Category: The Conversation – Canada

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 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 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 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

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Mahmood Fayazi, Assistant Professor and Head of Disaster and Emergency Management Program, Royal Roads University

Two years into the Israeli war in Gaza, world leaders recently gathered in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, to deliberate on a long-awaited peace plan to end the conflict.

As part of this plan, both Israel and Hamas agreed to another ceasefire agreement — the latest in a series of truces that have repeatedly collapsed since the war began in late 2023.

The meeting, involving Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United States, marks the most concerted diplomatic effort yet to halt a conflict that has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and at least 1,200 Israelis, according to Israel. It’s also displaced nearly 400,000 Palestinians.

Yet even if the fighting does stop, fundamental questions persist: how, when and by whom will Gaza be rebuilt? The recovery and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip will undoubtedly be an immense and complex undertaking, but the history of past conflicts sheds light on the way forward.

The scale of destruction

A February report from the World Bank estimated that recovery and reconstruction needs in Gaza and the West Bank will cost US$53.2 billion. Around US$20 billion of this is required to restore essential services, rebuild infrastructure and revitalize the economy — an amount exceeding the annual GDP of Belarus and Slovenia.

The scale of devastation is staggering. An estimated 84 per cent of the Gaza Strip and up to 92 per cent of Gaza City has been destroyed, with satellite data showing 292,904 homes destroyed or damaged. More than 60 million tonnes of debris — equivalent to 24,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools — is awaiting removal.

The conflict has devastated Gaza’s economic sectors. Up to 96 per cent of agricultural assets and 82 per cent of businesses were damaged or destroyed, halting production and eliminating key income sources.

Years of Israel’s blockade on Gaza — which predates Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel — have further restricted the movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza, severing access to international markets and vital raw materials. As a result, there has been near-total economic collapse and the private sector faces complete paralysis.

Beyond the physical and economic devastation, Gaza’s population faces severe psychological trauma. High rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety, coupled with displacement and community breakdown, risk creating an intergenerational cycle of suffering through the psychological and epigenetic transmission of trauma.

Trump’s controversial peace plan

In an attempt to jump-start Gaza’s recovery, U.S. President Donald Trump introduced a 20-point peace plan envisioning interim governance by a committee of Palestinian technocrats under a “Board of Peace.” Authority would later be transferred to the Palestinian Authority following institutional reforms.

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The plan outlines an economic development program to be designed by experts who “helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East.” It also includes the creation of a “special economic zone” and temporary security provided by International Stabilization Forces made up of U.S., Arab and international partners.

Under the proposal, Hamas, which has governed Gaza for nearly two decades, would be expected to disarm, accept amnesty and transfer control to international forces. Yet even if Hamas disarms, experts estimate up to 100,000 members could remain in Gaza’s political landscape and reconstitute under new forms to maintain influence.

While the peace plan outlines a framework for recovery, past post-conflict settings shows that externally designed plans rarely succeed without active local engagement.

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Learning from past failures

As an expert in disaster and emergency management, I am conducting an ongoing systematic literature review (not yet published) analyzing recovery processes across post-war settings in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Experiences from Iraq and Afghanistan demonstrate that it’s naive to assume economic, administrative and security frameworks can succeed without genuinely engaging the local population.

This research shows that externally driven recovery plans often fail, and underscores the importance of adapting lessons from places where recovery has been effective.

My developing review suggests several critical factors for sustainable recovery:

• Developing local capacities
• Building strong and transparent institutions
• Implementing gradual and sequenced reforms
• Ensuring there is a deliberate transition from external to local leadership

Conversely, over-relying on external powers, neglecting capacity-building and failing to address social exclusion and power imbalances can undermine long-term outcomes.

Rebuilding hope through local participation

A common theme across nearly all the studies I looked at is the importance of restoring household livelihoods. This can be done by revitalizing economic production, supporting small businesses and implementing reforms that empower communities and restore hope.

After financing more than US$6.2 billion across 157 post-conflict operations in 18 countries, the World Bank concluded in 1997 that “without economic hope, we will not have peace.” This underscores the central role of economic recovery and livelihood restoration in post-war reconstruction.

An analysis of 36 post-civil war peace episodes (1990–2014) highlights the need for co-ordinated international efforts focused on administrative restructuring, judicial reform and local government elections.

Successfully integrating diverse political voices in post-war governance promotes transparency, accountability and local ownership, while helping to restore hope among populations affected by war.

In contrast, top-down reforms implemented without local engagement, as seen in Cambodia and Pakistan, can deepen divisions and undermine peace and development.

