The Conversation – Canada – Page 36

February 8, 2026

Northern housing must be built as an integrated ecosystem — by the North, for the North

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Shelagh McCartney, Professor, Urban and Regional Planning, Toronto Metropolitan University

The recently launched Build Canada Homes (BCH) initiative marks the federal government’s most ambitious effort to build affordable homes since the Second World War.

The $13 billion initiative promises a building surge to emulate Canada’s post-war national housing program by doubling the national output of housing.

This effort to aggressively stimulate growth in Canadian affordable housing construction includes the creation of the BCH new national agency working as a developer, rapid construction on public land, innovative modular construction methods and partnerships with private capital to push the pace.

For many Canadians, this may seem like a decisive response to the country’s housing crisis while also promoting Canadian sovereignty during tumultuous relations with the United States and other geopolitical developments.

But for the North, the parallels between the role of housing policy now and in the post-war era should give us pause. The building boom following the Second World War established many of the chronic housing, health and economic challenges northerners face today.

Lessons from the post-war era

Amid Cold War tensions and fears of Soviet encroachment following the Second World War, Canada and the United States moved to militarize and secure the Arctic.

Both countries established weather stations, the Distant Early Warning Line, airbases and other strategic infrastructure to assert sovereignty over the region. This geopolitical anxiety also fuelled Canadian efforts to create or expand permanent northern settlements.

These efforts imposed fixed communities on Indigenous peoples who previously moved seasonally through vast territories in patterns shaped by ecological knowledge and deep relationships with the land. This was often pursued through forced or incentivized relocations, reshaping Indigenous mobility and ways of life.

This push to secure the North was accompanied by a rapid expansion of federal housing initiatives in the 1950s and ‘60s to meet national housing strategies. Southern-style houses were imported into the North, detached from northern cultures, landscapes and climates, and administered through colonial governance structures.

Construction of these homes relied on southern labour and materials, leaving communities with buildings but not the authority, tools or training needed to construct or maintain them. Rather than recognize and learn from the approaches to housing construction and sustainability that northern, Indigenous peoples had been practising for generations, the government sought to impose control and authority through northern housing.

This era laid the groundwork for the housing precarity that northerners continue to feel today. Yet BCH uses the same language and approach — framing housing issues as a crisis, advocating rapid deployment, standardized technologies, reliance on southern supply chains and a short-term time frame. This undermines northerners’ abilities to self-determine and direct their own sustainable housing systems.

A different approach required

The North of 2026 is not the North of 1950. Climate change is accelerating permafrost thaw, reshaping ecosystems and exposing structural vulnerabilities in buildings and infrastructure caused by southern construction methods.

Dependence on imported materials and southern labour is even more unsustainable. Simultaneously, Indigenous Peoples across the North have developed community-led housing strategies, design innovations and governance models that offer powerful alternatives.

A Northern Housing Ecosystem (NHE) approach re-imagines northern housing not as a one-off construction campaign but as an interconnected system involving governance, economy, design, training, maintenance and social well-being.

It aligns with Indigenous-led housing innovations already underway — from the work of the K’asho Got’ine Housing Society and Yellowknives Dene First Nation, to regional training and design initiatives across the North.

The NHE asserts that housing is tied to health, education, economic development, energy use and cultural vitality. Housing cannot be governed within silos; it must be part of a living system.

To support northern housing autonomy and sustainability, BCH must adopt principles rooted in this ecosystem approach.

Principles include promotion of a northern housing economy where housing is collective infrastructure that focuses on community well-being and a sense of home for all northerners, prioritized over a market-based logic.

This fosters housing autonomy via northern and Indigenous control over governance, design, construction, repair and maintenance — the opposite of the dependency system of the post-war era.

A sustainable northern housing future

The foundational question should no longer be: How many houses can we deliver quickly? Instead, it must be: How can we build a sustainable northern housing future?

This requires structural change in housing delivery. Short-term federal funding cycles and crisis-framing create pressure to spend and build quickly. That results in prioritizing communities with more administrative capacity, risks reinforcing inequities and rushes decisions that compromise sustainability.

Without concrete efforts to right the wrongs of the past, BCH will reproduce a housing system that never adequately or sustainably served the North. While BCH represents a major federal investment, the North needs more than housing units. It needs autonomy, climate-appropriate design, skilled local labour and local business development.

A sustainable northern housing future is possible, but only if programs like BCH evolve from a fast unit-counting exercise into an ecosystem-based strategy rooted in Indigenous leadership and northern expertise. That way a northern housing system can be built that will sustain communities for generations — by the North, with the North and for the North.

Mylène Riva, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, McGill University, Canada Research Chair in Housing, Community and Health and Rebecca Schiff, professor at the University of Lethbridge, co-authored this piece.

Shelagh McCartney receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Aimee Pugsley receives funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Julia Christensen receives funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

– ref. Northern housing must be built as an integrated ecosystem — by the North, for the North – https://theconversation.com/northern-housing-must-be-built-as-an-integrated-ecosystem-by-the-north-for-the-north-273789

February 8, 2026

Imagining alternative Canadian cultural policy through BIPOC artists’ experiences

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Taiwo Afolabi, Full Professor/CRC in Socially Engaged Theatre; Director, C-SET, University of Regina

We need arts and cultural policy that embeds foundational principles of care, accountability and attention to reciprocal and equitable relationships. (Peqsels/RDNE Stock project)

The culture and creative sector is experiencing unprecedented strain during a period defined by intense polarization and precarity, growing economic and environmental concerns, deepening social inequities and urgent calls for justice.

During the pandemic and amid powerful global movements for racial and social justice, longstanding inequities in the arts sector were brought into sharper focus — as was artists’ continued commitment to imagining alternative futures.

But the frameworks guiding Canadian arts and culture policy are increasingly insufficient to sustain our society.

Future of Canadian cultural policy

The future of Canadian cultural policy — shaping how artists and creative practitioners engage in their work, with each other and society at large — cannot solely be premised on the economic argument for the cultural and creative sector, as was assumed by the 2017 Creative Canada Policy Framework.

Assuming the primacy of economic returns and market performance in cultural production undermines the value of non-commodified, non-economic contributions of culture.

Nor can the future of Canadian cultural policy rest on nation-building narratives of the post-Second World War era.

As playwright and director Yvette Nolan and cultural strategist Sarah Garton Stanley discussed in a 2023 session with the Centre for Socially Engaged Theatre, such narratives marginalize Indigenous Peoples and other cultural identities and perpetuate a settler-colonial vision of cultural citizenship.

Yvette Nolan and Sarah Garton Stanley discuss the imprint of the 1951 Massey Report, concerned with arts and culture, on Canada’s creative sectors.

In addition to asking how culture can serve economic interests or reinforce a cohesive national brand, we must also ask: how can cultural policy nurture trust, belonging and long-term relationality across communities, identities and experiences?

