Review of caucus activities for 2002–2003
The Health Caucus continues working to develop the Canadian Health
Network, a project of Health Canada to provide secure online health
information we can all trust. Partnering through the Eastern Cooperative
Health Organization, we provide information and contacts for progressive
information linking health and environment.Though it is one of
our most demanding projects, we have spent a significant amount
of time in strategic development of health issues within the environmental
context. As a result we have set up internal Health Caucus Working
Groups which increase Public Education, Organizational Capacity
Building, Effective Government Liaison and Alliance Building.
The Income and Disparity Working Group will be conducting a research
study on wellness centers in Atlantic Canada and their capacity
to provide services, especially to lower income populations. The
Ecological Lifestyles Working Group, Xenotransplantation Working
Group, and Climate Change and Health Working Groups are also conducting
research, to document the internal CEN membership's existing work
and expose new linkages and arguments in the public's mind.
Both the Ecological Lifestyles and Climate Change and Health
Working Groups have projects slated to increase capacity to provide
for the health and vitality of the CEN membership. We are setting
examples of health and sustainability for other ENGOs and the
public through Health Caucus practices, event involvement and
displays, and recommendations for CEN internal structural and
policy change.
The Environmental Medicine and Health Canada Policy Working Groups
highlight the alliance building and government liaison work of
which we are capable. We are communicating with Mac Harb, MP to
bring around legislative change regarding environmental illnesses,
as well formulating a process for communication and consultation
with Health Canada. Through involvement in other CEN caucuses
and events, inviting cross-caucus dialogues, we hope to encourage
alliance building within the environmental and health sectors
and result in a greater capacity to communicate our positions
to the public and funders.
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