Toward a people-centred reconstruction

Although each post-war context is unique and requires its own approach, research consistently shows that actively including survivors in recovery efforts is essential.

Gaza’s reconstruction will only succeed if its people regain hope and play a central role in shaping a safe, peaceful and prosperous future for themselves and their communities.

Any international coalition or political initiatives aimed at rebuilding Gaza must recognize that survivors are not passive victims. They are central agents of their own recovery, whose voices must guide the reconstruction process.

Once immediate humanitarian needs are met through international support, all subsequent decisions about Gaza’s long-term development must be made through inclusive, democratic processes.

Fair and transparent elections must follow the urgent restoration of security, food, clean water, health care and education. Only through such an inclusive and locally grounded process can Gaza move toward genuine recovery, lasting peace and sustainable development.

Mahmood Fayazi 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. Lasting peace and recovery in Gaza depends on local participation, not just ceasefires – https://theconversation.com/lasting-peace-and-recovery-in-gaza-depends-on-local-participation-not-just-ceasefires-268176

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Catherine Heggerud, Associate Professor (Teaching), Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary

When Harvard Business School tumbled to sixth place in the U.S. News MBA rankings in 2020, the reaction was swift. Critics questioned the methodology, picking up on earlier critiques of rankings.

Some ranking skeptics continue to point to low response rates — for example, in 2025, U.S. News disclosed that approximately only half of the ranked schools participated in peer assessment surveys, which gauge how top administrators regard other institutions.

Yet behind closed doors, business school deans across North America have nuanced conversations about rankings — ones that reveal an uncomfortable truth about how rankings shape their institutions.

I interviewed four Canadian business school deans about the influence of MBA rankings on strategic planning during 2021-22, using semi-structured questions. These deans represent about a quarter of management schools from research-intensive universities in Canada. I discovered something striking: these leaders simultaneously dismiss rankings as flawed measures, while dedicating significant institutional resources to improving them.

The ranking obsession is real

Despite their public skepticism about rankings, every dean I interviewed could point to concrete ways their schools invest in them.

One noted that “all the data collection happened within the school” and identified a dedicated data analyst whose job centres on ranking submissions. Another described having “a senior staff member who is in charge of gathering the data” and co-ordinates with media relations teams.

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The contradiction becomes starker when you examine what deans say versus what they do. In interviews, I heard statements like “we can never rank so it’s a waste of our time” and “the ranking itself, if that aligned with your mission, who cares?” Yet these same leaders described conducting internal “education campaigns” to help stakeholders understand rankings and carefully select which ranking systems to participate in based on where their programs might perform well.

What rankings miss

The deans’ skepticism is founded. Current MBA ranking methodologies have significant blind spots that leaders recognize but feel powerless to address.

Take the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking, which heavily emphasizes post-graduation salary data and international diversity. Or QS World University Rankings that weighs “thought leadership” through media mentions and research publications. These metrics favour certain types of programs while potentially disadvantaging schools serving different missions or regional economies.

One dean told me bluntly: “The faculty that understand the rankings care less.” This observation cuts to the heart of the problem — those closest to the educational mission see rankings as measuring the wrong things.

Rankings measure what’s easy to count, not what matters. Teaching quality, mentorship, curriculum innovation — none show up in the formulas. Neither does information on whether graduates become ethical leaders or build meaningful careers over decades rather than months.

As the Rockefeller Institute found, when schools chase rankings, they end up “working toward improving their performance as measured by ranking factors rather than toward actual improvement of the academics and educational experience.”

Academic research shows ranking systems distort institutional behaviour, while studies of business schools demonstrate rankings “blindly follow the money,” ignoring social impact and educational quality.

The financial pressure driving the paradox

So why do deans continue playing a game if they know it’s flawed?

Canadian universities increasingly depend on international student tuition as government funding has declined. Between 2000 and 2021, tuition revenue at Canadian universities grew from 14.4 per cent to 25.6 per cent of total revenue.

For MBA programs, while program costs vary, international students pay significantly more than domestic students: for example, at Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto, domestic students pay around $70,000 while international students pay around $109,000.

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As one dean explained to me: “By accepting international students, we are helping domestic students from the funding cuts.” Another noted that “rankings are mostly important for international students” who use them as key decision-making tools when evaluating programs from abroad.

This creates a compelling justification: pursue better rankings to attract international students, whose higher tuition subsidizes domestic students and program quality. It’s a rationale that allows academic leaders to reconcile their intellectual skepticism with market reality.

As deans make sense of the landscape where they lead, they interpret the ranking landscape — while also shaping how stakeholders understand it. This reflects a broader paradox: deans must simultaneously embrace contradictory demands — dismissing rankings publicly while investing privately. A dynamic tension persists.

