York experts weigh in on political activism, interference, corporate governance, Ozempic, and more
An upcoming byelection in Montréal will have the longest ballot in the history of Canadian federal elections. At least 91 candidates will be on the ballot Sept. 16 with 79 of them linked to a group protesting Canada’s first-past-the-post voting system. Professor Dennis Pilon talks to CTV News. He says electoral reform advocates have been frustrated by the unwillingness of Canada’s major political parties to change the country’s voting system. “What we’re seeing here is that when rational discussion doesn’t work, then advocates of change turn to mockery,” says Pilon.
In the behind-the-scenes push leading up to the nearly $58 million in provincial funding for a new kindergarten to Grade 12 Catholic school in Wasaga Beach, a developer owning most of the land where the school will be built hosted a $1,000-per-plate fundraiser for Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s education minister at the time. Speaking to The Trillium, Professor Ian Stedman, who worked in the provincial integrity commissioner’s office from 2011 to 2014, says the situation raises some questions.
Sarah Bay-Cheng, a professor and dean of the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, weighs in on the open invitation to suggest names and branding for Toronto’s WNBA team that is set to start play in less than two years. Bay-Cheng, who is also a former NCAA basketball player, tells the Toronto Star that team names in the WNBA carry a stronger social and cultural connection than their NBA counterparts, often reflecting a team’s identity and place. “I would love to see the Toronto WNBA team really choose a name that is very much rooted in a Torontonian identity, has some capacity to evolve, a sense of who we are and who we have been,” she says.
An alleged decade-long secret romantic relationship between RBC’s Chief Financial Officer Nadine Ahn and finance executive Ken Mason led to their firings, which are now being challenged in court. RBC is seeking to recover over $3 million from both executives for breaching the company’s code of conduct, while Ahn and Mason are challenging their terminations with wrongful dismissal claims. Professor Richard Leblanc weighs in on the significance of RBC’s approach to clawbacks, highlighting how the bank’s actions — seeking to recover compensation based on a breach of conduct rather than financial restatements — demonstrate a rigorous adherence to ethical standards in executive management. “Banks are generally regarded as the best-governed corporations in all the country,” Leblanc tells Fortune. “They set the gold standard of governance.“
“In some cases, obesity is associated with serious health problems, but it should not be treated as a result of seeing ads on TV or on streetcars. Instead of drug ads ending with the message that patients should ask their doctor if the drug is right for them, ads should end by telling patients to ask their doctor if the ad is right for them,” writes Professor Emeritus Dr. Joel Lexchin, in an op-ed for the Toronto Star on the advertising of Ozempic.
[Obesity] should not be treated as a result of seeing ads on TV or on streetcars.
Lexchin writes in Toronto Star
Professor Hannah Johnston, who specializes in the digitalization of work, discusses biometric monitoring in workplaces on CBC Radio, particularly the hospitality sector. “One of the reasons that we need to be very cautious about the introduction of these systems is that we have not yet even begun to imagine the potential abuses for these types of data,” she says. “Until we have limits around how data can be collected, how it can be used, rights around disposal, rights around storage, this is information that we should be reluctant to hand over to anyone else.”
“The study of protection of historic sites during disaster tells us that cultural heritage is a fixed and nonrenewable resource,” writes Professor Jack L. Rozdilsky in an op-ed for Canadian Architect about the fire at St. Anne’s Anglican Church in Toronto’s Little Portugal neighbourhood. “In St. Anne’s Church, a collection of religious murals — including some by the Group of Seven — form part of Toronto’s cultural patrimony that has now been lost.” Fundraising efforts are now underway to support rebuilding.
You’re invited to peer under the surface of Muskoka’s waterways on Sunday, Sept. 15. Friends of the Muskoka Watershed (FOTMW) has partnered with Peerless (Sunset Cruises) to host a guided tour of Lake Rosseau. Leaving the Port Carling dock at 10 a.m., passengers aboard the tour boat will make a net and cruise the freshwater body until noon. “We’ll be going out with dip nets, and equipping everyone on board with magnifying glasses,” says Professor Norman Yan, founding chair of FOTMW and one of the scientists leading the cruise. Tickets are $64 and funds will go towards tackling local environmental issues.
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