The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Toronto - Life expectancy for First Nations and Inuit peoples in Canada is five to 10 years shorter than other Canadians and infant mortality rates among these communities is two to three times that of the Canadian average, a new report suggests. The report, tracking the health of Canadians, also suggests the frightening rise in childhood obesity over the past two decades may have stabilized. New analysis of 2000-2001 data from Statistics Canada shows the rate of obesity among Canadian boys aged seven to 13 was 4.5 times higher in 2001 than in 1981, jumping from two per cent to nine per cent. The rate among girls increased five fold over the same period, from two per cent to 10 per cent. Ottawa - Two-thirds of Canadian families had to wait longer than they thought was reasonable for medical service in the last year, suggests a poll commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association. Seven per cent of those polled said their condition deteriorated during the wait, and two per cent said the delay caused a death in their household, according to results released Wednesday. Ottawa - Alfonso Gagliano, the man at the centre of the sponsorship scandal, has told a parliamentary committee that he is not prepared to testify Thursday on his role in the affair and has requested that his appearance be pushed back to March 15.
