Category: The Conversation – Canada

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Colleen Dell, Professor and Research Chair in One Health & Wellness, University of Saskatchewan

Opioid-class drugs are commonly prescribed as powerful pain medications in both humans and animals, though they can also be accessed or used illicitly. These substances carry a significant risk of overdose in people and in pets because they slow the central nervous system. At high doses, this effect can slow the respiratory system to the point of stopping breathing.

While any pet can experience opioid toxicity, dogs are particularly at risk because they rely heavily on their noses to explore their surroundings. This means they are more likely to directly inhale a substance through their nose, ingest it through their mouth or be exposed indirectly through contamination on their feet and fur.

We know this as a veterinarian, a specialist in the human-animal bond and as trainers in opioid overdose response. The number of reported incidents of dogs ingesting opioids is low, because the risk of exposure is low and dogs possibly have a higher tolerance compared to humans. But when they do overdose, it is likely at a concerningly high dose.

The most common illicit fentanyl exposure formulation in dogs reported to a North American Veterinary Poison Control Centre from 2019 to 2023 was powder/crystals (30 per cent). However, fear of reporting cases involving illicit opioids may result in under-reporting.

Opioid crisis in Canada

Approximately one in 10 Canadian households includes an individual prescribed an opioid.

Over the past decade, Canada has seen a sharp rise in potent opioids such as fentanyl and carfentanyl in the unregulated drug market, leading to increased overdoses. From 2016-24, there were 53,821 reported apparent opioid toxicity deaths nationwide.

These trends increase the likelihood that pets may gain access to opioids, putting them at risk of drug-related harms and potentially fatal overdose.

Naloxone use in humans

Naloxone is a safe and effective medication used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. In Canada, naloxone does not require a prescription and is available in two forms — intramuscular injection or nasal spray.

Publicly funded Take Home Naloxone programs were launched nationwide from 2012 to 2017, providing naloxone kits to community members at no cost and without a prescription. Community-based training for Take Home Naloxone is available to everyone to support emergency response during an overdose. Naloxone kits contain standardized doses that are considered safe for human adults, children and infants. Administering naloxone will not cause harm if a person has not consumed opoids.

Once trained, anyone can administer naloxone safely, and while naloxone can reverse the harms of an overdose within minutes, multiple doses may be required with more potent opioids. Different guidelines apply to first responders and when naloxone is used in clinical settings.

In Canada, the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act provides legal protection from simple drug possession charges for individuals who seek emergency help during an overdose or who are at the scene when help arrives. According to Health Canada, naloxone has saved thousands of lives.

Naloxone use in dogs

Naloxone has been used off-label in dogs, meaning it is not formally approved in Canada for use in companion animals. However, it is commonly administered in certain situations, particularly with police working dogs who face a higher risk of accidental opioid exposure while on duty.

In a 2023 study involving working dogs who had been administered fentanyl, an opioid frequently used in veterinary hospitals for pain relief and sedation, naloxone was effective in reversing sedation using either intramuscular or intranasal doses. While generally considered safe, its use should still be monitored for any adverse reaction.

Administration of naloxone to your own animal or providing first aid to an animal in an emergency do not fall within the regulated practice of veterinary medicine; if naloxone is administered, the pet owner should seek immediate veterinary care.

Signs of opioid poisoning

Slow or absent breathing is the most critical and life-threatening sign of an opioid overdose in dogs. It may be accompanied by extreme lethargy, a blank stare, unconsciousness, unresponsiveness, pale gums, pinpoint (very small) pupils and vomiting.

In humans, not every sign of an overdose needs to be present before administering naloxone.

The same is true for dogs: if breathing is impaired and there is any possibility of opioid exposure, it is appropriate to administer naloxone and contact a veterinarian for further care.

If you suspect your dog has ODed, administer naloxone

Administer naloxone right away if you suspect your dog has overdosed. If possible, wear gloves before handling the animal. The dog should also be taken to a veterinarian as soon as possible for immediate emergency medical attention.

To give naloxone in the nose, hold the dog’s snout closed, spray the medication into one nostril, and then cover the nose with a towel to reduce the chance of the dog sneezing and spreading opioid residue to the person administering.

For an injectable dose, inject it in the front portion of the upper thigh into the muscle tissue.

Because these methods require physical contact, wash your hands immediately afterward and avoid touching your face in case any opioid residue remains on your skin.

Additional doses may be needed for larger dogs or when the amount of opioid consumed is significant, so anticipate administering a second dose. Due to the high potency of many opioids, more than one dose is often necessary to fully reverse their effects.

In humans, a second dose is recommended two to three minutes after the first if there is no improvement in breathing or responsiveness. Doses can be repeated at two- to three-minute intervals until the person or animal shows signs of responsiveness or until additional medical assistance is available.

In a dog’s body, naloxone is shorter-lived than many opioids, meaning overdose symptoms can return 30-90 minutes after initial improvement. So it is essential to seek immediate veterinary care and ensure the dog is monitored closely for several hours.

Never perform mouth-to-snout resuscitation on a dog with a suspected opioid overdose unless you have a breathing barrier, as there is a strong chance that the dog inhaled the opioid. A study evaluating human exposure during intranasal and intramuscular naloxone treatment emphasizes always using protective equipment, such as gloves, a towel to block sneezing, and a breathing barrier for rescue breaths.

Clean up thoroughly afterwards to reduce the risk of secondary opioid transfer to the human responder: wash hands and face with warm soapy water, change and wash clothing, and wash the floor and any other surfaces that might contain traces of the substance. Opioid drugs in powder or pill form cannot be absorbed through human skin, only though mucous membranes (mouth, nose and eyes).

Keeping your pet safe

There are several important ways to help keep your dog and other pets safe.

• Store medications securely: Keep all human and pet medications out of reach of pets.
• Recognize poisoning signs: Learn the symptoms of opioid poisoning in dogs so you can act quickly.
• Seek help promptly: if you suspect opioid exposure, seek immediate veterinary care. You can also contact a 24/7 resource like the Pet Poison Helpline (fee: US$89) or APSCA Poison Control hotline (fee: US$95).
• Be prepared: Complete naloxone training for humans and advocate for including information on dogs. Add a ready-made presentation deck to naloxone training.
• Know other risks: Everyday hazards, such as chocolate, grapes, cannabis and other toxic substances can also endanger your pet.
• Monitor surroundings: This news report describes a dog’s fentanyl overdose and naloxone reversal.
• Using naloxone: Naloxone does not reverse the effects of non-opioid sedatives used in veterinary medicine, or street drugs such as cocaine.
• Follow prescriptions: Always give medications exactly as prescribed and consult your veterinarian if you have questions.
• Dispose properly: Ensure safe disposal of both human and pet unused or expired medications by returning them to a pharmacy.

