Category: The Conversation – Canada

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Erin Isings, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information & Media Studies, Western University

Imagine you’re awaiting important feedback. For professionals, this could be a performance appraisal from your boss. For students, it could be written comments and a grade on an important paper.

For many people, this waiting period involves dread, anxiety, stress and other negative emotions. And once the much-anticipated feedback arrives, its reception may be clouded in emotions that result in a disengagement with the feedback process: shock, rejection or confusion. It’s an emotional blow that can really affect the feedback recipient’s well-being and sense of self.

Although feedback can sometimes feel painful, it might be the best gift to help our learning and growth.

Receiving feedback helps us to gain an accurate awareness of our actual performance in relation to the expected or needed outcome — whether that’s on the job or in school.

Feedback helps us understand how to close that gap between where we are versus where we need to be and improve our skills. Without the guidance that comes from feedback, we’re fumbling in the dark.

Feedback literacy

With proper feedback, we can clearly see our strengths and our opportunities for learning. Yet feedback literacy — the process of engaging with feedback and using it to improve — is a skill that is rarely taught in school.

Feedback literacy typically involves four phases:

1. Accepting feedback: Having an open mind and recognizing that feedback is valuable and we can grow from it.

2. Reflecting upon feedback: Considering how the feedback shows gaps in performance and can act as guidance to bring us closer to the desired outcome.

3. Engaging with the feedback: Making sense of the feedback, including asking clarifying questions. It’s at this phase that emotional reactions can derail the feedback literacy process.

4. Applying feedback: Using feedback to make changes to subsequent performance.

Benefits for lower stress

As university educators who teach students in communications, dentistry and undergraduate medical sciences, our previous research on feedback literacy showed that students who have higher levels of feedback literacy also have higher levels of mindfulness and lower levels of overall stress.

From this, we wanted to look at whether students would benefit from learning more feedback literacy skills — and at the same time, have their well-being and emotions supported through mindfulness.

We developed a program to teach students how to become more literate with feedback, while managing their stress responses to that feedback.

Teaching feedback literacy

To support managing feedback-induced stress, we thought that perhaps mindfulness, or focusing on the present moment without judgment, would help minimize the negative emotions around receiving feedback. Without being distracted by the emotion, students could focus on the feedback and improve their learning.

Working with a multidisciplinary team, we designed a “co-curricular course” — an online module that could be completed by students in different disciplines to support core curriculum. This entails six 30-minute lessons that apply mindfulness to feedback literacy, made available through Western University’s online learning management system.

We then met with students who went through the lessons to ask them about their experiences. While we had hoped to hear that they were able to see past the negative emotions when receiving feedback, and develop an appreciation for it, we found some unexpected results.

Students reframing their outlook on feedback

Beyond students no longer focusing on the negative emotions around feedback, they went as far to report that skills from the course helped them reframe their views on the whole feedback process.

Instead of feedback being a painful and nerve-racking experience, students reported that they began to welcome and seek out feedback. One student reported looking forward to receiving it and asking her supervisor at a clinical placement to give her as much feedback as possible.

Another student who had previously avoided speaking to professors out of fear of being seen as a “problem student” began to ask for clarification to decode assignment feedback. Students reported they began to eagerly ask questions to deepen their understanding of the feedback they received and consequently improve their learning.

Another focus group participant, a dental student, reported using the mindfulness techniques to help her stay calm while performing a dental procedure on a patient, recognizing that she needed to stay focused to avoid upsetting the patient and to complete the tooth procedure.

How students used mindfulness

A further surprise was that students reported applying the mindfulness techniques to minimize stress and increase their well-being in scenarios such as:

• Navigating transitions (from post-secondary school to their first professional job)

• Using mindful eating practices to notice what foods they’re consuming

• Slowing down to enjoy a morning cup of tea

• Realizing that post-secondary years are the “best years” and the need to enjoy the time

• Managing emotions such as anxiety when returning to their hometown

• Using mindfulness to notice their physical surroundings (houses and stores on their street)

Overall, focus group participants reported increased well-being due to stronger coping mechanisms for stress in academic work and in other life aspects.

This research contributes to understanding short- and potentially longer-term benefits of learning about feedback literacy or mindfulness as a complementary part of academic study or professional training.

Feedback literacy tips

Whether you’re walking into a performance appraisal, or your child is anticipating a grade return, here are some things to remember:

Feedback is not a personal attack. It’s a gift to help improve your performance.

Accept each feedback moment as an opportunity for personal growth.

If feedback is disappointing, try to put the emotions aside to see where there is actionable guidance.

Seek feedback whenever possible. The more you ask for — and receive — feedback in everyday situations, the easier it is to welcome it.

Take time to celebrate the wins. Reflect on what worked for you and how you can build on that momentum.

Erin Isings receives funding from SSHRC.

Cecilia S. Dong receives funding from SSHRC.

Christine Bell receives funding from SSHRC.

– ref. From nerve-racking to welcome: How mindfulness helps people engage with feedback to improve – https://theconversation.com/from-nerve-racking-to-welcome-how-mindfulness-helps-people-engage-with-feedback-to-improve-261826

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Qianxi He, Faculty Lecturer, McGill University

Have you ever wondered how airplanes, cars, oil and gas pipelines or medical devices are made? It’s not just the materials they’re composed of that’s so important, but also the high-speed machining that shapes them. Improving those processes can improve the industries that use them and the products they make.

Aerospace, automotive, medical devices and oil and gas industries all require materials that resist corrosion and have low thermal conductivity, meaning they don’t transfer heat easily. That’s why materials like austenitic stainless steels, titanium alloys and Inconel super-alloys are crucial to these industries.

But the same properties that make these materials so useful also make them difficult to machine at high speeds, leading to rapid tool wear and shortening the lifespan of cutting tools. Machining refers to a manufacturing process where material is selectively removed from a work piece — typically a raw material in the form of a bar, sheet or block — using cutting tools to achieve the desired shape, dimensions and surface finish.

An innovation in tool coating could solve these machining challenges. The development of what’s known as a bi-layer AlTiN PVD coating enhances cutting-tool performance, improves wear resistance and extends the life of the tool life during ultra-high-speed machining of hard-to-machine materials.

This breakthrough won’t just benefit manufacturers. The development of advanced cutting tool coatings can significantly enhance tool performance under extreme machining conditions and improve the surface quality of the finished work piece. Let’s dive into what makes this discovery so important.

Why it matters

Traditionally, tools have been coated with an AlTiN layer — a hard ceramic coating composed of aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), and nitrogen (N) — to enhance wear resistance during machining. The coating is applied as an extremely thin film (typically three to five micrometres) through a process called physical vapour deposition (PVD), in which the coating material is vapourized in a vacuum chamber and condensed onto the tool surface.

