Category: The Conversation – Canada

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Samuel Lloyd, PhD Candidate, Department of Psychology, University of Victoria

2025 has been a year of setbacks for Canada’s climate policy. In November, the federal and Alberta governments signed a memorandum of understanding to remove strict climate policies in the province and to support the construction of a new pipeline from Alberta to northern British Columbia.

The government also cancelled the federal carbon tax this year, while ending funding for home energy-efficiency programs and delaying sales mandates for zero-emission vehicles.

These steps have pushed Canada even further from meeting its climate goals, which were already too weak to limit global warming to 1.5 C, as outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement.

What’s behind these changes and why is Canadian progress on tackling climate change so slow? Put simply, it’s because climate action threatens the profits of the fossil-fuel industry, and they’ve spent the past 50 years doing everything they can to prevent it.

While the industry has used many tools in this endeavour, perhaps its most effective has been its propaganda machine — a global network of foundations, think tanks and lobbyists known as the Climate Change Counter Movement.

In our newly published study, we review the academic and non-academic literature to map how this movement has used its influence to delay climate action in Canada.

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Why Mark Carney’s pipeline deal with Alberta puts the Canadian federation in jeopardy

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The Climate Change Counter Movement

For years, the movement’s main strategy was to deny that climate change was happening or to claim that humans weren’t causing it. However, as summers got hotter and wildfires, floods and hurricanes became increasingly common, this narrative became less convincing.

The propaganda machine then adopted a new tactic. Rather than denying climate science, it exploited legitimate debates about how climate policy should be designed to sow confusion, cause political deadlock and suggest policies that don’t threaten their profits.

Three examples of these new narratives are particularly widespread in Canada: fossil-fuel solutionism (that fossil fuels can be part of efforts to tackle climate change), “whataboutism” and appeals to well-being.

Together, they uphold the claim that fossil fuels are a necessary and unavoidable part of everyday life and that Canadian fossil fuels are less carbon-heavy than those produced in the rest of the world, meaning that supporting the Canadian fossil-fuel industry would supposedly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

These arguments are logically flawed — fossil fuels are incompatible with a world below 1.5 C warming. They’re also based on a falsehood, because oil from the Canadian oilsands is roughly 21 per cent more polluting than conventional crude oil.

Another common argument is that fossil fuels are essential to the Canadian economy, but this narrative overstates the costs of transitioning away from fossil fuels and understates the enormous costs of allowing climate change to continue unmitigated.

While these narratives do originate from elite members of the Climate Change Counter Movement, our case study found evidence that they’re already being repeated by members of the general public and might even explain why many Canadians falsely believe that a clean energy future could include fossil fuels.

How can we tackle false fossil-fuel narratives?

1. Know ourselves

If we want to challenge false narratives about fossil fuels, we should begin by reflecting on how the Climate Change Counter Movement might have affected us already. Fossil-fuel propaganda is everywhere, and it’s hard to avoid internalizing some of it. It’s also important to consider whether challenging the fossil-fuel industry might expose us to physical or financial danger before taking action.

2. Know our enemy

Next, it’s important for us to learn as much as we can about the Climate Change Counter Movement. Who are its members? What propaganda are they spreading, and where are they spreading it? Which narratives work and which don’t? Answering these questions will be the work of academics, journalists and citizen researchers, who can take cues from efforts like the Corporate Mapping Project in their approach.

3. Target them directly

Once we have that information, we can use it to hold the fossil-fuel industry legally (and thus financially) accountable for their role in delaying climate action. Examples of these kinds of lawsuits are appearing all over the world, including in Canada where the Sue Big Oil campaign is uniting B.C. municipalities in suing fossil-fuel companies for their role in the escalating costs of climate change.

These campaigns not only discourage future meddling, but also move funds directly from the fossil-fuel industry to the communities they’ve affected, allowing them to build their own defences against future attacks.

4. Heal our wounds

However, even if lawsuits successfully discourage future activity by the Climate Change Counter Movement, we’ll still need to undo the damage they’ve already done to our society. Their efforts have left the public polarized, untrusting of governments, confused about fact versus fiction and feeling hopeless. We must reinvest in our communities and heal these societal wounds. Climate assemblies, an approach to government which emphasizes public engagement, offer a promising pathway towards many of these goals.

5. Pick our battles

It’s also vital for governments to continue advancing climate action, even when public appetites have been damaged by propaganda campaigns. They can do this by strengthening policies that are relatively unknown, yet still effective and popular.

These policies have not been exposed to the same levels of propaganda as others like the carbon tax and are therefore still popular, while also being effective enough to account for the majority of emission reductions in Canada, the United Kingdom and California.

6. Challenge the structural roots of their power

Finally, we need to remove the root of the fossil-fuel industry’s economic and cultural power. Within our current economic system, this means redirecting financial flows away from the industry by removing fossil-fuel subsidies and implementing stringent compulsory policies to realign markets with climate goals.

The Climate Change Counter Movement is several steps ahead of us, but it hasn’t won yet. If climate change is to be stopped, we have to stop ignoring the elephant in the room and unite against the fossil-fuel industry.

Samuel Lloyd received funding from the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions for the research project that inspired the research in this article. He wrote that paper while receiving funding from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund as part of the University of Victoria-led Accelerating Community Energy Transformation Initiative.

Katya Rhodes receives funding from Canada First Research Excellence Fund as part of the University of Victoria-led Accelerating Community Energy Transformation Initiative.

– ref. Fossil-fuel propaganda is stalling climate action. Here’s what we can do about it. – https://theconversation.com/fossil-fuel-propaganda-is-stalling-climate-action-heres-what-we-can-do-about-it-272227

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Regan Lipes, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and English, MacEwan University

In 2020, streaming platform Amazon Prime released Hunters, a thriller mystery about apprehending and eliminating Nazi war criminals living incognito in the United States.

The 18-episode, two-season series, starring Hollywood legend Al Pacino, depicts one particularly haunting scene where a concentration camp guard plays a game of deadly human chess with prisoners used as the pieces.

As pieces are captured, the terrified people are shot. What unfolds on screen is ghastly, but completely fictional. Amazon Prime Video used its X-Ray feature — an interactive overlay that allows viewers on a computer to pause and hover over a scene and access explanatory or historical annotations — to explain the scene fabrication.

As a scholar of Holocaust literary and film narratives, I have been increasingly troubled by the presentation of fictionalized Holocaust atrocities since first watching this show.

Were there not enough real acts of unimaginable violence? Why is there a need to make things up? This excess of creative licence for the sake of drawing in audiences can be desensitizing or can even fuel a fetish for Holocaust horror.