What this means for the future

Rankings have transformed from a strategic choice into an operational necessity. What began as optional marketing has become embedded in how business schools function and communicate.

For prospective MBA students: treat rankings as one data point among many. Review official employment reports, which detail hiring companies and placement rates. Connect with alumni through LinkedIn or school events to hear about actual experiences. Investigate which companies recruit at different schools and which program culture matches your preferences.

For business education more broadly, the ranking paradox reveals a system increasingly shaped by external accountability measures that may not align with core educational missions.

Until ranking methodologies evolve to better capture what makes business education valuable — or until institutions find ways to communicate quality that don’t depend on rankings — deans will continue walking this tightrope, publicly dismissing what they privately work hard to improve.

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

– ref. What’s the No. 1 MBA? Why business deans invest in rankings, knowing they miss a lot – https://theconversation.com/whats-the-no-1-mba-why-business-deans-invest-in-rankings-knowing-they-miss-a-lot-266556

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Patrick Clancy, Assistant Professor, Physics & Astronomy, McMaster University

There are few sports more exciting than playoff baseball, but behind every pitch there is also a fascinating story of physics. From gravity to spin, the science shaping the game can be just as compelling as the action on the field.

When the World Series returned to Toronto for Game 6, right-handed pitcher Kevin Gausman took the mound for the first six innings. Gausman’s best pitch is the splitter, an off-speed pitch that looks like a conventional fastball but travels more slowly and drops more sharply before it crosses the plate.

Physicists consider the flight of a baseball as an example of projectile motion. The trajectory of the ball depends on several forces: the force of gravity (pulling the ball downwards), the drag force (slowing the ball as it moves through the air), and the Magnus force (which causes the ball to curve if it spins as it travels).

Why splitters are so hard to hit

So why is the splitter so difficult to hit? Start with speed. The average speed of Gausman’s fastball is 95 miles per hour (or 42.5 meters a second). Since the distance from the pitcher’s mound to home plate is 18.4 meters, this means that it takes 430 milliseconds, or less than half a second, for Gausman’s fastball to reach the batter.

In contrast, the splitter, which travels at an average speed of 85 mph (or 38.0 m/s), takes 490 milliseconds. That 60 millisecond-difference may seem small, but it can be enough to separate a strike from a base hit.

For context, a typical swing for a major league batter takes approximately 150 milliseconds. This includes time for the batter’s eye to form a picture of the ball leaving the pitcher’s hand, for their brain to process this information and send signals to the muscles in their arms, legs and torso, and for their muscles to respond and swing the bat.

This means a batter has roughly a quarter of a second to judge the trajectory of a pitch and decide whether to swing. Considering that it takes approximately 100 milliseconds for a blink of the human eye, it’s remarkable that batters can hit any major league pitch at all.

The importance of the drop

The second secret to the splitter is the drop. All baseball pitches drop as they travel towards home plate due to the force of gravity, which causes a baseball (or any object in freefall) to accelerate downwards.

If there were no other forces acting on the ball, this would cause Gausman’s fastball to drop by about 92 centimetres on the way to home plate, and his splitter to drop by approximately 115 centimetres.

In practice, however, there is another important force that acts on the ball to oppose the effect of gravity — the Magnus force. The Magnus force arises from the rotation or spin of an object (like a baseball) as it passes through a fluid (like air).

The ball’s rotation makes air move faster over one side than the other. On the side spinning in the same direction as the airflow, air speed increases; on the opposite side, it slows down. This difference in air speed creates a pressure imbalance, generating a force that acts perpendicular to the ball’s path.

This is an example of Bernoulli’s Principle, the same phenomenon that generates lift as air passes around the wing of an airplane.

In the case of a fastball, the pitcher creates a strong backspin by pulling back with their index and middle fingers as they release the ball. This rotation results in an upwards force, which causes the ball to drop far less than it would under the effect of gravity alone. The faster the rotation, the stronger this lift force becomes.

Gausman’s signature pitch

Gausman’s fastball typically drops 25 to 30 centimetres on the way to home plate — less than one third of the drop experienced by a “dead ball” without spin.

On the splitter, he changes his grip to dramatically reduce the amount of backspin, weakening the Magnus force and allowing the ball to fall much farther, about 50 to 75 centimetres, before it hits the plate. The result is a pitch that doesn’t reach the batter when or where they expect it to be.

While the Blue Jays failed to win a third World Series title, Gausman’s splitter offered an example of how physics can shape performance in elite sport. Understanding the science behind the pitch offers a new way to appreciate the game.