A single AlTiN layer can improve oxidation resistance and make tools more durable, but these coatings often struggle to balance the hardness, toughness and frictional properties required for demanding machining environments.

The bi-layer coating used in this study overcomes these limitations by optimizing the mechanical properties of each layer. This approach enables the coating to withstand the extreme heat and mechanical loads during the machining of stainless steel.

How does the bi-layer coating work?

A novel coating system was designed: a bi-layer consisting of two AlTiN layers with different ratios of aluminum and titanium. The bi-layer AlTiN coating stands out due to its unique combination of properties.

The top layer, with a higher ratio of aluminum to titanium, reduces friction and improves oxidation resistance. The sub-layer, with an equal ratio of aluminum to titanium, enhances hardness and provides better adhesion to the tungsten carbide substrate used in cutting tools. This combination enables the tool to withstand higher temperatures and mechanical stresses, resulting in longer tool life and more efficient machining.

This bi-layer coating was tested against single-layer coatings on tungsten carbide cutting tools under ultra-high-speed turning of austenitic stainless steel 304 (SS304) — a high-performance material commonly used in the automotive and aerospace industries. The bi-layer coating demonstrated remarkable results, increasing tool life by 33 per cent.

The improved wear resistance is due to the combination of the two layers. It reduced the type of wear caused by high temperatures — known as crater wear — as well as the type of wear caused by mechanical stress — known as flank wear. This balance of properties resulted in longer tool life during high-speed machining.

Better cutting conditions between tool and workpiece

One of the standout features of the bi-layer coating was its improvement in friction, wear and lubrication — three key properties studied in the science of tribology. During machining, these effects were evident in the way chips were formed. Chip formation — the process by which small pieces of material are removed from the whole workpiece by the cutting tool — serves as an important indicator of friction and cutting conditions at the tool–workpiece interface.

In this study, the bi-layer tool produced chips with a smoother surface and a more regular shape compared to the chips produced by single-layer tools.

The smoother chips indicate better frictional conditions, meaning that the cutting tool experienced less resistance as it machined the stainless steel. This reduced friction not only extended tool life but also contributed to a more efficient cutting process, as less energy was required to perform the machining.

The bi-layer coating’s ability to reduce friction was evident in the lower cutting forces recorded during tests. The bi-layer tool consistently showed lower forces, indicating it required less energy to cut through material. This efficiency could lead to energy savings in industrial settings where high-speed machining is frequently used, making the process more cost-effective and sustainable.

Evidence of superior wear resistance

The study used several advanced techniques to analyze the wear mechanisms affecting the tools, which showed how the bi-layer coating effectively reduced both crater and flank wear.

Crater wear occurs on the tool’s rake face — the surface of the cutting tool that comes into direct contact with the chip as it is formed — due to the intense heat generated in the cutting zone, while flank wear happens on the tool’s side, typically as a result of mechanical abrasion. The combination of properties in the bi-layer coating helped reduce both forms of wear. This allows the tool to last longer even under the harsh conditions of ultra-high-speed turning.

The impact of high-speed machining

The development of this bi-layer AlTiN coating represents a significant advancement in cutting tool technology. By enhancing wear resistance and reducing friction, the coating extends tool life and improves the efficiency of machining difficult materials like SS304. For industries that rely on high-speed, precision machining, this innovation could lead to cost savings, reduced downtime and greater productivity.

By enhancing wear resistance and reducing friction, the bi-layer AlTiN coating extends tool life and improves the efficiency of machining difficult materials like austenitic stainless steel 304 (SS304). SS304 is widely used in products that require high strength, corrosion resistance and a smooth surface finish — such as automotive exhaust systems, aerospace components, food-processing equipment and medical instruments. For industries that rely on high-speed, precision machining, this innovation could translate into significant cost savings, reduced downtime and greater productivity.

This research highlights the exciting possibilities of advanced coatings in machining and manufacturing technologies. Innovations like this demonstrate how materials science and mechanical engineering can drive progress across industries such as aerospace, automotive, energy, and medical device manufacturing — where precision, durability and efficiency are critical to performance.

Qianxi He 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. An innovative tool coating could improve the way products — from aerospace to medical devices — are made – https://theconversation.com/an-innovative-tool-coating-could-improve-the-way-products-from-aerospace-to-medical-devices-are-made-238186

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Amy Fitzgerald, Professor, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology, University of Windsor

The federal government has announced it’s introducing legislation to make bail more difficult to secure, along with lengthening sentences for certain offences.

These actions are intended to make Canadians feel safer, which makes sense politically. But does it make sense practically?

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Read more:
The federal government tables bail reform bill: 5 ways to strengthen Canada’s bail system

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Invoking the term “bail reform” has been politically strategic for politicians at both provincial and federal levels.

As I explain to my criminology students, “tough on crime” rhetoric has long been useful for garnering political support, while more nuanced examinations of the realities of crime and what could and should be done to reduce it struggle to gain traction.

The federal government’s new bail reform legislation would ensure that more people are incarcerated and for longer periods of time. As someone who lost a close relative to the prison system while he was awaiting a court appearance, I know how problematic this approach will be.

There’s also been no mention of corresponding investments in federal and provincial corrections systems that would enable them to keep up with this looming increase in prison populations.

In a news release, the federal government said:

“[The proposed changes] will only be effective if provincial and territorial governments do their part in supporting their implementation. This includes properly managing and resourcing the administration of justice, including police and Crown attorneys under their jurisdiction, bail courts, bail supervision programs, provincial courts, jails and victim services. The federal government looks forward to continuing to work with provincial and territorial governments to ensure the proper functioning of the criminal justice system.”

If meaningful plans are not in place, then the likely default will be reactionary responses, at best, at the provincial/territorial level.

Two risk areas

I am most concerned that failure to rectify the correctional status quo will compromise safety, both inside and outside of these facilities, in two critical ways.

First, larger prison populations without increases in programming will result in reduced access to the programming that does exist. This can be expected to increase the risk of recidivism, which is when people reoffend after they’re released.

Most people who are incarcerated will be released eventually. Therefore, the conditions inside these facilities in effect spill over into the community. With this in mind, correctional programming that helps inmates deal with trauma, addiction and provides meaningful vocational training should be enhanced.

Investing in such programming may not be as attractive as the rhetoric of bail reform, lengthening sentences and hiring more RCMP officers, but it’s essential if reducing the risk of reoffending — in other words, keeping Canadians safe — is truly an objective.

