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The article is titled “The attack on public broadcasting is part of a growing threat to press freedom and democracy.” It was originally published on May 8, 2025 and is authored by Lorry-Ann Austin, Assistant Professor, Social Work and Human Services, Thompson Rivers University.

In a disturbing parallel between two countries, President Donald Trump’s recent attack on the two largest public broadcasters in the United States mirrors threats to Canada’s own public broadcaster that were recently dodged by the electoral defeat of Conservative Pierre Poilievre.
These attacks are part of a larger authoritarian move to slander and disempower a free and independent press.
In the grab to reclaim power from the people, authoritarians and the oligarchs who support them recoil from criticism and dissent, demanding that all people support government positions regardless of the rationality of their claims.
While they may come for the media first, other institutions are also targeted, including those that nurture critical thinking and uphold the rule of law.
Essential to democracy
The news media are a key pillar of democracy and a vigilant monitor of human rights. Often identified as the Fourth Estate, the press is tasked with keeping political power in check while informing people about events beyond their own experiences. This function makes it a prime target for authoritarian assault.
Both Poilievre and Trump have long attacked the integrity of journalists as they worked to undermine public trust in the media. They both denigrate reporters and limit media accessibility.
With accusations of fake news and attempts to discredit journalists as leftist and partisan propaganda pedlars, Poilievre and Trump’s call to defund public broadcasters seems aimed at silencing criticism and obscuring oversight of their actions.
Public broadcasters like PBS, NPR and CBC/Radio-Canada provide vital links to news and life-saving information in times of crisis. They inform regions that no longer have access to local corporate news and they educate the public and strengthen its culture.
Public broadcasters receive public funding through government legislation, but make no mistake, these are not state propaganda machines as some politicians allege.
CBC/Radio-Canada, PBS and NPR are all governed by broadcasting acts within their respective nations. CBC/Radio-Canada’s editorial independence is protected by the federal Broadcasting Act. In the U.S., the federal Public Broadcasting Act assures PBS and NPR have “maximum freedom …from interference with, or control of, program content or other activities.”
These media outlets are publicly funded but their editorial independence is enshrined in law.
Tracking media coverage
My exploration of the framing practices of public broadcasters, mainstream corporate media and alternative news agencies in Canada and the U.S. lends support to the expressed independence of publicly funded broadcasters.
This research tracked press coverage of debates about sexual orientation and gender expression in schools over a 10-year period — from Trump’s initial declaration to seek the Oval Office in 2015 to his return to power in November 2024.
From an initial sample of close to 38,000 news stories, 60 were randomly selected and subjected to multimodal critical discourse analysis.
A third of these stories were produced by publicly funded news agencies. Findings suggest that while they consistently use polarizing conflict language to present debates to the public — just as corporate and alternative media outlets do — the majority of the publicly funded news accounts I examined adhered to the principles of fact-based reporting.
These principles include accuracy and objectivity in reporting as well as the inclusion of a balance of perspectives on a given event, and the maintenance of a non-partisan approach to coverage.
Only one story produced by a public broadcaster in the U.S. represented propaganda in its attempt to persuade the audience to agree with the biased argument presented within. It was an educational video debunking claims that critical race theory was being taught in schools.
None of the content produced by public broadcasters represented examples of movement journalism, which rejects objectivity in favour of activism to promote human rights and social change.
No draining on public coffers
While these findings cannot be extended to all content produced by public broadcasters, they do suggest these news agencies adhere to requirements of non-partisan coverage.
Without evidence, Poilievre and Trump claim the public broadcasters in their nations are biased against conservative politics. They also claim that they’re a drain on tax revenues, and that cutting their funding will represent significant tax savings.
This also fails to hold up to a fact check. CBC/Radio-Canada received less than 0.28 per cent of the money allocated in the 2024 federal budget. In the U.S., federal tax dollars allocated to NPR and PBS represent 0.0001 per cent of the federal budget.
Given the lack of evidence supporting accusations of partisan bias and the minuscule savings that would come from defunding, something else must be driving the assault on public broadcasting.
It’s likely no coincidence that Trump’s most recent attack on the media coincided with World Press Freedom Day. It’s a day that asserts the importance of a free and independent press in democracy, and the need to protect the ability of journalists to report the truth without fear or interference.

The attack on public broadcasting is part of a growing threat to press freedom and democracy

The article is titled “How Donald Trump’s assault on universities echoes earlier American conservative ideas.” It was originally published on May 8, 2025 and is authored by Michael Williams, Professor of International Politics, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa and Rita Abrahamsen, Professor of International Politics, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa.

Fifty years ago, the American philosopher and conservative thinker James Burnham wrote his most infamous book, The Suicide of the West: An Essay on the Meaning and Destiny of Liberalism.
Burnham argued that liberalism — which he associated with unbridled individualism and excessive belief in human progress — was eroding the foundations of the West’s social orders and, equally importantly, its geopolitical power.
In an ironic twist, it’s not liberals ushering in the decline of America in contemporary times. Burnham’s acolytes in Donald Trump’s administration are busy doing that work.
Influence on the American right
It is easy to recognize Burnham’s ideas in the arguments and actions of the Trump administration.
In both The Suicide of the West and his previous 1941 bestseller, The Managerial Revolution, Burnham argued that liberalism’s individualism weakened social bonds and national allegiance. At the same time, it promoted the rise of a new class of experts that eroded democracy and individual rights under the guise of acting for the common good.
This “new class” of highly educated, managerial elites had come to dominate virtually all aspects of life, from business and bureaucracy to commerce, culture and education.
Ruling through their claims to expertise, Burnham argued that these elites spread relativistic liberal values that undermined social cohesion and national confidence, sapping the West’s ability to define and defend its fundamental values.
If these trends continued, he warned, the West would not long survive. Burnham exercised an important influence on the American right from the 1950s through the 1970s, and near the end of his life received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Ronald Reagan. Yet by the 1990s, his ideas had fallen out of fashion and few remembered his warnings.
Rediscovered by radical conservatives
Recently, however, Burnham’s provocative ideas have resurfaced as one of the most important intellectual lineages underpinning American radical conservatism and its attacks on “elite institutions.”
In his writings, and those of his followers such as Samuel Francis, a range of political and intellectual figures have found the ideological ammunition needed to launch their crusade against liberalism in order to save the West — or in the case of the U.S., to “Make America Great Again.”
JD Vance’s attack on Europe’s democratic credentials, Elon Musk’s DOGE determination to “deconstruct” the administrative state and the Trump administration’s assaults on elite universities all reflect Burnhamite ideas.
Risk bringing about America’s decline
There is considerable irony in this situation. Most obviously, Burnham was wrong about the self-inflicted death of the West. Contrary to his predictions, liberalism did not lead to the erosion of western global power.
Far from collapsing, the United States and its allies fought the Cold War to a victorious conclusion and by the turn of the 20th century emerged with a power and dominance that Burnham could scarcely have imagined. Liberalism was the reigning ideology. American and western commerce, culture, science and technology dominated the world.
Yet the greatest irony is that Burnham’s followers risk bringing about the very situation he sought to avoid – the decline of America and its dominant status.
Nowhere is this clearer than in the attack on elite universities, where no one should not be misled by charges of antisemitism.
Important as addressing antisemitism is, this framing distracts from the ways that the right’s attack on universities are part of its wider assault the foundations of “new class” power.
Tech leadership, geopolitical dominance
In this broader campaign, leading illiberal zealots in the Trump administration are pursuing policies that will damage the foundations of American power far more than liberalism ever did.
Most obviously, the attacks on universities threaten U.S. technological leadership, since research universities remain an indispensable site of basic research, innovation and next-generation training — something especially vital at a time when the country’s leadership in these areas is challenged in ways unseen for nearly half a century.
At the same time, assaults on academic freedom threaten the considerable cultural power and prestige that, as Burnham was well aware, are vital areas of geopolitical struggle.
Finally, these policies undermine the American ability to attract the best and the brightest from around the world — a capacity that has long underpinned its dominance in science and innovation, and ultimately its global influence.
Diminished intellectual capital
One might be tempted to say: fine, if America no longer values its intellectual capital, other countries can reap the benefit by attracting the expertise it shuns. To some degree, this may be true.
But no western country or group of countries – such as the EU – possesses the institutional research capacity, network density and depth of funding found until now in the U.S.
At best, a more fragmented, diffuse and less impactful situation is likely to occur, with America weakened and the benefits gained by others unlikely to make up the balance. The West as a whole is likely to emerge weaker rather than stronger.
Geopolitical decline
Recognizing these negative outcomes does not require treating elite universities as paragons of virtue or viewing higher education as beyond reproach. Nor are today’s Burnhamites completely delusional. Increased inequality, economic dislocation and the death of local industries have followed in the footsteps of liberal globalization.
Cultural divides are significant, even if they are often polarized for political purposes. But addressing such issues demands serious engagement, not simplistic accusations of elite decadence and divisive political rhetoric. Crucially, it requires seeing elite (and other) universities as sources of global power as well as sites of education.
The conservative columnist Irving Kristol once said that politics is a struggle over “who owns the future.”
Materially and ideologically, Burnham’s contemporary followers are making sure that America will no longer be on the winning side of this struggle. Their efforts to “make America great again” misunderstand important parts of what made it great in the first place. The most likely outcome will be the decline, not the recovery, of America.