This was our concern in research we conducted between 2022 and 2024 with 18 self-employed Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) artists and cultural entrepreneurs across Western Canada. Collaborators in this research were playwright Yvette Nolan, as well as art historian Luba Kozak and academic researcher Fonon Nunghe.

Conversations with artists

We explored the question: In what ways might the social value-creation strategies of self-employed BIPOC artists who engage in socially transformative practices shape a more equitable Canadian cultural policy?

Through individual and group conversations, we heard how artists are leveraging their creative practices, entrepreneurial skills and leadership to generate social value in their communities.

We also heard how they are countering discrimination, fostering belonging and advancing justice through culturally grounded, socially engaged art.

We conducted this research during a pivotal period in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and amid powerful global movements for racial and social justice. The reflections gathered are rooted in the social, political and cultural dynamics of that time, yet they remain relevant in today’s shifting landscape.

Issues such as systemic exclusion, under-representation and the need to support BIPOC leadership in the arts continue to demand urgent attention.

Erosion of EDI

Globally, the erosion of equity-based initiatives, especially in the wake of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, has raised alarm.

The backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts across sectors, including the arts, signals a broader populist shift that threatens the fragile gains made in justice-centred work. Canadian cultural institutions are not immune to this trend.

Organizations that foreground equity and representation increasingly find themselves under scrutiny, pressured to defend their legitimacy and impact.

Cultural policy is needed that protects equity-driven practices and embeds care, accountability and relationality as foundational principles, especially in times of political volatility.

What does this look like on the ground? Here are three insights that emerged in our conversations with artists:

1. Authentic safe spaces and responsiveness: Artists emphasized that the concept of safety must go beyond institutional declarations of “safe spaces” or symbolic gestures. True safety for BIPOC artists requires culturally responsive policies that acknowledge the emotional, spiritual and cultural dimensions of artistic practice.

This might look different for different artists and communities. Many institutions, while professing inclusivity, continue to restrict practices revealing a limited understanding of cultural protocols. Artists shared that safety must be rooted in the ability to engage in arts production and express themselves authentically, without institutional gatekeeping or pressure to conform to Western norms. This calls for a systemic rethinking of safety that centres cultural sovereignty and the right to self-determined artistic expression.

A group of Black and racialized co-workers of varying genders having a meeting. — BIPOC artists are often exptected to take on dual roles of creating their own work while also educating institutions about cultural practices and histories.
(Gender Spectrum Collection), CC BY

2. Tokenism and decolonization: Many participants described being invited into institutional spaces as symbols rather than equal collaborators. This dynamic reduces cultural presence to a token, where inclusion is more about optics than genuine engagement. BIPOC artists are often expected to take on dual roles, creating their own work while also educating institutions about cultural practices and histories.

This expectation is not only unsustainable but emotionally exhausting, eroding trust over time. As one artist explained, they are there to tell stories, not to “do the work” of decolonization for institutions. Promises of change are frequently postponed, using excuses such as budget limitations or declining audiences, which can feel dismissive and discourage long-term engagement. These experiences underscore the need to move beyond performative inclusion and toward real power-sharing in decision-making, leadership and representation.

3. Relational accountability and community-based practices: True decolonial work requires relational accountability and the commitment to building respectful, sustained relationships rooted in reciprocity. This cannot be achieved through a checklist-style inclusion efforts or standard contracts. Many artists noted the lack of cultural and relational competency within institutions and highlighted the importance of nurturing trust through shared experiences, dialogue and time.

Community-based artistic practice often blurs the boundaries between personal and professional life, which institutions typically fail to recognize. Care responsibilities, emotional labour and deep ties to community are integral to the creative process for many artists, especially those working in post-COVID contexts.

However, hierarchical institutions that prioritize production and efficiency often undervalue relationships. One participant reflected on feeling torn between her commitment to her urban Indigenous community and institutional pressures focused on outputs. This tension highlights the urgent need for institutional models that respect and integrate relational and community-based approaches to art processes.

Reimagining how institutions define success

What’s needed for the new era in Canada’s arts landscape is a fundamental reimagining of how cultural institutions define success and responsibility. This shift calls for cultural policy that upholds the diverse realities of those who live, create and contribute across these lands and is grounded in their experiences.

Cultural policies must explicitly encourage and require institutions to prioritize care, trust and ethical leadership in their daily practices, instead of focusing solely on outputs and compliance. Policies should centre community and accountability to relationships as core to institutional purpose.

By embedding these values into funding criteria, accountability measures, success indicators and governance frameworks, cultural policy can compel institutions to move beyond short-term, project-based transactional models.

If we are to cultivate a truly inclusive cultural landscape, we must build equity not only in visibility and representation but also in the relationships, processes and structures that sustain cultural life.

Only by embracing this approach can cultural institutions foster trust, belonging and resilience, helping to heal and connect communities across this land.

The researchers/authors received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council (SSHRC) (Insight Development Grant) for this research.

– ref. Imagining alternative Canadian cultural policy through BIPOC artists’ experiences – https://theconversation.com/imagining-alternative-canadian-cultural-policy-through-bipoc-artists-experiences-273159

February 8, 2026

What to do if someone’s choking: Evidence says begin with back blows

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Cody Dunne, Emergency Medicine Physician and PhD Candidate, University of Calgary

Eating is a social event. Whether it’s a night out with friends or an evening at home enjoying family dinner, conversation goes well with food. But what if, in the middle of laughter and big bites, someone suddenly began to choke? Would you know what to do?

Choking is a life-threatening emergency that requires immediate recognition and action to prevent rapid loss of consciousness, respiratory arrest and death. The actions of bystanders are often a major factor in the outcome of a choking incident. If the airway obstruction is not cleared before paramedics arrive, the risk of death is 42 per cent higher than if bystanders successfully remove it.

While choking can happen to anyone at any time, certain people are at higher risk, including people with neurological conditions that affect swallowing or chewing (such as dementia, stroke or Parkinson’s disease), people intoxicated by alcohol, drugs or medications or young children with small objects.

Despite choking being an emergency, until recently there has been limited high-quality evidence to guide bystanders on the most effective way to help. Techniques like abdominal thrusts (formerly known as the Heimlich maneuver), back blows and chest compressions or thrusts have existed since the mid-1900s but, until recently, recommendations were largely based on case reports rather than rigorous scientific data. This evidence gap is dangerous.

Bystander response is the primary driver of a choking person’s outcome, so ensuring people know the safest and most effective way to care for a choking person can save lives.

Back blows outperform abdominal thrusts and chest thrusts

Our research team — a collaboration of Canadian researchers, physicians and paramedics — investigated a large cohort of choking patients in the province of Alberta and looked at the effectiveness and safety of different choking techniques.

We found that back blows cleared the obstruction in 72 per cent of cases, superior to both abdominal thrusts (59 per cent) and chest thrusts (27 per cent). Survival to hospital discharge was also highest among those who initially received back blows (97.8 per cent) even after accounting for other important factors such as the patient’s age, sex and the type of obstruction.