Contributing funding received by Colleen Dell for the Office of the Research Chair in One Health & Wellness, University of Saskatchewan & by Barb Fornssler and Maryellen Gibson from the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation, Mobilize Grant.

Barbara Fornssler, Jennifer Loewen, and Maryellen Gibson do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Dogs can overdose too: Naloxone training can save pets’ lives as well as humans – https://theconversation.com/dogs-can-overdose-too-naloxone-training-can-save-pets-lives-as-well-as-humans-274852

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jason Walker, Program Director & Associate Professor Master of Psychology Health and Wellness & Master of Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Adler University

Early in your career, you’ll probably hear this piece of advice: “If something goes wrong, go to HR.” It sounds practical and reassuring, but that advice is missing some critical nuance.

A difficult lesson many people learn later — often through experience — is that HR is not primarily structured to advocate for individual employees. Instead, it’s main function is to protect the organization it works for.

This can make people uncomfortable, but it’s not meant as a criticism of the people who work in HR. Most HR professionals are thoughtful, well-meaning practitioners who care about fairness and employee well-being.

The issue is less about individuals and more about organizational structure. HR’s main function is to manage organizational risk, which includes reducing legal exposure, ensuring compliance with regulatory bodies, hiring and firing employees, and managing internal issues.

Professional bodies reflect this framing. The Society for Human Resources Management, the largest professional HR body in the world, frames the role of HR landing squarely in compliance, workforce risk management and organizational effectiveness.

What these frameworks don’t claim is that HR’s primary mandate is to protect individual employees when their interests conflict with the organization.

When employee well-being and performance align with organizational goals, HR can be extremely helpful. But when those interests diverse, the organization’s priorities typically comes first. Understanding this early is an important part of navigating your career.

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No one’s 20s and 30s look the same. You might be saving for a mortgage or just struggling to pay rent. You could be swiping dating apps, or trying to understand childcare. No matter your current challenges, our Quarter Life series has articles to share in the group chat, or just to remind you that you’re not alone.

Read more from Quarter Life:

• Burned out by smartphones, young people are choosing flip phones, cameras and MP3 players instead

• Gen Z is burning out at work more than any other generation — here’s why and what can be done

• Feel like you can’t get a job? You’re not alone — but here’s how to work around it

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HR is not a neutral party

It’s common for early-career professionals to assume that HR functions like a neutral mediator designed to resolve workplace disputes, but it’s important to understand this isn’t the case.

In practice, HR sits inside the corporate hierarchy. Human resources officers typically report to senior leadership, and their performance is measured by how effectively they are able to manage institutional risk.

Because of this structural position, HR professionals are responsible for balancing employee concerns with the organization’s broader legal, financial and reputational risks.

When conflicts involve routine interpersonal issues or policy misunderstandings, HR can intervene and resolve things quickly. But when complaints involve highly productive employees or senior leaders, the incentive can become more complicated.

Research shows that employees who generate revenue, prestige or hold influence may receive greater protection from leadership — even when their behaviour is harmful — because they are perceived as valuable organizational assets.

Speaking up can carry risks

In recent years, many organizations have promoted “speak-up” cultures, encouraging employees to report misconduct when it arises.

In principle, these initiatives reflect an important commitment to accountability. But the data tells a more complicated story.

According to the 2023 Global Ethics Survey, nearly half of employees who reported misconduct said they experienced some form of retaliation afterward.

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Retaliation is not always explicit. It may take the form of declining career opportunities, exclusion from critical projects, damaged professional relationships or negative performance evaluations.

Even when retaliation is subtle or indirect, its effects can ripple through an organization. When colleagues observe retaliation from speaking up, they become less likely to report concerns. This creates a silencing effect where concerns about misconduct remain unreported despite formal reporting mechanisms.

Reporting misconduct is important, but it’s wise to understand the potential risks and protections that exist before doing so.

Internal investigations protect the institution

Workplace investigations offer another example of HR’s structural role. These investigations are formal processes HR conducts when allegations of misconduct, harassment or policy violations arise.

These investigations typically focus on determining whether internal policies or legal obligations were violated. In practice, that means the question often becomes, “Did someone violate policy?” rather than the more important question, “Was someone harmed?”

HR professionals are often responsible for conducting these internal investigations. While many are experienced in employee relations, most have little to no formal investigative training.

As a result, investigations are often conducted by professionals whose expertise lies primarily in HR management rather than formal investigative practice.

Research on corporate compliance systems suggests that internal compliance procedures typically serve as mechanisms to ensure legal defensibility and reduce organizational liability, rather than to deliver justice to employees.

In other words, once a workplace issue becomes a formal investigation, the process is often shaped by legal and organizational risk considerations.

HR can still be an ally

None of this means HR professionals are your enemy in the workplace. In organizations where leadership prioritizes ethical conduct, psychological safety, accountability and fairness, HR can absolutely be an ally.

For instance, HR sets policies that define unacceptable behaviour, delivers training programs that explain those standards to employees and establishes reporting channels for complaints.

Still, even the most committed HR professionals operate within a structural mandate to protect their institution. Understanding this distinction can help you can approach workplace challenges with clear expectations.

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Fostering psychological safety in the workplace: 4 practical, real-life tips based on science

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If you need to raise concerns with HR, it can be helpful to document incidents carefully, understand your company’s policies and know your rights as an employee. Recognize when external reporting channels may be required and familiarize yourself with those processes.

Wherever possible, try to resolve problems early before they become formal HR issues. Once a matter enters HR channels, the focus frequently shifts toward documenting the issue and managing potential legal or organizational risk.

Once you understand how organizations actually work, you can stop navigating your career with assumptions and start navigating it more strategically.

Jason Walker 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. Is HR really there to help employees? What early-career workers should know about it – https://theconversation.com/is-hr-really-there-to-help-employees-what-early-career-workers-should-know-about-it-277718

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Taia Wyenberg-Henzler, PhD Candidate, Paleontology, University of Alberta

For decades, dinosaurs, especially the Tyrannosaurus rex, have captured the imaginations of the public and paleontologists alike. In many instances, pop culture has depicted the T. rex as the giant and fearsome hunter that lorded over other dinosaurs.

However, paleontologists have historically disagreed on whether this was actually the case. More recently, scientists have come to the conclusion that, like many modern animals, T. rex was not only an active predator that hunted other dinosaurs for its meals, it also scavenged for its dinner.

What was on the menu? How would a T. rex have caught its food? How did they eat?

Looking at fossils recovered from the same rocks as T. rex, we can say that plant-eating dinosaurs, such as the horned Triceratops or the duck-billed Edmontosaurus, likely comprised a portion of T. rex’s diet. T. rex bite marks on Triceratops and Edmontosaurus bones certainly support this.

However, answering questions about hunting or feeding behaviour is often a lot harder than this. In many cases, it involves some detective work. In some instances, fossilized footprints or bones with bite marks can provide relatively direct evidence of dinosaurs interacting with each other and the environment around them.