How Donald Trump’s assault on universities echoes earlier American conservative ideas

The article is titled “Fraudulent crowdfunding after the Lapu Lapu tragedy highlights the need for vigilance and oversight.” It was originally published on May 8, 2025 and is authored by Jeremy Snyder, Professor, Health Sciences, Simon Fraser Universit and Valorie A. Crooks, Professor, Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University.

Around 100,000 members of Vancouver’s Filipino community and other residents recently gathered to take part in the Lapu Lapu street festival to celebrate Filipino culture. This vibrant community celebration ended in tragedy when a vehicle was driven at high speed through the festival.
Eleven people were killed in the April 26 attack, and dozens injured in what acting police chief Steve Rai called the “darkest day in the city’s history.”
There has been an outpouring of community support for the victims, their friends and families, and the Filipino community in Vancouver. This support has taken the form of flowers and messages left at the attack site, vigils and gatherings and religious events.
And, as is now common following high-profile tragedies, the Lapu Lapu festival attack has been accompanied by a number of crowdfunding campaigns by and for its victims.
Helping after disaster
Many of these crowdfunding campaigns are hosted by GoFundMe, which has set up a dedicated hub for these fundraisers. A week after the attack, the 16 campaigns on this hub had raised more than $2.3 million.
Dozens of other fundraisers on GoFundMe have raised additional money for various causes and groups associated with the tragedy and Vancouver’s Filipino community. Other crowdfunding platforms have also hosted related crowdfunding campaigns.
Crowdfunding is a way for the public to help those in need in concrete ways while also expressing their shock and sadness over tragic events. People from across the world have taken advantage of crowdfunding’s accessibility to learn about victims and join the outpouring of support.
This support can be large and consequential. A campaign for Andy Le, a teenager who lost his family at the festival attack, has received more than $500,000 in donations. As a result of this support, Le has in turn pledged to donate half that money to other victims.
This viral, international support has meant these campaigns are likely able to raise vastly more money than would be possible through traditional, purely local and offline activities.
Fraud and fundraising
But while the online nature of crowdfunding allows for a global response to high-profile tragedies, the relatively impersonal nature of crowdfunding has its downsides. Our research has demonstrated that crowdfunding sometimes attracts fraudulent campaigns.
High-profile events that spur numerous campaigns and massive financial support are particularly attractive to fraudsters. Unfortunately, this has been the case with the Lapu Lapu festival tragedy. In one case, a GoFundMe campaign fraudulently raised more than $57,000, ostensibly to return the body of “Reyna Dela Peñato” to the Philippines after her death at the festival and to support her sons.
Separately, the Philippine Consulate General of Vancouver warned of fraudulent campaigns on its behalf that used images from its website.
Vetting authenticity
Communities can provide mutual support by detecting these fraudulent campaigns, especially in tight-knit communities like Filipinos in Vancouver. In the case of the fraudulent campaign for “Reyna Dela Peñato,” it was flagged by Raquel Narraway, a Vancouver resident who had been compiling information on fundraisers. Narraway was able to marshal her connections to the local Filipino community to show that the campaign was not genuine.
GoFundMe does its own vetting as well, identifying some campaigns as “verified” after contacting organizers.
However, responding to actual and potential fraud creates new burdens on victims to prove their legitimacy to the public and crowdfunding platforms. Local community members are in turn taken away from grieving to investigate these campaigns. These policing activities inject a level of distrust into fundraising that is less present when giving takes place between people with pre-existing connections.
Growing challenges
While the problem of fraud in crowdfunding isn’t new, changes to the practice of crowdfunding may make it harder to detect. The advent of large language models or artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT have made it easier for crowdfunding campaigners to edit their campaign narratives to appeal to a wider pool of potential donors.
Crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe are also pushing AI features directly into their platforms to “enhance” these campaigns and help campaigners “connect with more donors.” These features may be especially appealing to people whose first language is not English, as may be the case with some victims of the Lapu Lapu festival attack.
While the AI-ification of crowdfunding creates a more level playing field for campaigners, it may also make fraud easier to commit and harder to detect. This will be true if generating fake campaigns is easier using chatbots and if legitimate campaigns use AI and take on a less authentic voice.
Online crowdfunding isn’t going anywhere, and for many victims of the Lapu Lapu festival attack, it has enabled them to ease some of the burden from that terrible day. However, we should be aware that crowdfunding isn’t a purely beneficial tool for people in need. Without proper oversight, it may develop in ways that are even more problematic.

Fraudulent crowdfunding after the Lapu Lapu tragedy highlights the need for vigilance and oversight

The article is titled “How Canada can turn tariff tensions into a global affordable housing alliance.” It was originally published on May 8, 2025 and is authored by Ehsan Noroozinejad Farsangi, Visiting Senior Researcher, Smart Structures Research Group, University of British Columbia and T.Y. Yang, Professor, Structural & Earthquake Engineering, University of British Columbia.

Canada is facing a worsening housing crisis. Home prices have exploded, with 45 per cent of Canadians saying they are deeply worried about finding affordable housing.
The country needs to build an additional 3.5 million homes by 2030 to achieve housing affordability. However, housing supply is lagging well behind that target even as demand continues to rise, driven largely by population growth and immigration.
Into this crisis have come new costs. In March 2025, the United States imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports. Canada immediately hit back with its own 25 per cent duties on U.S. steel and aluminum, affecting roughly $12.6 billion of steel and $3 billion of aluminum goods.
In practical terms, that means higher costs for key building materials like steel beams, aluminum cladding, appliances and machinery.
Industry groups say these duties will drive up the price of new construction and further erode affordability. In a market already strained, adding tariff charges is like pouring salt on an open wound: it makes every new home more expensive to build and to buy.
Factory-built housing offers a way forward
Modern methods of construction, such as modular and prefabricated housing, are a promising answer to the housing shortage. These methods involve large components of houses being produced in factories and assembled at their final location.
Factory-built housing can be done about 50 per cent faster and up to 35 per cent cheaper than site-built homes.
Importantly, this speed and affordability do not come at the expense of quality or energy performance. Canadian-built modular homes achieve top efficiency ratings and reach net-zero energy while frequently delivering superior performance compared to site-built homes. They are also greener, as controlled factory processes produce far less waste.
In Japan, modular factories produce over 15 per cent of all new housing. Sweden’s construction industry heavily relies on prefabricated construction as well; it is present in approximately 84 per cent of detached houses.
Other countries are rapidly scaling up modern construction methods. Singapore mandates every public housing project to use modular techniques because this enables mass apartment production with efficiency.
The combination of expensive labour costs and immediate housing needs makes Australia, the United Kingdom and parts of the United States optimal markets for modular construction expansion.
Canada can lead in modular housing
Canada has key advantages that make it well suited to expand modular and prefabricated housing. In particular, it has a strong forest products sector for supplying wood panels and engineered timber, a skilled construction and technology workforce and a growing policy drive for lower-carbon building.
Canadian builders have already shown they can deliver modular housing at scale. Launched in 2020, Canada’s Rapid Housing Initiative committed $1 billion to modular projects, followed by another $1.5 billion in 2021 to quickly house vulnerable populations.
The Rapid Housing Initiative exceeded its target, creating nearly 4,700 new homes in short order. It proved that factory-built housing can be both fast and high-quality in Canada.
Canada has the opportunity to build on that success. The 2024 federal budget created a Homebuilding Technology and Innovation Fund aimed at expanding prefabricated housing. It set aside $50 million through Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (to be matched by industry) and up to $500 million in low-cost loans from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for prefabricated apartment projects.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has also shown interest in modular and prefabricated housing technologies to create sustained demand.
Provinces like Ontario and British Columbia are focusing on modular construction to cut red tape and better understand how to expand it. Canada’s National Research Council is also consulting on aligning building codes and inspections for factory-built homes with the help of Canadian universities.
A global alliance on modular housing
As Canada faces a deepening housing crisis, it has the opportunity to turn today’s tariff tensions into deeper international partnerships.
By forming an international affordable housing consortium, Canada could collaborate with countries that have succeeded in modern construction methods, like Sweden, Japan, Australia and Germany, to share knowledge. Together, these nations could harmonize building standards and invest in research.
Here are five practical moves Canada can take to build this global modular housing alliance:
1. Create a zero-tariff modular homes club.
Canada should use the trade tools it already has, like the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, to eliminate most tariffs with the European Union and Asian countries. Canada should negotiate an add-on protocol that lets modular components, such as panels and factory equipment, cross borders without tariffs.
2. Launch a joint show-home projects in partner countries.
We propose a “FastBuild 1000 initiative” initiative that would see each member nation commit to building a minimum of 1,000 modular homes. Pilot sites could include Vancouver, Sydney, Hamburg and Osaka — urban centres in countries already familiar with modern construction techniques. Engineers could travel across countries to test how modules fit different climates and design codes, while giving factories steady orders.
3. Pool global buying power for materials and appliances.
Canada and its partners could form a modular materials co-operative that bundles steel, engineered timber, heat pumps and windows. The proposed system should leverage economies of scale in factory production to make the final product much cheaper.
4. Open-source designs and one-click certifications.
Ottawa’s catalogue of pre-approved housing designs could be expanded into a global online catalogue where partner countries can download and adapt pre-existing designs while keeping the structure safe and secure. Simplified, one-click certification would help speed up approvals across borders.
5. Create a ‘modular skills passport’ and research and development hub.
Canadian universities and colleges could train workers through micro-credentials in areas like offsite manufacturing, digital construction, robotics, penalization and on-site assembly. Some countries like Japan have a huge prefabrication industry valued at over $24 billion. Linking research and development would give Canada access to the latest technologies while offering partner countries entry into the Canadian construction sector.
By investing in this kind of international collaboration, Canada can address its domestic housing crisis while leading a fast, green housing revolution that makes homes affordable worldwide.

