British Columbia

British Columbia, also commonly referred to by its initials BC, is a province located on the west coast of Canada. British Columbia is also a component of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascadia bioregion, along with the US states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Alaska The province's name was chosen in 1858 by members of the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada. Its Latin motto is Splendor sine occasu ("Splendour without Diminishment").

The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the fifteenth-largest metropolitan region in Canada, named for the Queen who created the Colony of British Columbia. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, the largest in Western Canada, and the second-largest in the Pacific Northwest. In October 2013, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,606,371 (about 2.5 million of whom were in Greater Vancouver). The province is currently governed by the BC Liberal Party, led by Premier Christy Clark, who became leader as a result of a leadership convention vote on February 26, 2011, and who led her party to an election victory on May 14, 2013.

British Columbia wine

British Columbia wine is Canadian wine produced in the province of British Columbia. Wines made from 100 percent British Columbia grapes can qualify for classification under one of British Columbia's two classification systems, depending on the varietal, the wine-making techniques employed, and various other restrictions.

Originally, the British Columbia Wine Institute handled regulation and marketing of the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA), which is also an appellation system. More recently, the British Columbia Wine Authority was formed by the provincial government to regulate part of the industry. It created a second classification, "Wines of Distinction", to be also from 100 percent British Columbia grapes, but with less stringent quality control. In practice, it has strengthened the VQA classification.

British Columbia is gaining recognition for its world-class premium VQA wines. Wines which are neither labelled VQA or Wine of Distinction, and from certain producers (given special rights under the 1988 Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement), can use foreign bulk wine to produce a third category of wine which is labelled as Cellared in Canada. Significant parts of the wine industry, and respected wine writers in Canada and abroad, are quite concerned about this practice.

British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles) v British Columbia (Council of Human Rights)

British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles) v British Columbia (Council of Human Rights), [1999] 3 S.C.R. 868, known as the Grismer Estate case, is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on human rights law. The Court held that the British Columbia Superintendent of Motor Vehicles was in violation of the provincial Human Rights Code for cancelling the driver's licence of Terry Grismer because he had a visual disability.

Background

Terry Grismer was a mining truck driver who, after suffering from a stroke in 1984, suffered from homonymous hemianopia (H.H.), a visual disability that reduces the scope of peripheral vision. After the stroke the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles cancelled his driver's licence on the grounds that his condition made him incapable of meeting the minimum standard for peripheral vision required when driving. This rule applied to all people who suffered from H.H.

Ministry of Health (British Columbia)

The Ministry of Health is a provincial government department responsible for British Columbia's health system, with a mandate to guide and enhance the province's health services to ensure British Columbians are supported in their efforts to maintain and improve their health.

Its annual budget for 2012–13 is $16.2 billion. The Ministry leads and manages health programs such as the Medical Services Plan (physician services), PharmaCare (prescription drug coverage) for BC residents. The majority of direct health services are delivered through partnerships with health authorities, physicians and other health professionals. The ministry works with five regional health authorities (Fraser Health, Interior Health, Northern Health, Vancouver Coastal Health and Vancouver Island Health Authority) and one province-wide health authority (the Provincial Health Services Authority) which is responsible for specialized health services.

The Provincial Health Officer is an independent officer with a focus on public and population health who reports to government through the ministry.

Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China

The Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China (MOH) was an executive agency of the state which plays the role of providing information, raising health awareness and education, ensuring the accessibility of health services, and monitoring the quality of health services provided to citizens and visitors in the mainland of the People's Republic of China. In the reforms of 2013 the ministry has been dissolved and its functions integrated into the new agency called the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

The MOH is also involved in the control of illness and disease, coordinating the utilisation of resources and expertise where necessary. It also cooperates and keeps in touch with other health ministries and departments, including those of the special administrative regions, and the World Health Organization (WHO).

As part of the National Health and Family Planning Commission it is now headed by Ms. Li Bin (Simplified Chinese:李斌;Hanyu Pinyin:Lǐ Bīn). Until 2013 it was headed by the Minister for Health, a position last held by Dr Chen Zhu (陈竺) who was then the only minister in the State Council, and one of the two ministers who are not members of the Communist Party of China. He is the chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party, one of the "8 democratic parties" of the PRC.

Ministry of Health (Romania)

The Ministry of Health of Romania (Romanian: Ministerul Sănătății) is one of the fifteen ministries of the Government of Romania.

The current Minister is Nicolae Bănicioiu (dentist), since 5 March 2014.

References

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Ministry of Health (South Sudan)

The Ministry of Health is a ministry of the Government of South Sudan. The incumbent minister is Dr Riek Gai Kok

List of Ministers of Health

References