Trevor Hancock is a professor and senior scholar at the University of Victoria’s school of public health and social policy

The federal election seems to be focusing largely on issues such as the economy and security. If health is mentioned at all, it is in the context of health care.

But health care is a determinant of our health; it is not the main one. While our genetic inheritance also plays an important part, much of our health comes from the environmental, social, economic, cultural and political conditions we create as communities and as a society.

In our system, the federal government does not provide health care or manage a health-care system, aside from special situations such as for aboriginal people and the armed forces. But many other areas of policy for which the federal government does have full or at least partial jurisdiction do influence the health of Canadians. ...continue reading →