Elaine Hyshka
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ehyshka.bsky.social
Elaine Hyshka
@ehyshka.bsky.social
Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Health Systems Innovation at the University of Alberta's School of Public Health. Substance use and public health.

Edmonton/Treaty 6. ichwp.ca + whyscs.ca.
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
Here is a paper that gets at parental disappointment with outcomes of forced drug treatment on their children.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#bcpoli
“Grasping at straws,” experiences of Canadian parents using involuntary stabilization for a youth's substance use
In Canada, involuntary stabilization programs are used to apprehend and confine youth who use drugs for the purpose of stabilization, assessment, and …
www.sciencedirect.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:54 AM
No other police service in the world has deployed facial recognition on body-worn cameras. Edmontonians are, in effect, test subjects for a technology Axon may wish to market elsewhere.

#yegcc #ableg

apple.news/AHQC-dJZZRc6...
Opinion: Edmontonians shouldn't be test subjects for face-tracking bodycams — Edmonton Journal
The Edmonton Police Service’s (EPS) plan to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) facial recognition on officers’ body-worn cameras should alarm Edmontonians. EPS calls this a world-first pilot with Axo...
apple.news
December 5, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
@melibee44.bsky.social FYI - This is what I was referring to. Sam Mraiche bought a building in Edmonton AFTER it was toured by two UCP chiefs of staff and an ADM of Health to see if it would work as a detox centre. ROSC, the private detox services provider, is now the tenant in Mraiche's building. 1
CorruptCare is the biggest and costliest scandal in the history of our province. There must be a public inquiry immediately into the UCP government’s health-care procurement practices.
December 5, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
Premier Eby will have announcement tmrw about "strengthening access to involuntary care for young people."

CMHA: "lack of evidence to support effectiveness of involuntary treatment for substance use disorder... evidence suggests it leads to an increased risk of death..."
bc.cmha.ca/news/involun...
Involuntary Care Already Exists in BC, But Is It Working? - CMHA British Columbia
VANCOUVER, BC – (September 18, 2024): On September 15, 2024, Premier Eby announced that his government is expanding involuntary care for people with brain injury, mental illness, and severe addiction....
bc.cmha.ca
December 4, 2025 at 10:00 PM
At the recommendation of the premier, CPE was moved from the Ministry of Treasury Board and Finance to Executive Council in April, making Danielle Smith the minister responsible for overseeing the department. CPE has approximately 288 full-time staff and a budget of $38 million.
December 4, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
"The Psilocybin Advisory Board will hold its first public meeting on Friday, a major step towards full implementation of the state’s medical psilocybin program."
www.kunm.org/public-healt...
Legal psychedelic treatment board to hold first public meeting
The Psilocybin Advisory Board will hold its first public meeting on Friday, a major step towards full implementation of the state’s medical psilocybin program. New Mexico is just the third state to le...
www.kunm.org
December 4, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
Oh hey! A podcast on Sam Mraiche and his ties to the Alberta government! Including audio from when I asked Justice Minister Mickey Amery about his relationship to the businessman.

www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/the... w @tomcardoso.bsky.social
The businessman at the heart of Alberta’s health care controversy
An investigation into the businessman whose dealings with the government have come under scrutiny
www.theglobeandmail.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
Feels like a good time to re-up this: lisayoung.substack.com/p/help-wanted
Help Wanted
With the daily bombshells landing, it’s going to be tricky to find someone willing to take the job of AHS CEO.
lisayoung.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:20 AM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
48 years. That's how long trans women have been eligible to compete in tennis.
December 4, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
I concluded this weeks ago. They didn't hide it.

The UCP didn't have to use the notwithstanding clause. They wanted to, in order to avoid an arbitration process they knew they'd lose.

edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n...
Alberta used notwithstanding clause to avoid costly arbitration with teachers, infrastructure minister says
Alberta infrastructure minister says the province invoked the notwithstanding clause to force teachers back was due to cost.
edmontonjournal.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
BREAKING: Alberta Health Services CEO who took over after a controversial firing in January is now himself out.
AHS confirms Andre Tremblay on leave. Minister Matt Jones has appointed a new CEO and chair.
Tremblay was named CEO after Athana Mentzelopoulos was fired earlier this year.
December 3, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
‘Unprecedented’: #Canada’s new border bills pave the way for American law enforcement overreach

Human rights advocates warn that new legislation could erode protections and expose Canadians to U.S. investigations and surveillance.