Perhaps, as journalist Tanya Gold wrote regarding John Boyne’s Holocaust novels instrumentalizing Jewish suffering to serve non-Jewish stories, audiences “are greedy for our tragedy.”

When storytelling becomes sensationalism

More recently, after watching the 2025 Netflix limited series, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, I am again exceptionally troubled by how the Holocaust is being portrayed with the integration of convicted war criminal Ilse Koch as a gruesome role model for the title character.

The series has received criticism for portraying Gein, a murderer and ghoulish pilferer of human remains, in a sympathetic light. But instances of fictionalized Holocaust portrayals have a larger potential impact.

For audiences, this can lead to misinformation, misrepresentation or, more dangerously, the questioning of how much content they consume is real or worse, distortion and denial.

Koch appears as a character in the series, portrayed by Vicky Krieps, an actress originally from Luxembourg. The title character, Ed Gein, portrayed by Charlie Hunnam, is obsessed with the Nazi concentration camps in a way that can only be interpreted as fetishism.

In modern Poland, this phenomenon of fetishized consumption of Holocaust content is referred to as “holo polo,” defined by cultural anthropologist Sylwia Chutnik as:

“A way of dealing with the ‘discomfort’ of the horrors of war and violence, by creating a more comfortable version of it. Instead of describing the horrors of the Holocaust, Holo-polo trivializes and misrepresents its significance, depicting melancholy, sentiment, and nostalgia in the light of a pop-cultural emotional trap. Kitschy clichés are misused and certainly do not serve memory, literature or respect for Holocaust victims and survivors.”

Repackaging Koch as seductive, sympathetic

Ilse Koch was the inspiration for the 1975 Canadian exploitation film Ilse She Wolf of the SS, rooted in the countless reports of the historical figure’s cruelty, sadism and twisted sexual appetites.

There has been debate over the extent of Koch’s sadism and sexual deviancy, but the “Witch of Buchenwald,” as she was known, was certainly guilty of war crimes regardless of possible media embellishment.

This newest dramatization portrays Koch as an attractive sexual temptress with dark impulses, but as the title protagonist idolizes her, her abuses fail to appear as sinister, but rather as fetishism. The series takes documented events and creatively amplifies them.

Koch and her husband, Karl Otto Koch — who served as commandant of Buchenwald and Majdanek — did build a massive indoor equestrian riding facility but the series portrays this as a gruesome circus where a scantily clad Krieps wearing an SS hat chases an almost nude female concentration camp prisoner while whipping her inside the backroom of a lavish party. Koch was known to ride on horseback whipping prisoners, but the farcical mockery and dramatization could leave viewers pondering what is fact.

At times, the fictionalization of the story goes as far as to depict a transatlantic ham radio conversation between Gein and Koch. The clandestine friendship is purely a fabrication of Gein’s troubled mind, but nevertheless allows Koch to passionately plead her innocence through Krieps’ performance.

Artistic licence: Real consequences

While artistic licence in historical dramatization is part of the process of storytelling, it must be undertaken responsibly to preserve the authenticity of true events.

Fictionalization is the fabrication of events that never took place for the sake of manufacturing a more compelling narrative. But fictional content can quickly morph into fetishization where the invented portion of story is packaged in a way that intends to exploit history to satisfy audience fascination with the macabre.

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How Jan. 27 came to be International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

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In Monster: The Ed Gein Story, Koch emotionally chastises authorities for taking her fourth child, born during her incarceration, from her arms, illustrating maternal tenderness and evoking compassion and sympathy from viewers. Before hanging herself, as the real Koch did on Sept. 1, 1967, Krieps’ character is driven mad by an unseen golem that has been dispatched to exact vengeance for the countless Jewish deaths she was responsible for.

Koch was a woman who used tattooed human skin to make artifacts such as a lampshade, and despite this too being chronicled in the miniseries, the crimes come off as eccentricities rather than heinous acts of barbarity.

Leah Abrahamsson, an influencer from the Orthodox Jewish community, writes on her blog, Jew in the City in response to watching Hunters:

“Creating a fake situation located in a real spot of historical significance lessens the impact and knowledge of the real events that unfolded. By fictionalizing the past, future generations are more susceptible to false information and denying the Holocaust completely.”

Could society be feeding diluted history to a new generation that won’t heed the lessons learned from the Holocaust?

A 2025 report from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance corroborates that denial, distortion and revisionism are on the rise in Europe.

The study offers a stark assessment of this in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy and Poland. It shows “how antisemitic narratives adapt to societal crises, are exploited for political gain, often evade legal accountability, and erode historical truth with harmful consequences for Jewish communities, Holocaust survivors and their descendants.”

With Holocaust denial posing a very real threat globally it becomes increasingly vital that storytellers be more responsible with their fictionalizations and use of artistic liberties.

Regan Lipes 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. The dangers of blurring fact and fiction in Holocaust TV narratives – https://theconversation.com/the-dangers-of-blurring-fact-and-fiction-in-holocaust-tv-narratives-270768

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Milena Esser, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Biology, McMaster University

During the COVID-19 pandemic, disinfectants became our shield. Hand sanitizers, disinfectant wipes and antimicrobial sprays became part of daily life. They made us feel safe. Today, they are still everywhere: in homes, hospitals and public spaces.

But there’s a hidden cost. The chemicals we trust to protect us may also inadvertently help microbes evolve resistance and protect themselves against antibiotics.

QACs: The chemicals in most disinfectants

Among the most common active ingredients in disinfectants are quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs). They are found not only in the wipes, sprays and liquids we use to clean surfaces at home and in hospitals, but also in everyday products like fabric softeners and personal care products.

Roughly half of the products on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) List N of disinfectants effective against SARS-CoV-2 and List Q for emerging viral pathogens contain QACs.

Due to their widespread use, QACs enter wastewater treatment plants in substantial amounts, with effluents and sewage sludge being the main pathways through which QACs are released into the environment.

Within wastewater treatment plants, more than 90 per cent of QACs are typically removed, but small amounts remain in the effluents and reach rivers and lakes, where they accumulate.

Once QACs enter the environment, they meet microbial communities, networks of bacteria, archaea and fungi that recycle nutrients, purify water and support food webs.

Given that QACs are designed to kill microbes, it is no surprise that they can affect environmental ones. Yet microbial communities are remarkably adaptable; some die, but others survive and evolve resistance.

The paradox of protection

Unlike antibiotics, which target specific cellular processes, QACs attack microbes and viruses in many ways, damaging cell walls, proteins and lipids. This broad attack makes QACs powerful disinfectants.

