Environmentalists were the catalysts of change in North America, said Norman Yan, a biology professor at York University, in the Toronto Star May 10. “There were sort of four big problems that started the environmental movement, and acid rain was one of them,” he said. (The others were DDT, lead pollution and the death of the Great Lakes. “We’ve actually made pretty good progress on all of them,” said Yan.) Read full story.
How living longer can hurt your retirement planning
“Canada’s chief actuary recently announced that we’re all living longer. If you are a 65-year-old man, the average is now 84.2 years and for a woman of the same age 87. That’s an increase of two years in the past decade,” wrote Schulich School of Business Professor Moshe A. Milevsky in the Toronto Star May 10. “It sounds like good news, but practically, what does it mean? Should we set aside exactly two more years of money to fund our retirement income? Or possibly retire two years later?” Read full story.
The real reason behind Harper’s Supreme Court spat
“That Prime Minister Stephen Harper is certainly miffed with the Supreme Court and especially Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin is clear,” wrote Allan C. Hutchinson, Distinguished Research Professor at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, in the Toronto Star May 12. “His decision to go public seems both petulant and ill-advised. But the exact reasons for his bitterness are less obvious and apparent.” Read full story.
Tory promises job creation, focus on ‘neglected’ parts of Toronto
Mayoral candidate John Tory unveiled his job creation plan Thursday afternoon – which includes cutting red tape for business, and concentrating development in four “neglected” parts of the city, reported the York Guardian May 9. Among the plans that Tory said he’d promote was pushing for a new medical school at York University, employment lands on the planned Scarborough subway route and an aerospace campus at Downsview Park. Read full story.
Seven sacred mothers to celebrate an interfaith Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day offers the perfect opportunity to celebrate mother goddesses and sacred mothers from different faiths, reported The Huffington Post May 9. . . . As York University researcher Johanna H. Stuckey points out, mother goddesses often encompass many more divine traits than their motherhood alone. But motherhood does play an integral role in their cosmic stories, as well as in the lives of mothers, women and men who worship them. Read full story.