Further, back blows caused no injuries, unlike abdominal thrusts and chest thrusts, which resulted in injury to the lungs, heart, liver, and ribs.

New American Heart Association guidelines

For the first time since 2010, the American Heart Association (AHA) updated its guidelines on how people should care for someone who is choking. Due to the AHA closely collaborating with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, these changes will impact first aid training across North America.

In the updated guidelines, our Canadian study was cited to inform this critical change, and was the only study directly comparing different choking techniques.

Previously, abdominal thrusts were recommended largely because they were reported more often in case descriptions, despite a known risk of serious injury. The updated guidelines now reflect the best available evidence.

So, how should you respond when you see a choking person?

If an adult or child can still cough, cry or speak clearly, then they are still able to clear the obstruction themselves. Get them to lean forward while encouraging them to cough forcefully.

If the person goes quiet, cannot speak or cry, or can only weakly cough, you want to start with five strong back blows first. With the person bent forward at their hips, deliver firm glancing blows between their shoulder blades using the heel of your hand up to five times.

If the obstruction does not clear, switch to abdominal thrusts. Continue alternating five back blows and five abdominal thrusts until the obstruction is cleared or the person becomes unconscious. Our study, along with others, showed that between 11 per cent and 49 per cent of choking persons will need more than one technique to successfully clear the obstruction.

Special circumstances to consider

Call 9-1-1 early. Get a bystander to call while you do back blows or place your phone on speaker if you are by yourself.

For children, kneel to their height to deliver back blows and abdominal thrusts effectively.

For infants who cannot stand, you can hold them in your arms. If the infant is still crying or coughing loudly, hold them with their head down supported by your arms. Then, if the obstruction doesn’t clear and they become quiet, you should begin with back blows followed by chest compressions, alternating until the obstruction clears.

If the person becomes unresponsive, assist them to the ground and start CPR with chest compressions. Each time you attempt to give rescue breaths, look for the object by opening the mouth and remove the object only if clearly visible.

Suction-based device

Recently, suction-based devices, such as LifeVac©, have been marketed as an alternative when other choking treatments fail, gaining attention on social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok. These devices create negative pressure in the upper airway to suction out an obstruction, in contrast to traditional techniques like back blows and abdominal thrusts that generate pressure from below.

Our research team has documented a considerable number of successful cases using these devices, with few injuries associated. Two trials in mannequins also found LifeVac© to be more effective at relieving simulation airway obstructions compared to abdominal thrusts.

While this early data is promising, major resuscitation organizations, like the AHA, have yet to make a conclusive recommendation on these devices yet – concerned that a bystander obtaining and using these devices may delay other lifesaving techniques. Still, this is an exciting field of research and larger, comparative studies will hopefully be conducted soon.

Time to get trained

People who know how to respond to choking emergencies can save a life in highly time-sensitive situations. Over the past two decades, simplified public CPR training has played a significant role in dramatically reducing deaths from cardiac arrest. Choking response has not benefited from similar public education campaigns.

Given immediate bystander response is the best chance the choking person has for survival, prioritization of mass public training in simple, evidence-based techniques such as back blows, may significantly improve choking survival.

Cody Dunne receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Grant # 202410MFE-531150-95777) and the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians’ Junior Investigator Grant.

Andrew McRae receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Roche Diagnostics Canada.

Khara Sauro receives funding from the Canadian Cancer Society and CIHR.

– ref. What to do if someone’s choking: Evidence says begin with back blows – https://theconversation.com/what-to-do-if-someones-choking-evidence-says-begin-with-back-blows-273903

February 5, 2026

ICE pullback in Minneapolis shows the limits of Donald Trump’s scare tactics

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Eli Lawrence Sopow, Adjunct Faculty, Adler University

Thanks to United States President Donald Trump, 2026 is shaping up to be an age of angst as groups and countries retreat turtle-like into protective economic and cultural shells. We’re trusting very few and are suspicious of many. As is generally the result of such tactics, the perpetrator is creating an environment of divide and conquer.

The global and local anxiety being created by Trump are illustrated by the Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report. It reveals the results of a 2025 survey of 33,000 respondents in 28 countries.

The results show that trust in institutions of all description, and our “shared reality,” has created a “crisis of grievance.” This in turn has produced a “heightened insularity, a reluctance to trust anyone who’s different from you.”

But Trump’s draconian anti-immigration agenda — enforced through masked, violent and unaccountable Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents — appears to be fuelling active and successful citizen collaboration.

In the aftermath of the slayings in Minneapolis of two civilians, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and the mass protests that ensued, Trump’s border czar has announced he’s withdrawing 700 ICE agents from the city. Trump himself has also indicated his administration is backing down from its hardline tactics.

The simmering state of protest violence

A disturbing finding in the Edelman survey is that 40 per cent of respondents approve of one or more hostile actions to bring about change. This includes “attacking people online, intentionally spreading disinformation, threatening of committing violence, damaging public or private property.”

This willingness to take hostile action is the highest I have seen in my 45 years of research into public order and protest. It is far higher than numbers found in the 2017-22 World Values Survey of 102 countries that asked five questions about political action.

In that survey, only 35 per cent globally said they “might” get involved in a peaceful protest, while 46 per cent “would never.” In Canada, 48 per cent said they would get involved in a peaceful protest; 29 per cent would never. In the U.S., 55 per cent of respondents reported they “might” and 34 per cent wouldn’t.

The Edelman report states that “as fears rise, trust goes local.” This means that as change becomes a bigger feature in our lives, the circle of trust shrinks. Organizational psychologists like Canada’s Jason Walker note that this turn of the emotional screw can create paranoia, emotional stress and workplace/homelife violence.

One way to gauge rising fear and public anger is through Google Trends. Throughout January 2026, more people worldwide than at any point in the past five years — including during the darkest months of the COVID-19 pandemic — searched on the phrases “I fear change” and “I am angry.”

The U.S. led all countries on Google Trends, registering a score of 100 — the maximum value on the platform’s index, which indicates the highest relative search interest among all locations measured. The only other country matching this level of fear of change search was the Philippines, which is going through its own political and social turmoil.

In Cincinnati, Ohio, searches on “I am angry” were hitting close to 90 on the index following Good’s slaying in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Ohio is where the National Guard shot and killed four unarmed students and wounded nine others who were protesting the Vietnam War in 1970.

Fear, distrust growing

Surveys and web searches expose a world of growing protective isolationism; it’s a lot more difficult to bring a collective, trusted resistance together.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney recently warned that “a world of fortresses will be poorer, more fragile and less sustainable.” But in extolling the virtues of collectivism and mutual trust, Carney underplayed the fact that, unfortunately, fear and protectionism are often more powerful than trust.

Decades of public order research by myself and colleagues, as well as extensive academic research about public order and protest, has revealed a predicable pattern.

As I found in my book The Age of Outrage, when people are afraid, their fear can turn to boiling anger. That anger then becomes an emotional catalyst for action, either collectively or singularly, passively or violently, to fix things.

