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Personal histories shape how immigrant families transmit their home language to children
According to Statistics Canada, in 2021, one in four Canadians had at least one mother tongue other than English or French. Many people grow up with their family’s heritage languages — like Mandarin, Punjabi, Spanish or Arabic — as part of their family’s cultural heritage. Why is it, though, that some families manage to successfully pass their heritage language onto the next generation while other families struggle to do so? Our recent research highlights that even in the same ethnic community, a heritage language could develop along different paths. We worked with Vietnamese families (all originally from South Vietnam) who...
Prioritizing entertainment over substance is a dangerous trend in modern political reporting
What happens when news media and politicians take the politics out of, well, politics? In many ways, this is an odd question to ask. Several observers would instead argue our politics are becoming far too, well, politicized. Civility has gone out of style. Polemics are now where the action, and the eyeballs, gravitate to. Rather than joining together to develop workable policies and solutions, politicians and pundits demonize one another and hurl snide insults in the hopes of scoring momentary partisan points. It’s no exaggeration, then, to suggest that our public sphere is hyper-politicized. And it’s perhaps unsurprising that observers across...
How Jesse Jackson’s populist fight for economic and racial justice resonates today
At the recent Democratic Party Convention in the United States, delegates roared their approval when civil rights leader Jesse Jackson was brought on stage to wave to delegates. In the 1980s, Jackson became the first African American to make a serious run for the presidential nomination of the party (though the late Shirley Chisholm was the first to vie for the party’s leadership in 1972). Many herald Jackson’s strong showing as breaking barriers for African-Americans in politics. But those applauding at the convention were also acknowledging the fact that Jackson, who celebrates his 83rd birthday soon, proved that white working-class voters...
Climate change means we may have to learn to live with invasive species
Invasive species are often looked upon with suspicion. From non-native “weeds” to insects and aquatic invaders, introduced (or non-native) species continue to be misunderstood — and consequently often mismanaged. Stated plainly, the vast majority of intentionally or unintentionally introduced species are not a threat to native ecosystems. Governments and conservation organizations spend an enormous amount of their time and funding targeting the control of invasive species. Yet, most introduced species removal efforts are ineffective, time-consuming and usually unsuccessful in the long term. Certainly, some invasive species — such as the zebra mussel or the emerald ash borer — can pose a...
Invasive species are reshaping aquatic ecosystems, one lake at a time
Freshwater ecosystems in Canada and around the world are under siege. Lakes, rivers, ponds and wetlands face many environmental threats, but one that is changing them most rapidly is the spread of invasive non-native species. In recent years, there have been numerous outbreaks of invasive species in Canadian lakes. Zebra mussels continue to spread in Québec and Manitoba. Chinese mystery snails are increasingly found in lakes in eastern Canada. Eurasian watermilfoil has spread to the maritime provinces. Meanwhile, goldfish have become superabundant in small lakes and ponds throughout the country. Far from being isolated cases, these outbreaks are symptoms of a...
Make Canada stronger by supporting the health of refugees
“Canada accepts many refugees and many of them remain here. The more effectively the system takes care of [their] health and availability of services at the beginning, the healthier residents [Canada] will have.” — Yevheniia Ternova, member of the Refugee Health YYC Patient Advisory Committee We are two scholars with personal experience in refugee communities. Although we represent different generations, cultures, continents, languages and customs, we discovered that as former refugees, we shared many similarities. We were both refugee children in rural Alberta: One from Syria, the other born to Uruguayan refugees. Both our families were displaced by war and...
New mortgage rules aim to make home ownership more attainable — will they deliver?
In a bid to address Canada’s housing crisis, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced new changes to mortgage rules on Sept. 16, set to take effect in December, aimed at making housing more affordable. The first major change is an increase in the price cap for insured mortgages, raising it to $1.5 million from $1 million. In Canada, if potential home buyers have less than a 20 per cent deposit, they are required to have default insurance. Mortgage insurance protects lenders against default and helps consumers buy homes with as little as five per cent down payment. Prior...
People with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder face a heightened risk of homelessness
Canada is in the midst of a housing crisis. A systematic failure to provide decent and affordable housing means far too many people are ending up homeless. Rigid and unresponsive policies perpetuate adversity and fuel stigma that places blame on the individual. And for already vulnerable and marginalized people, finding a suitable place to live can be all the more challenging.
Why the open work permit for migrant workers is an inadequate solution
Every year, thousands of migrant workers arrive in Canada to grow, process and prepare our foods. Yet, in July 2024, a United Nations report referred to Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) as a “breeding ground for contemporary slavery.” New research from Dalhousie University supports findings from this report. The Master’s research of Alyssa Weeks, one of the authors of this article, demonstrates that stakeholders in the Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have significant concerns about the TFWP. They call for comprehensive reforms to better protect migrant workers from abuse and exploitation. Researchers have long criticized...