However, microbes are resourceful. Faced with these chemicals, some strengthen their cell membranes, pump toxins out or form protective biofilms. These adaptations don’t just help them survive QACs, but increasing evidence shows they can also boost antibiotic resistance.

At the genetic level, QAC resistance genes are often carried on mobile DNA, segments of genetic material that can move between different bacteria. When these elements carry both QAC and antibiotic resistance genes, the resistances travel together and can spread across bacterial communities, a phenomenon called co-resistance.

In other cases, a single defence mechanism protects against both QACs and antibiotics, a process known as cross-resistance. The widespread and increasing use of QACs amplifies these mechanisms, creating more opportunities for resistance to spread. This, in turn, establishes pathways through which antimicrobial resistance can reach human pathogens, contributing to the global rise of antibiotic-resistant infections.

According to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report, antimicrobial resistance is “critically high and rising” globally: In 2023, one in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections responsible for common illnesses worldwide were resistant to antibiotic treatment. Between 2018 and 2023, resistance increased in more than 40 per cent of the pathogen-antibiotic combinations that are monitored, with an average annual rise of five to 15 per cent.

The WHO estimates that in 2019, bacterial antimicrobial resistance directly caused 1.27 million deaths and contributed to nearly five million more worldwide. What begins as a household cleaning choice can ripple outward, connecting our everyday habits to one of the most pressing public health challenges of our time.

Antimicrobial resistance is often seen as a clinical problem caused by antibiotic misuse, but it begins much earlier, in households, wastewater, rivers, lakes and soils. These are battlegrounds where microbes share resistance traits and adapt to human-made chemical pressures. Once resistance arises, it can make its way back to us.

At its core, the disinfectant dilemma is a feedback loop: we disinfect to prevent disease, but the chemicals we rely on may quietly make microbes harder to control.

Rethinking clean

This doesn’t mean we should stop disinfecting. Disinfectants play an essential role in infection control, especially in hospitals and high-risk settings where their benefits far outweigh their risks. The issue lies in their overuse in everyday life, where “clean” is often equated with “microbe-free”, regardless of necessity or consequence.

What we rarely consider is that cleaning doesn’t end when the surface looks hygienic. Some disinfectants remain active long after use, continuing to shape microbial communities well beyond their intended moment of control. QACs are a clear example: they persist in the environment, exposing microbes to low, chronic selective pressures that can favour the development of resistance.

Other disinfectants, such as alcohol and bleach, may carry different, but still meaningful environmental risks, underscoring the need for risk assessments that more explicitly integrate long-term ecological consequences.

Ultimately, the disinfectant dilemma reminds us that managing microbes is as much about ecology as it is about chemistry. To clean responsibly, we need to think beyond what kills microbes today and consider how our choices shape the microbial world we will face tomorrow.

Milena Esser 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. Everyday chemicals, global consequences: How disinfectants contribute to antimicrobial resistance – https://theconversation.com/everyday-chemicals-global-consequences-how-disinfectants-contribute-to-antimicrobial-resistance-270936

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Anne E. Kleffner, Professor, Risk Management and Insurance, University of Calgary

Every year, extreme weather events wreak havoc across Canada, disrupting the lives of tens of thousands. Financial losses from these events have surged, surpassing $7 billion in 2024, due in part to climate change, asset accumulation and more people living in high-risk areas.

Evidence from Canada, the United States and Europe shows that weather-related disasters aren’t experienced equally. The people hardest hit are often those with the fewest resources to cope.

Lower-income and marginalized populations face greater exposure, have fewer resources to prepare or recover and incur a higher proportion of losses not covered by insurance.

Even if they are insured, many people have difficulty covering the deductible because they lack emergency savings. This means damage is not repaired, people live in unsafe or unhealthy conditions and the financial and personal risk of future events is increased.

Insurance helps households recover and can prevent them from falling — or falling deeper — into poverty after a disaster. But across Canada, insurance is becoming costlier and, in some places, harder to get. Between 2019 and 2023, average home insurance premiums rose by 21 per cent overall. For lower-income Canadians, that increase was 40 per cent.

A widening protection gap

Canada’s growing insurance protection gap is a serious concern, and it’s widening at a time when weather-related disasters are becoming more frequent and more severe.

When households are uninsured, losses can strain household budgets and leave people unable to meet their basic needs. As extreme weather escalates, so does the likelihood that more families will find themselves unable to recover.

Affordability is the primary driver of the protection gap, but it is not the only one. Many Canadians do not understand the benefits of insurance, or underestimate the probability and cost of suffering a loss.

Accessibility to insurance is also a challenge, especially in remote areas where it is usually purchased in person. While the growth of digital purchasing channels helps, it is not a solution for those without reliable internet or sufficient digital skills.

Finally, the market itself does not always meet the needs of low-income or otherwise marginalized groups. There is a lack of insurance products designed for these groups, leaving many without the protection they need.

Strengthening community resilience

Better insurance options, stronger investments in mitigation and better support for consumers can help reduce inequities and strengthen resilience.

Community-level mitigation is a good starting point. Land-use planning that steers development away from high-risk areas can prevent future losses. Programs like FireSmart, which reduces wildfire losses, and infrastructure designed for a changing climate also help limit damage as severe weather becomes more frequent.

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National assessments show that making housing more resilient reduces exposure for lower-income and marginalized households that are more likely to live in older or poorly maintained homes, putting them at greater risk.

While major retrofits can be costly, even small upgrades such as improving drainage, installing backwater valves or fire-resistant materials can help prevent damage. Many municipalities provide targeted subsidies and incentive programs that support these upgrades, particularly for households facing greater financial constraints.

Making hazard information easier to find and understand can also help ensure no one is left behind when disasters strike. Many Canadians lack clear information about the hazards they face and how to prepare for them. Some residents, including newcomers and seniors, may face barriers in accessing or acting upon available information.

Finally, community supports can further strengthen resilience. People with strong social ties and access to community organizations recover more quickly after disasters. Programs that build local networks and support neighbourhood groups can help accomplish this at a relatively low cost.

Closing the protection gap

A critical step in reducing the unequal impacts of weather-related hazards is closing Canada’s insurance protection gap. Microinsurance is one promising solution, and these simplified, low-cost policies can provide basic protection at a fraction of the cost for households that cannot afford traditional coverage.

Embedded tenant insurance — automatically included when renters sign a lease — is another approach that ensures basic coverage.

Digital tools, such as mobile-friendly sign-up platforms and plain-language policy explanations, can reduce barriers for those who struggle with technology.

