RCI | English : Interviews

It may seem to many around the world that children in Canada have a great life. It seems however that the children and youth themselves have a different view.

A new study by UNICEF Canada found a high percentage of Canadian young people go to school or bed hungry, experience stress and anxiety, are fearful about their financial future and the environment, are lonely, experience violence, and with a high suicide rate.

The study is called the Canadian Index of Child and Youth Well-Being

David Morley is is president and CEO of UNICEF Canada in Toronto.

ListenEN_Interview_1-20190904-WIE10

The report was compiled using Statistics Canada data, university studies, by talking to children and youth and through surveys on social media.

David Morley, CEO of UNICEF Canada (supplied)

The Index developed in large part through input from youth themselves measures 125 indicators in nine dimensions of life for kids  happiness and respect, belonging, security, participation, freedom to play, protection, learning, health and connection to the environment.

It found that only 55 per cent of children in Canada report a high level of life satisfaction, with 27 per cent feeling sad or hopeless for long periods of time and 1 in 3 reporting weekly symptoms linked to mental distress, including headaches and stomach aches and sleep disorders.

Unicef Canada- Well being indicators.

It notes that some of the problem is due to a growing fact of growing income inequality and a shrinking middle class.  This is adding to a sense, especially for older teens, about declining opportunities for them in the future and surveys via social media.

Some of the findings note

1 in 4 young people sometimes goes to bed or school hungry;

More than a third of young people experience discrimination;

27 per cent are often bullied and 28 per cent get in fights;

While just over half (57%) say they get good support at home, much less than half (43%) feel supported by teachers and merely 3 per cent feel comfortable being themselves at school;

23 per cent say they never or hardly ever meet their friends outside of school;

On a positive note however, it noted that over 80 per cent met or exceeded international achievement standards at school, a little over half (55%) rated themselves high on the life satisfaction scale.

With a federal election coming next month, David Morley hopes the report will spur politicians and policy makers to consider the report for their policy platforms. He also hopes citizens will be motivated to push the politicians to take action.

Additional information

Canadian Index of Child and Youth Well Being (pdf)

Child Fund Alliance : Small Voices Big Dreams: violence against children

A couple of weeks ago, I was more than a bit taken aback by a incident in Indianapolis, Indiana during a National Football League exhibition game.

Andrew Luck, the hometown Colts quarterback, his body wounded deeply by multiple injuries, announced he was retiring from football at the age of 29.

His retirement caused more than a stir for the usual reasons.

Star players in their prime are not supposed to retire at the age of 29, so when they do it comes as news.

No, Luck's retirement was more than the usual stir.

No, this was a big stir.

Luck's putative fans and supporters booed him in lusty and slightly bewildered fashion as he left the field and that, to paraphrase Robert Frost, made all the difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3rEy5sbb_w

Meanwhile, last weekend in New York, the No.1-ranked tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic was forced to walk away from a match against Stan Warwrinka because of an injury to his left shoulder.

Here's how one of the bright lights in the sportscasting business described it.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/PjY8Vkk1CDY

Booing is nothing new in sports or new to me for that matter.

Heck, I grew up going to ballgames where the Bronx Cheer was invented.

But, mostly, boos back then were about performance.

That appears to have changed now.

A lot more factors than performance appear to be in the mix.

For some perspective and some thoughts about why the change I called Bruce Dowbiggin in Calgary.

Dowbiggin is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and and author, who hosts the Not the Public Broadcaster website. His latest book is "Cap in Hand."

We spoke Wednesday morning.

ListenEN_Interview_4-20190904-WIE40

Canada’s political parties are in full election mode behind the scenes as they wait for the official announcement of the start of the election campaign.

For a look at what the parties are planning and the issues, we contacted  journalist Jordan Press, parliamentary reporter for the Canadian Press wire service.

Ottawa journalist, Jordan Press, parliamentary reporter for The Canadian Press, discusses political party election preparationsEN_Interview_1-20190903-WIE10

Canada’s political landscape has changed somewhat with the addition of an entirely new party on the landscape, the People’s Party of Canada. (PPC).

The right-leaning party is led by former Conservative Maxime Bernier, making now six options for voters in this country

The official election announcement is imminent. Top issues are health care, affordable housing, high cost of living, the environment, and honesty in government. The allegedly hotbed Liberal concern of gun control did not make the list in a national survey of voter concerns. ((Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

The two main parties remain the opposition Conservative Party under Andrew Scheer, and the currently governing Liberals under Justin Trudeau.

RCI- Aug 26/19: Honesty in government-a top issue for voters

The others are the New Democratic Party, the separatist Bloc Party which only runs candidates in the mainly French speaking province of Quebec, the Green Party, with two members of Parliament and the new PPC.