However, even with these types of fossils, we are often without answers as to how T. rex would have hunted. A recently published study by paleontologist John Scannella and me on a nearly complete Edmontosaurus skull might finally begin to answer this question.

Bite marks on a skull

On display at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Mont. is a nearly complete Edmontosaurus skull that provides a fascinating glimpse into T. rex hunting and feeding behaviour. The skull was discovered in 2005 in eastern Montana, on lands managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management.

What’s interesting about this particular Edmontosaurus is that a partial tooth tip penetrates directly through the top of the snout into the animal’s nasal cavity, and there are numerous bite marks on both sides of the skull.

The penetrating nature of the tooth indicates a powerful bite was delivered to its face. The lack of healing around the embedded tooth suggests that it was embedded after the animal died or, potentially, shortly before it died.

CT scans reveal the exact positioning of the tooth within the skull of the Edmontosaurus. Based on its orientation, it appears the tooth broke off when the Edmontosaurus came face-to-face with its attacker.

In modern animals, these types of encounters typically result in the death of the animal being bitten. When you combine this with the lack of healing around the tooth and the amount of force needed for the tooth to become lodged into bone, this suggests the Edmontosaurus was unlikely to have survived the encounter.

Who bit this Edmontosaurus?

Identifying carnivores from bite marks alone is often extremely difficult because the marks rarely preserve information that is specific enough. This is why many bite mark studies often struggle with identifying a specific carnivore. However, carnivorous dinosaur teeth are often more diagnostic, with some teeth being unique to a particular species.

Comparing the shape of the serrations and overall size of the tooth to all carnivorous dinosaurs that lived alongside the Edmontosaurus tells us that a Tyrannosaurus was responsible.

How big was the Tyrannosaurus? We answered this by comparing the size of the serrations on the embedded tooth to the serrations of teeth still attached in the skulls of different Tyrannosaurus individuals paleontologists have unearthed. We found that the tooth would have come from an adult Tyrannosaurus, with a skull about one metre long.

What do these bite marks tell us?

The presence of bite marks on the skull suggests that the Edmontosaurus wasn’t just killed by the Tyrannosaurus. It was eaten too.

Looking at the position of the bite marks provides information about the behaviour of the carnivore that produced them. On the Edmontosaurus skull, the bite marks are located on the right side of the skull, in the region behind the eye, while on the left side bite marks are located along the back third of the bottom jaw.

In duck-billed dinosaurs like the Edmontosaurus the back third of the skull is where most of the major chewing muscles are located and would have been the area with the greatest amount of flesh on the skull after the rest of the soft tissue on the body had been eaten.

Modern carnivores typically eat the parts of a carcass that have the greatest amount of flesh, such as the limbs and internal organs, and gradually work their way to areas with the least amount of flesh, such as the skull and feet.

Because the Edmontosaurus is represented by only the skull, this suggests that the Tyrannosaurus would have removed most of the flesh off the carcass before parts of it became washed away and buried.

To have direct fossil evidence that a dinosaur had likely been killed and then eaten, and to be able to say it was a Tyrannosaurus that killed it, is exceptionally rare. A fossil like this gives us an important glimpse into the potential hunting behaviours of large carnivorous dinosaurs.

Taia Wyenberg-Henzler 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. What bite marks on a dinosaur fossil tell us about the T. rex’s eating habits – https://theconversation.com/what-bite-marks-on-a-dinosaur-fossil-tell-us-about-the-t-rexs-eating-habits-276946

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Sarah Bassnett, Professor of Art History, Western University

In 1984, the now-acclaimed Canadian photojournalist Larry Towell was an aspiring writer who turned to photography during a human rights fact-finding mission to Central America.

At the time, the Ronald Reagan administration in the United States was justifying its support for military dictatorships in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala as anti-communist containment.

Mainstream news coverage of the conflicts in these countries was sporadic and often superficial. This made it difficult for North Americans to understand the scope of American involvement in the region and obscured the extent of human rights violations.

“I was struggling with language,” Towell told The Tyee about this time in this life.

“When I went to Central America I realized there was a horrible war going on and a media disinformation campaign going on and I wanted to be a part of the process of presenting some language that demonstrated that a lot of what we were hearing were lies.”

Photographs by Towell, as well as photos by others, were important in raising awareness of the brutal impact of U.S. military and intelligence operations in Latin America.

Towell’s photograph of a daughter comforting her grieving mother at the grave of her son conveys in one powerful image a family’s anguish and the emotional toll of the civil conflict.

Magnum Photo agency member

Towell began working as a freelance photojournalist in 1984, and in 1988 he became the first Canadian member of the famed Magnum Photo agency. Magnum Photos is an international co-operative of photographer-members founded in 1947 with the aim of giving photographers greater control over their work.

During his career, Towell has published 16 books, and his photo essays have appeared in publications including The New York Times Magazine, LIFE, The Atlantic and The New Yorker. He has won numerous awards, including the Henri Cartier-Bresson award, the World Press photo of the year award in 1994, along with prestigious book prizes, the Roloff Beny and the Prix Nadar.

He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2020 and his feature-length documentary film, The Man I Left Behind, was released in 2025.

Like many other Magnum photographers, Towell favours sustained investigative projects rooted in specific places and issues. Over decades of professional practice, he has worked in numerous conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Palestine, Guatemala and Ukraine.

But as curator Grant Arnold explained regarding an exhibition of Towell’s work in 1988, Towell does not go into these contexts as a detached observer. For Towell, photography is about connecting with people and communities.

As a researcher working on photography and its role in systems of power, I situate Towell’s work within the tradition of humanist photography.

This approach consistently foregrounds human resilience in the face of suffering and hardship. Seen from this humanist lens, Towell is interested in getting close to subjects to better understand and represent their experiences. His work humanizes complex social and political issues.

Exhibitions important for viewer engagement

Although magazines have played a central role in disseminating Towell’s photography, exhibitions and books are key formats that offer more sustained engagement. Exhibitions are, in many ways, an ideal form for in-depth investigative projects because their spatial dimension allows curators to work with elements, including layout, sequencing and framing. A series of photographs can be shown together to develop connections and tell a story.

Exhibitions enhance viewer engagement by promoting focused attention and by intensifying emotional responses through arrangement and scale. Towell’s work lends itself to exhibition because his projects are best understood within a series, where photographs relate to one another and to an overarching theme.

The exhibition Larry Towell: Boundaries curated by Sonya Blazek at the Judith and Norman Alix Art Gallery in Sarnia, Ont., focuses on human relationships to the land.

Towell’s photographs show Indigenous people displaced from their land in El Salvador and Mennonites living off the land in Canada and Mexico. He portrays migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Haiti and Central America, sheltering in tents near the U.S.-Mexico border. He represents the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock in North Dakota, where members of the Sioux Nation asserted their sovereignty in defence of their land and water.

