Like a kid with an oddball name stuck in a world of never-ending substitute teachers, Toronto’s biggest downtown mall wants to set the record straight on what, exactly, to call it. A Jan. 9 press release declared 2014 the year the mall will “re-establish its true name” – Toronto Eaton Centre. . . . Professor Detlev Zwick, who teaches at York’s Schulich School of Business, said the press release appears to just be a step into the public eye. “There is no real benefit in getting the exact name . . . especially not something as awkward as Toronto Eaton Centre,” Zwick said in the Toronto Star Jan. 17. “If you were really serious about imprinting this name onto all stakeholders and consumers, it would mean a massive [financial] effort.” Read full story.
Official’s attitude off the rails
“The comment of a Transport Canada official regarding the rules permitting trains carrying dangerous goods to be left unattended that ‘do you not leave your car outside in the parking lot? Or do you sleep beside it every night?’ . . . This sort of attitude on the part of Canada’s supposed rail safety regulator explains a great deal about the recent chain of disasters on Canada’s railways,” wrote York University environmental studies Professor Mark Winfield in the Toronto Star Jan. 16. Read full story.
Don’t encourage global warming deniers
“It is disappointing that the Spec continues to publish letters to the editor that are simply incorrect with regard to climate change science,” wrote York University biology Professor Roberto Quinlan in the Hamilton Spectator Jan. 16. “One only need search the Spec's own archives to find an article from Sept. 27, 2013, stating that the last IPCC report found it ‘extremely likely’ (90-100 per cent), not ‘likely and probably more than 50 per cent . . . (a) flip of the coin,’ as the letter writer stated, that humans are responsible for observed 20th century warming.” Read full story.
China: Slowing Tiger?
York University political science Professor Gregory Chin was interviewed by Steve Paikin for a Jan. 15 TVO episode of “The Agenda” examining the slowing growth of China, the world's second largest economy, and whether it poses a risk to the 2014 global economy. Watch video.