Category: Academic Reportage

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Henri Chevalier, PhD student at School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, University of Waterloo

With global oil supply under pressure from the U.S.-Iran war, governments may need to bring back tools many assume belong to the past: rationing and price controls.

Some countries are already moving in that direction. The Philippines has declared a national emergency in response to energy supply risks, while South Sudan has begun rationing electricity in its capital, Juba, and Mauritius has imposed restrictions aimed at reducing consumption and limiting waste.

These developments echo historical precedents. My research, recently published in Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, draws on the case of British clothing rationing during the Second World War to show that when essential goods become scarce, governments cannot rely on price alone to manage the crisis.

When left to market forces, access to basic goods becomes dependent on those who can pay most, meaning lower-income households are often hit hardest.

A global supply shock

Since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran triggered a wider conflict and effectively shut down shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, global oil supply has fallen by about eight million barrels per day — roughly eight per cent of world demand.

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Read more:
What is the Strait of Hormuz, and why does its closure matter so much to the global economy?

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The disruption of a route carrying about 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply is pushing prices up and availability down, creating conditions similar to those Britain faced before rationing.

In the face of such an oil shock, governments around the world should learn from the British clothing rationing system by implementing rationing and price controls.

That was the case during the oil shocks of the 1970s in Canada. Governments kept domestic oil prices under control and helped cover the cost of more expensive imports.

Canada also designed a national gasoline rationing plan in 1979, using printed stamps to limit private motorists’ fuel use while giving priority access to ambulances, freight carriers and farmers.

What history can teach us

The United Kingdom faced major supply disruptions during the Second World War, prompting the introduction of rationing to mitigate the effects of material shortages, inflation and mounting pressure on civilian supply.

To achieve this, the British rationing system relied on three main policy tools.

The first was a coupon system. Introduced in 1941, coupons were tied to material use rather than price. Each person received a fixed number of clothing coupons per year, starting at 66 per person (about two-thirds of pre-war levels) and fell to 36 by 1946.

Each type of garment required a set number of coupons depending on how much material it used. For example, a wool dress might cost around 11 coupons, while a shirt might cost five and a pair of stockings two. Cutting just two coupons per person saved about 27 million metres of fabric.

The second was the Utility Clothing Scheme. Launched in 1942, it provided affordable, durable clothing through strict standards and fabric-saving rules. Shortening men’s shirts by five centimetres and removing double cuffs saved 3.3 million square metres of cotton. By 1943, the scheme covered 80 per cent of British clothing production.

The final was price controls. The Board of Trade was granted the power to fix prices and margins across production and distribution, helping keep “Utility” clothing stable or cheaper while non-Utility prices rose, with Utility items costing about half as much as non-Utility clothing.

Managing scarcity and fairness

These policies led to three major consequences. First, they reduced overall consumption. Under clothing rationing, wool spinning fell by 44 per cent and hosiery industry yarn by 37 per cent, while civilian textile supply and clothing consumption per person dropped by 67 per cent.

Clothing and footwear purchases per capita declined by 34 per cent. Despite six years of war, civilians had access to less than four years’ worth of normal clothing supplies.

Second, they ensured fair access to essentials. Price-controlled rationing helped ensure people still had decent clothing, reducing poverty and preventing severe shortages.

Third, they reinforced a culture of repair and reuse. Building on the repair culture already present in the 1930s, campaigns such as “Make Do and Mend” promoted repair, remaking, modular design and the reuse of materials such as blankets, blackout fabric, food bags, parachute silk, wooden clogs and even dog fur yarn.

The rationing system not only cut consumption and aligned demand with supply, but also prevented scarcity from becoming a windfall for producers and a punishment for low-income households. It also reduced waste and discouraged overconsumption — all valuable lessons in today’s global oil supply disruption.

That said, the system was not without drawbacks. Britain’s rationing system was also technocratic, bureaucratic and not very democratic.

What governments can do now

Today, the real issue is not whether governments intervene, but whether they do so fairly and effectively.

On March 20, to address the current oil supply squeeze, the International Energy Agency proposed a series of demand-reduction measures, including expanding remote work, lowering speed limits, stengthening public transit use and increased car-sharing use.

While useful, these measures remain short-term fixes. If shortages deepen, governments — including Canada’s — may need to consider the following structural responses:

1. Prepare fair fuel-allocation systems if shortages deepen.

Some governments are already moving in that direction. Sri Lanka introduced a QR code-based fuel authorization system to regulate petrol and diesel distribution, with weekly quotas.