In 2015, the Trudeau Liberals were elected in a majority government with just 39.5 per cent of the popular vote.

With the perennially third-place NDP, the Bloc possibly regaining strength in Quebec, the Greens possibly gaining in the face of growing environmental concerns, and the PPC potentially siphoning off Conservative votes, it may well be that a minority government is in the offing. Under Canada’s system a majority government is still quite possible but with now six party options, it’s likely that a winning party in either case would have the support of a much lower percentage of the popular vote.

One of the great things about working at RCI is that it gives me the opportunity to meet really smart people.

Sali Tagliamonte is one of them

Tagliamonte, who loves words, has visited 16 communities in her native province in pursuit of individual cultural flavours. (Courtesy: University of Toronto)

She's a linguistics professor at the University of Toronto who takes her study of language to the streets, finding out how people actually talk, before proceeding to document it.

One of Tagliamonte's missions is to bring new Canadian words, or new definitions of already-included words, to the Oxford English Dictionary. (What was it someone one said about 'coals to Newcastle?')

So far, as you will hear in our interview, we--as Canadians--are not doing all that hot in adding words to OED's hallowed pages.

Tagliamonte, who wonders why there are under 300 'Canadian' words in the Oxford English Dictionary, is always looking for more. (CBC)

According to a CBC story about her published today, out of 600,000 words in the OED, only around 700 entries are dubbed "Canadian."

Pretty paltry, eh?

(Actually, it's less than that, as I found out when I spoke by phone this morning with Tagliamonte in Toronto.)

ListenEN_Interview_4-20190903-WIE40

As Canadians celebrated Labour Day on Monday, Canada's political leaders headed to Hamilton, Ontario, one of the birthplaces of Canada's union movement and long the centre of the country's steel industry.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh were scheduled to march in Hamilton's Labour Day parade while Conservative leader Andrew Scheer was to attend the so-called Labour Day Classic football game between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts.

On Monday morning, Singh (not surprisingly)  made some promises aimed at winning over workers.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh reacts Friday night in Burnaby, B.C., after being nominated as the party's Burnaby South candidate in the upcoming federal election. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press) EN_Interview_4-20190902-WIE40

Meanwhile, Trudeau released a pre-election statement to mark Labour Day that played up his government's support for workers, noting that 2019 is the 100th anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike, which launched a labour movement that won many of the benefits and protections workers now count on.

The statement said that a century later, Canadian workers remain at the heart of building a stronger Canada and a better future.

Singh's pledges and Trudeau's statement came as sweeping federal labour reforms scheduled to take effect Monday were sowing confusion across the country.

The new rules apply to about 900,000 workers in federally-regulated sectors.

Those sectors range from the civil service to airlines, railways and trucking, as well as banking and broadcasting, up to and including uranium mining.

The new rules affect such things as personal leaves, longer bereavement and vacation periods.

Among other things, they would require employers to give a 24-hour notice on shift changes and a four-days notice for schedules.

Employment Minister Patty Hajdu says interim exemptions would apply when it comes to the Canada Labour Code overhaul, at least until further tweaks can be made after this fall's federal election. However, who those exemptions are remains a mystery for Canadian employers and workers. (CBC)

A 30-minute break every five hours and and eight-hour rest period between shifts are also mandated.

The problem now is determining to whom the rules apply.

Employment Minister Patty Hajdu says some companies and employees will be exempt from the new regulations, likely until after this fall's federal election, and Employment and Social Development Canada says it is working on a list of employee groups to be covered by the exemptions.

"It would be very, very specific classes of employees that, if we were to determine, could be exempt. Because ultimately these changes are about increasing productivity, increasing safety standards and work-life balance," Hajdu told the Canadian Press in a phone interview.

Union organizers and workers mark Labour Day 2018 at Bell Park in Sudbury, Ontario. In the private sector, about 70 per cent of workers are not protected by a union. (Robin De Angelis/CBC)

However, no list has been presented, leaving employers and thousands of workers unclear whether or not the new rules will apply to them.

"If you're a trucking operation and your shipment gets cancelled, you can't just send the truck anyway. If somebody is sick, you may need somebody else to go," says Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business

The changes are part of a three-year overhaul to the Canada Labour Code, which has not had a major update since the 1960s.

Bills C-63 and C-86, which govern the changes, were given royal assent in 2017 and 2018.

Employment and Social Development Canada says it began consulting with em...

Canada has produce a great many world class artists, but which have consistently been overlooked by critics. Only recently have some, such as Tom Thomson and the Group of 7 begun to be recognized internationally for their amazing talent.

Still that leaves many who are clearly world class, but relatively unknown outside a few limited Canadian arts experts

One such superb talent was that of Peter Clapham Sheppard.