How Canada can turn tariff tensions into a global affordable housing alliance

The article is titled “Alberta has long accused Ottawa of trying to destroy its oil industry. That’s a dangerous myth.” It was originally published on May 8, 2025 and is authored by Ian Urquhart, Professor Emeritus, Political Science, University of Alberta.

“Alberta is a place soaked in self-deception.” Those words began Alberta-based journalist Mark Lisac’s 2004 book aimed at shattering the myths that have unhelpfully animated too much of Alberta’s politics over the past few decades.
Current and former Alberta politicians are once again embracing and treating separatist grievances seriously. That means it’s time once again to highlight and challenge political misconceptions that have the potential to destroy Canada.
Oil is the root of one such myth. The misconception? That Ottawa perenially opposes the oil and gas sector and is determined to stop its continued growth. The National Energy Program (1980), the Northern Gateway pipeline project (2016), the Energy East Pipeline (2017) and the proposed greenhouse gas pollution cap allegedly prove Ottawa’s hostility.
Notably missing from these grievances is the Keystone XL pipeline and the Trans Mountain Expansion Project. Ottawa supported these projects aimed at transporting Alberta oilsands crude to foreign markets. The federal government even purchased the Trans Mountain project from Kinder Morgan in 2018 — not to kill it, but to build it.
As for Keystone XL, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney thanked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for supporting the project. This doesn’t fit the separatist narrative, so it’s largely ignored.
Oilsands booster
No one should dispute the National Energy Program’s devastating impact on Alberta’s conventional oil and gas sector 40 years ago. But the oilsands, not conventional oil, propelled Canada to its position as the world’s fourth largest oil producer.
Has Ottawa facilitated or obstructed the spectacular post-1990 growth of oilsands production?
The record shows that, since the mid-1970s, Ottawa has facilitated and supported the oilsands sector. The federal government helped keep the Syncrude project alive in 1975 when it took a 15 per cent interest in Canada’s second oilsands operation.
Ironically, Ottawa’s enthusiasm for more, not less, petroleum from the oilsands also appeared in 1980 via the National Energy Program (NEP), the devil in Alberta’s conservative catechism. What most accounts of the NEP don’t mention is that Ottawa offered tax benefits to oilsands companies while stripping them from conventional oil producers.
Furthermore, the NEP’s “made-in-Canada” pricing effectively guaranteed Syncrude would receive the world price for its production. At $38 per barrel, Syncrude received more than double what conventional producers received. If the NEP was harsh on conventional oil producers, it helped create a golden future for the oil sands.
In the mid-1990s, Ottawa helped propel the post-1995 oilsands boom. The industry-dominated National Task Force on Oil Sands Strategies sought federal tax concessions to promote oilsands growth. The federal government delivered them in its 1996 budget, despite Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s general concern with cutting the deficit.
Again, these measures clearly contradict the myth of federal opposition to the oil industry.
Generous emissions caps
Ottawa’s policy favouritism towards the oilsands didn’t end there. It has consistently animated the federal government’s treatment of the oilsands in its climate change policies.
The federal Climate Change Plan for Canada (2002) treated oil and gas leniently. Its measures for large industrial emitters bore a striking resemblance to the climate change policy preferences of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Suncor and Syncrude, the two leading oilsands producers, estimated these federal proposals would add a pittance, between 20 and 30 cents, to their per barrel production costs.
Justin Trudeau’s response to Alberta’s 2015 oilsands emissions cap also underlined Ottawa’s favouritism, not hostility, to the dominant player in Canada’s oil patch.
Rachel Notley’s NDP government set this cap at 100 million tonnes of GHG per year, plus another 10 million tonnes allowed to new upgrading and co-generation facilities. This cap was a whopping 39 million tonnes or 55 per cent higher than what the oilsands emitted in 2014.
This generous cap contributed to a tremendous increase in oilsands production. Healthy profits became record profits in 2022. Ottawa embraced Alberta’s largesse, incorporating the province’s cap into its post-2015 climate policies.
Furthermore, Ottawa increased its leniency towards the oilsands by exempting new in-situ (non-mining) oilsands projects in Alberta from the federal Impact Assessment Act. This exemption applies until Alberta’s emissions cap is reached. Canada’s latest National Inventory Report on greenhouse gas emissions reported record oilsands GHG emissions of 89 million tonnes in 2023, still 11 million tonnes shy of the 100 million tonne threshold.
Weaponizing myths
Finally, we have today’s proposed national cap on greenhouse gas emissions. Alberta is apoplectic about the cap. But whether or not it’s intentional, Premier Danielle Smith’s outrage feeds into secessionist sentiment by seemingly misrepresenting the cap’s impact on oil and gas production.
Smith and her environment minister use the work of the Parliamentary Budgetary Officer (PBO) to nurture their “Ottawa hates oil” narrative. They claim the officer’s analysis of the cap’s economic impact showed it “will cut oil and gas production by five per cent, or more than 245,000 barrels per day.”
This is simply not true.
In fact, the PBO concluded that, with the cap, oilsands production “is projected to remain well above current levels” — 15 per cent higher than in 2022. The proposed federal emissions cap, like the Alberta NDP’s cap of a decade ago, is higher than current oilsands emissions levels. The PBO concluded the proposed ceiling for oilsands emissions would be six per cent higher than 2022 emissions.
Ottawa’s proposed cap, in fact, continues its decades-long support of the oilsands.
Myths are central to our being. When I tell my grandsons about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, I hope to inspire curiosity, imagination and interest in their grandmother’s Irish heritage.
But in politics, fanciful stories can be dangerous. Some weaponize myths, using the fictions at their core to encourage followers to let falsehoods rule their behaviour. That seems to be playing out yet again in Alberta. We must demand better from the political class.

Alberta has long accused Ottawa of trying to destroy its oil industry. That’s a dangerous myth

The article is titled “Ontario Chief Coroner reports raise concerns that MAID policy and practice focus on access rather than protection.” It was originally published on May 8, 2025 and is authored by Trudo Lemmens, Professor of Health Law and Policy, University of Toronto.