2. Cap excessive prices and margins on essentials.

In Canada’s concentrated fuel and grocery markets, refiners and downstream food firms can widen margins at the expense of consumers. Refining profits surged as pump prices rose faster than crude costs, while processors, distributors and retailers captured 83 cents of every food dollar spent in Canada.

Canada could learn from Austria, Greece and Spain, which have respectively capped fuel retailer margins, grocery margins and rents recently.

3. Use the crisis to build structural economic transformation.

Recurring resource, geopolitical and ecological crises point to the need to reduce dependence on fragile global supply chains, accelerate decarbonization and reorganize the economy around scarce resources through reduced advertising and democratically decided material caps.

This would protect essential needs first, reduce unnecessary production and consumption, and prioritize durable, repairable and sustainable goods.

For those interested in exploring this research further, a more engaging and accessible version of the study is available online.

This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Coboom, and the HEC Montréal Foundation

– ref. As oil shortages deepen, wartime rationing offers a guide for today’s governments – https://theconversation.com/as-oil-shortages-deepen-wartime-rationing-offers-a-guide-for-todays-governments-279193

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Esra Ari, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Mount Royal University

In 2023, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith mused that she would like to see the province’s population to grow 10 million people. But by 2026, faced with an astronomical budget deficit of $9.4 billion, Smith recently said the “federal experiments in open borders” have contributed to Alberta’s current fiscal woes.

Smith is inviting a public debate on immigration, proposing five immigration-related questions in an October referendum.

Leading questions

The immigration referendum questions are replete with mis- and disinformation, confusing, inaccurate and leading language, and shaped by problematic assumptions unsupported by evidence.

For example, one question asks whether respondents support giving Albertans “first priority to new employment opportunities” while another asks whether only those with “Alberta-approved immigration status” should be eligible for provincially funded social programs

Another question asks if Albertans “support the Government of Alberta introducing a law requiring individuals to provide proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate, or citizenship card, to vote in an Alberta provincial election.”

Taken together, these questions present the voting public with an “us versus them” narrative, suggesting there’s one group of people called “Albertans” and another called “immigrants.”

While race is not explicitly mentioned in these questions, they enact what French philosopher Étienne Balibar, whose scholarship is seminal to understanding new forms of racism, has described as “racism without race” — when cultural differences are mobilized to marginalize minority communities; in this case, immigrants to Alberta.

An example of this can be seen in a recent social media post written by Bruce McAllister, executive director of the premier’s office: “Why import nations with failed systems when our Judeo-Christian heritage and principles have worked so well here?” Smith defended his statement.

Far-right playbook

Who is considered an Albertan by Smith’s United Conservative Party? Is it people born in Alberta? People born in Canada? Or those who have “Judeo-Christian” heritage?

Like other initiatives by Smith’s government, the scapegoating of immigrants follows a far-right playbook that has been effective in other places, including, most visibly, the United States and parts of Europe.

Ultra-nationalist policies are evident in both the Alberta separatist movement and in the provincial government’s attacks on trans kids in the name of parental rights, book bans and cancelling equity, diversion and inclusion programs.

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Read more:
The war on DEI reflects the quiet normalization of white nationalism — in the U.S. and beyond

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Alberta’s population has grown by about 600,000 people in the last five years. At least some of this growth is likely attributed to a multi-million dollar campaign by the Alberta Government called “Alberta is Calling” that sought to recruit people to the province.

Alberta has what scholars have described as a “prototypical boom region economy” with no provincial sales tax and the lowest corporate and personal tax rates in the country. Spending for social programs, health care and education is contingent on the price of a barrel of oil.

A possibly apocryphal story in Alberta describes a famous bumper sticker that read: “Please God, let there be another oil boom. I promise not to piss it all away this time.”

Unacknowledged contributions

The combination of Alberta’s petro-economy and the rise of far-right conservative ideology is leading to a more explicitly reactionary and xenophobic politics in the province.

In the years following the Second World War, Germany brought in thousands of “guest workers” from Turkey to help rebuild the country. Eventually, these mostly male workers sought to remain in Germany and bring their spouses and children. There is a quote attributed to the Swiss novelist Max Frisch about these guest workers: “We asked for workers; we got people instead.”

This quote applies to Alberta: The provincial government has spent millions of dollars attracting needed workers to the province. Immigrant workers are over-represented in critical parts of the economy including agriculture, care work and tourism. Other Albertans have benefited — and continue to benefit from — the enormous economic contributions that immigration provides.

Much of this economic contribution is unacknowledged because often the work that immigrants do is out of sight, including jobs in meatpacking plants, trucking, cleaning and low-wage service jobs, often performed under precarious conditions.