A stunning new book chronicles and highlights the life and work of this incredibly talented artist. Tom Smart is the award-winning author of this and several other critical biographies, catalogues and books on Canadian artists.. Having worked in art galleries and museums across the country, he is currently the Director and CEO of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

ListenEN_Interview_2-20190829-WIE20

This large coffee table style work published by Firefly Books is a celebration of rediscovery of an outstanding Canadian artist.

Not only was Sheppard (1882-1965)  an amazingly talented painter, but even more surprising that he is so little known is that he played a leading role in the creation of Canada’s national school of art.

A close-up portion of the full length portrait entitled "In the Garden" c-1912, oil on canvas. The painting showing his mastery of detailed portrait painting, although he also produced more figurative portraits.

A leading commercial illustrator, draughtsman, and lithographer his ability with exacting detail in such work is remarkably contrasted with his ability for interpretation of scenes in his prolific artwork.

Unlike many who developed a particular style, Sheppard’s work shows that he could master any style he chose, from portraits, to landscapes, to industrial subjects, oils, pencil, and watercolour.

A contemporary of the now world famous Group of 7 who are known for powerful interpretations of Canada’s wilderness and nature, a subject he himself was also drawn to producing his own superb works. However,  he was also fascinated with inner cities,  run-down old buildings surrounded by the vast skyscrapers thrusting up in the new cities around them.

Another example of his mastery of any style he chose, here somewhat in the style of the Group of 7, is "Pines, Windy Day, Georgian Bay" c-1029 oil on board, It is one of several of his nature and wilderness paintings

He felt this was a rebirth amidst the destruction of the First World War, but tinged with the nostalgia for the past.

He also was captivated by ships and the busy city harbours of Toronto, Montreal and New York, major cities where he produced much of his work, again as a modernist looking toward the future. Yet his work also touches on the lives of the working class.

Sheppard was also intrigued by ships and the busy harbours, here showing one of several such themed works, this is "Freighter" 1922 oil on board

Incredibly this talented artist ended his life in poverty and has been largely forgotten.

Tom Smart hopes this over 200 page book with its multitude of wonderful colour reproductions of Sheppard’s artworks, and a detailed look into his life, will help restore the artist to his rightfully deserved place of recognition.

Additional information

Vaughan Citizen: D Al-Shibeeb: Nov 16/18: Curator wants Peter Sheppard to be part of Canada’s history

Canadian Art: Dec 3/18:  Peter Clapham Sheppard and the Group of Seven

Artnet: (images of over 200 of Sheppard paintings)

pcsheppard.com

Screens are pretty much everywhere we look these days and, I would wager, they're here to stay.

They are, after all, part-and-parcel of what he we've come to call the digital revolution.

(Heck, I'm so old I remember when a screen was something that kept the flies out or a stance you took on a basketball court. But I digress.)

A computer expert operates at the NATO Computer Incident Response Capability (NCIRC) technical centre, at NATO's military headquarters SHAPE in Mons, southwestern Belgium in a Dec. 10, 2013 file photo. Screens of all shapes and sizes are here to stay. (Yves Logghe/Associated Press)

No, I speak today, of course, of modern screens--from the one on your TV, to the one on your desktop or laptop, to the one on that cellphone that fits so snugly in your hands.

All have their effects, some of them known, some of them not so well known.

The nature of those effects, especially the stressful ones, and how they are generated, became a subject of fascination for Najmeh Khalili-Mahani, a Montreal neuroscientist, associated with both McGill University and Concordia University's PERFORM Centre.

Fittingly, for someone based in Canada, Khalili-Mahani sought to link some of the findings and ideas from the work of two Canadian icons, Marshal McLuhan and Hans Selye, both of whose work helped inspire her to carry out online investigations into screens, stress and the company they keep.

Neuroscientis Najmeh Khalili-Mahani is affiliated with Montreal's McGill University and Concordia University. (Courtesy: Concordia University)

Her findings were recently published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research,

I spoke with Khalili-Mahani on Friday about her research and those Canadian icons.

ListenEN_Interview_4-20190830-WIE40

Every day people in Canada and the U.S. are dying from drug overdoses, most of which are connected to opioids.

Now, an Oklahoma judge has made what is considered a landmark decision against a drug manufacturer holding them responsible.

Johnson and Johnson have been ordered to pay  572 million dollars U-S in fines because  it aggressively marketed opioids in the state which it is claimed helped to drive the addiction epidemic.

To find out what effect this will have on the crisis, I spoke to William Bogart a professor emeritus of law at the University of Windsor and author of the book "Off The Street: Legalizing Drugs."