Public support for income-tested premium subsidies or credits can bring essential coverage within reach for low-income households, while community-based catastrophe insurance — where local governments or community groups arrange coverage on behalf of residents — offers another option.

While Canadians can’t stop extreme weather, we can work together to prevent it from worsening inequality. Increasing awareness, reducing losses, closing insurance gaps and building resilience are key to protecting those at greatest risk.

Derek Cook is the Director of the Canadian Poverty Institute that receives funding from The Co-operators Insurance Company. The Canadian Poverty Institute is also a partner with The Resilience Institute on a collaborative project that is funded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Company (CMHC).

Mary Kelly has received funding from Finance Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She is also on the board of directors of Heartland Mutual Insurance Company.

Anne E. Kleffner 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. The climate insurance gap is widening, and it’s leaving marginalized Canadians behind – https://theconversation.com/the-climate-insurance-gap-is-widening-and-its-leaving-marginalized-canadians-behind-270417

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By James Deaville, Professor of Music, Carleton University

Hailed by many critics and movie lovers as a “timeless classic” — and ranking first on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 most inspiring films of all time — It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) has found a secure place in the hearts of audiences.

The story revolves around George Bailey, who sacrifices his personal dreams to support the small community of Bedford Falls. When a financial crisis pushes him to the brink of despair, an angel intervenes and reveals what the town’s life would look like had George never been born.

George is confronted with an alternative reality in what the film frames as a foil city, Pottersville. There, he rediscovers the value of his contributions and returns to Bedford Falls renewed, to what some viewers regard as an outpouring of communal generosity and small-town virtue.

Yet part of the film’s appeal can be attributed to its existential themes about the meaning of life.

The movie’s soundtrack — including contributions by Hollywood composer Dimitri Tiomkin — plays a central role in It’s a Wonderful Life, underscoring problems and tensions beneath the surface. Some depictions of music and sound beg analysis around how these reflect racist ideas about “proper” musical, social and community norms.

Film origins

The film began its life as a short story called The Greatest Gift (1939). Film studio RKO bought the story in 1944 and sold it to director Frank Capra’s new company, Liberty Films, in 1945.

A team of writers — including Capra himself — rewrote the script and set to work on getting Jimmy Stewart, earlier cast in two of Capra’s pre-war films, to star.

Just back from serving in the Second World War, Stewart was reluctant, not least because of what was then known as shellshock and is now called post-traumatic stress disorder from his wartime experiences. Capra successfully coaxed Stewart into taking the role.

It’s a Wonderful Life was intended for release in January 1947, but the studio moved up the premiere to Dec. 20 in order to qualify for the 1946 Academy Awards.

The film’s success came after early scrutiny. An FBI agent attended an early screening and found the film undermined the institution of banking and advanced notions of a demoralized public, but the bureau decided not to pursue prosecution.

The fact that the film was neither a financial nor a critical success upon release is well known.

Less often acknowledged is that, owing to a clerical failure to file the necessary copyright renewal, the film slipped into the public domain, ensuring decades of holiday broadcasts that ultimately recast it as a Christmas icon.

Musical score

Tiomkin had already worked with Capra on several film projects, including Lost Horizon (1937) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), as well as providing music for the director’s Why We Fight series (1942-1945).

Capra’s selection of Tiomkin for It’s a Wonderful Life is not surprising, yet little of his score remains in the final film.

Tiomkin had composed a full set of cues, which the movie condenses to about 25-30 minutes in a 130-minute run time. Tiomkin’s original cues bear such titles as “Death Telegram” and “George Is Unborn,” and are available on a 2014 recording consisting of 28 tracks.

Memorable musical moments

However, the most memorable musical moments in the film aren’t Tiomkin’s. Instead, they involve citations of well-known traditional and holiday favourites including Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, Auld Lang Syne, Silent Night, Adeste Fidelis as well as the folk song Buffalo Gals,“ arranged by Tiomkin, and the popular jazz composition, The Charleston by James P. Johnson.

The film score emerges as choppy and highly varied, not only because of Capra’s cuts, but also by his tracking in cues from other movies. Alfred Newman’s Hallelujah from the Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) is heard as George jubilantly runs down the main street of Bedford Falls.

The Gregorian chant “Dies Irae” from the 13th century Mass for the Dead is heard when George — on the bridge — changes his mind about dying.

Tiomkin never worked with Capra again.

Race, music and community

A key concerning aspect to the music heard in It’s a Wonderful Life revolves around the portrayal of Black musical forms and practitioners.

Capra’s known racism against Blacks, consistent with racist discourses and practices of the era, is reflected in how jazz and other Black musical forms appear and are framed.

In the iconic Bedford falls dance, the band plays three songs, including
African American pianist and composer Johnson’s “Charleston,” which is performed by a white band.

As American journalism professor Sam Freedman notes in a podcast on whiteness and racism in America, the town features predominantly white citizens apart from a stereotypical depiction of a Black housekeeper in the Bailey family.

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The sounds of Pottersville

Music is essential to how the dystopian town, Pottersville, is imagined during George’s manic episode.

There, Black jazz reigns supreme, symbolized by the onscreen performance of unrecognizable music by Meade Lux Lewis, a pioneering and acclaimed composer and boogie woogie pianist.

In the uncredited performance, Lewis is at the keyboard wearing a derby and smoking a stogie. He appears in Nick’s Bar, which the screenwriters describe as “a hard-drinking joint, a honky-tonk … People are lower down and tougher.”

Outside the bar, we hear the fragmented strains of jazz from the dive bar pouring into the town’s main street.

Outside the bar, George bumps into Bedford Falls characters who are, in this alternate setting, destitute and desperate. The quaint main street is overrun by nightclubs and full of bright lights. Through Pottersville, the film projects a sense of moral degradation.

While negatively portraying jazz practised by Black artists, the film simultaneously draws upon and appropriates Black musical forms as necessary and key to popular American life but in a white-controlled version.

Not-so-idyllic Bedford Falls

Despite Capra’s attempt at a happy ending, in the not-so-idyllic Bedford Falls, George is not fully aware of the malicious meddling of a rich, white citizen of Bedford — Henry F. Potter — which catalyzed his financial problems.

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Read more:
The dystopian Pottersville in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is starting to feel less like fiction

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George awakens from his Pottersville reverie to re-commit to small-town life. While some viewers see the ending as affirming community, the film also keeps George partly ignorant of how the forces of inequity are actually operating in his largely white community.

Maybe we can appreciate the film on a deeper level, when we consider its varied and competing narratives around music, race, class and belonging.

James Deaville receives funding from SSHRC.

