In 1998, the Canadian government mandated folic acid fortification of certain food products in Canada – namely, all white flour and enriched grain products. This, in theory, is fantastic. Folic acid (a synthetic form of the B-vitamin folate) is necessary for proper neural tube development, which occurs early after conception when most women are still [...]

Diversity is underappreciated. What’s that you say, but we love diversity. Heck, we’re lowermainlanders, (those of us not off plundering the rich bounty of the sea anyway) we’re all about that stuff. On the surface that may be true, we celebrate lunar New Year alongside Robbie Burns day. We appreciate the different smells, flavours, and [...]

It’s an ongoing struggle trying to figure out how we, as a community, can take care of our most vulnerable citizens. For a while, those with disorders and addictions were sheltered in among their relatives. Then we institutionalized it all and put the onus on governments. Nowadays, neither the institutions nor, often people’s relatives, seem [...]