The Chief Coroner for Ontario recently released two new reports of its interdisciplinary MAID Death Review Committee: on Same or Next Day Provision of MAID and on Waiver of Final Consent.
The MAID Death Review Committee — of which I am a member — reviews cases of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) that are selected by the coroner’s MAID team for the common issues they raise. The review helps inform policy recommendations.
Committee reports contain case summaries and summaries of committee discussions, and the Chief Coroner’s recommendations. The newly released reports appear to confirm what is argued in several chapters in our recently co-edited volume, Unravelling MAiD in Canada: Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide as Medical Care, and in other publications: Canada’s MAID law, policy and practice focuses excessively on promoting access to death, not on protection.
Some of the cases suggest a troubling prioritizing of ending patients’ lives with MAID rather than a precautionary approach. In my opinion, they reveal an urgent need for more rigorous legal and professional standards. Committee members’ starkly contrasting views on the ethics of some of the practices, which can be gleaned from the anonymous summaries of the committee’s discussions, are striking.
Access over protection
The topics of the reports illustrate how Canada’s MAID law reform has prioritized access over protection. Most assisted dying laws or policies in other countries prohibit same-day provision of MAID and waiving of final consent. Many impose a reflection period to protect patients against rushed and desperate decision-making, for example following a devastating diagnosis.
Before 2021, Canada’s MAID law had a 10-day reflection period, which could be shortened by request. This was removed in the 2021 expansion of MAID, which also removed the safeguard of a reasonably foreseeable natural death.
At the time, concerns that removing the 10-day reflection period could lead to rushed decisions were dismissed, with a hypothetical example involving same-day MAID provision being described as “absurd.” An official report now documents the practice.
Waiver of final consent, which was also introduced in 2021, moves Canada clearly away from unambiguous or clear consent, which the Supreme Court emphasized as a key safeguard in its 2015 Carter decision — the decision that declared an absolute criminal law prohibition on euthanasia and assisted suicide to be unconstitutional.
A waiver enables track 1 patients (those with a reasonably foreseeable death) who are at risk of losing capacity to receive MAID at a specific time in the near future. In contrast, with an advance request for MAID, a patient authorizes someone else to request MAID on their behalf in the future, when they have lost capacity and specified conditions are met.
Québec recently introduced advanced requests, and Health Canada has organized public consultations on the topic, seemingly considering it. But it remains prohibited under the Criminal Code. Rightly so, since it raises unique ethical, legal and professional challenges.
The coroner’s report on waiver of final consent includes cases, and notes on case discussions, that demonstrate the fine line between flexible use of such waivers and circumventing the prohibition of advance request. In some cases, it appears that different guidance documents of the Canadian Association of MAID Assessors and Providers have been combined to facilitate MAID: guidance on waiver of final consent and on dementia.
In a journal publication, my co-authors and I warned that combining these guidance documents, which we consider to be obfuscating, could lead to advance requests for MAID even though they remain prohibited under the criminal code.
Case reports
Take the case of Mr. A. Distressed by short-term memory loss and a diagnosis of an onset of Alzheimer’s disease, he signed a waiver scheduling MAID 3.5 years later. Some, but not all, members of the committee opined that scheduling it so much in advance was incompatible with a track 1 approval, since it revealed that he was not approaching his death, not in an advanced state of irreversible decline of capability and could hardly be considered to suffer intolerably at the time of approval.
The MAID provider ended up not using the waiver for Mr. A’s consent for MAID. However, his MAID death remains problematic due to concerns about how the provider accepted he was able to provide final consent.
Less than a year after signing the waiver, he was hospitalized after a fall. He was deemed delirious, confused and had hallucinations. During “a period of cognitive improvement” the MAID provider deemed him capable of confirming final consent and provided MAID based on the original assessment.
Informed consent concerns also arose in the case of 80-year-old Mrs. B, who told a first MAID assessor she preferred palliative care because of personal and religious values. When a palliative care physician noticed her husband’s “caregiver burnout,” he requested hospice care for Mrs. B, which was rejected.
Her husband then contacted a second MAID assessor, who approved her for MAID and who rejected the first assessor’s request to talk to Mrs. B. the next day. A third assessor confirmed the second assessor’s approval and Mrs. B received MAID the same day.
The case of Mr. C involved a man in his 70s, diagnosed with metastatic cancer, who requested a MAID assessment five days after admission into palliative care. But before he could be assessed, he experienced cognitive decline and “loss of ability to communicate.”
When the palliative care team told a MAID provider the next day that he had lost capacity to consent, the provider “vigorously roused Mr. C., who opened his eyes and mouthed ‘yes’” when asked if he wanted MAID. After withholding pain medication for 45 minutes, the provider considered him more “alert.” A second MAID assessor confirmed his eligibility after an online assessment, also accepting mouthing yes, and “nodding his head in presumed agreeance” as clear and capable informed consent, and he was euthanized.
These and some other cases described in the committee reports raise several concerns. They show how MAID has been provided in cases where assessors clearly disagree about the application of access criteria, with two seemingly limited assessments favouring MAID overriding others.
Some patients received MAID after capacity and informed consent procedures that appear problematic, in the case of Mr. C overriding a capacity assessment by a treating palliative care team. Family pressures, such as caregiver burnout, may also be insufficiently investigated, as in the case of Mrs. B.
And MAID appears to have been delivered in the case of Mr. C. when the patient appeared otherwise comfortable in palliative care and may not have had capacity to consent.
The reports also reveal that even patients specifically hospitalized for suicidal ideation and in need of mental health care are offered MAID, as earlier coroner reports already revealed. Some cases appear to stretch the contours of MAID law.
Starkly differing views
The committee discussions included in the report further suggest starkly different views among MAID Death Review Committee members, including on standards for assessing capacity for consent.
As discussed in a recent study I co-authored, most of Canada’s MAID practice is driven by a relatively small group of frequent providers. The study found that there are 1,837 MAID providers in Canada, but up to 336 of these are frequent providers who are likely responsible for the majority of annual MAID deaths. This adds to concerns about arguably overly flexible provision of MAID among these providers.
Another committee member recently discussed how the report on same- or next-day provisions reveals this practice is disproportionately present in some geographical locations. This suggests, as others have discussed in relation to Québec’s MAID practice, that there may be starkly different professional standards and approaches among providers.
To date there have been no known cases of criminal or professional sanctions against a MAID provider. However, the Chief Coroner’s reports, as well as media reports, indicate that this does not mean Canada’s MAID practice is exemplary, safe and compliant. When reading these cases, many likely wonder, as I do, what it will take for political, judicial and professional authorities to provide firmer guidance, investigate thoroughly and put a halt to problematic delivery of MAID.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, after hearing evidence from both the federal government and civil society organizations, recently urged Canada to withdraw track 2 MAID (MAID cases in which the patient’s death is not reasonably foreseeable), not to introduce MAID for mental illness and with advance requests, and to improve MAID monitoring and safeguards.
The UN committee cited the earlier coroner reports. The two most recent reports, which the UN committee did not have yet at its disposal, clearly confirm the urgent need for a revisiting of our MAID law, and for refocusing on protection, not on further expansion.

Ontario Chief Coroner reports raise concerns that MAID policy and practice focus on access rather than protection