– ref. It’s a Wonderful Life: A Christmas classic that reflects bigoted ideas about ‘proper’ music in the 1940s – https://theconversation.com/its-a-wonderful-life-a-christmas-classic-that-reflects-bigoted-ideas-about-proper-music-in-the-1940s-270740

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Sadaf Mehrabi, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University

When a crisis strikes, rumours and conspiracy theories often spread faster than emergency officials can respond and issue corrections.

In Canada, social media posts have falsely claimed wildfires were intentionally set, that evacuation orders were government overreach or that smoke maps were being manipulated. In several communities, people delayed leaving because they were unsure which information to trust.

This wasn’t just online noise. It directly shaped how Canadians responded to real danger. When misinformation delays evacuations, fragments compliance or undermines confidence in official warnings, it reduces the state’s ability to protect lives and critical infrastructure.

At that point, misinformation is no longer merely a communications problem, but a national security risk. Emergency response systems depend on public trust to function. When that trust erodes, response capacity weakens and preventable harm increases.

Canada is entering an era where climate misinformation is becoming a public-safety threat. As wildfires, floods and droughts grow more frequent, emergency systems rely on one fragile assumption: that people believe the information they receive. When that assumption fails, the entire chain of crisis communication begins to break down. We are already seeing early signs of that failure.

This dynamic extends far beyond acute disasters. It also affects long-running climate policy and adaptation efforts. When trust in institutions erodes and misinformation becomes easier to absorb than scientific evidence, public support for proactive climate action collapses.

Recent research by colleagues and me on how people perceive droughts shows that members of the public often rely on lived experiences, memories, identity and social and institutional cues — such as environmental concerns, perceived familiarity and trust — to decide whether they are experiencing a drought, even when official information suggests otherwise.

These complex cognitive dynamics create predictable vulnerabilities. Evidence from Canada and abroad documents how false narratives during climate emergencies reduce protective behaviour, amplify confusion and weaken institutional authority.

Tackling misinformation

Canada has invested billions of dollars in physical resiliency, firefighting capacity, flood resiliency and energy reliability. In addition, the Canadian government also recently joined the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change to investigate false narratives and strengthen response capacity.

These are much needed steps in the right direction. But Canada still approaches misinformation as secondary rather than a key component of climate-risk management.

That leaves responsibility for effective messaging fragmented across public safety, environment, emergency management and digital policy, with no single entity accountable for monitoring, anticipating or responding to information threats during crises. The cost of this fragmentation is slower response, weaker co-ordination and greater risk to public safety.

Canada also continues to rely heavily on outdated communication mediums like radio, TV and static government websites, while climate misinformation is optimized for the social-media environment. False content often circulates quickly online digitally, with emotional resonance and repetition giving it an advantage over verified information.

Research on misinformation dynamics shows how platforms systematically amplify sensational claims and how false claims travel farther and faster than verified updates.

Governments typically attempt to correct misinformation during emergencies when emotions are high, timelines are compressed and false narratives are already circulating. By then, correction is reactive and often ineffective.

Trust cannot be built in the middle of a crisis. It is long-term public infrastructure that must be maintained through transparency, consistency and modern communication systems before disasters occur.

Proactive preparedness

Canada needs to shift from reactive correction to proactive preparedness. With wildfire season only months ahead, this is the window when preparation matters most. Waiting for the next crisis to expose the same weaknesses is not resilience, but repetition.

We cannot afford another round of reacting under pressure and then reflecting afterwards on steps that should have been taken earlier. That shift requires systemic planning:

• Proactive public preparedness: Federal and provincial emergency agencies should treat public understanding of alerts, evacuation systems and climate risks as a standing responsibility, not an emergency add-on. This information must be communicated well before disaster strikes, through the platforms people actually use, with clear expectations about where authoritative information will come from.

• Institutional co-ordination: Responsiblity for tackling climate misinformation currently falls between departments. A federal-provincial co-ordination mechanism, linked to emergency management rather than political communications, would allow early detection of misinformation patterns and faster response, just as meteorological or hydrological risks are monitored today.

• Partnerships with trusted messengers: Community leaders, educators, health professionals and local organizations often have more credibility than institutions during crises. These relationships should be formalized in emergency planning, not improvised under pressure. During recent wildfires, community-run pages and volunteers were among the most effective at countering false claims.

We cannot eliminate every rumour or every bit of misinformation. But without strengthening public trust and information integrity as core components of climate infrastructure, emergencies will become harder to manage and more dangerous.

Climate resilience is not only about physical systems. It is also about whether people believe the warnings meant to protect them. Canada’s long-term security depends on taking that reality seriously.

Sadaf Mehrabi 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. Climate misinformation is becoming a national security threat. Canada isn’t ready for it. – https://theconversation.com/climate-misinformation-is-becoming-a-national-security-threat-canada-isnt-ready-for-it-271588

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Joanna Pozzulo, Chancellor’s Professor, Psychology, Carleton University

The holidays can be filled with joy and positive emotion, but they can also be a time when stress is in overdrive. To-do lists can be long, with little time for personal well-being.

Approximately 50 per cent of Canadians report December as being the most stressful month of the year, with women 40 per cent more likely to experience holiday stress due to pressure to manage holiday preparations. Over the holiday season, women report changes in sleep quality, dietary choices and mental health.

Although financial concerns are common over the holiday season, this year a significant number of Canadians are feeling an even greater strain with rising costs and job insecurity. Two-thirds of Canadian parents are concerned about managing costs over the holidays.

People may also experience family strain and conflict over the holidays, giving rise to feelings of loneliness and sadness. Past family dynamics may be triggering and open up old wounds. Changes in family composition may be felt more during the holidays. Grief over loss can also be intensified.

Identifying evidence-based strategies and using them to support your well-being is critical to experiencing the holiday season at its best. For example, writing a to-do list before bed can reduce worry and increase the speed of falling asleep.

Learning to regulate emotional stress

Holidays can increase the intensity of emotions, both positive and negative. Learning about emotional regulation, which involves being able to respond to experiences in adaptive ways, is important.

Cognitive reframing, where you consider the alternative perspectives of a situation, can be a helpful method for reducing the impact of negative emotions.

It requires considering whether there are alternative explanations for a seemingly negative or ambiguous situation. Less offensive interpretations can help regulate negative emotions. In this way, cognitive reframing can reduce stress, improve emotional resilience and help manage anxiety by shifting negative thought patterns into more positive ones.

Sleep matters more during holidays

Approximately 25 per cent of Canadian workers engage in some form of shift work, making healthy sleep habits particularly difficult. With ever-growing to-do lists during the holidays, cutting back on sleep to fit everything in can seem like a good idea.