In fact, fear, anger and a demand for action can instill the collectivism and mutual trust missing in the Edelman survey. That could be what’s currently happening with the anti-Trump and anti-ICE protests throughout the U.S.

The challenge is that large public protests are a very delicate, potentially volatile formula for change. Collective protests require drama and a saturation of news and social media coverage to raise awareness and support. But protest support can quickly evaporate if the public sees acts of violence and destruction by even a minority of demonstrators (one TV news shot of a burning building or smashed storefront window will usually do the trick).

Trump was betting on fear

Amid the anti-ICE protests, Trump was betting that fear and chaos would prevail. He and his operatives continually seeded the public consciousness with language like “domestic terrorists,” “weaponized her vehicle” and “paid agitators” to describe the victims of ICE agents and other anti-ICE protesters. So far, Trump’s propaganda campaign is failing.

Trump didn’t count on the many peaceful anti-ICE protests and viral videos of the slayings of Good and Pretti that revealed the administration’s lies about their deaths. The over-zealousness of masked ICE agents has resulted in an uncomfortable drop of public support for the president.

Trump’s penchant for sowing fear is now in danger. If the “ICE Out” protests and strikes continue in their generally peaceful way, public fear, anger and a demand for public safety won’t be directed at demonstrators but at violent federal ICE officers.

How can protesters continue to build public support? My decades of research point to a consistent pattern among successful movements: a C.O.R.E. profile. Protesters remain committed, communicative, organized, resourceful and experienced — and above all else, non-violent.

What’s happening in the U.S. right now illustrates that public law-and-order initiatives are a double-edged sword. Just as over-zealous and violent protesters can quickly sour public opinion for their cause, so can the over-reaction of law enforcement and other authorities to peaceful protests — a lesson Trump is currently learning the hard way.

Eli Lawrence Sopow 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. ICE pullback in Minneapolis shows the limits of Donald Trump’s scare tactics – https://theconversation.com/ice-pullback-in-minneapolis-shows-the-limits-of-donald-trumps-scare-tactics-274933

February 5, 2026

As the climate changes, what does the future hold for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games?

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Daniel Scott, Professor and Strategic Director for Climate Change Education in Environment, University of Waterloo

The 25th Winter Olympic Games are upon us, with Italy set to host the Games for the fourth time. The schedule at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics is set to look similar to previous iterations of the event: a mix of snow and ice sports held on what is meant to be mountainous, wintry terrain.

Except the snowy cold winter that comes to mind when you picture the Olympic Games may not be tenable for much longer. Climate change is reshaping winter sport worldwide. In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter season has shortened over the last 50 years, with low elevation regions warming at twice the rate of global warming, leading to widespread declines in snowpack.

Snow sport athletes are experiencing these changes firsthand. In recent years, several International Ski and Snowboard Federation World Cup events have been cancelled due to poor snow and unsafe conditions.

In 2023, nearly 300 concerned athletes sent a letter to the federation demanding more action on climate change and a “geographically reasonable” race schedule aligned with evolving weather realities.

A 2021 survey of 339 professional and Olympic winter athletes and coaches from 20 countries found 90 per cent were concerned about how climate change will affect the future of winter sports.

For the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, climate change could fundamentally impact where the Games can be held in the future. In 2022, the International Olympic Committee delayed the selection of the 2030 host city so that it could obtain a clearer understanding of the climate risk of potential future host locations.

Our 2024 study of 93 potential host locations — those with the necessary infrastructure in place to host such a spectacle — found that even with advanced snowmaking, a significant number would no longer have reliable snow in future. By the 2050s, the pool of potential Olympic hosts halved, and worryingly, few (17 to 31) had viable conditions to host the Paralympics.

Olympic and Paralympic peril

a map of the world highlighting potential sites for the games — A map highlighting the potential climate reliability of Winter Olympics host sites in the by 2050s.
(Author provided)

Our recent study explores a wide range of strategies to mitigate the risks posed by climate change to the Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Each strategy requires careful evaluation by Olympic and Paralympic committees, host cities and sport federations. Many involve trade-offs that can impact the ability of communities to host the games, the athlete and spectator experience, and potentially, the sustainability of the Games.

For example, the location of snow sports venues further away from the main host city where the indoor events are held could enhance climate reliability. However, that would increase travel times and emissions, as well as reduce the ability of spectators to see some competitions.

At this year’s Milano Cortina Games, venues are dispersed between sites across northern Italy. That will make it more challenging for athletes and fans to mingle, a setback to team unity and spirit. Several more athletes than usual won’t be able to attend the opening or closing ceremonies because they’ll be competing several hundred kilometres away.

Changing the schedule

Given that the Paralympics are held after the Olympics, they are especially at risk due to climate change. The “one bid, one city” agreement, which requires a host city to stage both Games at the same venues, may need to be reconsidered.

This agreement has elevated para sport to new levels of visibility and excellence. However, our research suggests that it cannot survive climate change, and losing the Paralympics would be a devastating setback for winter sport.

The solution? Adjust the schedule so the the Paralympics can be held earlier.

Our analysis revealed that holding the Winter Olympics and Paralympics three weeks earlier in the year has tremendous potential to increase the number of climate reliable hosts.

Moving the Olympics so the Games begin in late January or the first week of February, and the Paralympics in late February or the first week of March, nearly doubled the number of climate-reliable host locations for the Paralympics. That would help safeguard the “one bid, one city” arrangement through the mid-century and into the late century, if the Paris Climate Agreement’s goals are achieved.

Other options that ensure snow reliability include having the two events overlap, alternating the years the Games are hosted or putting the events in two separate locations in the same year. But each of these introduces political and logistics challenges.

What about snowmaking?

The increased reliance on snow-making has drawn criticism, particularly after the 2022 Beijing Games used nearly 100 per cent machine-made snow. Snow-making has been used at every Winter Olympics since 1980 in Lake Placid, and will be increasingly integral in the future.

Our analysis found that without snow-making, the snow sports program of the Winter Games as we currently know it is simply not possible. In the absence of snow-making, the number of climate-reliable potential hosts for the Olympic Games declines to four or less by 2050.

There are important sustainability concerns that must be addressed when it comes to snow-making, like how to reduce the energy and water demands of the practice and how to reduce the impacts on local biodiversity. Snow-makers are putting effort into improving the technology to reduce negative environmental impact, but more work is needed to make the practice more efficient.

While it has its drawbacks, without snow-making, the Games would increasingly become unfair and unsafe for athletes. Events and competitions would need to be cancelled, and eventually, it would become impossible to include snow sports in the Winter Games.

While no outdoor sport will escape the consequences of accelerating climate change, snow sports are the canary in the coal mine. The global sports community must work together to advocate for strong climate action to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, protect the safety of future Olympians and Paralympians and preserve the cultural heritage of this global celebration of sport for generations to come.