Law professor and author William Bogart discusses the implications of the U.S. court decision against Johnson and Johnson in the opioid crisisEN_Interview_1-20190829-WIE10

Drug companies are facing thousands of lawsuits, and already a couple of major manufacturers have offered billions of dollars in out of court settlements.

In Canada where literally thousands have died from drug overdoses, there are also many cases against drug companies underway.

On Monday, an Oklahoma judge found Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries helped fuel the state's opioid crisis, ordering the company to pay $572 million US. (Zeba Siddiqui/Reuters)

The Oklahoma decision is being appealed by Johnson and Johnson, but professor Bogart says whatever effect the U.S. decision  may or may not have on the Canadian courts, litigation will not stop the problem.

He says many medical and social experts say such things as the radical steps of providing clean drugs, and safe injection sites will help. These would be places where individuals can be monitored and counselled to eventually wean themselves from the addiction.

Additional information

CBC: M Gollom: Aug 28/19: A roadmap for Canadian lawsuits says lawyer

Guardian (UK): C McGreal: Aug 26/19: Company to pay $592 million for fuelling Oklahoma drug crisis

Sometimes--like the anchorman who went crazy in Broadcast News found out--enough really is enough.

That's how a couple of women in St. John's, Newfoundland were feeling a while back.

Mary Martin is 74 and Mary Moylan is 76.

Like a lot of their friends, they are still working because they lack enough dough to retire and were not all that happy about it.

Martin told CBC News: "We're the forgotten generation." (Gary Locke/CBC)

Martin works as a home-support worker and Moylan works as an accountant.

That's better than a lot of friends are doing, serving hamburgers at a McDonald's.

(An 80-year-old friend works as a housekeeper in the retirement home where she lives.)

Martin's income from the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement is $1,600 a month.

The poverty rate varies across Canada, but Statistics Canada lists the rate at $35,000 minimum income in St. John's.

Mary Moylan says the federal government relies on seniors to keep quiet about national issues such as poverty. (Gary Locke/CBC)

Do the math.

Martin and Moylan are not the only seniors struggling.

In 2017, Statistics Canada reported 238,000 Canadian seniors--about 3.9 per cent of the total population--were living below the poverty line.

Bottom line: life is a slog for those living only on government funding.

So Martin and Moylan decided to try to so something about it.

They formed a group called SOS--Support our Seniors.

Thursday afternoon, SOS held its first-ever meeting.

I caught up with Martin several hours before the meeting.

ListenEN_Interview_4-20190829-WIE40

Canadians selling their innovations and patents to foreigners

A new study released yesterday shows that fewer and fewer Canadian invented patents actually stay in Canada.

The study conducted for the non-profit independent think tank “Institute for Research on Public Policy”, showed that increasingly Canadian intellectual property and patents are being sold off by their creators and holders.

Aidan Hollis (PhD) is co-author of the report. A professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Calgary he says, this is not a good trend for Canada.

Professor Aidan Hollis, U Calgary talks about Canada's increasing loss of intellectual propertyEN_Interview_1-20190828-WIE10

The report by Nancy Gallini and Aidan Hollis is entitled “To Sell or Scale Up: Canada’s Patent Strategy in a Knowledge Economy”.

While Canada has all the qualities needed for creation of innovative new products and technologies, it seems the country doesn’t have enough backing to develop them.

Hollis says that it’s the commercialization of patented ideas that creates wealth and jobs, and if the patents are held abroad, then Canada has lost that potential.

The research duo looked at U.S patent registries that had at least one Canadian inventor. They found that over the past 20 years, the number of Canadian invented patents transferred to foreign firms on the date of issue has more than doubled from 18 per cent to 45 per cent.

He says one reason Canadians may be selling off their intellectual property is that patent litigation has become more common, and many individuals and small and medium enterprises, the potential financial drain in fighting lawsuits may simply be too great a risk.

Also U.S firms, usually with huge financial resources, have long been keen buyers of Canadian intellectual property adding to the incentive for Canadians to sell and not attempt to scale up and commercialize the innovation or technology.

The close economic ties, familiarity with business legal systems, and physically proximity of the huge power of the United States has also contributed to the ease of selling or acquiring of Canadian intellectual property

The study suggests more effort should be made to educate Canadian inventors of the benefits of retaining rights to their innovation as well as policies to mitigate costs of accessing global markets.

Some effort toward that end is being implemented with the federal government’s Intellectual Property Strategy.

Additional information

Financial Post: J McLeod: Dec 19/18: Canada in last place for filing international patents

Bloomberg: N Smith: Apr 26/19: The U.S doesn’t need more superstar companies

MIT/NBER/Harvard U/U of Zurich: Research paper: The Fall of Labour Share and the Rise of Superstar Firms