Canada - Catalyst

COVID-19 Sheds Light on Economic Barriers in Canadian Healthcare

November 2, 2021November 1, 2021 Katie Pallett-Wiesel

As the pandemic wages on, it has become clear that while we may all be in this together, we are not all in this equally. Emerging statistics on COVID-19 transmission, infection, and death rates have shown that individuals from low-income communities are at a higher risk of both catching the disease and developing fatal complications.

An HIV Epidemic Among Indigenous Peoples in Canada

September 18, 2021 Riyana Karim

What is clear is that while the Canadian health care system has been successful on some fronts such as vaccinating citizens, it is far from a model – it fails to protect those most socially vulnerable.

The Vaccine Dilemma

August 19, 2021November 10, 2021 Aakanksha Mathur

While there is no doubt that getting vaccinated was the right thing to do, living in a world where vaccine diplomacy and vaccine passports are just around the corner, one cannot help but feel a new sort of discrimination when it comes to the selection of approved vaccines to alleviate restrictions. Moreover, the fact that the approved vaccines only contain western made vaccines despite there being others, like Sinopharm, that received WHO approval is greatly concerning.

Tackling Period Poverty in Canada

June 9, 2021 Jemima Maycock

In Canada, 1/3 of menstruators under 25 have struggled to pay for period products. Along with many other countries, the Canadian government has not recognized these fundamental necessities as such. This is evident through the federal government's luxury of 1991, also known as the “pink tax” which treated sanitary products as luxury items rather than necessities. This tax points to the gender inequality at play; through this tax, not only were period products made inaccessible, but Canada racked in $37 million from menstruators. It was not until 2015, which is when the #notaxontampons campaigns occured, that it was removed.

Indigenous Women, The Fastest Growing Prison Population in Canada

June 2, 2021November 10, 2021 Riyana Karim

Canada’s justice system has a standing crisis that is the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples that are incarcerated. However, for Indigenous women, this problem is a unique one. Indigenous women are the fastest-growing prison demographic in Canada, surpassing rates of Indigenous … Continue reading