Second, there are significant risks associated with incarceration, particularly among those on remand — people not convicted and awaiting trial, mostly for non-violent charges. People on remand currently comprise approximately two-thirds of the population in provincial jails; that number is nearly 80 per cent in Ontario. The proposed bail reform would undoubtedly increase those numbers.

In 2021, my 21-year-old nephew was criminally charged and spent nine days on remand awaiting his day in court to explain why he was not guilty. He never got his day in court because he died in jail of drug toxicity caused by fentanyl. Sadly, what happened to him wasn’t an anomaly.

The problem is so acute that Ontario’s Chief Coroner initiated a formal death review to examine the 192 deaths in Ontario custodial facilities from 2014 through 2021. In their report, An Obligation to Prevent, the expert panel noted a dramatic increase in deaths across those years, and in each year, the vast majority of deaths were among those on remand — most attributable to accidental drug toxicity.

Dying in custody

Fentanyl has made the pervasive problem of contraband entering custodial facilities particularly hazardous, both for those in prison and staff. This hazard is illustrated by the finding in the report that people in Ontario jails have a greater chance of dying while there than in the community.

The increased likelihood is significant; for instance, those who are 25 to 34 years of age are approximately seven times more likely to die while in custody than in the community. People like my nephew, who were not using fentanyl prior to incarceration, are at greatest risk of dying from the drug because they do not have a built-up tolerance.

This troubling situation was summed up by the Chief Coroner’s expert panel as follows:

“The panel has determined that over recent years, these conditions have significantly decreased the safety for persons-in-custody. They have also led to alarming deteriorations in the safety, wellness and career satisfaction for the dedicated individuals who work within the current environment of custodial corrections.”

The panel accordingly made 18 recommendations to improve the safety inside Ontario jails. Yet it was evident during the inquest into my nephew’s death, held in September, that acting on these recommendations is very much a work in progress, to put it generously.

The jury at the inquest into my nephew’s death issued 23 additional recommendations. These recommendations will be added to the many others that have resulted from inquests into inmate deaths.

Investments are essential

Canadians should therefore be aware that there are real risks to the federal government’s legislative proposals. To mitigate these risks, there must be significant investments by the federal and provincial/territorial governments to ensure:

1. Access to effective, evidence-based correctional programs that address the causes of reoffending and keep up with the growing prison population;
2. Improved safety in custodial facilities, with a particular focus on addressing increasingly lethal contraband that poses serious threats not only to those who are serving sentences, but also to those on remand and prison staff;
3. Urgent action to address the many unresolved recommendations to improve conditions and safety. Failure to do so will result in even less access to programming than currently exists, which will actually make it more challenging to reduce the risk of reoffending, and more people, like my nephew, will die while in custody.

Without these investments, the federal government’s proposed legislation can be expected to shift the correctional status quo in the country into a state of crisis, if it is not there already. In short, the legislation would reduce, not enhance, safety and justice.

Amy Fitzgerald receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

– ref. I’m a criminologist and grieving aunt. Here’s why Ottawa’s bail reform won’t make Canada safer – https://theconversation.com/im-a-criminologist-and-grieving-aunt-heres-why-ottawas-bail-reform-wont-make-canada-safer-268639

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Mohammed Estaiteyeh, Assistant Professor of Digital Pedagogies and Technology Literacies, Faculty of Education, Brock University

Distance learning far precedes the digital age. Before online courses, people relied on print materials (and later radio and other technologies) to support formal education when the teacher and learner were physically separated.

Today, there are varied ways of supporting distance learning with digital communication. With “asynchronous” online courses, teaching does not occur live. Students access course materials on the learning management system and complete assignments at their own pace. This allows flexibility across time zones and work schedules and affords accessible learning.

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Read more:
Professor flexibility, recorded lectures: Some positive university legacies of the pandemic

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Nevertheless, some researchers have raised concerns regarding the quality and student outcomes associated with asynchronous online courses. As well, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has exposed fundamental challenges to this mode of delivery.

While GenAI poses serious challenges to academic integrity in many formats of learning, including synchronous online and in-person learning, asynchronous courses face the most acute risk. Without real-time interaction or time constraints, students can use AI undetected while instructors never observe their thinking processes.

Compromised learning models

Asynchronous courses have long relied on conventional assessments: discussion board posts, written reflections, essay assignments and pre-recorded videos. These models in asynchronous assessment are now compromised. Distinguishing AI-generated content from human-written text has become increasingly difficult.

Text discussions and reflections present the highest substitution risk. GenAI can generate personalized reflective posts and discussion replies rapidly, complete with a polished academic tone. An instructor may spend hours responding to these contributions yet gain little evidence about who actually learned and produced the material.

AI agents like ChatGPT’s Atlas browser can now navigate course sites, consume materials and complete some assignments with minimal student intervention — if any.

In written assignments, requiring precise citations from assigned course materials may seem like a safeguard. However, AI-enhanced tools can easily meet such requirements. This approach provides false security and fails to address underlying problems, including authorship with integrity in an AI world.

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Read more:
ChatGPT and cheating: 5 ways to change how students are graded

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Students can be asked to provide time-stamped drafts, version history and checkpoints to document their process. But these can be easily fabricated — while instructors become overloaded with policing rather than focusing on students’ learning and progress.

AI-generated infographics and videos are also becoming hard to distinguish from human-made ones.

Detectors, remote proctoring not solutions

AI detectors cannot solve the problem. Research suggests detection tools produce false positive rates far higher than advertised, with disproportionate harm to neurodivergent and second-language learners. Several universities now explicitly advise against using detection software as evidence of academic misconduct.

Remote proctoring is intrusive and raises serious ethical, equity, privacy and reliability concerns. Students requiring accommodations, whether for disabilities, inadequate technology or lack of private space, must be granted leniency that undermines the system’s purpose, rendering it unsustainable while diverting instructors away from their educational mission.

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Read more:
Online exam monitoring can invade privacy and erode trust at universities

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These mounting challenges are neither hypothetical nor distant. Without meaningful intervention, institutions risk credentialing students who have not demonstrably engaged with course content, thereby undermining the integrity of academic credentials.

Two less-than-ideal strategies

Genuine protection against AI substitution requires approaches that fundamentally alter how instructors deliver asynchronous courses. Two strategies that somewhat meet this threshold are:

1) Short oral examinations can be scheduled for major assignments or throughout a term. While not without limitations, these conversations verify authorship and assess the depth of understanding.

2) Experiential learning components with external verification: Students can apply course concepts to real-world settings and include brief attestations from workplace supervisors, community partners or other external stakeholders in their capstone assignments that will be graded by course instructors. Combined with short oral examinations, this approach would deter offloading all learning to AI and augment asynchronous coursework with practical components.