However, getting sufficient, quality sleep can promote heart health and help with memory and cognitive functioning. It can also lower cortisol levels (a key stress hormone).

Practise good sleep hygiene, defined as a set of habits that promote sound sleep, such as maintaining a consistent sleep schedule and an environment free of distractions.

It can be challenging, but it’s essential to reducing irritability and helping you remember the items on your to-do list.

Eating mindfully amid indulgence

Decadent desserts and specialty treats are usually found in abundance during family gatherings and holiday work parties. Although it may be difficult to always make healthier choices during the holidays, try engaging in mindful eating.

Mindful eating can decrease stress hormones as well as promote self-compassion by reducing the negative judgment around food choices.

Be aware of what you are consuming (and how much) to help you make decisions that are consistent with your longer-term goals.

Disrupted routines and staying active

Physical activity can improve mood, decrease stress and increase energy levels. Engaging in some activity most days can support mental health.

Exercise can have a significant impact on your well-being by increasing serotonin and dopamine, two neurotransmitters that are important for a positive mood. Physical exercise can also improve self-esteem, helping you tackle stressful situations as well as lowering your anxiety levels.

The holidays can disrupt exercise routines, with fewer opportunities for longer workouts. Opt for brief (10-minute) and more frequent workouts (twice a day) to maintain the benefits that physical activity can have on your well-being.

The restorative effect of solitude

Burnout from childcare and eldercare is reported by almost 50 per cent of working mothers.

Finding some time for yourself can seem impossible, even though research demonstrates that spending some time on your own can help recharge your emotional and cognitive batteries. When preparing for busy holiday gatherings, spend some time away from everyone to feel calmer, refreshed and revitalized.

This can help calm your nervous system and recharge your mental capacity for challenges ahead.

Although the optimal amount of alone time each person needs will vary, 15 minutes a day can be restorative. During this “me time,” choose activities that you look forward to, find meaning in and find satisfying (such as reading, knitting or going on a walk.)

Strengthening family and social ties

Approximately two million Canadian seniors aged 65 and older live alone, with almost 20 per cent experiencing loneliness. Good relationships can increase our happiness, health and longevity, which makes the holidays a great opportunity to reconnect with loved ones.

Spending time with others can foster belonging and purpose, which in turn can reduce the body’s inflammation and illness risk.

Family dynamics, however, can be complex. Approximately 34 per cent of Canadians report some sort of family dispute. If relationships are strained, consider keeping the interactions brief.

If connecting with others isn’t possible, short conversations with strangers also can improve well-being. Striking up a conversation while waiting for your coffee order can be help decrease loneliness and improve mood.

Be flexible and manage expectations

Holiday traditions and rituals can be important for our happiness and well-being. They provide a sense of belonging, comfort and joy.

Rituals can also provide a sense of control through predictable actions and behaviour which in turn can help strengthen social bonds.

Consider creating new traditions that are consistent with your current situation to increase wellness. Be sure to manage your expectations for the holidays, however, as others may have different priorities.

By having a flexible mindset — the ability to adapt thinking and behaviour to new information or circumstances — you can reduce stress and decrease disappointment, allowing you to maintain a positive outlook for the holidays.

For more evidence-based books and strategies for the new year, join my Reading for Well-Being Community Book Club. Have a happy and healthy holiday!

Joanna Pozzulo receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

– ref. How to protect your well-being, survive the stress of the holiday season and still keep your cheer – https://theconversation.com/how-to-protect-your-well-being-survive-the-stress-of-the-holiday-season-and-still-keep-your-cheer-270765

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Frank Deer, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba

In recent years, members of the Canadian public have witnessed the misrepresentation of Indigenous identities.

Recently, we learned that University of Guelph professor emeritus Thomas King is not Indigenous. The highly regarded author of literary works such as The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America and The Back of the Turtle captured the imagination of readers interested in Indigenous experiences.

Both non-Indigenous readers, either less or more familiar with Indigenous lives, and Indigenous readers trusted and respected King. Many of us revered him.

In King, we had a source of literary representation that informed knowledge of the Indigenous experience, and inspired curiosity about who Indigenous people are — and how we might understand “their” or “our” knowledge, histories and experiences.

King’s situation is yet another in a queue of high-profile individuals such as Buffy Sainte-Marie, Carrie Bourassa and Vianne Timmons who have made dubious claims about Indigenous identities.

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Read more:
Thomas King: As we learn another ‘hero’ is non-Indigenous, let’s not ignore a broader cultural problem

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Some Canadian universities have begun to develop policies to address erroneous claims to indigeneity. Some have already been affected by the fallout of such cases, while others wish to mitigate potential problems of misrepresentation.

Our respective research interests are in Indigenous education related to Indigenous identity and languages and interdisciplinary research related to intersectional justice, decolonization and equity.

We are both “Status Indian,” who consider ourselves to have connections to our respective communities, in Kanienkeha’ka (Frank) and Wendat (Annie) territories. In our own cases, and many others, these connections are also made complicated by migration, work/life changes and relationships.

Universities address Indigenous identity

Many universities are attempting to develop appropriate policies for Indigenous identity verification that will address and possibly prevent false claims to Indigenous identity.

For example, community consultations at the University of Manitoba and working groups at the University of Winnipeg have provided some valuable input into the problem of false claims of Indigenous identity and potential approaches to address them.

The University of Montréal is also in the process of developing a policy on Indigenous self-declaration, although it has not yet been formally adopted.

While there are many aspects to take into consideration, policies may vary from one institution or community to another. Yet across contexts, policy development about Indigenous identity will often lead to difficult conversations.

Indentity is personal and complex

As such policies emerge, it ought to be acknowledged that Indigenous identity is profoundly personal and complex. For instance, some Indigenous people may lack connections due to the Sixties Scoop phenomenon.

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Read more:
How journalists tell Buffy Sainte-Marie’s story matters — explained by a ’60s Scoop survivor

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Viewing the complexities that may exist when considering an individual’s Indigenous identity as “challenges” might adversely affect our orientations toward the exercise.

Fundamentally, the constituent elements of one’s Indigenous identity ought to be treated charitably. This approach should not be understood as a dismissal of the problems experienced when one misrepresents their identity as being Indigenous. The concern here is the impact that such dialogue has upon Indigenous people and Peoples at large.

Rights of individuals, nations

We acknowledge the prevailing notion that claims of Indigenous identity ought to be consistent with the rights of nations: this has become an important concern for how Indigenous Peoples understand membership in their communities.

The current prevailing view among many is that some sort of national affiliation is central to any personal declaration to Indigenous identity.

