Catherine Carstairs

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By 1980, all U.S. states required immunization for school attendance. Ontario followed suit in 1982. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Mandatory COVID‑19 vaccination in schools this fall? Ontario’s 1982 legislation spurred organized opposition

Catherine Carstairs, University of Guelph; Curtis Fraser, University of Guelph, and Kathryn Hughes, University of Guelph

The effects of Ontario’s compulsory school immunization show there are advantages and disadvantages of requiring vaccination.
Deux infirmières de la santé publique vaccinent des adultes dans une clinique de vaccination contre la polio à Southey, en Saskatchewan, en 1960. (Association des infirmiers et infirmières du Canada, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada )

Vaccination : quelles leçons tirer de la polio et de la grippe H1N1 ?

Catherine Carstairs, University of Guelph and Curtis Fraser, University of Guelph

Au plus fort de la polio et de la grippe H1N1, les Canadiens étaient impatients de se faire vacciner, mais l’enthousiasme est vite retombé une fois la crise passée.
Experts have voiced concerns about the uptake of a recent Canadian study, in which water fluoridation was associated with slightly lower IQs in children. (Shutterstock)

Does water fluoridation really damage your children’s IQ?

Catherine Carstairs, University of Guelph

Community water fluoridation is a cost-effective public health measure that can reduce cavities by approximately 25 per cent. Yet some communities are worried about it.
During the federal election campaign, Liberals promised to take critical steps to implement pharmacare. Will they deliver? (Shutterstock)

Will Canada finally get pharmacare?

Catherine Carstairs, University of Guelph

To implement pharmacare, the Liberals will need to negotiate with the provinces, and the mostly Conservative premiers are unlikely to make this easy. The insurance industry also has much to lose.
Canadian orthoodontists were able to sell braces and other orthodental procedures by promising patients better lives with better teeth. (Shutterstock)

How did orthodontists sell orthodontics?

Catherine Carstairs, University of Guelph and Melissa Micu, Concordia University

Why do Canadians have such straight white teeth? The story is in the marketing of orthodontics in Canada.
Actors Luana Anders and Peter Fonda smoking a joint in a scene from the 1969 film ‘Easy Rider,’ a countercultural movie that influenced drug use by baby boomers in the 1960s. (Columbia Pictures)

How Canadian boomers got into pot

Catherine Carstairs, University of Guelph

Canada will soon legalize marijuana. For aging baby boomers, the move is a culmination of a cultural phenomenon that started in the 1960s.
A vaccine (toxoid) against diphtheria first became available in Toronto in 1926. Thanks to the work of the Toronto Diphtheria Committee, the city was diphtheria-free by 1940. (Shutterstock)

How to increase childhood vaccination rates

Catherine Carstairs, University of Guelph; Bethany Philpott, Queen's University, Ontario, and Caitlin Fendley, Purdue University

Toronto’s fight against diptheria teaches us the powerful impact of public health campaigns – in persuading parents to vaccinate their children.
With Rilla of Ingleside, the eighth in the Anne of Green Gables series, L.M. Montgomery shaped Canadian memories of the First World War. She wrote of Anne’s children as being influenced by the war effort which included victory bonds posters like this one. University of Guelph

Anne of Green Gables goes to war

Catherine Carstairs, University of Guelph; Kathryn Harvey, University of Guelph; Keshia Krucker; Kesia Kvill, University of Guelph, and Melissa Ann McAfee, University of Guelph

Lucy Maud Montgomery has shaped Canadian memories not only with ‘Anne of Green Gables,’ but also with the eighth of her series, ‘Rilla of Ingleside,’ which provides glimpses of the First World War.
Canada is on track to legalize marijuana on July 1. But why was it criminalized in the first place? THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

How pot‑smoking became illegal in Canada

Catherine Carstairs, University of Guelph

Canada is legalizing marijuana on July 1. But how the drug became criminalized in the first place is an interesting saga that involves anti-Chinese racism and international influence.

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