However, assessment strategies alone cannot solve the authenticity crisis.

Rethinking program design

The Community of Inquiry framework, a tool for conceptualizing online learning, identifies three essential elements for effective online learning: social presence (students engage authentically), cognitive presence (students construct understanding through inquiry) and teaching presence (instructors facilitate learning).

GenAI threatens all three of these elements: it can simulate social engagement through generated posts, substitute for cognitive work and force instructors to focus on policing rather than teaching.

Institutions must evaluate whether their asynchronous programs can maintain these elements given GenAI capabilities.

Confronting an uncomfortable reality

Institutions and educators must be honest about limitations. Few strategies provide genuine protection against AI substitution; most merely create friction that determined students can overcome. The recommended approaches named above require synchronous elements or external verification that fundamentally alter asynchronous delivery.

Implementation of these imperfect solutions requires genuine institutional commitment, resources and policy support. Institutions now face a choice: invest substantially in what is required to restore some degree of assessment authenticity or acknowledge that asynchronous programs (as currently structured) cannot credibly assure learning outcomes.

Band-aid solutions and deflection of responsibility to instructors will only deepen the credentialing crisis. In the absence of robust institutional efforts, asynchronous programs risk becoming credential mills in all but name. The question is not whether institutions can afford to act, but whether they can afford not to.

Rahul Kumar received funding from SSHRC in the past.

Mohammed Estaiteyeh 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. How AI is challenging the credibility of some online courses – https://theconversation.com/how-ai-is-challenging-the-credibility-of-some-online-courses-264851

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jessalynn Keller, Associate Professor in Critical Media Studies, University of Calgary

On Oct. 3, pop superstar and cultural icon Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, to much public anticipation. But when the reviews came in, they were mixed.

While Rolling Stone feted the album as featuring “new, exciting sonic turns,” The Guardian slammed it as “dull razzle-dazzle from a star who seems frazzled.”

Likewise, Swifties had varied reactions. While some danced to the catchy chorus of “Opalite,” others criticized the songwriting as lacking the depth and nuance of Swift’s previous albums.

But perhaps what drew the most controversy from fans and critics alike was the politics of the album.

From feminist icon to political enigma

Unlike Swift’s recent recordings, which were punctuated with popular feminist messaging, The Life of a Showgirl seems to rest on conservative ideals, with fantasies of marriage, children and quiet suburban life emerging on several tracks.

As an artist known for leaving hidden messages, or “Easter eggs,” in her songs and encouraging her fans to find and decode them, Swifties jumped on the possible meanings of Swift’s new music: is she endorsing a “trad wife” lifestyle? Was that a racist dog whistle? Isn’t the “showgirl” a feminist figure? Or is it all just satire?

As cultural studies scholars, we are less interested in the musical quality of the album or determining the “true” meaning behind the songs. Instead, we regard The Life of a Showgirl as a cultural barometer that makes visible the social trends and tensions through both the album itself and the meanings fans derive from it.

With ambiguous lyrics and imagery, Swift invites her fan base to find their own meanings in the album. In this sense, The Life of a Showgirl is a perfect album for our time — a masterpiece of performative ambiguity that allows Swift to transcend polarized political discourse and avoid taking a stand in this hostile political moment.

Swift is no stranger to performing political ambiguity as a celebrity figure. While she avoided politics early in her career, Swift eventually began voicing her views, aligning with progressive social movements of the late 2010s, like feminism and queer rights, denouncing white supremacy and anti-choice rhetoric and endorsing Democratic candidates in both the 2020 and 2024 U.S. presidential elections.

Swift became understood as a feminist icon in an era of popular feminism, where mediated feminism is accessible and highly visible in the cultural zeitgeist.

With the release of The Life of a Showgirl, however, Swift positions herself within today’s political context: rising conservatism.

In endorsing Kamala Harris but then attending the U.S. Open with Trump-supporting friends Brittany and Patrick Mahomes, Swift enables some fans to derive traditional, conservative meanings from this album that align with current leadership and others to defend her as the “Miss Americana” idol they once knew.

Ambiguity as a brand

The ambiguous narratives present in The Life of a Showgirl seem purposeful. Imagery of Swift bedazzled in feathers, Portofino-orange rhinestones and “sweat and vanilla perfume,” while giving her best attempt at lobotomy chic, suggests an album that would champion the feminist potential of the independent showgirl.

Instead, The Life of a Showgirl’s release generated a wave of interrogative discourse among listeners, arguing its lyrics seemingly have patriarchal, homophobic and white supremacist connotations, and, more poignantly, seem to contradict Swift herself.

In contrast to her previous objection to the use of the word “bitch” for its “strong misogynistic message,” she now waxes poetic about how “all the headshots on the walls / of the dance hall are of the bitches / who wish I’d hurry up and die” in the titular song.

“Actually Romantic” further highlights the album’s conflicting messaging and “outdated misogyny repackaged for the boss girl era,” not only by placing two women in rivalry with one another, but by suggesting that the only explanation for a woman not liking Swift is that she must be in love with her.

Such criticisms extend so far as to argue that the conservative messaging is so entrenched in the album that it should instead be titled The Life of a Tradwife, while others consider this a hypersensitive, leftist overreaction that misses the point and is “genuinely unfair.”

Yet dismissing these critiques feels irresponsible — especially when some of Swift’s most conservative lyrics are being celebrated by influential people. Alexis Wilkins, ambassador for Turning Point USA and girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel, interprets the album as Swift “choosing what matters most — a life of family and stability … choosing a home at the end of a cul-de-sac, a basketball hoop in the driveway, and kids who look like both of them.”

What Swift’s album says about us

In a moment of entrenched conservatism, it is not surprising that fans may read white supremacy, patriarchy and homophobia into The Life of a Showgirl — our cultural context makes all of those readings legible and possible, regardless of Swift’s true intention.

Performative ambiguity gives Swift access to both political sides of her devoted fan base, allowing them to interpret the album according to their own beliefs, concerns and values.

And Swift herself seems content to stoke the fire, stating in a recent interview: “If it’s the first week of my album release and you’re saying either my name or my album title, you’re helping.”

She also reminds her fans that her goal as an entertainer is “to be a mirror.”

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. Taylor Swift and the performative ambiguity of ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ – https://theconversation.com/taylor-swift-and-the-performative-ambiguity-of-the-life-of-a-showgirl-267061

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Erin Spring, Associate Professor, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary

In April 1996, I was 11 years old. I wrote letters to authors on the topic of “becoming a writer,” enclosing a short questionnaire. To my astonishment, over 40 authors responded — some on letterhead, some on lined paper, some with doodles and stickers.

