A patient suffering from dengue fever lies in a hospital bed in Peshawar, Pakistan, in October. Cases of dengue fever – a painful mosquito-borne spread disease – have doubled every decade since 1990. Environmental health experts are pointing the finger at climate change.
(AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
What if we treated climate change as a health problem rather than an environmental one? There are lessons to be learned from the successful public health campaigns against smoking.
President Donald Trump displays a presidential memorandum he signed, declaring the opioid crisis a public health emergency in the East Room of the White House, Oct. 26, 2017, in Washington.
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Opioids kill an average of eight people every day in Canada. The federal government must officially declare this a ‘public welfare emergency’ and invest the funds critical to a humane response.
Women make up more than half the workforce in Canada. It’s time for employers to provide supports for workers who are enduring domestic abuse situations.
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Women make up a major portion of the Canadian workforce. That’s why employers need to step up to help those in domestic abuse situations.
Two refugee children from Eritrea sit in the back of a police cruiser after crossing the border from New York into Canada in March 2017 near Hemmingford, Que.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)
Since 2000, at least 16 people have died while incarcerated in Canada’s system of immigration detention, with a shocking four deaths since March 2016. When will the government act?
Clinics in Toronto serving refugees and the uninsured indicate that 20 per cent of all visits are for pregnancy-related issues.
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About 20 per cent of refugees to Canada are pregnant. Many of them are medically uninsured. It’s not only morally correct to provide prenatal care, but also cheaper for Canada’s system to do so.
In the ongoing strike by college faculty throughout Ontario, the issues on the table include pay, job security for partial-load instructors and the question of academic freedom.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston)
College faculty in Ontario are going back to work after the longest strike in their history. Here one university professor describes her personal experience of undervalued college teaching work.
A memorial for the victims of the shooting at Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church, including 25 white chairs painted with a cross and and rose, is displayed in the Texas church. A man opened fire inside the church yet his attack has not been labelled terrorism.
(AP Photo/Eric Gay)
White men routinely gun down innocent victims in mass shootings in the United States. Yet they are not branded terrorists the way Muslims who commit violent acts are. Why not?
Marijuana brand name stickers are visible as customers line up at the counter in CannaDaddy’s Wellness Center marijuana dispensary in Oregon in April.
(AP Photo/Don Ryan)
There’s a strong case for governments to allow cannabis producers to brand their products via packaging and advertising like any other product. It could boost quality and consumer satisfaction.
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announces the launch of Oculus Go virtual reality headset in October.
(Handout)
Will the arrival and popularity of Oculus Go and other VR systems make us think differently about alternative realities and so-called alternative facts?
Women wearing their WIPNET T-shirts plan a peace jamboree the day before the Liberian election in October 2017.
(Carter Center)
Thousands of Liberian women have banded together to bring about peace and to fight for women’s rights. They’ve changed the face of the African nation.
This sculpture in London commemorates Nelson Mandela, who set up the African National Congress’ armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), in 1961 when he lost hope that passive and non-violent resistance to the apartheid government would bear fruit.
(Creative Commons)
Seeking justice, not peace, in our world changes the conversation about conflict. Conflict has proven integral to achieving a more equitable and secure society.
Why has B.C. become home to Canada’s most vibrant news ecosystem? Credit the wellspring of creativity here — the province’s beauty and potential has long attracted change-makers.
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A good news story about the news? It’s true. In British Columbia, a digital news ecology is flowering through ‘coopetition’ – as Media Democracy Day will soon showcase.
Valérie Plante speaks to supporters on election night after being elected mayor of Montreal.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Valerie Plante is the first woman to become mayor of Montreal, and she represents a fairly radical but highly creative force in Quebec politics.
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.
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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.
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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.