Within the exhibition, views encounter themes of displacement and landlessness through the material qualities and arrangement of the photographs, which invite a physical, embodied mode of looking.

As visitors wander through the gallery, they hear music by Towell, who is a gifted musician with five original albums.

Magnum photography exhibitions

Exhibitions have been an important format, not only for Towell, but also for other Magnum photographers. Magnum was at the forefront of establishing photography exhibitions as an alternative to publishing images in illustrated magazines.

The agency’s first group exhibition in 1955, called Face of Time, was a post-Second World War investigation of the human condition featuring the work of eight of the agency’s early members. After its initial run, the exhibition material was lost, but it has since been rediscovered and restored.

That original exhibition, which has been re-staged by curator Gaëlle Morel at The Image Centre at Toronto Metropolitan University, shows how Magnum created new audiences for photography by disseminating stories about world events beyond the pages of news magazines. As a Magnum photographer, Towell’s exhibitions today are a legacy of this history.

‘Slow journalism’

Towell has described his projects as slow journalism because he spends years and sometimes even a decade on a project. He has said: “The longer you spend, the deeper you go.”

Weeks or months in the field are followed by an extended editing process to create a coherent narrative out of each investigation. Towell’s work is based on the idea of bearing witness and documenting history, and exhibitions of his work invite viewers to experience the world beyond their everyday lives.

Larry Towell: Boundaries is on view at the Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery in Sarnia, Ont. until March 21, 2026.

Magnum’s First is on view at The Image Centre in Toronto until April 4, 2026.

Sarah Bassnett receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

– ref. Larry Towell exhibition: Experiencing the world beyond everyday life through photography – https://theconversation.com/larry-towell-exhibition-experiencing-the-world-beyond-everyday-life-through-photography-277690

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Tara McGee, Professor, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta

Nearly every summer over the past decade, the story has been the same across many parts of Canada: wildfires rage out of control and skies are filled with smoke. Communities are often forced to evacuate.

Wildfires disproportionately impact Indigenous communities. Over the last four decades, 42 per cent of wildfire evacuations across Canada have been of Indigenous communities.

Thirteen years ago, there was little understanding of evacuation experiences of First Nations’ communities, despite them being so frequently impacted. That’s when we partnered with seven First Nations in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, as well as 16 departments and agencies involved in wildfire evacuations, to establish the First Nations Wildfire Evacuation Partnership (FNWEP).

Since 2013, the FNWEP has explored the evacuation experiences of First Nation residents, identified factors that affect experiences in positive and negative ways and recommended ways to reduce negative impacts of wildfire evacuations.

In 2021, we published our book, First Nations Wildfire Evacuation Experiences: A guide for communities and external agencies. The book is laid out so that each chapter is a stage of a wildfire evacuation, all the way from seeing smoke in the distance to returning to the community after the event is over.

We summarized findings from our research in each chapter, along with practical recommendations and steps that communities and external agencies can take to better prepare for wildfire evacuations.

Evacuation challenges

Through our research, we learned that many First Nations often lack adequate resources to prepare for and respond to wildfires, and many do not have anyone devoted full-time to emergency management.

Specific factors that complicate the evacuation of Indigenous Peoples from their community include:

1. Being out on the land when the decision to evacuate is made, making it difficult to notify people and arrange transportation

2. The fear of home loss compounded by existing housing shortages

3. A lack of media interest in the evacuation of Indigenous communities, so it’s harder to get information

4. Language issues and lack of translation

5. Poverty caused by colonization

6. Large multi-generational families living in one home, making transportation coordination difficult

7. Health concerns

8. Worries about the costs of evacuation and reimbursement

Additional challenges include short warning times, transportation challenges including multi-stage evacuations, inadequate information available for evacuees, crowded accommodation, culture shocks, family separation and racism.

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Evacuations of Indigenous communities during wildfires must prioritize keeping families together

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Separated families

One of the most severe cases of family separation occurred in 2011 when people from Sandy Lake First Nation were sent to 12 different host communities, which led to reduced support for evacuees. In some cases, community leaders and a select group of residents stayed behind in the community to communicate with government agencies and evacuees, provide advice, deal with problems and look after the community.

We documented other things that just didn’t make sense. For example, when âmaciwîspimowinihk (Stanley Mission) in northern Saskatchewan was evacuated in 2014, car seats were not allowed on evacuation buses. Evacuees had to hold babies for the entire journey to the host communities. One host community was Regina, with evacuees on the road for almost 12 hours.

The most inappropriate case of accommodation for evacuees was when Deer Lake First Nation was accommodated in the Rideau Regional Centre in Smiths Falls, Ontario in 2011.

The centre was built to house people with developmental disabilities in 1951 and closed in 2009, two years before the evacuation occurred. The site and its condition were inappropriate. Some evacuees slept on the floor because they were not given a cot, some rooms were not cleaned and the shower stalls in common washrooms had no curtains or doors.

Community resilience

We found many other cases where evacuation experiences were improved because of the resiliency of people from the communities. Community leaders played the critical role of liaisons between their own and the host community, attended agency meetings, communicated what they learned to evacuees, advocated for evacuees and dealt with problems that arose.

In Sandy Lake First Nation, the chief who remained in the community recorded videos in Oji-Cree and English so evacuees could see community leaders and their community and receive daily updates during their evacuation.

Youth in Mishkeegogamang Ojibway Nation and other First Nations set up private Facebook groups so evacuees could share information. In addition to community liaison roles, First Nation community members volunteered to help in many ways, including sitting with Elders, organizing and picking up prescriptions, providing child-care services and security, and dropping off meals.

Recommendations for better evacuations

An overarching factor that affected all evacuations was jurisdiction. Wildfire management and emergency management are under provincial jurisdiction, but First Nations are under federal jurisdiction. This adds significant complexity to every wildfire evacuation. We documented examples where community leaders did not know which external agency to call to initiate an evacuation.

However, despite consistent research findings and advocacy, many of the communities we worked with who were evacuated between 2011-15 have been re-evacuated since, and again experienced many of the same issues we documented.

In 2025, the Auditor General of Canada again pointed to consistent failures in emergency management by Indigenous Services Canada, despite a dramatic increase in funding over the last decade from $13 billion in 2019-20 to almost $24 billion in 2023-24. The auditor general also found that evacuation services standards have only been met in one province: Ontario.

Federal and provincial governments should increase and provide long-term funding directly to First Nations for emergency management. They can also support the construction of buildings with air scrubbers and purifiers so that people do not have to evacuate their communities only because of air quality. In addition, they could simplify reimbursement processes to make post-wildfire recovery a less daunting process.

Governments must also increase investment in wildfire prevention and mitigation to reduce the need for evacuations including FireSmart programs. They should also fund and support Indigenous fire guardian programs across Canada, where Indigenous Peoples are employed year-round to do fire prevention, mitigation, response and recovery.