One author who wrote me back was the beloved Canadian children’s author Robert Munsch. His stories, including Mortimer, Thomas’ Snowsuit and Love You Forever, have sold more than 87 million copies, been translated into dozens of languages and are staples in classrooms, homes and libraries worldwide.

In mid-September, a Munsch profile appeared in the New York Times outlining how dementia has affected the author’s life, and his decision to elect medically assisted death (MAiD) when the time comes.

While Munsch’s daughter has said he is “NOT DYING!!!” and doing well, the recent coverage has reignited national conversations about dignity, decline and ethical questions raised by MAiD.

Munsch’s letter-writing opens journalist Katie Engelhart’s New York Times Magazine piece. She notes that when Munsch received many letters from a class, he’d reply with a single letter, often with an unpublished story that included real names of some students. But when children wrote on their own, Munsch always responded.

According to Scholastic, one of his publishers, Munsch receives about 10,000 letters a year.

How stories shape who we become

I’ve carried Munsch’s letter, and other author letters, with me for almost three decades. They now live in a shoebox on my office window sill — a reminder that the child who wrote them still lingers nearby.

I see now that in writing to the authors I admired, I was beginning to understand how stories can shape a sense of self — how young people make sense of their identities through reading.

In my research, I’ve examined how reading is a powerful tool for exploring and building identity, belonging and community. I’ve engaged with youth across urban and rural settings and those living on reserve. I’ve always found young people to be the most reliable, compelling narrators of their own stories.

Too often, both scholars and popular narratives get caught in unhelpful binaries — adult versus child, innocent versus knowing — that flatten the richness of children’s lives, positioning them as somehow incomplete. I’m more interested in what happens when we think of adults and children as akin: different, yes, but connected.

All these years later, I’m returning to Munsch’s letter, not just as a material remnant of my childhood, but as evidence of what’s possible when an author takes their child-reader seriously.

Literacy is a relationship

Literacy is not only a skill but a relationship, nurtured through moments of attention, dialogue and care. And here is where Munsch is masterful. His career has been an extended epistolary experiment in listening and taking children seriously.

“I talk to kids, and I listen to kids,” he explains on his website. Munsch improvised stories in front of children, shifting in response to their laughter or protest. He drew inspiration directly from them.

“My stories have no adult morals. They’re not to improve children. They’re just for kids to like,” he shared on CBC radio in 2021.

Munsch also writes honestly on his website about his background — how he was “not a resounding academic success.” He writes openly about his mental-health challenges, encouraging parents to have brave conversations with their children.

It’s no surprise, then, that Munsch has openly shared his most recent struggle with dementia, prompting readers across the ages to share memories of how his stories have shaped their lives.

Small exchanges matter tremendously

At a time when debates about reading for pleasure and children’s creativity are making headlines, these small exchanges matter tremendously.

Recent Canadian data suggest both promise and concern. According to Scholastic’s Kids and Family Reading Report, 91 per cent of children aged 6 to 17, and 97 per cent of parents, agree that being a reader is essential. Yet the same report shows that children’s enjoyment of reading declines sharply with age, and that many struggle to connect with books.

The National Literacy Alliance has warned that one in five Canadian adults still face serious reading challenges, calling for a national strategy. Data from the United Kingdom’s National Literacy Trust reports similar findings.

In response to declining rates in reading for pleasure, the Booker Prize has launched a new award for children’s fiction, with young people on its adjudication board.

Hearing children, fully

Munsch understood children as whole people decades ago. Not only is he honest, but he makes it clear that hearing from children matters. He wrote to me:

“I loved your letter. My publisher says to me, ‘Wow! We sold 1,000,000 of Love You Forever; but that does not tell me what any one person thought of it or where any one person lives who read it. In fact, the publisher does not know that sort of thing at all; but letters tell me what is really happening with my books.”

Briefly, 11-year-old me, a young girl from rural Ontario, was that one person.

“I live in Guelph,” Munsch described to me. “It is surrounded by farms. My house is next to a hill. I have an office in the basement.”

It reads like a letter between friends.

One reader, one writer

When Engelhart’s article appeared, I pulled out my shoebox, noticing that Munsch ends his letter with a question: “Which book is your favourite?”

I had missed it at the time.

His response to my letter project was also a gesture of kinship. Munsch’s question placed the power in my hands, inviting child-me back into the conversation. I wish I had taken him up on it.

Long before “reading crises” made headlines, Munsch understood that stories are relational. His 1996 letter to me, written in the same voice that filled classrooms with laughter, embodied that belief.

In responding, he modelled what literacy can look like at its most human scale: one reader, one writer and a story shared between them.

The stories we carry

Now, as his voice begins to recede, those exchanges take on new weight.

Contemplating Munsch’s end of life invites broader reflection for Canadian cultural memory. Children’s literature often counts for less in national literary canons, but it carries enormous weight — because generational reading connects us.

What happens when a central figure of that literature fades? How do we preserve not just the texts, but the relational echoes around them?

When Munsch asked me which book was my favourite, he was really asking what story I would carry forward. Three decades later, I’m belatedly responding: it’s the letter itself — the conversation, the recognition, the trust.

I carry my shoebox wherever I go. Inside it lives a child’s curiosity, the kindness of authors and the reminder that the relations we nurture through stories shape identity in quiet, enduring ways.

Erin Spring 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. Robert Munsch has prepared for the eventual end of his story, but his letters and books keep speaking – https://theconversation.com/robert-munsch-has-prepared-for-the-eventual-end-of-his-story-but-his-letters-and-books-keep-speaking-267280

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Dick Zoutman, Professor Emeritus, School of Medicine, Queen’s University, Ontario

The CSA Group — a not-for-profit standards organization — released for review a new draft standard on the “Selection, Use, and Care of Respirators” (CSA Z94.4:25) for workplaces, specifically including health care. This new standard is designed to ensure much better protection for health-care workers and for everyone seeking health care.

We live insulated from many dangers because of public measures that protect us from things like contaminated food, shoddy construction, unsafe workplaces and other risks that escalate when producers and employers cut corners that take risks with our safety.

We’re also better protected because of occupational health and safety legislation coupled with standardized safety equipment. Rear-view mirrors? The first cars didn’t have those — now we take them for granted. Like a rear-view mirror, a respirator is a simple device that makes both users and those around them safer.

CSA Group is an independent not-for-profit standards organization with international accreditation, including from the Standards Council or Canada. Since it was founded 1919 as the Canadian Engineering Standards Association, it has helped keep Canadians safer by establishing standards for many products, including safety equipment.