The article is titled “The King’s speech: The world will be watching when Charles opens Canada’s Parliament.” It was originally published on May 7, 2025 and is authored by Justin Vovk, European Royal History Reseacher, McMaster University.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has invited King Charles to embark upon a Royal Visit to Canada and open the new session of Parliament on May 27.
The visit comes at a significant moment in Canadian history. Carney has just had his first meeting with Donald Trump, pushing back unequivocally against the American president’s continuing calls for Canada to become the 51st state.
In their Oval Office news conference, Trump once again declared his desire to erase “the artificially drawn line” separating the U.S. and Canada and to annex Canada, as Carney made clear that would never happen.
At the same time, Trump has been looking to reshape the global economic order through the use of tariffs on imported goods. Even though Canadians are fighting back with consumer and travel boycotts, many are also worrying about the future due to Trump’s actions.
Amid this turmoil, the King’s timely visit could be a powerful show of support for Canadians, whose identity has often wilted in the shadow of its powerful but formerly protective American neighbour. The presence of the King will undoubtedly generate global attention, which could provide reassurances to Canadians that they’re not alone.
Delivering the Speech from the Throne
Charles is King of Canada and the country’s official head of state. This will be his 20th trip to Canada, but his first since becoming King in September 2022.
In day-to-day government business, his duties are carried out by the Governor General. These include opening Parliament and delivering the Speech from the Throne, which outlines the government’s agenda.
The King’s visit will mark the first time the sovereign has personally delivered the Speech from the Throne since Queen Elizabeth did so in 1957. She also opened a session of Canada’s 30th Parliament in 1977.
Canada has maintained close ties with the United Kingdom. It still uses the Westminster parliamentary system. But Canada has also worked to establish its own national identity.
In 1982, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau repatriated Canada’s Constitution. This replaced the British North America Act and established Canada’s full political independence, a process that began with Confederation in 1867.
Signals of support to Canada
Royal Visits are one of the monarchy’s most effective tools for promoting international relations. In Charles’s recent visit to Italy, he even made a point of honouring Canada.
This upcoming visit is expected to highlight Canada’s identity separate from the United States. It will give Charles the opportunity to remind everyone of the Crown’s place at the heart of Canadian sovereignty and our constitutional relationship with monarchy. This is an image that Charles has been eager to foster since becoming King in 2022 following the death of his mother and amid waning enthusiasm for the monarchy in some Commonwealth countries.
The King cannot make political statements — at least, not without the say-so of the prime minister. After meeting with Justin Trudeau in March before he was replaced by Carney as prime minister, Charles signalled his support for Canadian sovereignty through a series of subtle but important gestures.
He presented a ceremonial sword to the Usher of the Black Rod — one of the Canadian Senate’s senior ceremonial officers. A week later, Charles planted a red maple at Buckingham Palace to commemorate the late Queen Elizabeth’s support for international forestry. He even wore Canadian military insignia on his admiral’s uniform during a public inspection of a British aircraft carrier.
Commonwealth ties
The King’s visit could also reinvigorate Canada’s ties to the Commonwealth.
Canada has long maintained positive relations with the other Commonwealth countries through shared culture, military action and economic support. This Royal Visit could solidify the beneficial role of the Crown and of the Commonwealth for Canada as it seeks to assert its sovereignty and broaden its international economic ties in the face of American tariffs.
Many in Canada and around the world will be watching and listening to the King’s speech when he opens Parliament on May 27.
It is unlikely there will be any direct references to Trump’s 51st state threats or to the president himself. But its symbolic significance could reaffirm Canada’s place on the world stage. It may also help to quell, at least for a little while, the growing calls to reconsider the need for the British monarchy at all in modern-day Canada.

The King’s speech: The world will be watching when Charles opens Canada’s Parliament

The article is titled “Digital clones of real models are revolutionizing fashion advertising.” It was originally published on May 7, 2025 and is authored by Luana Carcano, Lecturer, Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University.

Driven by advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and metaverse technologies, digital clones are transforming fast-fashion marketing. Always available, ageless and adaptable to any setting, these virtual figures enable brands to create immersive, cost-effective campaigns that resonate with today’s digital-first consumers.
Virtual influencers — digitally created personas used to provide entertainment, generate content and endorse brands — are becoming increasingly influential, especially among Gen Z and digital-first audiences.
These virtual figures vary in form: some, like Lil Miquela and Shudu, are entirely computer-generated, while others, such as Hatsune Miku, incorporate human elements like voice or motion.
Hybrid influencers blend real and virtual components, allowing for brand-specific customization. These virtual influencers boost brand visibility, drive engagement and influence market performance.
Real persons, virtual personas
The estimate for global influencer market size for 2024 was valued at over US$24 billion and is projected to grow to over US$32 billion in 2025. The rise of virtual influencers is particularly prominent in Asia.
This trend is also reshaping the US$2.5 trillion modelling industry, according to The Business of Fashion. AI-generated avatars and digital clones enable brands to cut production costs and accelerate campaign development. As a result, companies such as Levi Strauss & Co. are partnering with AI modelling firms to integrate these virtual personas into their marketing strategies.
Digital twins
Digital twins — virtual replicas of real people — are gaining traction in marketing to enhance personalization, streamline content creation and deepen customer engagement.
In the fashion world, they provide a means to maintain a sense of human connection while using AI for precision and volume purposes. Fast-fashion retailer H&M recently introduced AI-generated digital twins of real-life models for advertising and social media content. Positioned as a creative and operational aid rather than a replacement for human talent, the initiative has ignited industry-wide debate.
While the brand highlights the advantages — lower production costs and faster catalogue development — some critics have raised ethical concerns regarding representation and transparency.
These digital twins fall into the category of “front-of-camera” tools: static avatars used in visual content without independent personas or social media presence. Unlike virtual influencers, they do not interact with audiences or build followings. Instead, they function strictly as visual stand-ins for traditional models, who are compensated for the use of their likenesses, similar to conventional campaigns.
As these avatars do not speak, endorse or engage directly with consumers, they remain subject to traditional advertising regulations — not influencer marketing laws.
Digital models are used for operational efficiency: testing and refining creative strategies before rollout, reducing costs and potentially offering immersive digital experiences to enhance customer connection and brand loyalty.
Authenticity and other challenges
In July 2024, fast-fashion retailer Mango launched its first advertising campaign featuring AI-generated avatars to promote a limited-edition collection for teenaged girls.
These AI-generated influencers and digital twins introduce numerous ethical and legal challenges. These innovations raise difficult questions about the displacement of human talent — including models, make-up artists, hairstylists and photographers — and broader implications for creative industries.
Key concerns centre on consent and compensation. The unauthorized use of an individual’s likeness, even in digital form, poses a risk of exploitation and underscores the importance of clear standards and protections. The legal landscape regarding image rights and intellectual property is still evolving, which makes compliance both essential and complex.
As the lines between reality and digital fabrication blur, brands risk eroding consumer trust. The authenticity that audiences value can be undermined if AI-generated content seems deceptive or inauthentic.
Companies must tread carefully, balancing innovation with transparency.
Diversity is another critical issue. While AI offers customization, it can also perpetuate biases or create an illusion of inclusivity without genuine representation.
As the use of AI proliferates, ensuring that digital models support, rather than hinder, meaningful advancement in representation will be essential.
Ultimately, brands must implement ethical frameworks to ensure that AI enhances creativity while maintaining integrity, inclusivity and legal accountability.
Strategic considerations
Digital clones provide fast-fashion brands with a powerful tool to create personalized shopping experiences and enable greater representation of diverse body types and style preferences. This degree of customization can significantly enhance customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
To ensure ethical integration, transparency is crucial. Brands must clearly disclose when digital models appear in campaigns. These digital representations should encompass a wide variety of demographics to genuinely promote inclusivity and engage with a broader audience.
Establishing ethical and legal safeguards is equally important. Creating digital clones requires explicit consent and careful attention to intellectual property rights. Without clear guidelines and permissions, brands risk violating privacy, misusing likenesses and facing legal repercussions.

Digital clones of real models are revolutionizing fashion advertising

The article is titled “Tips for starting a business in Canada, according to entrepreneurs who have done it.” It was originally published on May 7, 2025 and is authored by Nazha Gali, Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, University of Windsor and Bharat Maheshwari, Associate Professor, Management Science, University of Windsor.

