day.

While most of us have been sheltering at home, Israeli Mishel Zrian has been travelling on airplanes non-stop for more than 80 days, delivering lifesaving bone marrow to patients around the world. In order to avoid quarantines for travellers, he sleeps on planes or airport hotel rooms. Libby Znaimer caught up with the volunteer courier after he made a delivery in the Netherlands. AND Will there be...

Tens of thousands of Canadians are out of pocket after their flights were cancelled because of COVID-19. But, passenger rights advocate, Gabor Lukacs, says it is actually illegal. Air Canada, and WestJet are giving vouchers rather than refunds to passengers who bought non-refundable tickets. Libby Znaimer reached Dr. Lukacs in Halifax. AND The violations cited in this week's explosive military rep...

It's an understatement to say investors have had a rough ride for the last few months. Markets have regained about half the huge losses at the beginning of the pandemic. But there is no shortage of predictions of doom and gloom for the foreseeable future. It's a special worry for Zoomers, at or near retirement. Libby Znaimer consulted market guru and Zoomer magazine contributor Gordon Pape on how...

This week we marked International Nurses Day, which is celebrated annually on Florence Nightingale's birthday. It's the 200th anniversary of the birth of the founder of modern nursing, and COVID-19 is making her legacy more relevant than ever. Professor Emerita Lynn Macdonald has written extensively about Florence Nightingale and is co-founder of The Nightingale Society. AND Imagine the anxiety of...

This week we learned the devastating news that Canada has the highest proportion of COVID 19 deaths in long term care in the western world. And the National institute on Aging says official numbers do not reveal the full picture because they exclude retirement homes. According to their figures, a staggering 82% of this country's COVID-19 deaths occur in these care settings which house only 1% of t...

A report from Ontario's Financial Accountability office estimates 35 people have already died after their surgery was delayed because of COVID-19. More than 52,000 operations have been postponed since the lockdown, with another 12,000 put on hold each week. Libby Znaimer talked to Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, Surgeon-in-Chief at the University Health Network's Sprott department of Surgery. AND It seems tha...

We've all viewed chaotic and horrific scenes from hospitals overwhelmed with COVID-19 in places like New York, Italy and Spain. But what is it like here? Tom Jocic spent two days in an Oshawa coronavirus ward while waiting for his test results. Libby Znaimer spoke with him a few days after he was discharged to his home. AND It's that of year when we take on spring cleaning. Now that we are all spe...

He’s calling it China’s Chernobyl moment. Former Justice Minister and leading Human Rights champion Irwin Cotler is blaming the Chinese government for covering up the pandemic during its early stages,while punishing whistleblowers. Along with a hundred international politicians he says Chinese leaders must be held to account for withholding the information for the first 40 days. Libby Znaimer reac...

While the Ford government has been working with public health experts in order to protect seniors during the pandemic, Ontario Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath wants the province to do more for residents of long-term care homes and those working in the facilities. AND The pandemic has forced many in the world to stop... which has given us more time to think, and worry, even feel frightened. To hel...

Is Ottawa doing enough to help Zoomers? In addition to measures targeting low-income and frail elders, the government lowered the amount of mandatory RRIF withdrawals by 25% for this year. CARP says they should be suspended altogether in light of the plunging markets. That’s where Libby Znaimer began in a wide-ranging conversation with minister for Seniors Deb Schulte. AND Canadians, especially th...

The economic devastation of COVID 19 is affecting us all. But the hardest hit are those least able to afford it. Low wage workers and women. Two in five making $14 an hour or less and one in three earning 14-16/hour are at risk of immediate job loss or have been laid off already. Libby Znaimer reached David MacDonald of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives AND Despite all this we salute a h...

Life has changed as we confront Covid-19. And while the hope is that many aspects return to pre-pandemic norms, the prediction is that this event will mark a turning point in transforming our lifestyles. Libby Znaimer talked with futurist Richard Worzel. AND What will Canadians need and want in the years to come? Where and how will we live? Pollster Darrell Bricker looked at those questions throug...

New numbers from the Ministry of Health show that patients waiting to be admitted to hospital in January spent an average of 18.3 hours in the emergency room until a bed became available on a ward. That matches the previous monthly record set a year ago and it suggests there has been no progress in ending hallway healthcare. Libby Znaimer reached NDP Health Critic France Gelinas at her constituenc...

Did you remember to set your clocks forward early this morning? For residents of the Yukon, this will be the last time they do it as they embark on year-round Daylight Saving Time. And most of Saskatchewan is on year-round Standard time. This because of mounting evidence about the harm of this practise. Libby Znaimer reached Dr. Myriam Juda, Adjunct Professor, Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Labo...

This week the Canada Revenue Agency moved to reassure taxpayers who still send in paper returns with the message "we have not forgotten you!" The idea was to reach vulnerable and lower income people who must file taxes to get benefits, as well as those who are not computer literate. But paper filers complain the taxman just keeps making things harder, - among other reasons - because the only place...

Given today's increasing environmental awareness, you'd think consumers would be looking for smaller and smaller cars. But the clear message from the crowds at this year's auto show is "go big or go home!". Libby chatted with leading automotive consultant Denis DesRosiers. AND How have attitudes to sexual behaviour changed in the wake of the #MeToo movement, and why is there a generational divide...

Despite accusations of misleading the public with pseudoscience, Gwyneth Paltrow's GOOP empire has a new series on Netflix. According to the head of Britain's National health System, among other critics, it is dangerous and poses a considerable risk to public health. Libby Znaimer reached law professor and pseudoscience debunker Tim Caulfield in Edmonton. AND This Friday marked Valentine's Day, an...

Women are not small men and, when it comes to heart disease, they have paid a high price because medical science has treated them that way. Women have been under-researched, under-diagnosed and under-treated, but, according to "The 2020 Heart & Stroke Spotlight on Women", progress is being made. Libby Znaimer sat down with Dr. Paula Harvey, Physician-in-Chief and director of the Cardiovascular res...