Since the 1980s, it has had a standard for particulate respirators. Canada led the way on safety then, and the new draft CSA respirator standard ensures that Canada is continuing to lead.

The science on respirators

Respirators, a specialized type of mask, are designed to seal against the face so that they effectively filter the air for wearers. They’re made from charged fibres in multiple layers, trapping dangerous particles before they reach the wearer.

Respirators have long been considered essential in many workplaces. Asbestos and paint particles, for instance, should never be inhaled into the lungs. Similarly, health-care workers and patients should not inhale airborne bacteria or viruses. Measles, influenza, COVID, tuberculosis and other pathogens can float in the air, carried inside tiny aerosolized particles that we all produce when we breathe, speak, cough or sneeze.

The evaluation of respirator effectiveness in health care has been intense, especially over years of the COVID-19 pandemic. There have also been significant technical improvements in their design for improved efficacy and comfort. A recent review and meta-analysis that one of us worked on examined more than 400 papers and concluded that respirators significantly reduce transmission.

The draft of the New CSA Standard

Standards are the backbone of public safety. Regular updating of standards ensures that, when science or technology advance, our systems can adapt in a structured, clear and enforceable manner. With the evidence supporting respirator use against airborne disease transmission, particularly for COVID-19, it was time for the CSA to update its respirator standard.

The importance of protecting workers and patients in health-care settings is reflected in the new standard. For the first time ever, it includes an entire section dedicated to health care where pathogen exposure is much more likely — and more likely to cause further spread. As the CSA notes, health care is of particular concern because of the number of health-care workers and the knock-on effects of pathogen spread on “the general population.”

The new edition has been in development by experts from across disciplines for more than two years. The draft — which was removed from CSA Group’s website at the end of the public review period — makes a number of key changes.

It uses a robust, layered approach that incorporates two fundamental concepts in safety: “the hierarchy of controls” and “the precautionary principle.” The first creates a structure for considering all of the different ways that safety can be improved, while the second requires taking steps for safety even in situations where the science is not yet clear (as recommended by the SARS Commission) — in other words, “better safe than sorry.”

For health-care workplaces, important changes include:

● By default the use of respirators by health-care providers throughout the health-care facility is required unless a detailed risk assessment by qualified experts deems a space exempt due to engineered risk reduction (such as displacement ventilation, upper air germicidal ultraviolet radiation, etc.).

● A minimum requirement for Protection Level 1 respirators (for example, CA-N95, NIOSH N95), which provide respiratory protection to the wearer.

● Providing various styles and sizes of respirators for free that meet user comfort, fit and breathability needs, fit testing, training and promoting sustainability, such as through reusable and/or plant-based materials. New designs for respirators make wearing them for long periods much more comfortable due to greater breathability.

The draft CSA respirator standard is evidence-based and necessary to bring workplace protections up to date with science for the benefit of all Canadians, including health-care workers and patients. Expressing concern for safety is not enough to make it happen; the new standard must be accepted into practice, and the relevant provincial and federal health and safety regulations updated to require its adoption.

Dick Zoutman is on the Board of The Canadian COVID Society and serves as an advisor to the Coalition for Community and Healthcare Acquired Infection Reduction.

Julia M. Wright is an uncompensated member of the Board for the Canadian Lung Association. She currently holds an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for unrelated research on literature.

Mark Ungrin is an uncompensated volunteer advisor to the Canadian COVID Society and Co-chair of its Legal Committee, and collaborates with the Canadian Aerosol Transmission Coalition. His has received funding from NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR for research in the areas of tissue engineering and synthetic biology that includes relevant biosafety and biosecurity considerations.

Ryan Tennant is an uncompensated volunteer with Ontario School Safety and COVID-19 Resources Canada. He currently holds a Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for unrelated research on paediatric sepsis prediction technologies.

– ref. The CSA’s revised standard on respirators should help us all breathe easier – https://theconversation.com/the-csas-revised-standard-on-respirators-should-help-us-all-breathe-easier-265048

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Stewart Prest, Lecturer, Political Science, University of British Columbia

Canadians have learned in recent days that Prime Minister Mark Carney did indeed apologize for an Ontario advertisement that used Ronald Reagan’s own words to correctly portray the late United States president’s views on the importance of free trade.

The subtext to such an apology is clear: “Sorry Ontario accurately described Ronald Reagan’s stand on free trade, Mr. President. We understand those words hurt your feelings and challenged your version of the truth, which of course is unacceptable. We promise we won’t let the facts get in the way of our relationship again.”

Last spring’s election was all about building insulation to Trump, using phrases like “Elbows up” and “Canada Strong.” But the attitude of both the federal government and the Official Opposition, then and now, has often been conciliatory to the point of obsequiousness.

Far from elbows up, Canada too often seems to have no elbows at all.

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Read more:
Elbows down? Why Mark Carney seems to keep caving to Donald Trump

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Implications of the apology

Carney apologized for something he didn’t do — and something that was completely defensible, at least in a normal period of Canada-U.S. relations.

Critics of Ontario Premier Doug Ford and defenders of Carney — often the same people — will say the ad should not have happened in the first place.

They would point out, not incorrectly, that though the ad accurately recounted Reagan’s words, those words aren’t relevant to Republican views anymore and that the ad unnecessarily poked the bear. This may be true, but it doesn’t justify the apology.

In normal times, there would be nothing wrong with the ad airing in the U.S. Traditionally, Americans have valued and encouraged free speech and reasoned argument, and respected the views of allies and partners. Canadian governments, accordingly, may resort to public advocacy south of the border to get the attention of decision-makers in the complex U.S. policymaking apparatus.

When institutions are working as they should in the U.S., power is disaggregated between federal and state levels and between executive and legislative branches, making advocacy a complex, multifaceted affair.

But we are not in that world anymore. The U.S. must be handled as a regime, not a democracy. As The New York Times editorial board accurately described things recently, democracy in the U.S. is under sustained threat due to the actions of Trump and his supporters. There are still democratic elements within the country, but the U.S. no longer responds to normal diplomacy.

The ad was therefore an unnecessary risk. The apology, however, was an unnecessary own-goal. An apology is due when someone has done something wrong, but that is not the case here. The ad might have been ill-advised, but it was not wrong.

Dealing with a bully

When dealing with a bully, don’t say or do anything you’re not willing to stand beside, even if it provokes a presidential fit of pique. Every climb-down is a defeat and an admission of weakness. Better to say nothing than to say something you have to take back. And if offence is taken, an apology will only make things worse in the long run.

