Shoppers browse at a Sears Canada store in Toronto in October after the company began liquidation sales. Its retirement funds are short $308 million, forcing a 19 per cent cut to employee pensions.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)
Does ancient Greek war hawk Pericles provide clues to a besieged Donald Trump’s next move? War has always been a helpful distraction for cornered world leaders.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg initially dismissed as “crazy” the warnings that Russia had been using Facebook to spread propaganda in the 2016 U.S. election. He has since apologized and introduced plans and tools aimed at fighting false information on the platform. In this file photo, he delivers the commencement address at Harvard University in May.
(AP Photo/Steven Senne)
In a fight for the global flow of information, social media firms must be regulated. Their billions of dollars in revenue put their financial interests in conflict with truth and democracy.
Loaves of fresh-baked bread line the shelves at a bakery.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Douglas C. Pizac
Canadian consumers could benefit from the Competition Bureau’s investigation into the so-called bread cartel, but not in a way they think. Here’s how.
A nine-year-old boy plays on his damaged street in Mosul, Iraq in this July 2017 photo. U.S.-backed forces have wrested Mosul from the Islamic State, and the terrorist group lost Raqqa, in northern Syria, last month. Nonetheless the Islamic State is using virtual information sessions to keep its members committed to the cause.
(AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Despite the fact that the Islamic State is on the run, the terrorist group still manages to inspire, motivate and maintain the social identity and cohesion of its members. Here’s how.
U.S. President Donald Trump raises his glass in a toast at the start of a dinner in Seoul, South Korea.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
U.S. President Donald Trump’s “scourge of oppressive stupidity” has been in the Oval Office for a year. His assault on higher education is among Trump’s more disturbing penchants.
Paper chains hang on the White House fence in Washington in October 2010 during a demonstration against the IMF and World Bank neoliberal economic policies during their annual meeting. Has the term neoliberalism run its course?
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The term “neoliberalism” has a rich history but has it run its course as an accurate concept when so many people have such different understandings of what it means?
Values are key to a nation’s success and the happiness of its citizens. Those associated with femininity, in particular, make for a happier country.
(Shutterstock)
What makes for a thriving nation and happy citizens? Values. A nation’s institutions need people with supporting underlying values to perform at their best.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Dr. Mona Nemer, Canada’s new chief science adviser, check out a robot that launches balls, with science fair participants Van Bernat and Kate O'Melia of Governor Simcoe Secondary School in St. Catharines, Ont., on Parliament Hill in September.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)
Science funding still falls short of 2005 levels. It’s time for Canada’s government to fix that problem, before it’s too late.
Germany has introduced new legislation to try to stop the rise of online hate speech. It’s a phenomenon that’s happening in Canada too and many analysts point to the impact of Donald Trump’s politics.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
There has been a 600 per cent increase in online hate speech since Nov. 2015. The solution to stop the tide lies in both anti-hate laws and self-awareness education for audiences.
Navdeep Bains, Canada’s
innovation, science and economic development minister, takes part in a technology event in Ottawa in May 2017. The Canadian government has started up a $1.26-billion fund to support innovation-related business investments.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
If leaders of educational institutions are concerned about the employability of graduates, they should avoid over-investing in STEM subjects and stop snubbing liberal arts.
Is religion inherently violent? Some believe so, but secular individuals and institutions have proven to be just as violent.
(Shutterstock)
Many think that violence is central to religion, but some scholars argue it’s meaningless to single out religion rather than socio-economic factors when assessing violent acts.
Ovidie is a French feminist who published a book about the ignorance of pornography. Her documentary Pornocracy is an exploration of porn’s multinational corporations and their exploitation of performers.
(Courtesy of Pornocracy)
Both the U.S. and the U.K. have blamed porn for a wide range of medical and social ailments. But a recent Canadian report suggests there’s no credible evidence of this co-relation.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for photographers before a meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in April in Palm Beach, Fla.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The contrast between the U.S. and China could not be clearer in recent weeks: China enjoys dignity without democracy; the United States has democracy without dignity. Yet there are many similarities.
People ride tricycle carts past a poster featuring Chinese President Xi Jinping along a street in Beijing. China’s ruling Communist Party has praised President Xi as a Marxist thinker, adding to intense propaganda promoting Xi’s personal image as he begins a second five-year term as leader.
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Chinese President Xi Jinping has been enshrined in the Communist Party’s constitution as the sole legitimate interpreter of Chinese Marxism for the “new era.” Now he can look to the rest of the world.
Warda Naili poses for a photograph at a park in Montreal in October. Naili, a convert to Islam, said she decided to cover her face out of a desire to practise her faith more authentically and to protect her modesty. Bill 62 forces women to remove their niqabs while using public services.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Bill 62 is likely to trigger even tenser controversies on Quebecois identity before next year’s provincial election. A historical perspective helps us understand the connection to Quebec sovereignty.
Staff at the Korea Internet and Security Agency in Seoul, South Korea monitor possible ransomware cyberattacks in May 2017.
(Yun Dong-jin/Yonhap via AP)
New census data sheds light on the country’s Indigenous population. In Eastern Canada, the rise in people claiming to be “Métis” is a controversial case of “settler self-indigenization.”
New census data gives insight into Canada’s immigrant population, including how English language proficiency can impact wages. Here, a group of new Canadians take part in a citizenship ceremony in Ottawa in September.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)
New census data provides a chance to understand why immigrants earn lower wages than Canadians who have been here for many generations. Whether immigrants speak English at home may be a clue.
In this 2013 photo, a resident of Tijuana, Mexico, holds onto the bars that make up the border wall separating the U.S. and Mexico near San Diego. President Donald Trump is proposing to dramatically expand the wall.
(AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
Donald Trump’s proposed border wall will destroy historic and ancient sites, violate the rights of Indigenous populations and cause misery to those seeking a better life. What’s more? It won’t work.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne unveiled her government’s plan to cut electricity bills in March 2017 amid a public uproar about skyrocketing fees driving ratepayers into energy poverty.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)
Women and girls used the #MeToo hashtag more than 12 million times on Facebook in one day in October. It marked the rise of a new feminist consciousness and solidarity.
Warda Naili poses for a photograph on a city bus in Montreal. Last week, Bill 62 was passed in Quebec, outlawing the wearing of a niqab on public transit.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Bill 62, a bill passed last week banning the wearing of Niqab in Québec for those seeking access to public services, is widely seen as an attack on Muslim women. Why is it even necessary?
Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leave the Prime Minister’s office holding copies of the federal budget in Ottawa in March. Would Canada benefit from a Budget Honesty Charter of the type that’s had success in Australia?
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)
Australia’s Charter of Budget Honesty could be easily adopted by Canada. Such a charter can include suggestions for constraints and rules that encourage fiscal discipline.