When a child prodigy composer matured into a noblewoman, her legacy got complicated
Delphine von Schauroth (1813–1887) was spectacularly famous in the early 19th century. The German virtuoso pianist and composer was hailed as a musical genius by critics for her powerful and inventive performances and her original and deeply expressive compositions. Why, then, is she nearly forgotten today? Despite her genius status in her day, her family life and class status may account for some of her contemporary obscurity. Child prodigy The nine-year-old Schauroth began her performance career as a pianist in Germany in 1822. Soon after, she toured England and France, where she dazzled crowds and connoisseurs alike. Respected critics wrote rapturously about...
‘Right to disconnect’ laws are a step toward healthier, more productive and more inclusive workplaces
In August, Australia joined Ontario, France and several European and Latin American countries in passing a “right to disconnect” law. This law gives workers the right to ignore communications from their employer outside scheduled working hours. While workers in occupations like emergency medicine or law enforcement expect unpredictable hours and disruptions, these laws target other occupations — ones where a crisis outside regular hours might only be a crisis because someone thinks it is. As one of my former co-workers noted with a sign above their desk: “Your lack of organization is not my emergency.” The right to disconnect targets the growing...
Sierra Leone is working to transform its food system, but it faces mounting challenges
One of the most pressing issues facing humanity is the need to transform food systems to become more equitable, environmentally sustainable, able to deliver healthy diets for all, and also more resilient to disruptions. With the threat of climate chaos everywhere, and global disruptions such as Russia’s invasion of the...
Another Liberal byelection loss shows once again that Justin Trudeau is the problem
“It’s the economy, stupid” was how James Carville, Bill Clinton’s strategist, famously summed up what he thought would be the central issue in the 1992 American presidential election. Following two devastating byelection losses in previously rock-solid Liberal ridings in Montréal this week and Toronto earlier this summer, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his team seemingly still want to believe, like Carville did, that the economy will be the central issue in the next federal election rather than something much deeper. They argue their unpopularity — trailing 15-20 points in opinion polls behind the Conservatives for a year now — has...
Paralympics showcase high-tech prosthetics, but for many people with limb loss, access to prostheses looks quite different
The Paralympic Games bring to the forefront the role of technology in facilitating access to professional sports for people with amputations. Images of athletes using so-called running blades make us believe in the triumph of technological advances and the union of humans and technology. Representations of Paralympians often deliberately emphasize futuristic ‘cyborg-like’ bodies, presented as the ultimate body: more perfect, more efficient and faster than organic human bodies. What these images fail to do is raise questions about what access to prosthetic technology for everyday use looks like. For many people with limb loss, the reality of securing far less...
Free menstrual products matter to support equity, but so do adequate facilities and sinks
Over the past years, activists have made important gains in the effort to provide people who menstruate with adequate and free supplies. In Canada, all washrooms in federally regulated workplaces must have period supplies. In Manitoba, period supplies are offered to students in all public schools in a three-year initiative through a corporate partnership and charitable donation.
Parents are stressed. Here’s what we can do to help them
Parents are stressed and it is time to do something about it. In a nutshell, that’s the message from the United States Surgeon General’s recent public health advisory on the mental health and well-being of parents. The report states that parents and caregivers often face heightened stress due...
The Trump-Harris debate shows how personality can reveal itself in language
An analysis of the choice of words by American presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in their recent debate reveals five insights into their personalities. First, my co-author and I found that Trump made more self-references than Harris, whereas Harris referred more to others than Trump did. Trump also did not say “Kamala” or “Harris” even once, suggesting an attempt to anonymize the vice president. Second, both candidates equally emphasized geopolitics, mentioning Russia, Israel, Ukraine and Iran. However, neither mentioned Palestine. Third, Trump used slightly more words that indicated uncertainty than Harris did. Fourth, Trump used more achievement-oriented words, whereas Harris...
The second assassination attempt on Donald Trump in 64 days is a troubling turn of events
On the afternoon of Sept. 15, Donald Trump was playing golf at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., when he was the target of an alleged second assassination attempt. Secret Service agents opened fire when an agent noticed someone pointing a rifle in the bushes at the golf course; the suspect fled and was later apprehended. The FBI deemed the incident a second assassination attempt on Trump, who was within 300 to 500 yards of the shooter. The Republican presidential candidate was not injured in this latest assassination attempt. The July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pa.,...
Trump’s abortion flip-flops: Lessons from Ireland on why reasons-based access to abortion doesn’t work
Donald Trump has flip-flopped on the issue of abortion for decades, from declaring himself “very pro-choice” in the 1990s and “pro-life” in 2011 to hinting this year that he’d support a national abortion ban. Abortion is a topic of huge importance in American politics this year: it could decide the United States presidential election, and the way states regulate abortion access will have life-or-death consequences for women. Read more: Will abortion be the issue that swings the 2024 US presidential election? ...
At the UN, world leaders are negotiating the biggest health issue you’ve never heard of
The United Nations General Assembly could turn the tide on antimicrobial resistance. The keys to making this happen are ensuring policymakers have the best available evidence and rallying political support through unifying goals. Later this month, world leaders, civil society and global health researchers like me will convene at the...
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