Each year, about 100,000 small businesses are created in Canada. But what does it actually take to start a business in Canada — not just on paper, but in practice?
To better understand what launching a startup in Canada truly involves, we interviewed entrepreneurs across various sectors. As experts in strategy and entrepreneurship, we combined their first-hand experiences with research findings to determine key factors that contribute to business success.
What emerged is a clearer picture of the realities of Canadian entrepreneurship that shows building a business is as much about managing relationships, risks and resilience as it is about having a novel idea.
Solving real consumer problems
Before launching a business, it’s essential to identify your target customers. Successful ventures begin by solving a real problem for a clearly defined group. Conducting market research to ensure a strong product-market fit is a critical first step in this process.
One of the most common blind spots for new entrepreneurs, according to Ariz Bhimani, founder of apparel brand BRFZY, is assuming the problem they face is universal. “Without genuine data from potential customers, you’re just guessing,” he said in an email interview.
This is where customer discovery comes in. It involves understanding customers’ situations, needs and pain points. Techniques such as user interviews and creating detailed customer personas can help founders better understand who their product is for.
This approach is crucial for both startups and established organizations looking to enter new markets.
Another vital part of the early-stage process is building a minimum viable product (MVP): a basic version of a product that includes only the core features needed to test the idea with users.
MVPs allow entrepreneurs to gather feedback and refine the product before investing significant time or money in full development.
Manage your money wisely
Once a market need is identified, securing funding is often the next major challenge. This process typically begins with creating a compelling pitch — a presentation that outlines the product or service and financial projections to attract potential investors.
This pitch is crucial to a startup’s success, Mohammad Faiyaz, founder and CEO of Wavermark, told us.
There are tools and resources available to help, such as the pitch deck developed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and AI feedback tool AI Fornax.
But while funding is essential, managing those funds wisely is equally important. Chris Colasanti, vice president at Rocket Mortgage Canada, explained via email that one of the most common mistakes new entrepreneurs make is failing to control costs.
Many first-time founders become preoccupied with revenue growth while overlooking expenses. Colasanti argued that unless you have endless investor backing, your survival depends on lean operations. “Obsess about your costs,” he advised.
Bhimani echoed this caution. “I would budget two to three times more time and money to get a task done, especially in the ideation stage,” he wrote to us. Entrepreneurs should be prepared for unexpected costs.
Building a business plan
Many startup founders are eager to scale their businesses quickly, but doing this prematurely can increase the risk of failure by 20 to 40 per cent.
“Growth is one of the most taxing activities a company can experience,” Colasanti told us. “Fight the urge to grow. Hire when it hurts and let sales drive your growth.”
To scale successfully, companies need a strong foundation. This means having a comprehensive business plan in place. A well-structured plan outlines a company’s mission, market strategy, operations, finances and key milestones.
Beyond serving as a roadmap for internal decision-making, business plans also help communicate a company’s vision and strategy to investors and other stakeholders.
The Business Development Bank of Canada offers guides to help entrepreneurs build effective business plans.
Hire the right people for the job
Hiring the right employees for the job is crucial for startup success. “You cannot overpay for talent,” Colasanti told us. “The first 10 people you hire will make or break your business.”
Hiring decisions should go hand-in-hand with intentionally building a workplace culture. Research shows that a positive workplace culture leads to higher employee satisfaction, retention and overall productivity.
“Your business will develop a culture whether you create it or not,” he said. Many first-time founders let poor behaviours slide to avoid conflict, but this is risky.
Bhimani also emphasized the importance of hiring those who genuinely understand your company’s mission. “Then I know they’re invested and will put forth their best effort,” he told us.
There are important legal considerations to keep in mind. Employers must comply with federal and provincial labour laws, and entrepreneurs should seek legal advice or consult government resources when building their teams.
Seek out a knowledgeable mentor
While entrepreneurship is often seen as a solo pursuit, research and experience suggest otherwise. In reality, founders who are mentored by successful entrepreneurs are over three times more likely to be successful themselves.
Both Bhimani and Dhwani Shah, founder and CEO of Aadhya Navik Inc., highlighted the importance of mentors.
“Even if you just have an idea,” Bhimani told us via email, “you should strive to talk about it as much as possible with people in the industry who have relevant experience.”
Shah similarly attributed her growth to constant learning and expert guidance: “I have a long-term vision and actively seek advice while working on the product.”
Resources like the Business Benefits Finder and programs like Futurpreneur Canada and Startup Canada can connect early-stage founders with financing and mentorship.
Passion and persistence are key
Mindset is also a differentiating factor that sets successful entrepreneurs apart. The entrepreneurial mindset is a way of thinking that involves seeing opportunities where others see obstacles, and maintaining a strong sense of initiative and resilience.
All the entrepreneurs we interviewed said intrinsic motivation was the key to longevity. “Starting a business makes you wear multiple hats, which can be intimidating but also gives you immense satisfaction,” Shah told us. Research has also confirmed this to be true.
Colasanti told us fear often leads founders to switch from experimentation to protection mode too early. “They stop taking big swings and start firing bullets instead of cannonballs,” he said. That mindset shift can lead to complacency and stagnation.
Successful entrepreneurs are often those who can stay agile, embrace discomfort and persist even when the stakes are high.
Make use of resources
There are a number of supports for entrepreneurs in Canada. National initiatives like Futurpreneur Canada and Startup Canada, and financial supports from Business Development Bank of Canada, are also available.
Most provinces and territories have web pages dedicated to resources for small businesses and entrepreneurs, including British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.
In southern Ontario, WETech Alliance offers a model example of how regional innovation hubs can support founders. Their programs help connect entrepreneurs to expertise, capital and community.
Starting a business in Canada has never been more possible or more competitive. As the experts we spoke to remind us, success lies in execution. The journey is hard, but for those who are ready, it can also be deeply rewarding.

Tips for starting a business in Canada, according to entrepreneurs who have done it

The article is titled “MAGA’s ‘war on empathy’ might not be original, but it is dangerous.” It was originally published on May 7, 2025 and is authored by Michael Cameron, PhD Candidate of English, Dalhousie University and Shoshannah Bryn Jones Square, Assistant Professor in Literature, the Environment, and Climate Change, Mount Allison University.

During his most recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Elon Musk levelled a critique at empathy, calling it “the fundamental weakness of western civilization.”
If your first instinct is to brush this off as another example of Musk’s awkwardness, we suggest you think again. As journalist Julia Carrie Wong noted in The Guardian in April, Musk’s comments have appeared “amid a growing wave of opposition to empathy from across the American right.”
A diverse coalition of figures have taken up this “war on empathy,” including pastor Joe Rigney, conservative podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey and marketing professor Gad Saad.
Each has coined their own meme-able phrase: “The Sin of Empathy,” “Toxic Empathy” and “Suicidal Empathy,” respectively.
You may find a war on empathy perplexing — even downright dangerous — given that our contemporary global historical moment is one marked by climate-induced migration, rising political authoritarianism and a “relentless opposition” against LGBTQIA+ rights.
Doesn’t this moment call out for more empathy rather than less?
What is empathy anyway?
But first, we need to know what we are talking about.
Some recent criticisms of empathy have been premised on bad definitions. For instance, Albert Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, recently claimed that empathy is “destructive” for immigration policy because “empathy means never having to say no.” This definition is not accurate.
Though a precise definition of empathy still eludes us, empathy is simply the ability to feel what someone else might be feeling. “Imagining yourself in another’s place,” writes neurologist Richard E. Cytowic, “is the basis of empathy.” Coming from a different angle, literary scholar Suzanne Keen defines empathy as “a vicarious, spontaneous sharing of affect” that “can be provoked… even by reading.”
The word “empathy” was coined in 1909. Previously, what we today call “empathy” fell under the name “sympathy.” For instance, writing in the 18th century, Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith described sympathy as the imaginative capacity to “enter as it were into [another’s] body, and become in some measure the same person.”
With the discovery of “mirror neurons,” modern neuroscience has in a sense validated Smith’s theories. As neuroscientist Christian Keysers explains: “The mirror system builds a bridge between the minds of two people,” showing that our brains are not only “deeply social” but also “magically connected to each other.”
Put simply, we are hardwired for empathy.
Sympathy and social contagion
In our research, we have explored literary depictions of self-destructive, suicidal and monstrous sympathies. We recognize some parallels between MAGA’s war on empathy and conceptual debates of the past, parallels at times interesting and worrisome.
During his appearance on Rogan’s podcast, Saad criticized Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s appeal to Trump for mercy on behalf of undocumented immigrants and those in the LGBTQIA+ community, suggesting it was indicative of the “parasitic idea” of open borders and an example of “suicidal empathy.”
A few months later, Canadian pop-psychologist Jordan Peterson echoed Saad and told Rogan that today’s political left is vulnerable to those who “parasitize empathy.”
This association between empathy and parasitic contagion is not at all new.
As literary scholar Mary Fairclough explains, in the 18th and 19th centuries, sympathy was “understood as a disruptive social phenomenon which functioned to spread disorder and unrest between individuals and even across nations like a ‘contagion.’”
As an example, Fairclough quotes the author Thomas De Quincey, who opined that “many a man has been drawn, by the contagion of sympathy with his own class acting as a mob, into outrages of destruction.”
The writer Mary Shelley literalized this notion of contagious sympathy in her 1826 novel The Last Man, which depicts a (perhaps uncomfortably familiar) plague pandemic. The novel paints sympathy as a method of mass control and societal dissolution just as contagious as the plague.
But unlike De Quincey, Shelley also celebrates sympathy as our most valuable and effective collective resource in times of crisis. This celebration is most notable in the character of Adrian, who devotes his life to “bring[ing] patience, and sympathy, and such aid as art affords, to the bed of disease.’”
The uses and abuses of empathy
Much as Shelley suggests for sympathy, research shows that empathy must be properly channelled so it isn’t used to divide and manipulate.
For example, research shows that empathy is not impartial. People tend to empathize more easily with those who share their racial or social background, and less with those who are perceived as different. In other words, racial prejudices may bias our instinctive empathetic responses.
At the same time, empathy has been linked to problematic practices like racial impersonation and colonial appropriation, where members of dominant groups claim to identify with marginalized people in ways that often reinforce power imbalances rather than dismantle them.
But MAGA’s approach to empathy is less a well-meaning critique than an all-out war and comes at the issues with a far less benevolent set of assumptions and goals. As Wong noted: “We are witnessing the construction of the ideological architecture to excuse violence and suffering on a mass scale.”
Consider what Musk said to Rogan regarding immigration:
“I believe in empathy, like I think you should care about other people, but you need to have empathy for civilization as a whole and not commit to a civilizational suicide.”
This comment is strikingly similar to the idea of “racial suicide” endorsed by eugenicist thinkers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Racial suicide was a concept rooted in the xenophobic fear that one’s own ethnic population would be replaced by another racialized population that happened to have a higher birth rate.
As the historian Rob Boddice notes, “eugenic morality” was “to be guided by sympathy construed as sympathy for the whole of society” rather than towards individuals. For the eugenicists, this ideology justified extreme measures, such as forced sterilizations and racial segregation. The horrors of eugenics and its influence on the Nazi Holocaust are well documented.
Despite these history lessons, Musk and his ilk, however, seem unperturbed and even enthusiastic about repeating history.
Much can be said about empathy’s potential limitations alongside its many virtues. But while MAGA supporters may have balked at her speech and her call for empathy, we would do well to remember the words of Bishop Budde:
“We should be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.”