It has been obvious for a long time that the only thing Trump respects is power, and the only thing he may be persuaded by is a transactional, personal payoff. While an apology might seem to provide a personal payoff him, what it really does is communicate a lack of power. That in turn invites further demands.

Bullies don’t stop bullying when you make it clear you’ll do what they ask. They stop when it’s clear that you won’t. As long as outrage is rewarded, Canada can expect more of the same.

The truth doesn’t matter

What’s more, Carney’s apology makes clear that truth won’t be an obstacle to Canadian compliance, not unlike when the country took the imagined fentanyl border crisis seriously. In both cases, Canada’s response communicated that its actions will be tailored to suit Trump’s version of reality, not facts on the ground.

Such deference is not only a betrayal of Canadian dignity, sovereignty and interests, it’s also not going to work. There is now ample evidence backing this up.

Retract the ads, and the tariffs go up anyway. Apologize, and the tariffs stay in place. Spend billions on cross-border security, including fentanyl interdiction, and the tariffs remain. Spend additional billions on defence spending, and the tariffs stay put. Fly to Mar-a-Lago as a supplicant and get a series of 51st state taunts for your pains.

Would-be autocrats thrive on the subjugation of facts to their will. Canada simply can’t afford to keep giving in to Trumpian demands or to allow the truth to be whatever the American administration says it is.

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Read more:
Psychoanalysis explains why Donald Trump is taunting Canada and ‘Governor Justin Trudeau’

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Public diplomacy in the Trump era

Canada’s best option, instead, is to stay consistent with a single message: it stands ready to be a partner. The two countries have always benefited from working together, and can again do so. Canada is not out to antagonize, but neither should it apologize for simply speaking the truth.

Going forward, it’s clear that Canada’s premiers must work more closely with the federal government on a single forceful message, not freelance in whatever direction suits their particular political interests at the moment. Canada needs one foreign policy, not 14. Multiple messages simply create opportunities to divide and conquer.

Similarly, Canada must deepen links with other allies and partners around the world as quickly as possible. Bullies pick on the weak and the isolated. Canada can’t afford to be either.

Above all, when the U.S. takes offence, or gives it, the country must politely but firmly stand its ground. Canada cannot allow the freedom to speak the truth or stand up for itself to become the latest casualties in Trump’s trade war against all.

Stewart Prest 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. Mark Carney’s apology to Donald Trump: Far from ‘elbows up,’ it seems Canada has no elbows at all – https://theconversation.com/mark-carneys-apology-to-donald-trump-far-from-elbows-up-it-seems-canada-has-no-elbows-at-all-268856

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Spyros A. Sofos, Assistant Professor in Global Humanities, Simon Fraser University

In the recent Northern Cyprus presidential election, an overwhelming majority of the Turkish Cypriot electorate rejected incumbent Ersin Tatar, backed by the Turkish government, and his hard-line two-state rhetoric.

Opposition leader Tufan Erhürman’s landslide victory has revived hopes for a settlement on the divided island.

Cyprus is an independent country and a member of both the United Nations and the European Union. But it’s divided, with the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus in the south and a self-declared state in the north, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey.

A two-state solution calls for the island to remain divided between Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the north instead of reunifying.

This division was the result of Turkey’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus that followed a coup orchestrated by the Greek junta aimed at uniting the island with Greece. Turkey intervened, ostensibly to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority.

Decisive mandate

For the first time, a national leader openly embracing the UN’s model of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation has secured a decisive mandate — almost 63 per cent of the vote in the first round of the election and majority support in every electoral district.

Erhürman represents the social-democratic and pro-unification tradition of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP). His platform focuses on rebuilding co-operation between the north and south and re-engaging the EU in a peace process to create a shared federation with a rotating presidency and equal political rights. It builds on decades of UN reunification efforts.

I have previously argued that Cypriot hopes for unification were on life support, but not doomed. That assessment still holds today now that there’s the first real chance in years to restart a meaningful process of reconciliation. The question is whether the Republic of Cyprus is willing to seize this opportunity or retreat once again into comfortable inaction.

This will determine whether Cyprus finally begins to heal the divisions that have endured since the Turkish invasion.

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Read more:
Cypriot hopes for unification are on life support, but not doomed

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Why this moment matters

Despite his carefully crafted campaign messages, Erhürman’s victory is a direct challenge to Turkey’s hold on North Cyprus — in particular its growing political, military and economic control.

It also comes as Devlet Bahçeli, leader of Turkey’s ultra-nationalist MHP and coalition partner to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, called for Northern Cyprus to be absorbed by Turkey within days of the vote.

The outburst revealed anxiety in Turkey: a pro-federation leadership in Lefkoşa — the Turkish Cypriot part of the city of Nicosia — could loosen the grip Turkey built through subsidies, security dependency and crony networks.

Yet the far greater uncertainty lies in the south.

The south’s long drift since 2004

In the referendum on the UN-brokered Annan Plan that would have allowed a united Cyprus to enter the European Union in 2004, 65 per cent of Turkish Cypriots voted in favour of reunification, while three-quarters of Greek Cypriots rejected it.

The Republic of Cyprus joined the EU a week later while the acquis communautaire — the full body of European Union rules and obligations — was suspended in the north.

The failure of the plan deflated Turkish Cypriots’ EU aspirations and ushered in an era of isolation during which the south’s political class no longer felt compelled to compromise.

In the two decades since, successive governments in Nicosia in the south have proclaimed support for a federal solution but acted as stewards of an ethno-national enclave with elites profiting from state-granted privileges, real-estate speculation and now-discredited “golden passport” schemes.

The oligarchic patronage that flourished under that system rewarded partition rather than reconciliation. Opportunities to move the process forward — most notably, talks in 2017 — were squandered.

For many in the south, the “Cyprus problem” is primarily a question of occupation; for many in the north, it’s about political equality and security.

The real test: Political will

For reunification talks to restart, the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus must do more than verbally welcome the election outcome. It must take positive action.

That means endorsing UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s proposal to resume negotiations “within the agreed UN framework” and engaging swiftly with measures like electricity interconnection, joint search-and-rescue co-ordination and cultural-heritage restoration.

These types initiatives — part of a power-sharing model in which divided communities share government through guaranteed representation, mutual vetoes and a degree of autonomy — are already working across the Cyprus buffer zone. That’s where the two communities have been co-operating on issues like the recovery and identification of victims of the 1974 war, basic infrastructure projects and the opening of crossing points at what used to be an impenetrable border.

But the Greek Cypriot leadership faces domestic constraints: a parliament where nearly half the parties oppose federation outright and voters have been conditioned to equate compromise with betrayal. Change will require moral and political courage — something no Cypriot president since Tassos Papadopoulos’s rejection of the Annan Plan has demonstrated.