Many academics have expressed confidence in the notion that Indigenous communities are in the best positions to determine how Indigenous identity may be understood in their respective communal or national contexts.

It is also important to include the rights of individuals in the conversation on Indigenous identity. This reflects what is contained in Article 33 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which affirms Indigenous peoples’ right to define their own identity and membership based on their customs and traditions.

Although connections to Indigenous communities are regarded as essential to claims of Indigenous identity, many Indigenous people may not be connected to their community.

Thus, claims to indigeneity made by those without such apparent connections must be considered carefully.

Non-material harms of false claims

While prospective policies around Indigenous identity are developed to regulate situations that would lead a person to make a false claim for material benefits — like access to funding or Indigenous-specific hiring — we believe that non-material impacts, such as community well-being and trust, should also be considered.

False declarations unquestionably impact the person and, sometimes, the reputation of the institution. These also also harm other groups like Indigenous academics, and wider research communities, through division and the erosion of confidence.

Impacts of misrepresentation

Although the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds highlighted the dubiousness of King’s claims to indigeneity, King has owned up publicly to his misrepresentation.

In an essay in The Globe and Mail, King shared what he had learned of his non-Cherokee ancestry, family stories shared about his darker skin, as well as the impacts that his misrepresentation has had on others.

Perhaps we can be charitable to a man who has learned about himself, set the record straight and contributed to a difficult conversation.

Frank Deer receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Annie Pullen Sansfaçon receives funding from the Canada Research Chair Program. She is member of the National Indigenous University Senior Leaders’ Association (NIUSLA)

– ref. Universities’ work towards Indigenous identity policies signals difficult conversations – https://theconversation.com/universities-work-towards-indigenous-identity-policies-signals-difficult-conversations-271074

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Michael J. Armstrong, Associate Professor, Operations Research, Brock University

When Canada legalized cannabis in October 2018, there were many concerns about its potential impacts. One of them involved cannabis-impaired driving.

Before legalization, police were already catching more drug-impaired drivers each year. So, people naturally worried that more stoned drivers would appear on the road after legalization.

To lower that risk, the federal government updated its driving laws. Impairment by alcohol or drugs separately was already illegal. In December 2018, Canada also banned impairment by combinations of alcohol and drugs, or by unspecified substances.

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Cannabis-impaired driving: Here’s what we know about the risks of weed behind the wheel

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The government likewise helped police to better enforce those laws. For example, it gave them more power to obtain breath and blood samples from drivers. And it funded more training to help them recognize symptoms of drug impairment.

However, it was unclear how much impaired driving would really increase due to legalizing cannabis.

For example, drivers injured in collisions often test positive for cannabis, but also for other drugs. Cannabis consumers claim they are driving less often after use. And police say that drivers’ symptoms more often imply impairment by stimulants or narcotics than by cannabis.

Given this uncertainty, I decided to dig into the police data.

Police-reported impairment

My research analyzed the annual rates of impaired driving cases that police investigated between 2009 and 2023. The reporting covered four substance categories: alcohol, drugs, drugs-and-alcohol combined and unknown substances.

Note that “drugs” includes cannabis but also other chemicals like opioids and amphetamines. Publicly available data unfortunately don’t name the drugs involved.

I first estimated the trends in alcohol and drug impairment up until 2018. I then calculated how much rates changed from 2019 onward.

I also checked several potential explanations for those changes. Those included the level of legalized cannabis sales and the share of adults consuming cannabis in each province. I also considered each province’s number of police trained in drug recognition and their degree of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

The data showed that during the 15-year study period, alcohol remained the most common impairment category. But its share of all cases dropped from 98 per cent in 2009 to 95 per cent in 2017 and to just 80 per cent in 2023.

Up until 2018, the total impairment rate also fell each year.

More drinks and drugs

But in 2019, rates jumped substantially. As a result, police reported 31 per cent more impairment cases during 2019-23 than the 2009-18 trend had projected.

The impairment increases varied between provinces. For example, there was no significant change in Québec and Saskatchewan. But rates doubled in British Columbia and Newfoundland.

Percentage-wise, the drugs category saw the most growth. It averaged 42 per cent higher during 2019-23 than had been projected.

But alcohol impairment rose too. It averaged 17 per cent above its previous trend.

And when counting drivers, alcohol’s growth was larger. The increase in drinking drivers caught by police was four times the increase in drugged drivers.

The new offenses for impairment by drugs and alcohol combined, or by unspecified substances, also contributed to the higher rate.

So, police clearly found more impaired drivers after 2018. But was that because more impaired drivers were on the road? Because police got better at catching them? Or both?

Constables, COVID and cannabis

My analysis showed the impairment changes were correlated most strongly with the number of police trained in drug recognition. Not surprisingly, when provinces gave police more training, they caught more impaired drivers.

The restrictions that provinces imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic showed the second biggest correlations with impairment. But interestingly, alcohol and drugs diverged: when provinces tightened restrictions, they got less impairment from alcohol but more from drugs.

Presumably, lockdowns meant fewer bars open, and so fewer people driving home drunk. But perhaps lockdowns also meant more laid-off workers using drugs at home before going grocery shopping.

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Alcohol sales changed subtly after Canada legalized cannabis

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Alcohol impairment showed no relationship with the numbers of Canadians consuming cannabis or the amount of cannabis legally sold. That’s not surprising. Canadians didn’t suddenly replace their cabernet with cannabis after legalization.

But it was surprising that drug impairment likewise showed no relationship with cannabis consumer numbers. And it was only weakly correlated with legal sales.

This might imply that most drug impairment came from chemicals other than cannabis. Or perhaps most legal cannabis purchases simply replaced existing illegal ones, rather than adding to total usage.

Consuming responsibly

Overall, Canadian police reported noticeably more drug-impaired and alcohol-impaired driving after 2018. But the growth seemed related mostly to enhanced enforcement and pandemic disruptions, rather than to legalized cannabis. And fortunately, the long-term decline in impaired driving resumed in 2020.

All road users benefit from that continuing decline. And we each play a role in maintaining it. Whether your preferred intoxicant is booze, weed or something else, please consume responsibly. And use designated drivers or public transit to get home.

After all, flashing coloured lights look much nicer on a tree standing in your home than on a police car pulling you over.

Michael J. Armstrong 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. After Canada legalized cannabis, police caught more drunk drivers – https://theconversation.com/after-canada-legalized-cannabis-police-caught-more-drunk-drivers-272244

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Matthieu Caron, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History, Simon Fraser University

The history of Montréal’s night-time regulation reveals how managing nightlife expanded police power and budgets — and how burdensome effects of these changes fell disproportionately on sex workers, the queer community and hospitality industry workers.