As wildfire season becomes more severe year after year, governments can take concrete steps now to ensure the most affected communities are well-equipped to deal with evacuations — and recover from them.

Tara McGee receives funding from Natural Resources Canada for the First Nations Wildfire Evacuation Partnership. The partnership previously received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Amy Cardinal Christianson is affiliated with the Indigenous Leadership Initiative. She previously worked for the Canadian Forest Service (Natural Resources Canada) and Parks Canada. Her association with the First Nations Wildfire Evacuation partnership over the last decade has been through in-kind contributions.

– ref. How governments can help Indigenous communities disproportionately impacted by wildfires – https://theconversation.com/how-governments-can-help-indigenous-communities-disproportionately-impacted-by-wildfires-275198

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Laura Misener, Professor & Director, School of Kinesiology, Western University

At the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Paralympic Games, the biggest debate surrounding the event has little to do with sport.

This year’s Paralympics represent the first major international sporting event since the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi in which Russia has competed under its national flag. The ban included the recent Olympic Games, where Russia and Belarus were not allowed to send teams.

Six Russian and four Belarusian para-athletes are competing at the Paralympics, marking the end of a 12-year period of exclusion rooted first in state-sponsored doping and then Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The decision to let Russia and Belarus back in has sparked heated public debate. People are asking hard questions about fairness, disability rights and who gets to decide the rules of international sport.

While some international sport federations cling to the idealistic notion that sport and politics are separate, this situation demonstrates the deeply entrenched role of geopolitics in major sporting events.

Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter explicitly prohibits political demonstrations and displays. Yet the reality for those at the Games is very different.

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Russia returns to the Paralympics

In 2022, Russian athletes competed under the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) flag rather than their national flag. This sanction was already in place as punishment for the preceding Russian doping scandal.

However, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine unfolded in the lead-up to the Games, the IPC went further, ruling that results for Russian and Belarusian athletes would not be counted in the official medal table.

At the IPC General Assembly in 2025, members voted to allow Russia and Belarus to return to the Games. This meant that athletes from those countries could compete under their own flags and national anthems.

Following this decision, 16 countries formally boycotted the Paralympic opening ceremony. Fewer than 40 per cent of athletes were present, with many deliberately absent from opening ceremonies in an act of solidarity with Ukraine.

Inclusion for athletes, silence for victims

On the one hand, the IPC’s founding mission is to “make for an inclusive world through Para sport.” The exclusion of athletes on the basis of their government’s actions appears to conflict with this principle of universality.

IPC president Andrew Parsons framed the reinstatement of Russia and Belarus as consistent with what the movement stands for: a democratic organization treating all national Paralympic committees equally under due process.

People with disabilities, including para athletes, are often excluded or overlooked in society. Supporters argued that punishing disabled athletes for their government’s conduct conflicts with disability-rights principles.

Disability rights work aims to dismantle discriminatory practices that exclude people because of social, political or embodied difference.

But the decision exposed a deeper tension. The IPC already includes athletes from states involved in active conflicts. That makes it harder to argue exclusions are applied consistently.

On the other hand, the IPC’s mission of building “an inclusive world” is undermined when a state actively destroys the lives and bodies of civilians, many of whom may themselves become disabled.

Rob Koehler, director general of Global Athlete, stated: “There is simply no justification for allowing Russia and Belarus back while the invasion continues.”

The Canadian Paralympic Committee opposed the reinstatement, indicating that the ongoing war contradicts the Olympic Truce. Further, Karen O’Neill, the committee’s president, stated that no evidence has emerged to suggest the doping issue has been resolved.

The inclusion of Russian war veterans injured fighting in the war with Ukraine has been upsetting for some athletes. Yet this debate continues to overshadow the far more pressing issue of Paralympic athletes receiving the attention and respect they have long been denied.

When neutrality becomes complicity

While the IPC president maintains that the focus must remain on sport and athletic competition, this stance carries a serious risk.

Allowing Russia back could send the wrong message that sport has no red lines; it suggests participation matters more than accountability. The IPC had a defining opportunity to demonstrate moral leadership.

History shows that international sport is capable of precisely this kind of leadership. As Richard Pound, a former Canadian International Olympic Committee member, has argued, sport has a proud tradition of standing in opposition to oppressive regimes.

In 1970, South Africa was banned from the Olympics because of apartheid — the government’s policy of racial segregation. It was a powerful moment when sport took a clear moral stand.

Giovanni Malagò, president of the Milano-Cortina organizing committee, said in his opening-ceremony speech:

“We cannot ignore that these Games are taking place in an increasingly and profoundly divided world, torn apart by wars, grief and suffering, at one of the most dramatic turning points of our time.”

This sentiment has cast a shadow on the messaging and importance of inclusion and celebration of sport at the Paralympic Games. Paralympic athletes have fought hard for recognition, and the politics of these Games have dominated public attention.

What the debate reveals about sport and politics

Sport has always been more than entertainment. It reflects the social and political climate in which it takes place, often exposing tensions and contradictions within society.

This is especially clear in the Paralympic context, where questions of inclusion, disability rights and geopolitical conflict sit side-by-side. The debates surrounding Russia’s return to the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games show how sport can both mirror and magnify broader ethical dilemmas.

Athletes and sporting bodies have long been part of wider social change, but the current events reveal how sport is also entangled with deeper issues — discrimination, war, unresolved doping concerns and the struggle over who gets to participate and under what conditions.

The Paralympic movement was built on the idea that sport should be open to everyone. But that ideal is being tested by a world dealing with war, political division and unresolved cheating scandals.

It is unfortunate that this controversy is drowning out what the Paralympics are meant to be about — celebrating remarkable athletes and promoting inclusion.

Laura Misener receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

– ref. As Paralympians compete for medals, the world debates Russia’s right to be there – https://theconversation.com/as-paralympians-compete-for-medals-the-world-debates-russias-right-to-be-there-278019

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Pauline McDonagh Hull, PhD Candidate, Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary

An estimated 64 per cent of adults in Canada report experiencing at least one potentially psychologically traumatic event during their lifetime, and in the United States, research suggests the figure may be closer to 90 per cent.

Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a holistic approach to health care that acknowledges the potential impact of patients’ experiences of trauma and actively aims to prevent exacerbating or causing new trauma in the medical setting.

Importantly, this can lead to more positive experiences and improved health outcomes for patients who may otherwise avoid or reluctantly show up for treatments and preventive screening, which is especially critical for cervical cancer. It offers benefits for providers, too.

However, TIC is not yet standardized in pelvic medicine in Canada or the U.S., and practice varies significantly by profession. This is why my co-authors Lauren Walker, an adjunct associate professor in the departments of oncology and psychology at the University of Calgary, and Krystyna Holland, a pelvic floor physical therapist operating out of Denver, Colorado, are developing a new clinical practice tool to bring TIC into pelvic health care.

