24 April 2013 by Michael Kruse
It’s National Immunization Awareness Week in Canada and across the world, and UNICEF is reporting the failure of Canada to achieve the 95% immunization rate required to protect the community from resurgences of deadly and debilitating infectious disease. At 84%, we are even below the UK, which is experiencing a severe measles outbreak, and we [...]
Posted in Canada, Health Policy, Skepticism, Vaccines3 Comments
05 April 2013 by Ethan Clow
Update! – Victoria is now on-board! Update! – Winnipeg is now on-board! Update! – Halifax is now on-board! The time has finally come. It is time to figure out who are the biggest skeptical know-it-alls in Canada. That’s right, it’s time for the Cross-Canada Skeptical Smackdown Pub Quiz!! This year I have the honour of [...]
Posted in Announcements, Canada, Skepticism4 Comments
05 April 2013 by Michael Kruse
After months of research and hard work from all of our volunteers at Bad Science Watch, we have launched the public phase of our campaign to stop the sale of homeopathic nosodes sold as “vaccine alternatives” in Canada. The website www.stopnosodes.org explains the position of Bad Science Watch and lays out the total lack of [...]
Posted in Canada, Health Policy, Skepticism2 Comments
21 March 2013 by Michael Kruse
Cross-posted from Huffington Post Canada On April 1st 2013, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctors and acupuncturists in Ontario will need a license to practice their unique brand of healing. This is the first of three vitalistic and unscientific healing practices to start accepting members in Ontario; the naturopaths will be next, followed by the homeopaths. [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Health Policy, Ontario2 Comments
20 March 2013 by Ethan Clow
(Note – this is crossed posted to Radio Freethinker) It’s been a busy month for skeptical activists in Vancouver. I wanted to write about some of the recent news regarding an anti-vaccination conference that was held at the Simon Fraser University, here in Vancouver. The anti-vaccination conference was organized by this group: the Vaccine Resistance [...]
Posted in British Columbia, Canada, Featured, Health, Vaccines5 Comments
16 February 2013 by Michael Kruse
This article cross-posted from the Huffington Post Canada I believe in personal autonomy, a cornerstone of the consent process in the health care system. Each person has the inherent right to decide what to put in their body, what treatment to have, or to refuse any treatment they are offered by their chosen healer. That [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Canada, Health Policy, Skepticism1 Comment
13 February 2013 by Michael Kruse
This is cross-posted from the Huffington Post Canada In his new play The De Chardin Project, playwright Adam Seybold has the Jesuit priest and paleontologist Father Teilard De Chardin describe his witnessing of a terrible natural event whereby he arose from his cabin aboard a steamer on route to China to find a fire raging [...]
Posted in Canada, Culture, Evolution, Skepticism1 Comment
29 January 2013 by Dianne Sousa
Last week, an editorial in the National Post by Tim Caulfield ruffled a few homeopathic feathers. In it, Caulfield argues that when provinces grant regulatory status to alternative practitioners like naturopathy, they are legitimizing rank quackery. This is the case because naturopathy relies heavily on homeopathy, which Caulfield correctly describes as “bogus”. Canadian supporters of [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Canada, Featured, Health15 Comments
17 January 2013 by Erik Davis
The following is a guest post by Jeremy Petch, health policy researcher and Opinions Editor at healthydebate.ca. Follow Jeremy on Twitter @JeremyPetch. Dr. Oz has become a ubiquitous television icon. His daily talk show, broadcast in Canada on CTV (owned by Bell Media), rules the daytime TV ratings. In real life, Dr. Oz is a [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Canada, Featured, Guest Post, Health Policy, Skepticism24 Comments
15 January 2013 by Dianne Sousa
Regular readers of Skeptic North will know that we have been consistently critical of Health Canada and how it regulates the natural health products industry in Canada. In short, we have argued that the regulation is far too permissive, consequently putting Canadians at unacceptable risk of harm. Unsurprisingly there are those that disagree. These folks [...]
Posted in Canada, Featured, Health, Health Policy, Skepticism4 Comments
Crack Your Back instead of a Vial of Vaccine?
Toronto Media, false balance, and the lack of evidence for claims about MIA vet John Hartley Robertson
How Western journalists in Vietnam and POW NGOs were not fooled by tales of MIA Vet back from the dead
Did a Canadian filmmaker find a left behind Vietnam vet or did credulous Toronto media give new life to an old scam?
How I cured my gout without medication