Madeleine Orr receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Daniel Scott and Robert Steiger 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. As the climate changes, what does the future hold for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games? – https://theconversation.com/as-the-climate-changes-what-does-the-future-hold-for-the-winter-olympic-and-paralympic-games-274921

February 5, 2026

Glyphosate: What Indigenous communities have suspected for years about the dangers of the herbicide

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Charles Z. Levkoe, Canada Research Chair in Equitable and Sustainable Food Systems, Lakehead University

There have been renewed questions around the safety of the herbicide glyphosate in light of the recent retraction of an influential peer-reviewed research article. Originally published in 2000 in the academic journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, the article claimed that glyphosate posed no risk to human health.

Glyphosate is widely used in forestry, agriculture and land-use management. Commercially sold under brands such as Roundup, it’s the most widely used herbicide in Canada.

In the journal’s retraction notice, the (co)editor-in-chief wrote: “Concerns were raised regarding the authorship of this paper, validity of the research findings in the context of misrepresentation of the contributions by the authors and the study sponsor and potential conflicts of interest of the authors.”

These potential conflicts raise questions about the study’s authorship and results, and renew concerns about the safety of glyphosate. According to Health Canada, consuming foods treated with glyphosate does “not result in any human health concern to any segment of the population.” This aligns with findings from other governments, including the United States, New Zealand and Australia.

Scientific research is an essential part of protecting the health and well-being of people and the planet, but it only tells part of the story. And despite some conclusions that glyphosate poses no risk, there have long been concerns regarding its impacts on the environment and human health, particularly from Indigenous communities.

Our ongoing research, in partnership with the Animbiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishinaabek (AZA) First Nation in northwestern Ontario, about the impact of glyphosate being sprayed on their traditional territory demonstrates that policymakers and researchers need to learn from the experiences of people living and working on the land.

Concerns over glyphosate

Our research focuses on glyphosate’s impacts on AZA’s relationships with the land along with the forestry companies and provincial government that use and regulate the herbicide on their territory. Through our work with 14 First Nations that are part of the Understanding Our Food Systems project, several communities expressed great concern about environmental contaminants on their territories.

Members of the AZA have been particularly distressed about the impacts of glyphosate on their traditional food systems, the land and watershed, and the community’s health for several years. People who live and work on the land have noticed many changes and called for research and action to address these concerns.

In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans” based on “limited” evidence it causes cancer in people and “sufficient” evidence it causes cancer in animals.

This has been of particular concern for many Indigenous communities in terms of the impact of glyphosate being sprayed on the berries, animals, medicines and fish that make up their traditional food systems.

While several health-related issues have been connected to glyphosate use, such as destruction of cells, inflammation that can damage healthy tissue and weakening of the immune system’s ability to defend the body against infections and disease, there is no clear consensus on what level is considered safe.

Working closely with AZA, our team of researchers from Lakehead University and the Thunder Bay District Health Unit conducted a series of sharing circles and interviews with Elders, Knowledge Keepers, hunters, gatherers and youth to learn from their observations and experiences.

The ultimate goal of our ongoing research is to better understand the community’s experiences and perspectives of glyphosate to ensure they retain access to traditionally hunted, harvested and grown foods and to protect the environments they depend on.

Listening to Indigenous people

AZA members pointed to ways that traditional knowledge could be used to better understand the impacts of environmental contamination. Those who participated in the conversations shared experiences of finding fewer animals and plants in areas sprayed with glyphosate, making access to traditional foods difficult.

Many participants said animals were more diseased and that harvested and hunted foods did not taste, smell or look the same as they did previously. Disruptions to the cycles of the land and the loss of species impact the community’s food security as well as its self-determination and ability to transfer knowledge to future generations.

Western science tends to dominate policymaking and regulation. However, Indigenous knowledge has a lot to contribute to research and decision-making. Two-eyed seeing, described by Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall, is a way to integrate Indigenous and western ways of knowing, foster deeper understanding and create more holistic, balanced approaches for the benefit of all.

This demands that policymakers take seriously the concerns voiced by Indigenous people around environmental contamination. It also requires more transparent communication, accessible information and testing of waterways, animals and the land.

Listening to Indigenous people and learning from their observations and experiences is essential to protect the lands and waters where they hunt, harvest, and grow foods and medicines, and to ensure the health and well-being of all human and non-human kin.

This article was co-authored by Dorothy Rody from the Animbigoo Zaagi’igan Anishnaabek First Nation, Kim McGibbon, a public health nutritionist at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, and Liz Lovell, a former master’s student in health sciences at Lakehead University.

Charles Z. Levkoe receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Indigenous Services Canada and the Thunder Bay District Health Unit.

– ref. Glyphosate: What Indigenous communities have suspected for years about the dangers of the herbicide – https://theconversation.com/glyphosate-what-indigenous-communities-have-suspected-for-years-about-the-dangers-of-the-herbicide-274389

February 5, 2026

Social studies as ‘neutral?’ That’s a myth, and pressures teachers to avoid contentious issues

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Kevin Lopuck, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba

Social studies teachers face the distinct task of guiding students through pressing global issues and contentious dialogue.

(Allison Shelley/EDUimages), CC BY-NC

With a world literally and figuratively burning around them, high school social studies teachers are charged with engaging students in sensitive topics.

Social studies curricula today, for example, is concerned with themes like residential schools and racism. It’s also important to understand that beyond following explicit pre-set curricula, student-centred education calls for teachers to attend to students’ experiences in the social world.

This means making space for students’ observations or questions about current events like the ICE raids in Minnesota and inquiring into how unfolding events fit into larger social and historical patterns or themes. These conversations are a legitimate and everyday part of many social studies classrooms.

Social studies education demands sustained engagement with difficult knowledge and a heightened sense of obligation to both students and society, even as neoliberal and neoconservative pressures call for a stance of neutrality, which is neither possible nor desirable.

The weight of difficult knowledge

While teaching is widely recognized as stressful and teachers struggle with burnout, the relationship between that stress and specific subject curriculum is under-explored.

Social studies teachers are often required to dwell in the dark places of what Deborah Britzman, who researches the history of psychoanalysis and education, calls difficult knowledge. This pertains to traumatic histories that expose human vulnerability or violence — knowledge that is too much to bear or “make sense” of.

A student with a pensive look on their face. — In social studies classrooms, people are dwelling with difficult knowledge.
(Allison Shelley/EDUimages), CC BY-NC

While teacher stress, burnout and demoralization are well-studied, the weight I’m thinking about in my doctoral research and as a social studies teacher comes from social studies’ teachers’ sense of obligation to their students in this moment, to their discipline and to democracy — and the way carrying this weight exacts an emotional toll.

In this way, teaching social studies differs from other subjects. While all teachers are burdened by increasing demands, overburdened systems and rising public attacks from the “parental rights” movement, social studies teachers face the distinct additional task of guiding students through difficult knowledge, pressing global issues and contentious dialogue.

Pressures outside the classrooms

For example, immediately following the Hamas attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza, students in my rural Manitoba high school social studies class approached me with the expectation that I could help them understand what was happening.

