Myth #2: Doctors in Canada are flocking to the United States to practice.

Every time I talk about health care policy with physicians, one inevitably tells me of the doctor he or she knows who ran away from Canada to practice in the United States. Evidently, there’s a general perception that practicing medicine in the United States is much more satisfying than in Canada.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information has been tracking doctors’ destinations since 1992. Since then, 60 percent to 70 percent of the physicians who emigrate have headed south of the border. In the mid-1990s, the number of Canadian doctors leaving for the United States spiked at about 400 to 500 a year. But in recent years this number has declined, with only 169 physicians leaving for the States in 2003, 138 in 2004 and 122 both in 2005 and 2006. These numbers represent less than 0.5 percent of all doctors working in Canada.

So when emigration “spiked,” 400 to 500 doctors were leaving Canada for the United States. There are more than 800,000 physicians in the United States right now, so I’m skeptical that every doctor knows one of those émigrés.
In 2004, net emigration became net immigration. Let me say that again. More doctors were moving into Canada than were moving out.

A Hamilton judge who wore a "Make America Great Again" hat in court the morning after Donald Trump's U.S. election win last November has been suspended for 30 days.

Judge Bernd Zabel appeared before a disciplinary hearing last month, and said he did not support the American president, but was simply trying to make people laugh when he wore the baseball cap with the phrase Trump used during his campaign.

"Justice Zabel is reprimanded for his breach of the standards of judicial conduct," reads the decision from the Ontario Judicial Council.

The decision also said Zabel is suspended for 30 days without pay. He has not been hearing cases since December.

The suspension is the most serious sanction that the Ontario Judicial Council can impose, short of dismissing the judge.

After news broke that Zabel wore the hat in court on Nov. 9, 2016, the council received 81 complaints about his conduct. According to the decision, the most common theme throughout them was that the veteran judge's conduct "represented an unacceptable expression of partisan political views by a judge."

"Most complainants indicate a heightened concern as they perceive many of the things Trump said during his campaign to indicate misogynistic, racist, homophobic, and anti-Muslim attitudes," the decision reads. "The complainants state that Justice Zabel has associated himself with those views by his conduct and that women and members of various vulnerable groups would reasonably fear that they would not be treated fairly and impartially by Justice Zabel."

The decision also touched on the tumultuous political climate in the United States, and noted that the 2016 election campaign was "highly partisan and bitter."

"The candidates advocated strongly divergent policies. Many of Trump's positions were provocative and controversial. If adopted, his policies on matters such as free trade, climate change, immigration, and national security would affect the daily lives of many Canadians," the decision reads.

"Many Canadians found his views on women, racialized minorities, and other vulnerable groups to be highly offensive. For a judge to appear to endorse Trump's views would be perceived by the public to be an expression of opinion on issues of profound importance to Canadians."

Zabel appeared before a disciplinary hearing in Toronto last month, and apologized for wearing the hat.

A Hamilton judge who wore a "Make America Great Again" hat in court the morning after Donald Trump's U.S. election win last November has been suspended for 30 days.

Judge Bernd Zabel appeared before a disciplinary hearing last month, and said he did not support the American president, but was simply trying to make people laugh when he wore the baseball cap with the phrase Trump used during his campaign.

"Justice Zabel is reprimanded for his breach of the standards of judicial conduct," reads the decision from the Ontario Judicial Council.

The decision also said Zabel is suspended for 30 days without pay. He has not been hearing cases since December.

The suspension is the most serious sanction that the Ontario Judicial Council can impose, short of dismissing the judge.

After news broke that Zabel wore the hat in court on Nov. 9, 2016, the council received 81 complaints about his conduct. According to the decision, the most common theme throughout them was that the veteran judge's conduct "represented an unacceptable expression of partisan political views by a judge."

"Most complainants indicate a heightened concern as they perceive many of the things Trump said during his campaign to indicate misogynistic, racist, homophobic, and anti-Muslim attitudes," the decision reads. "The complainants state that Justice Zabel has associated himself with those views by his conduct and that women and members of various vulnerable groups would reasonably fear that they would not be treated fairly and impartially by Justice Zabel."

The decision also touched on the tumultuous political climate in the United States, and noted that the 2016 election campaign was "highly partisan and bitter."

"The candidates advocated strongly divergent policies. Many of Trump's positions were provocative and controversial. If adopted, his policies on matters such as free trade, climate change, immigration, and national security would affect the daily lives of many Canadians," the decision reads.

"Many Canadians found his views on women, racialized minorities, and other vulnerable groups to be highly offensive. For a judge to appear to endorse Trump's views would be perceived by the public to be an expression of opinion on issues of profound importance to Canadians."

Zabel appeared before a disciplinary hearing in Toronto last month, and apologized for wearing the hat.

A Russian official has confirmed that they will be looking into reports that Canada aided 31 gay men fleeing from Chechnya.

Over the weekend it was reported that the North American country have given asylum to 22 gay refugees in Chechnya over the past three months, helping them to escape the anti-gay purge that took place in the Russian republic.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has been at the forefront of the operation, and the refugees are now residing in Canadian cities.

However, Kirill Kalinin, who is a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Ottawa, has now said that there will be a probe into the Canadian underground railroad operating out of Russia.

“Any legal irregularities, if proven true, shall be duly investigated,” he said in an email to The Globe and Mail.

That being said, because the Canadian government haven’t commented on the operation themselves, Kalinin refused to make any further remarks, adding: “We do not comment on media reports citing anonymous official ‘sources.'”

Speaking about the underground operation over the weekend, Kimahli Powell, executive director of Rainbow Railroad stated: “We needed to be discreet about the program for as long as possible to maintain their safety.

There have been chilling reports of young gay men being murdered by their own family members in Chechnya this year, as authorities tell parents to kill them – or they’ll do it themselves.

A 17-year-old male was even murdered by his own uncle, after being pushed from his 9th floor balcony.

The Kremlin and Chechen government have both repeatedly denied allegations that gay men are being detained and tortured in the region.

That’s despite Chechnya’s president, Ramzan Kadyrov, having publicly declared that he wanted all LGBT+ people in the country to be eliminated by May 26, which marked the start of Muslim holiday, Ramadan.

Earlier in August, it was also reported that Chechnya started charging gay men with terrorism, claiming they were members of ISIS – despite the Chechen president saying there are no gay people in the country.