Immigrants have been essential to the Albertan economy, but they are, most importantly, human beings. Immigration to Alberta has not been accompanied by investment in housing, health care or education. In fact, investment in K-12 education remains the lowest in the country. The scandal-ridden health-care system is in disarray, with people dying in the emergency rooms and doctors describing it as a “crisis.”

Causing harm

When Smith, the most politically powerful person in the province, launches a frontal attack on marginalized communities using the sanitized language of “direct democracy” and “public debate,” there can be real consequences and harm.

Even before the proposed October referendum, immigrant-serving organizations have reported an increase in racism in Alberta. In the premier’s own riding — the small community of Brooks, Alta., population 15,000 with a large immigrant population — stickers with the words “Make Brooks White Again” have appeared around town alongside racist graffiti.

Historically, targeting racialized groups is a dangerous tactic that has culminated in violence and death. We must resist and call these politics out wherever possible.

Bronwyn Bragg receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Esra Ari does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Danielle Smith’s immigration referendum fuels an ‘us versus them’ divide in Alberta – https://theconversation.com/danielle-smiths-immigration-referendum-fuels-an-us-versus-them-divide-in-alberta-278577

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Gordon Osinski, Professor in Earth and Planetary Science, Western University

Even from a distance of several kilometres, the Artemis II rocket looked huge.

Then, there was a moment that felt like an eternity, as around 2,600 metric tons of spacecraft lifted off.

I was honoured to receive an invitation from the Canadian Space Agency to attend this historic launch at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. I am a professor, an explorer and a planetary geologist. As a member of the First Artemis Lunar Surface Science Team, I have been supporting NASA in developing the geology training for Artemis astronauts.

This launch was one of the most thrilling, but stressful few minutes of my life. Space missions are hard and can be dangerous, especially missions like this where there are so many firsts.

The final 10-second countdown seemed to come so quickly, and then at 6.35 p.m., EDT, on April 1, 2026, the NASA launch commentator uttered those famous words: “We have liftoff.”

I think everyone around me held their breath for those first few critical seconds, and then the significance of the moment sank in. We had just witnessed history in the making. This was the launch of the first crewed flight of NASA’s Artemis program, and the first time since 1972 that humans have ventured to the Moon.

Jeremy Hansen will be the first non-American to fly to the Moon and will make Canada only the second country in the world to send an astronaut into deep space.

Christina Koch and Victor Glover will also make history as the first woman and person of colour to fly to the Moon.

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Read more:
Artemis II: The first human mission to the moon in 54 years launches soon — with a Canadian on board

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The build up to launch

The first launch windows for Artemis II came and went earlier this year, following issues discovered during wet dress rehearsals. But this time felt different. NASA rolled out the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on March 20 and decided to skip the wet dress rehearsal and go straight for launch.

You could sense the confidence building.

On the evening before launch day, the Canadian Space Agency held a reception for all the Canadian invitees, as well as several NASA guests. It was like a “who’s who” of the Canadian space program, including most of Canada’s retired astronauts.

There were some lighthearted moments — like when MDA Space CEO Mike Greenly announced there were the limited edition Tim Horton’s “moonbits” for all — but you could tell there was also a lot of emotion in the room.

There were some tears as a video message from Jeremy Hanson’s son, Devon, was played. For me the moment came when I spoke with Jeremy’s parents, who I had met several years earlier. They still live in Ingersoll, not far from London, Ontario, where Jeremy went to high school.

Returning humans to the Moon

At the time of writing, the crew have now had their first sleep in Integrity, the name of their Orion spacecraft.

They are now in a high-Earth orbit, reaching a maximum of 74,000 km from Earth. This is already a huge distance when you consider the orbit of the International Space Station is only around 400 km.

During this first 24 hours, the crew are testing the environmental controls and life support systems, ensuring that everything they need to survive for the next 10 days in space works. If everything looks good, NASA will clear the crew to conduct the translunar injection, and send Integrity to the Moon.

While they won’t be landing, in addition to testing out the Orion spacecraft, the Artemis II crew will be conducting science. They will be working with scientists and engineers in a new science evaluation room in mission control at the NASA Johnson Space Center, to collaborate during operations in real time.

This builds on years of testing and simulations the teams have done together and lays the groundwork for the first surface Artemis mission.

Before the launch, NASA astronaut Christina Koch summed up the feelings of everyone I’ve met on the Artemis program: “It is our strong hope that this Artemis mission is the start of an era where everyone, every person on Earth can look at it and think of it as also a destination.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Gordon Osinski founded the company Interplanetary Exploration Odyssey Inc. He receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Space Agency.