In that moment, I became acutely aware not only of the obligation I felt to help my students, but also of the simultaneous contexts and pressures shaping how I might respond. I knew how deeply divisive this issue was in the public sphere, and consequently how any discussion that included Palestinians, Israeli state violence or historical context could be interpreted as taking sides beyond the classroom.

It would have been simpler to just not engage with the topic. Yet, as a social studies teacher, I carried what I experienced as an emotionally weighty obligation to my students, the curriculum and to act in a way that reflected a broader moral responsibility. This led me to seek to understand, in my current doctoral research, how other high school teachers in Manitoba were experiencing their work.

My early findings from focus groups and qualitative interviews with approximately 20 Manitoba social studies teachers suggest these teachers experience a significant emotional toll linked to their sense of obligation to students and to the betterment of humanity.

Throughout this early research, Israel/Gaza has frequently been named as a flashpoint in classrooms, with many teachers expressing hesitation about engaging with the topic due to fears of backlash from parents, administrators or the broader community. In this sense, the weight of teaching difficult knowledge is not only personal, but collective and structural.

A ‘neutral space’ isn’t possible

A factor shaping pressures teachers perceive in how they guide and support difficult discussions is a dominant misinformed belief that the classroom is, or should be, a “neutral space” — an expectation that is neither possible nor desirable.

Teaching is inherently political insofar as it explicitly or implicitly validates or excludes certain perspectives and voices. The social studies classroom is never a neutral space.

What is taught — what some researchers call the explicit curriculum — is the result of political decision-making by curriculum developers appointed by politicians. What is left out (what some have called “null” curriculum) is equally political.

Myth of neutrality

Even the expectation of neutrality is political: choosing not to take a stance is itself a decision with ethical and political consequences. Teachers’ classroom choices, their responses to students, the framing of discussions, the arrangement of the classroom and even the ways they present themselves are all laden with values.

Expecting teachers to remain neutral ignores this reality and creates a false tension between “being impartial” and fulfilling professional and ethical obligations. Allowing a student’s derogatory or historically false comment to pass unchallenged, for example, is a political choice.

The myth of neutrality pressures teachers to self-censor and avoid contentious issues, contributing to emotional and professional strain.

Engagement with contentious issues required

Contemporary curricula increasingly emphasize global competencies, with critical thinking as a central goal.

Because the classroom is inherently political, teachers must make choices about how to engage. One approach, described by education scholar Thomas E. Kelly as “committed impartiality,” encourages teachers to share their own beliefs while welcoming all opinions and fostering dialogue.

This framework helps teachers respond thoughtfully when students express ideas carelessly or provocatively, guiding classroom discussion in ways that promote critical thinking.

Whichever approach is taken, classroom interactions take place within the “lived curriculum,” — how students experience what happens in a class.

Teachers seen in a circle in discussion. — Expecting teachers to remain neutral creates a false tension between ‘being impartial’ and fulfiling obligations.
(Allison Shelley/EDUimages), CC BY-NC

Sharing weight, creating hope

If teachers feel unable to address the deaths of more than 70,000 people in Gaza or to critically look at the American government’s excessive use of force that has resulted in the deaths of civilians or to recognize the impact of human-caused climate change, what does this say about our collective ability to confront urgent crises and foster informed, empathetic democratic citizens?

By creating space for social studies teachers to share how they experience their work, feelings can be acknowledged and named. This can be part of offering teachers tools to practise self-inquiry to help inform responsible and sustainable classroom practise.

Like teachers’ work with students, these conversations may be messy, emotional and deeply human, and they may even make us want to retreat into isolation. But we are better when we can recognize and name the weight, lean into the collective and remain in the work together.

As I begin to analyze my research with social studies teachers, I am struck by a sense of hope in the ways they continue to engage in difficult conversations. What stands out is not denial of the darkness, but a persistent commitment to hope through teaching that encourages students to act, respond and participate in shaping a more just world.

Kevin Lopuck is affiliated with the Social Studies Educators Network of Canada.

– ref. Social studies as ‘neutral?’ That’s a myth, and pressures teachers to avoid contentious issues – https://theconversation.com/social-studies-as-neutral-thats-a-myth-and-pressures-teachers-to-avoid-contentious-issues-269175

February 4, 2026

The backlash to Bad Bunny’s halftime show reveals how MAGA defines who belongs in America

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Gavin Furrey, PhD Student, Political Science, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

Benito Ocasio, better known as his stage name Bad Bunny, has challenged English dominance in music over the past few years. The streaming era has allowed the Puerto Rican artist to bypass traditional gatekeepers and he recently became Spotify’s most streamed artist globally for the fourth time in his career.

He also made history at the 2026 Grammy Awards, becoming the first artist to win album of the year for a record sung entirely in Spanish, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.

Yet his selection to perform at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show has sparked controversy and backlash from President Donald Trump’s administration and its supporters in the United States.

The U.S. has a long history of excluding Latinos from its sense of national identity. In this current era of MAGA politics, Bad Bunny is exposing the many ways the American conservative right has narrowed its ideas about who truly “belongs” in America.

Borders around — and within — the U.S.

Borders have been central to MAGA politics, most clearly demonstrated by Trump’s hardline stance on immigration. So too has the subject of who can count themselves as part of “the people” — not simply who we agree with, but who is seen as deserving protection and belonging.

In MAGA’s political logic, citizenship status is only one factor of this. Race, language, sexual orientation, gender identity and political leanings have all emerged as markers of belonging or exclusion.

Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren’s insistence that Bad Bunny is “not an American artist,” U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s threats to have ICE present at the halftime show and one Fox News host’s description of Ocasio as a “cross-dresser who doesn’t speak English” all reveal the importance of ethno-nationalist and populist border-making for the American right.

In this regard, history is repeating itself. In 1936, the U.S. forcibly removed up to two million people of Mexican descent from the country — up to 60 per cent of whom were American citizens. More recently, between January and October 2025, approximately 170 American citizens were detained by ICE, including young children and pregnant women.

Partly as a result of the Mexican-American war (1846-48), Latinos — and Mexicans in particular — were racialized in the U.S. in ways that positioned them not as internal “others,” but as “aliens” imagined to be external to the nation.

This logic resurfaced in Arizona’s ethnic studies ban, which targeted a Mexican-American studies program in Tucson between 2010 and 2016. Beyond territorial boundaries, this policy drew boundaries around the national story the country tells about itself.

Puerto Rico and second-class citizenship

Puerto Rico’s political status is another manifestation of Latino alienation in the U.S. As an unincorporated territory, Puerto Ricans have no voting representation in congress and cannot vote for president.

Puerto Ricans are arguably treated as second-class citizens in the U.S.. In 2017, nearly 3,000 Puerto Ricans died waiting for assistance after Hurricane Maria struck. In contrast, the number of direct and indirect deaths for hurricanes that struck Florida and Texas weeks earlier was 84 and 94 respectively.

