Hamiltonians at Pride welcome 'ground-breaking' national LGBTQ survey on chronic health
CBC
Kiley Clowes said they've had asthma since Grade 6.
The Hamiltonian is now is 28 but the asthma hasn't gotten any better.
"I'm on a pumper meant for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease," Clowes told CBC Hamilton Friday.
"Without coverage, I'm paying $200 every month to breathe."
Clowes also recently got COVID-19, which has set them back even further.
"They told me the next step is oxygen tanks. I could've had it dealt with a long time ago if I had the money for it," Clowes said.
That's why Clowes welcomes a new national survey being promoted at this weekend's Hamilton Pride event.
Vancouver-based organization Community-Based Research Centre (CBRC) has a booth set up in the Hamilton Convention Centre, one of a dozen or so Pride events across the country researchers are attending to promote the Our Health survey.
CBRC, which is collaborating with Egale Canada, The Enchanté Network, and 2 Spirits in Motion Society on the study, calls it "ground-breaking" and the "largest multi-lingual community health survey dedicated to Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and other sexually and gender diverse people in Canada."
The survey asks participants questions about their health, sex lives, relationships, how the pandemic has impacted people and more.
The goal is to inform politicians about community challenges and needs, according to the survey website.
"It's the first time we're looking at chronic health impacts nationally in gender-diverse and sexually-diverse people," Chris Draenos, a CBRC research manager, told CBC Hamilton.
"For example, queer women are more likely to have muscular-skeletal issues but we don't really have an understanding of ... what the actual prevalence is so this is the first time we're going to get that data in Canada."
Draenos said the survey will also measure levels of COVID-19 within the LGBTQ community.
Still sleepy from this week's time change?
RCMP say a man died while in police custody on Wednesday in downtown Yellowknife, and Alberta RCMP are investigating the incident.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and federal officials left an hours-long meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying they feel more positive about the Canada-U.S. trading relationship after weeks of bad blood and heated rhetoric.
The Alberta government wants to cut more than $400 million in the fees it pays to doctors, according to a confidential memo obtained by The Canadian Press.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says Canada's incoming prime minister needs to immediately and urgently negotiate a way to avoid China's planned tariffs on Canadian canola — even before an election call.
A judge has sentenced a 48-year-old man to life in prison for brutally stabbing his ex-wife and daughter to death in North York in 2022.
Ontario is seeing a massive surge in measles cases as an ongoing outbreak spreads in the province among mostly unvaccinated people.
Prince Edward Island's Affordable Housing Development Program fell short of its intended purpose, the province's Auditor General says.
Not even cracking open a cold one is safe from tariffs.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a farewell message to Canadians Thursday as he marks his last full day in office.
The Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs says about 80 per cent of volunteer firefighters in the territory are wearing expired protective equipment, putting them in danger and in violation of occupational health and safety regulations when they respond to emergencies.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault will be given a new portfolio in Mark Carney's cabinet, a source with knowledge of the decision told Radio-Canada.
The Alberta government has suspended a loan program at Picture Butte Feeder Cooperative, the province's largest cattle financing cooperative, after an inspection alleged a number of financial mismanagement and regulatory issues.