– ref. I watched Artemis II lift off — and witnessed the first humans venture to the Moon since 1972 – https://theconversation.com/i-watched-artemis-ii-lift-off-and-witnessed-the-first-humans-venture-to-the-moon-since-1972-279822

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Snigdhodeb Dutta, PhD Student, Department of Biology, Concordia University

Scientists know more about climate change than ever before. So why isn’t the world moving faster to address it?

That was the question at the heart of a round table I recently moderated at Concordia University, and the answers were more practical and more urgent than many in the room expected.

The session, entitled “Communicating Climate Research to Policy and the Public,” took place on March 10 and featured Concordia professor Damon Matthews, Montréal city councillor Peter McQueen and Dominique Paquin, a climate simulation and analysis supervisor at the climate research organization Ouranos.

Their shared diagnosis: the problem is not a lack of data. It’s a failure of translating that data into a message that resonates.

As Paquin noted:

“We have enormous amounts of information on climate resilience strategies. The challenge is that this information rarely makes it into the rooms where decisions are actually made.”

During the session, participants were split into mixed groups and given a single climate finding. Their task: communicate it to three completely different audiences — policymakers, the general public and those working in operational or applied settings. The results were revealing.

Making the abstract clear

McQueen said:

“Effective climate communication is not about dumbing down the science. It’s about understanding who you’re talking to and what actually matters to them.”

Nowhere was this clearer than in the skating rink example that drew an audible reaction from the room. Telling someone the global average temperature has risen by 1.2 C lands differently than telling them climate change is already shortening outdoor skating seasons across Canadian cities.

Research shows that rising winter temperatures are reducing the viability of outdoor rinks, with future projections for cities like Montréal, Toronto and Calgary pointing to fewer cold days even under optimistic low-carbon scenarios.

By presenting climate change through such examples, the abstract becomes concrete, the distant becomes local and the data becomes a loss that people can picture.

Panellists argued that framing the issue for different audiences needs to become standard practice, not an afterthought. For policymakers, the groups focused on discussing feasibility and regulatory alignment. For the public, emotional resonance and relatable stakes took over.

For operational audiences — those working in applied or technical roles, such as urban planners, engineers and municipal staff — the focus shifted to implementation and cost.

One proposal that generated discussion was embedding climate context into everyday digital information. Many of us today have smartphones that display the daily weather forecast. Rather than just displaying the current temperature and conditions, devices could also show how those readings compare to pre-industrial baselines.

Small changes in the information environment could shift how millions of people perceive climate change over time.

Engaging communities is critical

Another key issue that came up is the structural barriers that hinder effective communication. Even when climate messaging lands, it runs into algorithmic filters, media fragmentation and political resistance.

Participants pointed to carbon pricing and stronger enforcement mechanisms as examples of policies that work when the public understands and supports them. Communication and policy, in other words, are not separate challenges. Each depends on the other.

The session also pushed back against the dominance of top-down, global-level climate narratives. Real engagement and climate action, participants agreed, happens at the community level through local voices, grassroots initiatives and youth movements that give people a sense of agency rather than helplessness. Media platforms that amplify these efforts, rather than drowning them out, were seen as part of the solution.

Involving students and young people, sharing successes through local and national media and making initiatives relatable and interactive can help build broader awareness and motivate participation across communities.

Communication is part of research work

Climate researchers should not treat communication as the final step in research and start seeing it as central to the work itself. They shouldn’t just focus on sharing data, but also take part in real engagement and conversations with the general public.

The science is there. The challenge is to make it resonate. From policymakers and community leaders to students and citizens, climate action depends on telling stories that make an impact, clarify stakes and inspire action.

Only when abstract data becomes tangible — whether through a disappearing skating rink, a parched wetland or a vanishing stream — does the urgency of climate change truly hit home. And it is this kind of storytelling, grounded in both evidence and lived experiences, that may ultimately drive the action this moment demands.

Snigdhodeb Dutta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Effective storytelling can encourage climate action from policymakers and the public – https://theconversation.com/effective-storytelling-can-encourage-climate-action-from-policymakers-and-the-public-278522

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Salima Kerai, Research Fellow, Centre for Global Child Health, The Hospital for Sick Children; Adjunct Faculty, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

In a landmark decision, a Los Angeles jury has found that social media company Meta and video streaming service YouTube harmed a young user with addictive design features that led to mental health distress, including body dysmorphia, depression and suicidal thoughts.