They first assembled a multidisciplinary team representing obstetrics and gynecology, urology, urogynecology, midwifery, labour and delivery, pelvic floor physical therapy, oncology, family medicine and sexual assault response practitioners to advise on clinical recommendations.

Through patient interviews, they identified examples of positive and negative pelvic health care experiences. Positive experiences ranged from, “…they didn’t make me feel bad for needing that help,” to “…it made me feel better…to have power in my decision making.” Negative comments included things like, “I was in excruciating, excruciating pain,” and “I felt like a specimen.”

Evidence suggests the widespread adoption of TIC practices could potentially improve access to care and quality of care for all patients. Therefore, the project’s main goal is to ensure all pelvic health-care practitioners consider the vulnerabilities associated with trauma experiences and minimize harm.

Medical trauma and pelvic health

According to the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), medical trauma is defined as a set of psychological and physiological responses to pain, injury, serious illness, medical procedures and frightening treatment experiences. The organization estimates that 20 to 80 per cent of children and adults may even experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following medical events and procedures.

Often described as being “stored in the body,” trauma responses can be triggered through medical examinations. This can be through pelvic exams, which may be experienced as invasive because of their intimate nature, but also even in more mild contexts, such as disrobing.

Some populations may be more vulnerable than others. For example, research shows that women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) are more likely to have experienced higher rates of abuse and trauma, and as such the likelihood of retraumatizing in this population is high.

Certain specialties within health care that are at an increased risk of retraumatizing patients with trauma histories include gyne-oncology care (diagnosing and treating cancers of the female reproductive system), peri- and postnatal care (before and after pregnancy), obstetrics and midwifery, urogynecology and pelvic floor physical therapy.

As a registered psychologist and clinical sex therapist in Alberta, Dr. Walker is acutely aware of how TIC guidelines for pelvic and reproductive care can improve women’s mental, physical and sexual well-being.

What is trauma-informed care (TIC)?

TIC is a guiding framework designed to reduce re-traumatization and promote shared decision-making and collaboration. The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has established a guiding document on TIC, outlining six key principles:

• Safety, trustworthiness and transparency;
• Peer support;
• Collaboration and mutuality;
• Empowerment, voice and choice; and
• Cultural, historical and gender issues.

It also offers a simple method for practitioners to remember TIC:
The four Rs.

• Realize there may be trauma (past and present);
• Recognize the signs (look and listen) and impact of trauma;
• Respond (in a sensitive and accommodating manner); and
• Resist Re-traumatization (think patient autonomy).

Based on these TIC principles, organizations like the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada heavily emphasize informed consent for exams and procedures. However, the aims of TIC extend well beyond this into areas such as physical environment, documentation and practitioner self-reflection.

While most practitioners would agree in principle that empowering patients through autonomy, consent, safety and trust can be a positive step to improve health-care experiences, this does not always translate into action. In practice, barriers to TIC include a lack of training, time constraints, competing demands in clinics, and viewing TIC as irrelevant to their specialty area or patient population.

Understandably, some practitioners also express concerns that querying patients’ trauma histories could “open a can of worms” they don’t feel equipped to address. Such feared consequences include feeling responsible to directly treat the trauma or experiencing personal discomfort, particularly when disclosures trigger re-traumatization from their own lived experiences.

Making TIC the norm in pelvic health care

In an effort to overcome these challenges, the clinical practice tool being specifically developed by Dr. Walker and Dr. Holland for pelvic health is based on the SAMHSA recommendations. From the outset of the tool’s design, they have engaged with health-care practitioners and invited input to assess feasibility, perceived importance and any barriers to implementation.

This consultation process is ongoing, so input is still welcome from health providers and patients. The team plans to launch the pelvic health tool in late 2026 and then disseminate it more broadly to health-care practitioners of all backgrounds, with the goal of making TIC the standard of care in Canada.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. ‘I felt like a specimen’ – New clinical recommendations aim to improve trauma-informed care in pelvic medicine – https://theconversation.com/i-felt-like-a-specimen-new-clinical-recommendations-aim-to-improve-trauma-informed-care-in-pelvic-medicine-268347

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Henry Giroux, Chaired professor for Scholarship in the Public Interest in the Department of English and Cultural Studies, McMaster University

Political theorist Hannah Arendt warned that authoritarian politics rarely begin with spectacles of repression. More often, authoritarianism advances through routine administrative decisions that appear technical or neutral but gradually reshape public life — a kind of bureaucratic normalization of injustice she later described as the banality of evil.

Over time, these measures alter what can be discussed, remembered or taught. They also redefine who counts as belonging within the political community.

The backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (DEI) reflects a deeper political transformation. Public debate often treats DEI as a dispute over university offices or workplace training programs, but the conflict runs far deeper. Under Donald Trump’s administration in the United States and its allies, diversity itself has been recast as a threat.

Campus protests, for example, are frequently invoked as proof that equity initiatives foster antisemitism, turning demands for justice into evidence of alleged institutional decay.

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Read more:
Why the term ‘DEI’ is being weaponized as a racist dog whistle

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False claims about equity measures

American feminist philosopher Judith Butler argues the attack on DEI is a “shameless display of hatred, the contempt for rights, [and] the willingness to strip people of their rights to equality and freedom.”

In the U.S., federal directives have dismantled diversity programs across government agencies as political leaders pressure universities to eliminate initiatives addressing systemic racism. Presented as restoring merit and neutrality, these measures define structural inequality as a threat and place citizenship itself at stake.

This reversal reflects a political narrative that treats demands for racial justice as grievance politics and portrays multicultural democracy as national decline. Within this narrative, equality appears as loss for historically dominant groups. Immigration, demographic change and racial justice movements are framed as dangers to “western civilization,” while policies expanding opportunity are depicted as attacks on merit.

Under the Trump administration, DEI has been transformed into a political weapon. It is cast not as an effort to confront historical injustice but as a threat to the nation itself, a supposed assault on merit, tradition and order.

These types of arguments echo the ideological logic of contemporary white nationalism, which presents social hierarchies as natural and treats efforts to confront inequality as illegitimate.

Once politics is framed in these terms, dismantling diversity initiatives can be cast as a defence of fairness rather than a retreat from civil rights. Government actions targeting DEI programs, restricting how racism is discussed in classrooms and pressuring universities to abandon race- and gender-conscious research are justified as restoring neutrality. Yet such measures narrow the intellectual and moral spaces where democratic debate takes place.

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Read more:
How universities can move beyond a ‘diversity crisis’ mode of equity planning

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Not improvement, but elimination

Similar tensions are emerging beyond the U.S. In Canada, the Alberta government has advanced proposals promoting “institutional neutrality” in universities. Critics say these policies could weaken or suspend equity initiatives addressing barriers facing racialized and Indigenous scholars.