Bad Bunny has been vocal about this neglect. He has regularly stood up for Puerto Rico, including cancelling his European tour in 2019 to protest the Puerto Rican governor’s sexist and homophobic comments.

He also excluded the dates on the continental U.S. during his most recent tour to avoid drawing ICE attention to his fans, and also spoke out against ICE at the recent Grammys, saying “ICE out.”

Despite not identifying as queer himself, Bad Bunny has also been a consistent ally of the LGBTQ+ community. In 2020, he wore a skirt on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to bring attention to the killing of a transgender woman in Puerto Rico.

Following the ICE slayings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, demanding that authorities be held accountable appears to have joined the list of MAGA’s targetable offences. Bad Bunny’s embrace of people different from him may be yet another point of friction for the cult of national purity that the MAGA movement advocates for.

The dog-whistle of ‘family-friendly’

Turning Point USA is hosting an alternative “All American” Super Bowl halftime show “celebrating faith, family and freedom” — a description that reinforces right-wing ideas of nationhood and acts as a dog whistle for racial, sexual, linguistic and national purity.

One could argue the Turning Point show isn’t about race or exclusion, but it’s a difficult argument to sustain given the pattern of recent backlash.

Since 2019, Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation has collaborated with the NFL to rebuild the league’s image after its conflict with Colin Kaepernick, who was effectively pushed out of the league after kneeling during the national anthem to protest police violence and racial injustice.

The partnership has increased visibility for genres associated with resistance and resilience, including hip hop, rap and now reggaeton.

A more inclusive, somewhat diplomatic, selection process has pushed the halftime show into the realm of cultural relevancy, allowing the NFL to reach new communities. In America’s polarized climate, however, what counts as relevant is up for debate.

In 2020, complaints sent to the Federal Communications Commission about Shakira and Jennifer Lopez’s Super Bowl halftime show described it as “inappropriate.”

In 2022, complaints about Kendrick Lamar’s show revolved around alleged “anti-American” themes, inappropriate lyrics, an all-Black dance crew and moments when Lamar grabbed his crotch.

Concerns of “family friendly” content are evoked. Yet, they stand close to discourses of anti-Americanism and concerns about a lack of white representation. Turning Point USA doesn’t need to explicitly evoke race or language to signal it.

A political stage — whether we admit it or not

Many argue the NFL halftime show has become politicized. But in reality, it’s always been an inherently political event.

Who gets to be seen on a broadcast with hundreds of millions of viewers, who is considered a conventional choice and who is deemed provocative all involve questions about who really belongs — and who doesn’t.

The Super Bowl halftime show is just one manifestation of a larger conversation happening in the U.S. about the validity of a variety of expressions of the American experience.

The MAGA movement may have won the White House, but in terms of America’s cultural values and tastes, its borders aren’t stopping millions of Americans from getting excited about the show.

Gavin Furrey 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 backlash to Bad Bunny’s halftime show reveals how MAGA defines who belongs in America – https://theconversation.com/the-backlash-to-bad-bunnys-halftime-show-reveals-how-maga-defines-who-belongs-in-america-274815

February 4, 2026

Does the exodus to UpScrolled signify the end of TikTok?

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jaigris Hodson, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Royal Roads University

Soon after American investors took control of TikTok’s U.S. operations, users started complaining that content on certain topics was being suppressed. (Unsplash/Appshunter.io)

Until recently, you might have never heard of the TikTok competitor UpScrolled. But as of Jan. 29, the app reached No. 1 one in Apple’s app store as disgruntled TikTok users in the United States rushed to sign up.

The exodus to UpScrolled comes after a group of American investors, including Oracle founder Larry Ellison, acquired a majority stake in TikTok’s U.S. operations on Jan. 22, a day before the deadline set by President Donald Trump for the app’s U.S operations to be separated from Chinese parent company ByteDance.

Trump and other American officials have long pushed for acquiring TikTok’s U.S. operations, citing concerns over China accessing the data of U.S. citizens. However, soon after the acquisition, TikTok users started complaining of shadow banning, a disputed tactic whereby people suggest social media sites will allow you to post, but will not allow anyone else to see what you post.

The acquisition comes amid civil unrest in the U.S. as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers (ICE) conduct raids in cities like Minneapolis that have resulted in multiple deaths and hospitalizations. Concerned users have been uploading video documenting ICE’s actions, but began to notice their videos were not garnering any attention on TikTok, or sometimes, not uploading at all following the acquisition.

Users posting about other topics such as Palestine have also expressed concerns about censorship. Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda’s account was banned shortly after the acquisition. It was restored following an outcry from users.

TikTok says anyone experiencing a disruption over the last couple of weeks has not been shadow banned; it was result of technical problems following a polar vortex and associated weather-related issues. But this statement from U.S. TikTok came after one million downloads of UpScrolled and reports of concerned users deleting TikTok.

Controlling the algorithm

It may indeed be a coincidence that people had trouble uploading videos critical of ICE at a time of changing ownership, but the whole incident had users talking.

As part of the acquisition, TikTok has been programmed with a new U.S.-specific content moderation algorithm that influences what people do and don’t see. Like with every other social network, the algorithm is considered proprietary information, meaning no academic nor policymaker can independently audit it.

Trump has expressed interest in controlling social media algorithms, so it’s no wonder people are connecting the outage with possible censorship. Looking at Reddit posts about the TikTok sale reveals how upset some users are.

It’s well known that China engages in censorship on the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin. In fact, this practice was commented on by France’s President Emmanuel Macron, who stated that children on TikTok in China receive more educational content than children in France do.

Knowing this, it’s not surprising that American users would connect the dots and suggest that any TikTok outage would be a result of government censorship.

The truth is, there’s no way to know for sure whether censorship did occur in the first week of the takeover, or whether it’s still occurring in less obvious ways now. Regardless of whether direct government interference is an issue, the algorithm still filters content in ways that often lead to misinformation spreading among a global user base.

Is time up for TikTok?

Does the rush of users from TikTok to apps like UpScrolled spell hard times ahead for TikTok U.S.? We’ve been here before, and the apps that take a temporary hit usually bounce back. After Elon Musk took over Twitter and rebranded it X in 2022, many users, including high-profile celebrities and corporations, left the platform. However, engagement is still strong among people who identify as right wing and MAGA.

Every couple of years, it seems, news outlets publish articles about reasons to leave Facebook. But Facebook and X are still going strong. The fact that these sites survive the exodus of both high-profile and regular users is likely due to network effects.

Social media platforms become more valuable the more people are on them. Not only do they become more interesting when there are more people posting content, but people also want to be on platforms where their friends, family and favourite celebrities already are.

Network effects mean that unless UpScrolled continues its explosive growth, people are unlikely to continue to choose it over the more established TikTok. At best, we might see a Twitter/X effect, which is where TikTok will host more pro-U.S. government content creators and those people who want to follow them, and UpScrolled will host more critical content creators and their followers. This is basically what happened when many left-leaning users moved to BlueSky as an alternative to X.