Global significance

Cyprus represents far more than a local dispute. The island lies at the crossroads of eastern Mediterranean energy routes and has played a role in the tensions in NATO’s southern flank and the fraught relationship between the EU and Turkey.

Erol Kaymak, a Turkish Cypriot international relations expert, has argued that a revived peace process would open the door to co-operation on offshore energy and maritime boundaries, issues that increasingly affect regional stability.

He also points out that continued partition entrenches Turkey’s military presence and sustains a grey-zone economy vulnerable to corruption and organized crime.

For the international community, Cyprus offers lessons in peacebuilding: can outside entities promote post-conflict power-sharing and justice when one side depends more on the other? The Canadian UNFICYP — the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus — has experience in facilitating precisely such co-operation.

Last opportunity?

Erhürman’s election is a remarkable assertion of autonomy by Turkish Cypriot voters who have endured decades of isolation from the international community.

But unless the Greek Cypriot political officials respond with a genuine initiative for talks, the window could close quickly. Erdoğan’s government is already signalling it will not tolerate any divergence of Turkish Cypriot policies from Turkey’s.

The election may be the last chance for Cypriots on both sides to build trust-based institutions, eliminate the need for external guarantors and troops and restore the island as a common home for all.

This requires perseverance, creativity and imagination. Officials need to look not just at what’s worked in the Cyprus peace process but also at power-sharing lessons from Northern Ireland and other places where inclusive coalitions helped stabilize divided societies.

It’s essential to strengthen co-operation and foster closer ties that can gradually erode mutual distance and suspicion. These efforts could make any future settlement easier to implement and could lay the groundwork for a more stable and mutually beneficial co-existence.

However Cypriots choose to share their island, this could be their last chance to ensure the many barricades that have divided them for more than 50 years are finally dismantled.

Spyros A. Sofos 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. Can a pro-federation win in Northern Cyprus revive the island’s stalled reunification? – https://theconversation.com/can-a-pro-federation-win-in-northern-cyprus-revive-the-islands-stalled-reunification-268138

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Craig Greenham, Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology, University of Windsor

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. This tidy maxim has been used for years to describe sports outcomes.

This polarized expression, however, oversimplifies fan reaction to events like the Blue Jays’ World Series loss, ignores the complicated emotional terrain of fandom and fails to recognize the psycho-social forces at work.

So, why are many Canadians so deeply invested in the Blue Jays?

Fans develop parasocial relationships with players, teams and even broadcasters — evident in the outpouring of emotion surrounding Jays’ announcer Buck Martinez’s cancer journey — through repeated media exposure.

Over time, these constant encounters foster a sense of familiarity and emotional intimacy, as if a genuine personal relationship exists. In a way, it makes sense: over the course of a long season, many Blue Jays fans see and hear more from slugger George Springer than from some of their real-life friends.

Personal pain

Jays losses therefore feel personal — and so, too, does the team’s success. This connection is captured by the concept of what’s known as BIRGing — basking in the reflected glory — when fans feel a sense of personal triumph when their team performs well, as though there’s a twinning of fates.

The phenomenon was playfully illustrated in a 2024 A&W promotion — “Blue Jays Win, You Win” — that offered free or discounted food after each victory, literally tying fan rewards to team success.

Of course, the opposite is true too. When the Jays fall short, fans feel lacerated. The more crucial the game, the deeper the cut. Given this emotional investment, it’s no surprise that Blue Jays fans felt like a bundle of nerves heading into Game 7 and were devastated by the result.

The nature of the Game 7 loss inflames the emotions further — a game the Jays were leading until the ninth inning. There were opportunities to increase that lead that went maddeningly unrealized, embattled relievers yielded home runs to Dodger lesser lights, there were near-collisions in the outfield that could have jarred loose a key run from an outfielder’s glove, and a play at home plate that required frame-by-frame analysis to determine an outcome ultimately unfavourable to the Jays.

Canadians understand the description “sudden death” as a hockey term, but there’s no denying that Game 7 created a similar profound sense of loss, not just in Toronto but across the country.

In the sports realm, the ninth inning events resembled a funeral for Jays fans. The finality and closure was symbolized by the final out; the loss of routine and community created a void and disconnection for fans; feelings of mourning a dream amid the vanquished hope as the team fell just short of the ultimate World Series goal; and an unknown future that brings with it the anxiety of not knowing which players will return and an understanding these opportunities are rare.

Players and fans have to navigate and negotiate their way through the loss. The tears on the field and in the clubhouse mirrored those in the stands and living rooms across the country, a vivid reminder that fandom is as much about emotional commitment as the scoreboard.

Haunted by the Maple Leafs

Of course, Blue Jays fandom isn’t siloed — especially for those in Ontario. Many of the club’s loyal supporters are equally passionate about the forlorn Toronto Maple Leafs, who have not won a Stanley Cup since 1967.

The hockey club has put the fan base through the proverbial wringer with prolonged periods of ineptitude, mixed with inexplicable collapses and controversial playoff defeats.

The fragility of this fan base is palpable — excited in hope, but also braced for doom because of its frequent visits. Toronto sports fans aren’t used to being favoured by fortune. That’s why moments like the Joe Carter World Series home run in 1993 or the Kawhi Leonard buzzer-beater baseline jumper in the 2019 NBA playoffs have been immortalized.

They’re outliers, those precious times when the fan base evaded the grim reaper’s scythe and grasped the greater glory.

The rarity of these victories elevates them to mythic moments — reminders that even in a history full of sports heartbreak, there are flashes of transcendent jubilation that justify the fan’s emotional investment.

Five stages of grief

Sports fans are nothing if not resilient, however, and Blue Jays fans are working themselves through the classic five stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

What has likely expedited the process and softened the blow for some is the fact that the Blue Jays weren’t expected to challenge for the World Series at all in 2025. The club finished last in its division in 2024 and surprised the baseball world with its rise to prominence.

This process is called framing and it explains how people interpret and give meaning to events. It’s the lens. So instead of focusing on the anguish of Game 7, diehard fans emphasize team growth, memorable moments and optimism for next season.

Naturally, nothing in baseball is guaranteed and a Blue Jays return to the World Series in 2026 will require the personnel, performance, health and luck necessary to have success. Fans, meantime, will use the off-season to emotionally steel themselves for, potentially, another wild ride. Spring, after all, is the season of hope when anything seems possible.

Craig Greenham 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 anguish of losing: The Blue Jay fan’s guide to dealing with feelings of despair – https://theconversation.com/the-anguish-of-losing-the-blue-jay-fans-guide-to-dealing-with-feelings-of-despair-268756