Newspaper journalism...

...though self-indulgent and largely biased one way or another, is, as discussed, the best medium in existence.

from today's Globe

A national vision for combatting the scourge of cancer and its victims of geography who receive unequal care will move a step closer Friday when the Prime Minister announces the government is getting out of the business.

The Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control aims to do what nothing else in this country ever has: reduce the burden of cancer by preventing disease, detecting it early and ensuring those stricken by it receive the best possible care, regardless of where they live.

On Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and federal Health Minister Tony Clement will announce in a Montreal hospital that the strategy will become a non-profit, arm's-length agency, The Globe and Mail has learned ...

The new strategy, which has a $260-million budget for five years, will operate at arm's length from the federal government but report each year to the federal Health Ministry.

It also comes in the midst of a Globe and Mail special project on cancer, which has catalogued the human toll of the disease and magnified the inadequacies of the health-care system.

Those deficiencies include unequal access to cancer drugs and PET technology, and the failure of hospitals to meet health-accord benchmarks by radiating patients within four weeks.

After the stories were published, the Tory government was twice taken to task in the House of Commons, with the opposition charging this week that cancer patients are taking out loans, racking up credit-card debt and facing financial ruin in an effort to pay for their treatment. The Conservatives were also accused of dropping the ball on waiting times; the series revealed how only 50 to 60 per cent of hospitals are meeting the health-accord standard of radiating cancer patients within four weeks.

Sure, there is only correlation between the series and the announcement (thought it hasn't happened yet), but I'd hate to call this a coincidence. Sure, this is likely a PR stunt to appease the House and the public, another Conservative installment of smoke and mirrors, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see...

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Though she won't be happy with me for announcing this, Jessica's been quite busy in Hamilton over the past week. Yesterday, she worked a 13-hour day. You can check out her work here, here (sidebar), here and here.