Because each social network engages in or facilitates different types of content filtering, each provides a different kind of echo chamber that people self-select into or out of.

These echo chambers are a problem because they reinforce beliefs, even ones grounded in mis- and disinformation, and in turn create deeper more polarized divisions between people that are hard to escape from. Since young people report getting most of their news from social media sites, people concerned about algorithms have more than just government censorship to worry about.

Jaigris Hodson receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)

– ref. Does the exodus to UpScrolled signify the end of TikTok? – https://theconversation.com/does-the-exodus-to-upscrolled-signify-the-end-of-tiktok-274813

February 4, 2026

How to ensure affordable, safe and culturally grounded housing for Indigenous older adults

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Hai Luo, Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Work, University of Manitoba

A good home, or Minosin Kikiwa in Cree, is the foundation of dignity in later life, according to the Indigenous seniors who spoke to us. Yet “every year the rent goes sky-high and it’s tough to be homeless,” an anonymous participant said.

As members of the Indigenous Seniors Research Committee, we came together in the fall of 2022 with the goal of examining the housing and care needs of older Indigenous adults in Winnipeg. In 2023-24, we spoke with 48 Indigenous older adults between the ages of 55 and 83 and nine knowledge keepers. What we found out, and compiled in our report Minosin Kikiwa – “A Good Home”: Indigenous Older Adults in Winnipeg, is critical to share.

It turns out that many Indigenous Elders are struggling to find affordable and safe homes to age with dignity after decades of contributing to their families and communities. The evidence we’ve collected suggests a housing crisis that is not only economic but also cultural.

Affordability at the breaking point

A little more than half of the older Indigenous participants rented their housing, and 21 per cent were precariously housed or homeless. Many relied on social or income assistance they found lacking.

One participant who used a walker described having to keep working to afford the $1,050 monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment. Another senior told us:

“[You] can’t move because [you] can’t afford it. You can’t afford it. You can’t even get a stinking room at the hotel [per month]. They’re charging over $650 for a bedbug-infested party room and people breaking in.”

Others described paying most of their fixed income for apartments with poor or unsafe conditions. One participant recalled living in a rooming house where individuals with questionable unsafe behaviours were allowed to move in. “My ex-landlady didn’t care who was in there…she was not maintaining the place.”

As committee co-chair Joanne Mason put it: “Getting a place to rent is impossible, and the ones that are for rent are dilapidated and often not well-kept at very high prices.”

Colonial legacies on housing

Indigenous older adults’ housing challenges cannot be separated from Canada’s history. Child welfare removals, residential schools and racism disrupted education, employment and the transfer of intergenerational wealth. As a result, many Indigenous older adults entered later life with mortgages or debts, and without personal savings.

As committee member Kathy Mallet explained: “The colonial system gave us (Indigenous Peoples) that legacy, and so now we’re paying for it.”

Cumulative poverty and other disadvantages compound this problem. As one participant shared, “You don’t raise four children and be wealthy when you retire.” Other low-income Indigenous participants told us they had no choice but to keep working in paid employment into their later years. Seventy-three per cent of our participants reported they either have “some difficulty” or “great difficulty” making ends meet.

These were no golden years of retirement.

Home is more than family

Housing is more than physical buildings, it is also about community and wellness.

Minosin Kikiwa for Indigenous older adults is defined as a safe, affordable and accessible space that fosters a holistic balance of physical, spiritual, mental and emotional well-being through deep connections to family, kin, community and culture.

Homes are places where one connects with family, passes on culture and finds rest. Yet restrictive housing policies frequently undermine this. One participant shared that overnight guests were forbidden in their building. “Visitors have to be out of the building by 10:30…that’s not a home.”

As Lucille Bruce, co-chair of the Indigenous Seniors Research Committee, explained: “They want to be within their communities where families can visit and where services are delivered in culturally relevant ways by Indigenous agencies.”

Intergenerational connections are disrupted when grandchildren and other family members are prevented from staying with renters due to these culturally insensitive policies, which worsens the isolation and cultural deprivation experienced by many.

When policy fails community

Winnipeg has one of the largest populations of urban Indigenous Peoples in Canada with 12.4 per cent of Winnipegers (90,990) identifying as Indigenous in 2021. The housing and later-life struggles of Indigenous older adults in the city reflect those faced by Indigenous older adults in urban settings across Canada.

Statistics Canada found that the life expectancy of an Indigenous person is about 7.8 years shorter than that of non-Indigenous Canadians. Other researchers have linked precarious housing to poor health, food insecurity and social isolation, all of which increase mortality.

Governments need to be accountable to Indigenous older adults. Public funds currently flow into dilapidated spaces and rooming houses that function as de facto “nursing homes” for low-income Indigenous older adults. As one participant stated, shelters and transitional housing too often become places “where our people come to die.”

Researchers note that government programs framed as reconciliation often amount to tokenistic gestures, with a lack of meaningful Indigenous leadership. Policy frameworks have failed to address deep-rooted challenges such as generational poverty, inadequate financial support that does not adjust for inflation, and the lack of safe, affordable and culturally representative housing options for urban Indigenous seniors.

Institutional systems, including the historical trauma of residential schools and restrictive modern housing policies (for example, prohibiting overnight guests), continue to displace Indigenous seniors from their families and communities, creating significant barriers to accessing necessary resources.

Moving toward dignity and justice

We believe that housing policy must prioritize Indigenous leadership in design, construction, ownership and governance. Housing programs should also be connected with stable and publicly funded supports for health, income and community well-being, shifting away from short-term or symbolic solutions toward lasting and transformative change.

In light of Minosin Kikiwa, we call for governments and housing providers to help ensure affordability while centring Indigenous values and leadership. Affordability should extend beyond just subsidies to building and sustaining safe, accessible and culturally relevant housing.

Housing for Indigenous older adults must transcend basic shelter to become a sanctuary of dignity and cultural sovereignty, a place where ceremonies, traditional foods and the passing of sacred knowledge are protected, not prohibited. This is no longer merely a policy suggestion, it is a fundamental requirement of reconciliation to ensure that aging in community is a right, not a privilege, for Indigenous seniors.

Hai Luo receives funding from the Manitoba Research Alliance’s Partnership Grant (SSHRC) – Community-Driven Solutions to Poverty: Challenges and Possibilities and the Winnipeg Friendship Centre. She is affiliated with Indigenous Seniors Research Committee of Winnipeg and Centre on Aging, University of Manitoba.

Laura Funk has received past funding for research, from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and similar agencies. She is affiliated with the University of Manitoba and is a board member of the community-based Manitoba Seniors Equity Action Coalition.

Malcolm Disbrowe received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. He is affiliated with the College of Community and Global Health at the University of Manitoba and First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba.

– ref. How to ensure affordable, safe and culturally grounded housing for Indigenous older adults – https://theconversation.com/how-to-ensure-affordable-safe-and-culturally-grounded-housing-for-indigenous-older-adults-265949