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Canadians are more than ready for summertime, when the living is, well, easier. We've grudgingly learned to live with the viral scourge from China called severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as it landed a body blow on the health-care system and our economy. As the weather warms, the backyard and the lakeshore by the cottage could become hazardous to your health. Mark Little was one of the 307 confirmed victims of the West Nile virus in Ontario last year, a figure some experts consider a gross underestimate. Seventeen Ontarians are known to have died. Quebec, the only other province hit hard, had 16 cases and one death, while Alberta reported treating two patients who contracted West Nile outside its borders. An emerging and poorly understood health threat in North America, West Nile put Little, a fit, then 37-year-old electrician in the Lake Erie town of Port Colborne, out of commission for a month. Authorities in Ontario were saying West Nile affected mainly the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. Diseases like West Nile used to fall under the heading of geographic medicine, says Dr. Kevin Kain, director of the Centre for Travel and Tropical Medicine in Toronto. West Nile turned up in birds, mosquitoes, humans and horses in parts of New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Maryland by late 1999.

The article focuses on Danielle Lavigueur of Longueuil, Quebec, who is heading an $11 million class-action suit regarding parental authority over whether children are medicated for behavioral problems with drugs such as Ritalin. The National Parents Association got involved in Lavigueur's case, an organization headed by two Scientologists. Whether the controversial religion is involved in the organization is discussed, as well as Scientology's views on psychiatry.

Reports on the number of francophones who hare leaving the Canadian province of Quebec. Figures from Statistics Canada about the number of people who left Quebec the summer of 1997; Reasons for the outflow of francophones; Destinations of choice; Holding onto a cultural heritage while working in English Canada; Examples of those who have left or are considering leaving.

The article reports that, according to Statistics Canada, one in five patients trying to see a specialist reported some sort of difficulty last year; one in eight had trouble getting non-emergency surgery; and another one in eight reported being less than satisfied with their experience in obtaining a diagnostic test. The article reports that wait times were shorter in Quebec. Quebec's median wait time for non-emergency surgery in Quebec has fallen by half, from 8.6 weeks in 2003 to just 4.3 weeks in 2005.

The article reports on hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies, a group of diseases caused by genetic mutations that tend to effect people in Quebec and Newfoundland. HSAN causes sufferers to be incapable of feeling pain in their lower extremities. What may at first seem like a blessing can be dangerous, as people unknowingly walk around on broken bones and unhealed injuries. Researchers believe that the disease may have helped the original French settlers to the area withstand the winter.

What will it take to reduce the lengthy waits patients now endure for orthopaedic surgeries? Political will, many say. Which is why some hope rests on a potentially influential legal case to be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada in March. The public attention it generates could help lay the groundwork for the kind of national consensus needed to bring substantial reform to health-care delivery. Known as the Chaoulli case, it takes its name from Montreal physician Jacques Chaoulli, whose patient, George Zeliotis, waited about a year for hip-replacement surgery he had in 1997. Now the two argue that a patient should be allowed to pay for an operation, or buy health insurance, to ensure speedy treatment. While supporting publicly funded health care, Dr. Robert Hollinshead, president of the Canadian Orthopaedic Association, hopes the case stirs debate.

Discusses whether there is an environmental link to Parkinson's disease. Mention of Michael J. Fox, who has the disease; Destruction of brain fcells which produce dopamine by the disease; Outlook for the use of genetics to discover the cause of the disease; Outbreak of Parkinson's in Montreal, Quebec.

Presents information on a web site from the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec, which offers a virtual exhibit of landscapes portrayed by artists from Canada, Mexico, and the United States.