The early waves of COVID-19 hit long-term care homes hard, and also pulled the curtain back on problems in many of these facilities, including poor conditions and staffing issues. Calls to address these problems emerged in the aftermath of the crisis, including the suggestion that more private-sector involvement would mean efficiency and innovation.

Today in The Conversation Canada, Pat Armstrong of York University and Marjorie Griffin Cohen of Simon Fraser University explain why the private sector is not the solution —and in fact has been part of the problem.

“For-profit services do nothing to address the major crisis in labour force supply, do nothing about public costs and do too little about public access to care. In fact, they do the reverse; they drain the public system of both people and money,” they write.

They argue that privatization of health services is an old idea that just won’t die, and it needs to be put to rest for good.

Also today:

• Scientists dig deep and find a way to accurately predict snowmelt after droughts
• Student and teacher involvement in reforming schooling matters — how Montréal schools are tackling this
• Gender diversity on corporate boards can improve organizational performance

All the best, and Happy New Year!