Critics on the political left, including political activist and philosopher Angela Davis, have long noted that many DEI initiatives are limited in their ability to address deeper structures of power. Workshops and diversity statements cannot dismantle economic systems marked by racial inequality or institutions shaped by centuries of exclusion.

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Read more:
Why DEI needs depth, not death

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Yet the current political campaign against DEI isn’t aimed at improving these programs. It seeks to eliminate even the limited institutional recognition that systemic inequality exists.

Arendt’s work helps illuminate why this moment is politically consequential. In her writings on authoritarianism, she argued that the greatest danger arises when institutions cease to question the assumptions guiding their actions. Political choices appear technical, administrative procedures replace ethical judgment and thinking is displaced by routine compliance.

The backlash against diversity and inclusion initiatives operates within this dynamic. By portraying historical analysis as ideological bias and structural critiques of inequality as threats to social cohesion, it encourages institutions to treat questions of justice as matters best avoided.

Refusing cruelty

When societies stop examining the histories that produced inequality, public memory narrows and democratic debate contracts. Social hierarchies begin to appear natural while demands for justice are reframed as sources of division.

But remaining alert to these erosions of rights is urgent at a moment when the capacity to think historically and judge morally is being deliberately eroded under the Trump administration and other emerging authoritarian movements. What is being normalized is precisely the condition Arendt warned about: a political culture in which thoughtlessness allows cruelty to appear ordinary and injustice to operate as a routine function of governance.

That is the banality that some western societies are now being asked to accept.

The challenge is to refuse it and expose the systems that produce it while rebuilding the civic capacities democracy requires. In the face of accelerating authoritarianism, the struggle to build a future grounded in equality, shared prosperity and the radical promise of collective freedom has become not only necessary, but essential.

Henry Giroux 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 war on DEI reflects the quiet normalization of white nationalism — in the U.S. and beyond – https://theconversation.com/the-war-on-dei-reflects-the-quiet-normalization-of-white-nationalism-in-the-u-s-and-beyond-278234

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Yimin Wu, Associate Professor, Tang Family Chair in New Energy Materials and Sustainability, University of Waterloo

Plastic is one of the most durable materials humans have ever made. That durability has made it indispensable in medicine, food packaging and transport. But it’s also created one of the defining environmental problems we have faced.

Hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic are produced globally every year. Much of it ends up in landfills, incinerators or the natural environment, where it can persist for centuries.

The methods we have for getting rid of plastic pollution have their downsides. Putting it in landfills means chemicals and microplastics can seep into the surrounding environment.

Burning it releases harmful fumes and toxins. Mechanical recycling often downgrades plastics into lower-value products, while chemical recycling typically requires high temperatures, high pressures and large amounts of energy.

Colleagues and I recently published research that explores a very different possibility: using sunlight and an iron-based catalyst to convert common plastic waste directly into acetic acid — the key component of vinegar and an important industrial chemical.

Instead of treating plastic purely as waste, our research shows that it can be transformed into something useful under mild conditions.

Learning from a wood-rotting fungus

The inspiration for our research came from nature. The white-rot fungus (Phanerochaete chrysosporium) is famous for its ability to break down lignin, one of the toughest polymers found in wood. It does this using enzymes that generate highly reactive chemical species capable of dismantling complex carbon structures.

We wondered whether a synthetic material could mimic this strategy.

The catalyst we designed is iron-doped carbon nitride, a semiconductor that absorbs visible light. We then anchored individual iron atoms, creating what scientists call a single-atom catalyst.

Rather than forming nanoparticles, each iron atom is isolated and embedded within the carbon nitride structure. This atomic precision is crucial. Each iron atom behaves like an active site in a natural enzyme, maximizing efficiency while maintaining stability.

A two-step reaction powered by light

The system works through a cascade of light-driven reactions.

Under sunlight and in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, the iron sites activate the peroxide to generate highly reactive hydroxyl radicals. A radical is an atom, molecule or ion that has at least one unpaired electron. This makes them highly chemically reactive.

These radicals attack the long carbon chains that make up plastics, like polyethylene (used in plastic bags), polypropylene (food containers), PET (drink bottles) and even PVC (pipes and packaging).

The polymers are progressively oxidized and broken down into smaller molecules, eventually forming carbon dioxide (CO₂).

Rather than allowing this CO₂ to escape, the same catalyst then performs a second job: it uses sunlight to reduce the CO₂ into acetic acid. In other words, the carbon in plastic waste is first oxidized and then re-assembled into a new, valuable molecule.

Essentially, this approach breaks down plastic and converts the resulting carbon into a commodity chemical in a single system. This distinguishes it from most existing recycling technologies.

Why acetic acid?

Acetic acid is best known as the sour component of vinegar, but it is also a major industrial feedstock. It is used to produce adhesives, coatings, solvents, synthetic fibres and pharmaceuticals.

Global demand runs into the millions of tonnes each year, representing a multi-billion-dollar market.

Currently, most acetic acid is produced through an energy-intensive processes process called methanol carbonylation, whereby methanol is reacted with carbon monoxide at high temperatures.

Converting waste plastic into acetic acid offers a potential circular pathway: instead of extracting new carbon, we reuse carbon already present in discarded materials.

In our experiments, the system produced acetic acid at rates comparably favourable with other reported light-driven plastic conversion methods. When we enhanced light utilization inside the reactor, the production rate increased substantially.

Importantly, the reaction operated at room temperature and normal atmospheric pressure. That contrasts with many chemical recycling methods that require heating plastics to several hundred degrees Celsius.

Handling real-world plastic

Laboratory studies often focus on pure, single plastic types. But real waste streams are mixed and contaminated. We therefore tested different common plastics individually, as well as mixtures.

Our catalyst was able to convert several major commodity plastics. Interestingly, PVC showed particularly strong performance. We believe chlorine released during its breakdown may generate additional reactive radicals, accelerating degradation.

The iron atoms remained atomically dispersed after repeated use, indicating good stability. This matters because catalyst degradation or metal leaching can undermine both performance and environmental safety.

The system does rely on added hydrogen peroxide, which is consumed during the reaction. While hydrogen peroxide decomposes into water and oxygen and is considered relatively benign, future work will need to address how it can be supplied sustainably at scale.

From concept to practice

Scaling up any new chemical process presents challenges. Light penetration, reactor design and the variability of waste plastic feedstocks all affect efficiency. Additives in commercial plastics — such as stabilizers, pigments and plasticizers — can also influence reaction outcomes.

To explore feasibility, we conducted a preliminary techno-economic assessment. This is a way of analyzing the potential economic benefits of an industrial process or product.

While further optimization is required, our analysis suggests that coupling waste cleanup with the production of a valuable chemical could help offset costs — particularly when environmental benefits are taken into account.

More broadly, this work illustrates the power of single-atom catalysts and bio-inspired design. By mimicking the way enzymes control reactivity at precise metal centres, we can achieve complex chemical transformations under mild conditions using sunlight as the energy source.