MAGA’s ‘war on empathy’ might not be original, but it is dangerous

The article is titled “Fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is worsening gender-based violence against women.” It was originally published on May 7, 2025 and is authored by Annie Bunting, Professor of Law & Society, York University, York Research Chair in International Gender Justice & Peacebuilding, York University and Heather Tasker, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Dalhousie University.

In early 2025, the March 23 Movement (M23) armed group seized control of Goma and then Bukavu, two major cities in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
M23’s advance and control in eastern DRC, in defiance of ceasefire agreements, has terrorized communities and led to mass displacement. More than two million people have since been internally displaced in eastern DRC; close to one million people were displaced in 2024 alone.
Civilians are caught in a devastating humanitarian crisis involving sexual and gender-based violence. This kind of violence not only contributes to forced displacement, but displaced women are also more at risk of gender-based violence during times of ongoing fighting.
Furthermore, signs point to gendered violence worsening: in just the last two weeks of February 2025, UNHCR reported 895 reports of humanitarian workers being raped. Previous research has shown that sexual and gender-based violence continues through periods of political transition, and worsens when state militaries are weaker than rebel forces.
The risks and drivers of displacement
To understand these risks, in December 2024 researchers with the Congolese organization Solidarité Féminine Pour La Paix et le Développement Intégral (SOFEPADI) interviewed 89 displaced women and 30 members of civil society organizations working in internally displaced person camps around Goma.
We worked with a team of researchers from SOFEPADI, co-ordinated by SOFEPADI program officer Martin Baguma and national co-ordinator Sandrine Lusamba, and with research assistance from Cora Fletcher, a master’s student at Dalhousie University, to put together our recently published report that outlines some of the key findings from the interviews.
The overwhelming majority of respondents had experienced or witnessed sexual and gender-based violence. While interviewers were careful to avoid direct questions so as not to induce trauma, dozens of women nonetheless disclosed personal experiences.
These interviews show just how vulnerable the population is, and how an already dire situation for women and girls has been made exponentially worse over the past six months.
Displaced women were extremely likely to have experienced conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence: 97 per cent of those interviewed were victims of or had witnessed violence during the conflict, with one stating that sexual violence had contributed to their displacement:
“I was living in Kitshanga and then the war started, but I didn’t leave right away. One day I went to the field and I was raped. That’s the day I left Kitshanga and I came here [to the camp].”
Over 70 per cent of interviewees identified M23 as the direct cause of their displacement. A further five per cent indicated that their displacement had been caused by Rwanda’s armed forces, either alone or in conjunction with M23.
One woman from Kitshanga, a town roughly 150 kilometres away from Goma, stated that she had been displaced following “massacres, rapes, and the war…caused by the M23.”
Perpetrators everywhere, protection nowhere
M23 troops were not the only group identified as being responsible for perpetrating sexual and gender-based violence during displacement and in the camps. The crisis has led to widespread gender violence perpetrated by armed groups and forces, including the Congolese military and military-allied militias, civilians and groups of bandits.
The breadth of perpetrators, challenges in identifying perpetrators, and the shifting status of civilians/ militia members all impact opportunities to hold individuals accountable and to meaningfully prevent sexual and gender-based violence through targeted initiatives.
Despite the significant number of international forces operating in eastern DRC, both civil society representatives and displaced women expressed little confidence in these forces’ ability to prevent sexual and gender-based violence.
Goma remains the operational centre of the United Nations MONUSCO peacekeeping mission. Yet, of the 89 displaced women interviewed, only one identified MONUSCO troops as providing security in the areas surrounding the camps. In the eyes of most of the respondents, international forces are simply absent.
Scattered survivors and thwarted justice
Since the M23 takeover, international attention has been drawn to the crisis, and there is renewed focus by the International Criminal Court on combatting impunity and securing accountability for atrocity crimes.
Organizations on the ground, however, remain under-resourced and over-stretched. Access to healthcare (including mental health support), banking, economic support, children’s education, and justice are all severely constrained – a point consistently emphasized by affected women interviewed.
Repeated displacement of vulnerable people, including survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, is likely to further frustrate attempts at holding responsible actors to account, has made it near-impossible to track where women are going, to provide necessary and ongoing support.
With the recent order from M23 for civilians to leave IDP camps, already uprooted women are displaced once again, with little access to humanitarian aid. Civilians have been dispersed, with many unable to return to their villages due to fighting.
Others have returned to find their homes have been burned or looted and there is tension between neighbours over access to land and resources. Human rights defenders are also at grave risk of violence, with mass prison breaks and legal institutions not functioning.
The need for action
The DRC government and M23 have reportedly resumed peace talks to end the fighting. The security situation in eastern DRC is shifting rapidly, and the context that these interviews took place in only three short months ago has changed. The airport in Goma remains closed, thwarting the flow of humanitarian aid. What remains consistent are high levels of forced displacement, sexual and gender-based violence and an internationalized conflict that has worsened women’s security.
With women and girls uniquely and disproportionately impacted, responses to this dire security situation must include and urgent and durable ceasefire and increased humanitarian support.
Women must be at peace talks. Immediate steps must be taken to alleviate humanitarian suffering, to protect women and girls from further violence and abuse, and to move toward a peaceful resolution that results in Congolese civilians able to return to their homes and begin the process of recovering from this devastating conflict.

Fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is worsening gender-based violence against women

The article is titled “Indian airstrikes in Kashmir following tourist attack raises fears of a regional conflict.” It was originally published on May 7, 2025 and is authored by MD Rakib Jahan, PhD Student, Department of Political Studies, International Relations, Queen's University.