Patrick Clancy 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 the physics of baseball explains Blue Jay Kevin Gausman’s signature pitch – https://theconversation.com/how-the-physics-of-baseball-explains-blue-jay-kevin-gausmans-signature-pitch-268732

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Marycarmen Lara Villanueva, PhD Candidate, Department of Social Justice Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

The Conservative Party of Canada and leader Pierre Poilievre have begun circulating a petition calling for the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and the reinstatement of “the merit principle,” arguing DEI spending and government waste “need to die.” The petition echoes Elon Musk’s infamous “DEI must DIE” social media post two years ago.

Similarly, in 2024, Conservative MP Jamil Jivani launched a petition to end DEI and focus on affordability, without acknowledging that inequity and unaffordability are deeply connected. Building on this momentum, Jivani has since launched his Restore the North Tour, which seems like a Canadian version of Charlie Kirk’s movement, given its aim to appeal to disaffected young men.

Inevitably, commentary on these measures has cast them as Canada’s version of America’s culture wars. While there are obvious parallels, this framing obscures Canada’s own history of injustice.

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Systemic inequality

DEI initiatives, like all frameworks for social change, are not perfect. Pointing to their perceived limitations to revive the illusion of meritocracy and historical denial is hardly new. But these criticisms are being weaponized at a moment when equity work is needed most.

Recent portrayals of DEI as “anti-merit and anti-individual,” “hollow signalling” or “flawed and illiberal” are textbook examples of what the late American philosopher Charles Mills described as “white ignorance” — a deliberate and organized refusal to see how systemic inequality works.

They suggest a refusal to acknowledge well-documented histories of Indigenous dispossession, gendered and racial injustice, institutional racism and generations of what geographer Ruth Wilson Gilmore terms “organized abandonment” — when the state and capital abandon communities through neglect, privatization and degradation of the environment.

In other words, these criticisms do not represent an innocent ignorance, but a dangerous refusal to know.

Economics versus equity

The Conservative petition claims that $1.049 billion was wasted in DEI funding. This claim conceals a deeper truth about the way public money actually circulates.

In 2023, the total operating budget for all police services was $19.7 billion, an increase of six per cent from the previous year. Policing in Canada has a long history of surveillance and criminalization, from Indigenous land defenders to Muslims and pro-Palestinian supporters.

Fatal encounters with police also disproportionately affect Black and racialized people and continue to rise.

Other forms of public spending go almost unquestioned — from billions in fossil fuel subsidies to the steady expansion of border surveillance — resulting in environmental injustice and border violence, respectively.

In contrast, DEI’s $1.049-billion price tag was spent over several years. The claim of wasteful equity spending reflects a broader pattern of scapegoating DEI for systemic economic failures. What is deemed a waste may reveal who, and what, our society values.

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Racial capitalism

What’s known as racial capitalism — a system where racial inequality is built into how wealth and power are produced and shared — sheds light on how class exploitation and racial domination are interconnected. As Black radical theorist Cedric Robinson explained, capitalism did not emerge separate from racial hierarchy, but through it.

Understanding racial capitalism helps explain why equity work must extend beyond representation and inclusion. British-American race scholar Arun Kundnani has argued that DEI programs focusing on unconscious bias, racial awareness training and increasing representation do not tackle the economic and institutional root causes of inequity.

DEI programs therefore need to address racial capitalism; if they don’t, they may end up supporting it by using racialized people as resources and judging success only by numbers.

In other words, the economy cannot be “fixed” without unraveling the racial, classist, ableist and gendered hierarchies that it requires to function. Inequality is not really a flaw in the system but its organizing principle.

Sharper DEI

Policymakers should work to defend DEI initiatives from far-right attacks, Donald Trump’s MAGA movement and economic scapegoating. But DEI measures also need to be critiqued and improved in ways that honour their historical trajectory and acknowledge their limitations.

Doing so requires confronting and untangling the deep layers of injustice and exploitation that are the foundation of many organizations and institutions.

Anti-DEI rhetoric can be considered an expression of anti-Blackness and, by extension, other forms of racism. It is also bound up with sexism, ableism, transphobia, homophobia and classism.

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Instead of abandoning DEI, Canada should strengthen and reshape it to better promote the structural equity our communities deserve.

The future of equity in Canada depends on moving beyond simply counting racialized people in power and must instead examine how power works, upholds injustice and can be collectively transformed for real systemic change.

Marycarmen Lara Villanueva 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. Why DEI needs depth, not death – https://theconversation.com/why-dei-needs-depth-not-death-268136