New from @opheliedm.bsky.social:

ricochet.media/internationa...
‘Unprecedented’: Canada’s new border bills pave the way for American law enforcement overreach
Human rights advocates warn that new legislation could erode constitutional protections and expose Canadian marginalized communities and dissidents to U.S. investigations, surveillance and political r...
ricochet.media
December 3, 2025 at 4:58 PM
👀 These allegations are damning, and suggest corrupt government dealings in mental health and addiction. It is long past time for a public inquiry to sort this all out. #ableg
🚨BREAKING!🚨

The NDP revealed yet another real estate deal involving Sam Mraiche and seemed to raise concerns he was might have been given the heads up to buy the building by someone in government!

If you watch 2 minutes today, make this it!

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli
December 3, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
Oct 2022: Marshall Smith becomes premier’s CoS.
Dec 2022: ROSC Solutions Group (RSG) co-founded by associate of M. Smith.
Dec 2022: RSG lands ~$25 million in procurement contracts not disclosed until Aug 2024.
2023: RSG gets 10s millions more.
2025: RSG owns 5 companies running on AB public $.
A few companies have made a great deal of money under the Alberta Recovery Model and there's little to show that they have actually delivered on the outcomes Albertans expect. Are people's health outcomes better off with a two-tier, American-style healthcare? The answer is almost always NO.
December 3, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
Hepatitis B infection in infancy (almost half of all HepB is caught in childhood) is associated with a 90% chance of becoming a chronic infection (ie the body can never clear the virus), and is highly likely to progress to liver failure and liver cancer.

Vaccinating at birth has reduced this by 99%
💬Viewpoint: Eliminating universal hepatitis B birth dose vaccination risks an estimated 8% increase in annual perinatal #HepatitisB infections in the US, increasing preventable chronic disease burden. ja.ma/3Me0zHh
December 3, 2025 at 3:59 PM
"It's just not right, you know? I've been diabetic since 2002 and had heart disease since 2002. What is going on with the government?" #ableg

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
80-year-old diabetic Calgarian shocked to receive $100 bill for COVID-19 vaccine | CBC News
A Calgary senior with diabetes and heart disease is fighting back after being billed for her COVID-19 vaccine despite being eligible for a free shot. Sharon Mason, 80, received her COVID vaccine in ea...
www.cbc.ca
December 3, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
Canada’s women’s health strategy ended in 1999. It shows. canadahealthwatch.ca/2025/12/03/c...
Canada’s women’s health strategy ended in 1999. It shows.
Misdiagnoses. Blind spots. Worse outcomes for things we know how to treat.
canadahealthwatch.ca
December 3, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
In @stevenguilbeault.bsky.social’s first English-media interview since resigning over the pipeline MOU with Alberta, the former cabinet minister said the government isn’t being honest with the public and is betraying its commitments.
'Sorry prime minister, I'm no longer your man': Steven Guilbeault on leaving cabinet
In Steven Guilbeault’s first English-media interview since resigning over Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to pursue a pipeline agreement with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, the former cabinet m...
www.nationalobserver.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Congratulations to Dr. @hollymathias.bsky.social on the successful defence of your thesis today @ualbertasph.bsky.social! It has been a privilege to supervise you. Looking forward to your next chapter as an Assistant Professor!
December 2, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
Drug User Liberation Front's founders are arguing their members’ constitutional rights were violated by part of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
What’s at Stake During DULF’s Constitutional Challenge | The Tyee
The case’s outcome could affect the founders’ criminal charges, and Canadian drug laws. A Tyee explainer.
thetyee.ca
December 2, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
Never since 1905, when Alberta became a province, was a petition with nearly half a million signatures tabled in the Legislature.

Never was a Premier presented with such clear choice between right and wrong.

Premier, do the right thing. Avoid a divisive referendum. #ableg
December 2, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
Pete Hegseth allegedly ordered the killing of survivors in the water after he had ordered an attack on their boat.

If the US is officially at war with Venezuela (it's not) that is a war crime.

If the US is not officially at war, that is murder

Those are the options.

(Cartoon Jonathan Brown)
December 2, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Elaine Hyshka
"there is nothing compassionate about the assumption of incapacity." www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit...
Globe editorial: Dignity for the mentally ill cannot be deemed a nuisance
British Columbia, at last, is abandoning the draconian practice of deeming consent to treatment by some mentally ill patients
www.theglobeandmail.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Big day for our ICHWP research team. Doctoral trainee, @hollymathias.bsky.social is defending her dissertation, "Unpaid family caregiving for people who use drugs in rural Canada," this afternoon. Can read the first paper from this work here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:17 PM