In response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir last month,, India has launched “Operation Sindoor,” a series of targeted airstrikes on nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
The killing of 26 tourists in Kashmir’s Baisaran Valley on April 22 did more than shatter a moment of peace in one of South Asia’s most scenic regions. The assault has significantly increased India-Pakistan tensions and generated worries of possible military conflict between two nuclear-armed countries.
Though Pakistan denies the charges, India has specifically held Pakistan responsible for sheltering terrorist groups.
In response to the attack, India has taken several actions against Pakistan, including downgrading diplomatic ties, recalling diplomats, suspending participation in a vital water-sharing agreement and closing a significant border crossing.
This rapidly deteriorating situation underscores the broader consequences of the devastating Pahalgam assault.
Human tragedy
Described by the region’s chief minister, Omar Abdullah, as “much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years,” the assault in Pahalgam is not only a humanitarian tragedy and a blow to Kashmir’s economy but a flashpoint in an already fragile regional relationship.
The Pahalgam attack’s timing coincided with United States Vice President JD Vance’s visit to India in April. This mirrors a grim pattern that includes former U.S. president Bill Clinton’s 2000 trip, when militants struck Chittisinghpura in Jammu and Kashmir hours before his arrival.
By staging violence during diplomatic milestones, militants aim to amplify global attention and send a message to the Indian government. As global attention shifts back to Kashmir, the Baisaran massacre appears to mark a new chapter in the long-fought battle over this territory — one that risks tourism, targets civilians and threatens to unravel regional stability.
Strategic targeting of Kashmir’s economy
Though Kashmir has seen warfare for decades, militant groups had mostly avoided targeting visitors because of the the economic significance of tourism to Kashmir.
The calculated selection of Pahalgam — one of Kashmir’s top tourist sites — reveals a plan to attack the core of Kashmir’s economy. According to counter-terrorism expert Ajai Sahni, the local community and militant groups have an implicit understanding not to compromise the tourism industry.
By breaking this unwritten rule, the militants have demonstrated a willingness to inflict economic harm on the population.
Nearly everyone in Kashmir, particularly in the valley, depends on tourism either directly or indirectly. Tourism, which has seen a resurgence since the COVID-19 pandemic, generates thousands of direct and indirect jobs and more than eight per cent of Kashmir’s GDP.
Experts like Amitabh Mattoo, from the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, warn that Kashmir may experience long-term devastating effects from a drop in tourism. A significant exodus of travellers from Kashmir has already taken place.
Challenging India’s post-2019 Kashmir narrative
The assault also weakens India’s narrative on Kashmir, an area that has been disputed by both Pakistan and India since their independence from Britain in 1947.
The attack took place as India Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to open a multi-billion-dollar railway project to the Kashmir Valley, which his government contends will enhance tourism and economic development.
Modi’s administration has presented the rise in tourism as proof of “normalcy” coming back to Kashmir following India’s removal of special status to Kashmir.
The intentional targeting of visitors sends a message that the illusion of normalcy is misleading.
A deadly departure from past tactics
The Resistance Front (TRF), a rather unknown militant group founded in 2019 and designated as a “terrorist organization” by the Indian government in January 2023, claimed responsibility for the assault via social media. They offered no proof to back their assertion.
TRF represents a new breed of militant Kashmiri nationalism and resistance. Indian intelligence agencies have connected the group to the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba.
TRF’s communication regarding the assault emphasized resistance to new “outsider” residency rights. This corresponds with worries voiced by some Kashmiris after 2019 modifications permitted non-locals to acquire land and get employment in the area.
The government disclosed in April 2025 that 83,000 individuals have been given residence certificates under these new standards in the last two years.
The future of Kashmir’s stability
Apart from causing obvious human sorrow, the Pahalgam slaughter also endangers years of economic development and could send Jammu and Kashmir back into a cycle of bloodshed and instability.
Targeting tourists could mean militants are willing to risk Kashmir’s economic core. The assault appears to be an attempt to internationalize the Kashmir problem at a time when worldwide interest had started to fade. It also exploits religious divides, and has succeeded in inciting severe security reactions.
The future seems more and more uncertain for ordinary Kashmiris caught between security crackdowns and militant brutality. Historical trends indicate that more militancy usually results in more security policies, putting more strain on civilian life.
For many teenagers and young people in Jammu and Kashmir, the lack of consistent income, mobility limitations and increased monitoring intensifies sensations of marginalization and anger.
Radical groups can take advantage of these frustrations. To counter this, economic policies must address these inequalities.
A strategy for the way ahead
The Pahalgam incident calls for a counter-terrorism strategy that balances security with socio-economic stability.
For example, tourism profit-sharing systems could be implemented and tax advantages or subsidies could be offered to tour businesses, especially those employing young marginalized demographics. This could help to bring some financial respite as well as long-term stability and has been successful in countries like Rwanda.
The failure to pre-empt the attack despite heightened security during the Vance’s visit and the Hindu pilgrimage season reveals systematic intelligence failures.
The way ahead calls for tackling both security issues and the underlying complaints still driving militancy in Jammu and Kashmir as the region once again confronts the possibility of violence.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has urged both nations to de-escalate and return to diplomacy.

Indian airstrikes in Kashmir following tourist attack raises fears of a regional conflict

The article is titled “Jostling for the papacy: A look back on the conclave’s history.” It was originally published on May 6, 2025 and is authored by Colin Rose, Associate Professor of European and Digital History, Brock University.

Pope Francis’s successor will be elected in the coming days in a millennium-old ceremony known as the papal conclave. During the conclave, the 135 eligible Cardinal Electors of the Catholic Church will sequester themselves and elect a new pope in isolation.
During that time, they will have no contact with the outside world and they will vote repeatedly, in written ballots and verbal declaration, until one of them achieves a two-thirds majority.
Every failure brings sighs from the crowds in St. Peter’s Square as the votes, burned with a chemical admixture, send up a plume of inky black smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. White smoke, signalling a new pope has been elected, provokes cheers and celebrations and the beginning of a new papal era.
The history of the conclave, especially during the Italian Renaissance that I teach and research, tells us a lot about how the papacy is both a religious and a political office.
The Pope is at once the supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church as well as the absolute monarch of Vatican City. He is both bishop of Rome and head of state of the smallest sovereign state in the world.
Politics of the papacy
In the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, the Vatican was the capital of a much-larger Papal State. This territorial buffer around Rome at its height bordered the territories of Florence, Naples, Milan and Venice, and covered much of northern Italy.
Popes wielded great influence in the dramatic politics of famous Italian families like the Medici: it was a Medici pope, Clement VII, who helped negotiate the installation of the first Medici duke in Florence.
Apocryphal accounts persist of Julius II, the so-called “Warrior Pope,” leading a charge over the walls of Bologna in 1506.
At the same time popes, and Catholic policy, had profound consequences for European and global politics: Clement’s successor Paul III excommunicated England’s King Henry VIII, cementing the English break with Rome in 1538.
Alexander VI was more audaciously imperial: he sponsored the treaty that arbitrarily divided the entire world outside of Europe between Spain (his home country) and Portugal in 1494.
Alexander VI’s historical infamy is perhaps outdone only by his son, Cesare Borgia, made famous by his mention is Niccolo Machiavelli’s book The Prince.
Becoming pope was a big deal for a cardinal and his family. Leading candidates known as papabili (pope-ables) began strategizing and negotiating even before popes died.
When a pontiff died, those cardinals abroad began their travels to Rome, construction began on the temporary cells that would house them all during the sequestration and the real work of electing a pope began.
Enea Silvio Piccolomini left a detailed memoir of his election as Pius II in 1458. In it he describes a process of negotiating, threatening, cajoling and strategizing that make the scheming in the recent movie Conclave look unsophisticated.
Renaissance Italy wrestled with and ultimately reconciled itself to the political nature of the papacy.
Many, including popes such as Pius II, expressed discomfort with the political power of the papacy. While it was a clear factor in the schism of European Christendom that led to the emergence of the Protestant churches in the 16th century, in early modern Italy the political power of the papacy was a reality of the diplomatic milieu.
The empty throne
The conclave marks a special place in early modern history as a time when ordinary political order was overturned for a brief period known as the sede vacante (the Vacant See).
The Vacant See was a time when identities were swappable and when, as one Paolo di Grassi told a judge in 1559, “in Vacant See [Romans] are the masters. The People are the Masters.” Di Grassi had, during the Vacant See of November 1559, pursued his own longstanding grudges against his enemies and been involved in at least one armed brawl.
While they waited for a new pope, Romans and everyone else might have passed the time with another favourite vice: gambling on the conclave’s outcome.
European princes and other potentates of the church paid close attention to conclaves, tried to smuggle information in and out and steer the conclave in favour of their preferred candidate.
In 1730, for instance, Cardinal Lambertini smuggled a letter out of his conclave thanking a benefactor for their donations to his future ordination as Pope Benedict XIV.
The election held everyone’s attention as a rare and unusually impactful event in the Roman calendar.
While Rome’s streets thrummed with tension during the chaotic days of a Vacant See, the conclave proceeded serenely and secretly within the Vatican’s walls.
The use of white smoke to mark the election of a pope only began in the 20th century. During the Renaissance, the sound of bells would be a more effective way to spread the news through Rome, before the new pope was announced to the city and the world.
Much turns on that announcement now, as much did in previous centuries. The conclave elects both a pope and a head of state. While Vatican City is magnitudes smaller than the Papal State of the past, it remains a sovereign state.
Papal pronouncements shape not just religious thought but political action, through voting, advocacy and more. Today’s crowds might be less raucous than Renaissance Romans, but they are nonetheless invested in the results.

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