As outlined in the Vancouver Sun, Health Minister Kevin Falcon came across a striking finding reading a British newspaper last summer. He read that “people who take regular exercise, stay slim, eat a healthy diet and never smoke reduce their chances of developing chronic disease by almost 80 percent.” Thinking about this, he realized that “this issue of health promotion has to go far beyond just printing brochures and telling people they ought to live a healthier life.” Going on, he says “I think we have to figure out how we can be much more aggressive in pushing that kind of a health promotion onto British Columbians.”
Canadians tend to smile at American exceptionalism. These are difficult questions that no society, seemingly, has figured out up to now. Thankfully our Ministry of Health is onto this, and our province will lead the world to a solution, albeit aggressively. Hopefully this won’t involve Tasering people who actively resist the aggression that’s for their own good.