Rethinking plastic’s life cycle

The problem of plastic pollution will not be solved by a single technology. Reducing unnecessary plastic use, improving product design and strengthening recycling systems are all essential.

Transforming plastic waste into useful chemicals offers a complementary strategy. It reframes plastic not only as an environmental burden but also as a carbon resource.

If we can harness sunlight to drive these transformations efficiently and at scale, yesterday’s discarded packaging could become tomorrow’s industrial feedstock.

The challenge now is to translate our laboratory advances into robust, scalable systems. If successful, it would mark a step toward a more circular economy — one where waste is not the end of the story, but the beginning of a new one.

Yimin Wu receives funding from Tang Family Chair in New Energy Materials and Sustainability, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the seed funding from the Water Institute (WI), Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) at the University of Waterloo.

– ref. How we turned plastic waste into vinegar: A sunlight-powered breakthrough – https://theconversation.com/how-we-turned-plastic-waste-into-vinegar-a-sunlight-powered-breakthrough-276735

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Christopher Lo, Associate Professor, Psychology, University of Toronto; James Cook University

For $25, you might walk out with a drone. Or a blender. Or a box of something you won’t identify until you tear through the tape.

At “binz” stores, bargain hunters line up early on Saturdays to gain first access to piles of surplus goods dumped into waist-high bins. The merchandise comes from major retailers and online platforms, which are purchased through liquidation auctions and resold.

Binz stores are one highly visible edge of the booming recommerce and liquidation economy. The global recommerce market, which resells returned, refurbished and second-hand goods, is projected to generate more than US$200 billion annually.

Binz stores attract not only low-income shoppers but a broad cross-section drawn by the thrill of discovery and ultra-cheap goods. As the high cost-of-living strains household budgets in Canada, more consumers have traded down, seeking discounts and secondary markets.

Binz stores represent a layer of the secondary market that is equal parts bargain hunt and chaos. Liquidation marketplaces, off-price retailers and salvage wholesalers form a vast ecosystem beneath traditional retail designed to recover value from goods that cannot be sold at full price.

The afterlife of surplus

To understand binz stores, it helps to understand how surplus is created in the first place. They are the cumulative result of supply chain logistics, prediction error and the extraction of value in what might be called retail’s surplus afterlife.

Modern supply chains are one-way highways that move goods from global manufacturers to centralized hubs, then to retail outlets. They are optimized for speed and efficiency, but they are rarely designed to run in reverse.

“Most of the supply chains are designed for moving goods from manufacturer to the consumer. They are not designed for returning stuff,” says Murat Kristal, professor of operations management at the Schulich School of Business at York University.

Going forward, you might drop off a box of 15 at every store, he says. Now imagine going backwards, collecting unsold items, two here, three there, store by store, and then having to transport, sort and store them all in the warehouse while the fashion cycle changes.

Reversing the system multiplies the cost of the “last mile” of delivery — typically the most expensive part of distribution, explains Kristal. These final legs of distribution can account for about half of total shipping costs in some supply chains, according to industry analyses.

In many cases, it is cheaper to liquidate excess inventory in bulk than to reintegrate it backwards through primary distribution channels.

Forecasting the future

Retailers must predict the future, months in advance. A shirt on the shelf today may have been ordered a year ago, after yarns were sourced and factories booked in Southeast Asia.

Shipping full containers lowers per-unit costs, while producing smaller batches increases them. The economics of global manufacturing favours volume and planning production far in advance — a classic example of economies of scale where the cost of producing each individual item falls as the total number of units produced increases.

Companies must forecast how many units will sell in a market: how many small, medium and large, which colours and styles. If they predict 100 and sell 80, 20 remain. This forecasting is not optional “because you need to give a number to your manufacturer,” Kristal says.

Error is built into that bet. Retailers forecast based on past sales and trends. To avoid running out of stock, companies routinely overproduce or over-order to prevent empty shelves and lost sales. In fashion, between 10 and 40 per cent of garments made each year may go unsold. That buffer helps ensure availability but inevitably generates surplus inventory when demand fails to materialize.

Returning items to the warehouse is costly, and storing last season’s inventory makes little economic sense in industries driven by cycles. Liquidation often becomes the rational choice.

But the future is becoming harder to read. “It’s just that the unpredictability of the world we live in is increasing,” Kristal says.

American tariffs, inflation rates and fast-fashion cycles have made retail demand more difficult to forecast. When forecasts are wrong, the surplus moves downstream to third-party liquidators.

Deflating value

Surplus goods lose value over time, but that value rarely disappears entirely. Instead, it continues to be extracted as goods move further downstream from manufacturers to liquidation channels, and ultimately to bargain-hunting consumers.

“With some exceptions, virtually everything that gets manufactured in the world gets sold,” says Mark Cohen, former director of retail studies at Columbia Business School. “Everything has an economic value that gets deflated as merchandise is bought, or merchandise is unsold” at its intended price and venue.

In binz stores, this value decay is prominently visible. Each day has a flat rate for binned items, with prices dropping daily until restock day renews the cycle. In one store, a board game that once retailed for $70 might sell for $25 on restock day, $10 by midweek and $1 by week’s end.

Each change of hands reduces margin, but value can persist longer than assumed. “Eventually, even if it winds up in a junkyard or in a garbage dump, there are increasingly attempts to extract value by repurposing or extracting material,” says Cohen.

The thrill of the hunt

Bargain hunting is not purely economic. It also has a psychological dimension. Research suggests that searching for deals can trigger feelings of excitement and reward, making binz shopping similar to a game of treasure hunt.

When consumers perceive they’re getting a good deal, the brain’s reward circuitry — associated with dopamine and feelings of satisfaction — can become more active, helping explain the emotional appeal of bargains.

“Go as early as possible to get the best merchandise,” says Jonatas Beltrão, a Toronto painter. He first stumbled across a binz store while walking by and became curious about the large tables piled with goods.

Beltrão still laughs about his proudest purchase: a coffee maker that cost $85 on Amazon that he bought for $8.99. He goes every two weeks for the fun of finding brand-name items at a fraction of their original cost.

The uncertainty of what might appear in the binz, and the bragging rights of finding a trophy, help explain why some shoppers keep coming back and how goods continue circulating long past their intended retail life.

Variable rewards can heighten engagement and motivation, making activities from gaming to bargain hunting more compelling because each search might uncover something valuable.

“There’s a buyer for almost everything,” Cohen says.

In that sense, binz stores show the afterlife of surplus goods: leftover merchandise becomes part of a shopping experience built around chance, discovery and the thrill of a good deal.

Christopher Lo 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 retail afterlife: How surplus goods find new value at ‘binz’ stores – https://theconversation.com/the-retail-afterlife-how-surplus-goods-find-new-value-at-binz-stores-275057