Commentators have referred to this as social media’s “Big Tobacco” moment and further lawsuits are pending. The verdict has escalated calls for more regulation of social media platforms across jurisdictions.

Countries like Australia, France and Spain have already introduced age restrictions for social media use. Canada still lacks online harms legislation.

As parents campaign and policymakers consider how to address online harms, one crucial question is often overlooked: Why are teenagers so uniquely vulnerable to these platforms in the first place?

Dopamine hits to immature pathways

Imagine Sara, who at 14 was found unconscious on her bedroom floor after an attempt to take her own life. By every measure, she was thriving: strong in school, supported by family, living in a vibrant community. But behind her bedroom door, she was struggling with something no one could see. She spent hours scrolling, posting and chasing likes until the validation stopped coming.

A quiet sense of not being good enough slowly took root. Despite 150 online followers, she had no one she felt she could truly talk to. She became convinced she was completely alone.

Sara is a composite drawn from clinical and research experience, but her story is common. Like many teenagers, Sara turned to social media to connect, express herself and find a sense of belonging. At first, it felt good. Each quick hit of dopamine drew her back until the habit became hard to control.

Neuroscience shows that heavy social media use can overstimulate the teen brain’s still-developing reward pathways in ways similar to addictive behaviours like gambling.

This immature system also makes teenagers more sensitive to social feedback and less able to cope with rejection. This leaves them vulnerable to highs and lows of online interaction, including the rapid, repeated negative comments that can intensify emotional stress.

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Read more:
Australia is banning social media for teens. Should Canada do the same?

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Think of the teen brain as a highway under construction. The emotional expressway — the limbic system — is wide open for speeding. The pre-frontal cortex — the brain’s traffic-control centre responsible for judgment and impulse control — is still being built.

This imbalance means that the fast emotional traffic often outruns the signals from the control centre, creating traffic jams in judgment and rational thinking and making it harder for teens to pause, reflect and assess consequences.

Social comparison fuels anxiety

Social comparison deepens this strain further. As Sara scrolled through images of seemingly perfect lives, she felt increasingly inadequate. Envy, insecurity and fear of missing out chipped away at her confidence. At the same time, social media encouraged constant self-monitoring, as she tracked her likes, comments and appearance online.

Research links this kind of inward focus to higher levels of anxiety, especially in teens already under pressure.

Puberty adds another layer. During this stage, the brain becomes more sensitive to social and emotional cues. For girls, these changes often occur earlier and more intensely, helping explain why adolescent girls are disproportionately affected by social media-related anxiety and depression.

Connected online, disconnected in life

Most time spent on social media is not active or social — it is passive. Trial data in a case between the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Meta show that only a small fraction of time on Meta platforms involves engaging with friends — about seven per cent on Instagram and 17 per cent on Facebook. The rest is mostly scrolling and watching rather than interacting. This results in an illusion of connection while deepening a sense of isolation.

Large studies across high-income countries consistently link heavy social media use to poorer physical health outcomes too, including shorter sleep and higher rates of obesity. Loneliness is a serious risk. The human need to feel seen and understood is fundamental. When it is not met, the body registers it as stress. Chronic loneliness has been compared to smoking 10 cigarettes a day in terms of its impact on health.

Many Canadian teens describe this paradox clearly: constantly connected online, yet increasingly disconnected in real life. They report pressure to present idealized versions of themselves and to keep up with peers. Online communication, they say, is easy to misinterpret, which can strain relationships and deepen isolation. They feel caught in a push and pull — drawn to connection, but often left feeling worse.

Now what? A call to action

We would not hand a 14-year-old the keys to a car without training, rules and safeguards. Yet we allow that same teenager unrestricted access to platforms designed to capture attention and maximize engagement.

The impacts on their physical and mental health are clear. Research involving more than 9,000 adolescents across eight countries found a strong association between problematic social media use and higher rates of depression and anxiety.

In Canada, suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth aged 15 to 24. Mental illness already costs us $51 billion a year, and 70 per cent of those affected show symptoms during adolescence.

Regulating social media is essential. And it requires a layered approach, much like road safety.

Platforms must be designed more responsibly. Age limits should be clearly defined and meaningfully enforced. And digital literacy education should help young people understand and manage their online experiences.

The question is no longer whether action is needed, but whether it will come in time to protect the next generation.

Salima Kerai does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Neuroscience explains why teens are so vulnerable to Big Tech social media platforms – https://theconversation.com/neuroscience-explains-why-teens-are-so-vulnerable-to-big-tech-social-media-platforms-278521