For much of the first half of the 20th century, Montréal built a reputation as a North American nightlife capital. Tourists sought out cabarets, jazz clubs and after-hours bars, and moved through the red-light district where sex, gambling and liquor were openly available.

This permissiveness relied on a well-understood but illicit arrangement: police officers, politicians, madams, taxi drivers, performing artists and business owners all participated in a protected nighttime economy.

By the mid-1950s, however, this tolerance became the starting point for one of the largest expansions of police authority in Canadian urban history.

As I examine in my book Montreal After Dark: Nighttime Regulation and the Pursuit of a Global City, Montréal’s political leadership came to see nightlife control not as a marginal issue but as a central measure of civic order and modernity. And that shift transformed the police force.

When night became a policing problem

In the 1940s, the Montréal Police Department was already stretched thin. Officers enforced wartime blackouts, guarded industrial sites and cracked down on sexually transmitted infections among soldiers and civilians.

The Morality Squad (“Escouade de la moralité”) — enlarged during wartime fears over delinquency — patrolled theatres, bars, parks and known queer or youth meeting places.

Young women were frequently arrested for “immoral” behaviour, while queer men faced entrapment and harassment. In this, Montréal’s squad resembled its North American counterparts, variously labelled vice squads — or, in Toronto’s case, the Morality Department, disbanded in the 1930s.

Pursuing a new urban order

Pacifique “Pax” Plante, a city prosecutor, took over the Morality Squad at this time.

He insisted that officers apply laws long ignored, raiding brothels, gambling houses and nightclubs that had operated under longstanding police protection. His crusade threatened the partnerships that sustained Montréal’s nighttime economy, and this led to his dismissal in 1948.

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Defunding the police requires understanding what role policing plays in our society

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But the damage had been done; his campaign pushed the city into the 1950–53 Caron Inquiry, which laid bare a police force deeply entangled in the very nightlife it was meant to regulate.

Cleaning up the city required more than moral zeal. Reformers pursued a new urban order which led to hiring, retraining, centralizing authority and expanding the budget. Nightlife policing became one of the clearest justifications for growth.

Building a modern police force

After the inquiry, Jean Drapeau’s Civic Action League won the 1954 municipal election on a promise to restore honesty and order. But doing so required rebuilding the police. At mid-century, the force was large but demoralized, discredited by scandal and mistrusted by residents.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the city invested heavily in police professionalization. European consultants from London and Paris reorganized the department, streamlined command structures and introduced new standards of training and discipline — reforms similar to those underway in Chicago and Los Angeles. Hundreds of new officers were hired and night patrols increased. Raids on cabarets, clubs and small bars became routine.

By the late 1960s, the police budget had risen sharply. Montréal’s political atmosphere — defined by protests, marches, labour disputes, dissent and fears of radical activity — gave elected officials strong incentives to keep expanding the force.

The 1969 police and firefighter strike plunged the city into chaos: looting, fires and riots. The municipal administration used the event to argue for further investment in policing, reinforcing an upward spiral in budget growth and authority.

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Canadian cities continue to over-invest in policing

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Growing police budget

Moments of unrest were not daily occurrences, but they created a climate in which constant budget increases appeared necessary.

Tellingly, between the mid-1950s and 1970, Montréal’s police budget grew from $9.6 million to $49.7 million — an increase of more than 400 per cent and far outpacing overall municipal spending.

Yet, the everyday, not the exceptional, absorbed the department’s time. Officers spent their nights patrolling streets, parks, clubs and cabarets, enforcing morality laws and municipal bylaws.

They targeted sex workers, queer men and women and performing artists working after dark. Street checks, like arrests for prostitution charges, shaped the routine work of policing, linking the department’s growth directly to the governance of nighttime public space.

Nighttime surveillance — from enforcing bar hours to policing street sex work — became part of a broader municipal project that linked order, cleanliness and safety to global ambitions.

Expo 67, 1976 Olympics

As Montréal formalized its place on the global stage, first during Expo 67 and later during the 1976 Olympics, the policing of nightlife intensified.

For example, fearing that Expo would attract sex workers and petty crime, the city adopted a controversial “anti-mingling” bylaw.

This forbade employees in licensed establishments from sitting, drinking or even talking with customers. Because this bylaw was designed to curb sex workers from soliciting in drinking establishments, police enforced the regulation most aggressively against women.

Dancers, singers, barmaids and hostesses were arrested for ordinary workplace interactions. The bylaw blurred the line between hospitality work and sex work, effectively criminalizing women’s participation in the nighttime economy.

Anti-prostitution bylaws

By the early 1980s, the city — along with other Canadian urban centres — introduced “anti-prostitution” bylaws to expand police powers despite limits imposed by the Supreme Court of Canada. This led to a pan-Canadian review of sex work in society.

These local tools disproportionately targeted women, transgender people and racialized sex workers, who were increasingly arrested simply for being in public spaces at night.

Whose night?

By the ‘80s, Montréal presented itself as a global cultural hub — home to major festivals, theatres and a thriving, “respectable” nightlife. That transformation, however, rested on the continued policing of many of the people who had historically sustained the nighttime economy.

The police department had become one of the city’s largest expenses, and nighttime enforcement one of its most visible activities.

The legacy is visible today. Independent venues face noise complaints, rising regulatory costs and the threat of closure.

The city’s recent support fund for small venues offers some relief, but it doesn’t answer the central question: who is allowed to shape Montréal and its nights, and who is pushed out in the name of order?

Seen from a nocturnal angle, Montréal’s history — like the history of many cities — shows that “safety” is never neutral. From the 1940s onward, expanding police budgets rested on the idea that the night was inherently unruly and needed constant control.

Debates about rights

Rather than allocating resources toward the concerns raised by the feminist Take Back the Night movement or by emerging queer organizations, the city focused on moral regulation — a pattern that consistently targeted those living and working after dark.

As cities debate how to sustain their nighttime economies while keeping residents safe, Montréal’s past reminds us that the way we govern the night determines who gets to belong in it.

For policymakers and residents today, the lesson is simple: debates about nightlife are also debates about rights, inclusion and the fair use of public space. Safer nights are built not only through policing, but through investment, participation and recognition of the communities that bring the city to life after dark.

Matthieu Caron 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. Sex, jazz, liquor and gambling: How Montréal’s nightlife shifted in the mid-20th century – https://theconversation.com/sex-jazz-liquor-and-gambling-how-montreals-nightlife-shifted-in-the-mid-20th-century-268733