Canada's 5G conundrum

If you’re reading this newsletter on your phone, you’re likely connected to a 3G or 4G network. When will you be able to access 5G in Canada? Today in The Conversation Canada, Justin Longo of the University of Regina provides an excellent explainer on the politics behind Canada’s future with 5G – and how the next government will need to decide whether it will work with the Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

We also have a new take on why a revamp of Doug Ford’s team in Ontario hasn’t had the desired effect, how the history of U.S. white nationalism can be traced to Barbados and an expert analysis about the too-close-for-comfort relationship between Health Canada and Big Pharma.

We leave you with a tale about rats, the much maligned but largely misunderstood rodents that populate many urban centres. Self-proclaimed “Rat Detective” Kaylee Byers of the University of British Columbia writes about her research and how collecting DNA showed some surprising results about how much (and how little) city rats move around.

Regards,

Scott White

Editor

Today's Featured Articles

Canadian leaders face high-stakes decisions about 5G technology. In this June 26, 2019, photo, visitors tour the Huawei pavilion at the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, China. (Chinatopix via AP)

Canada will antagonize either the U.S. or China with wireless tech decisions

Justin Longo, University of Regina

The place of Huawei in Canada's 5G network, and the associated national security implications, will be a key issue for the next federal government.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford faces the Toronto skyline as he attends a recent event. Ford’s campaign slogan was ‘for the people,’ but his first year in office suggest he’s not paying attention to their anger about his government’s cuts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Doug Ford: Continuing to turn his back on ‘the people’ despite new faces

Mark Winfield, York University, Canada

Despite the Doug Ford government's claim that it's now listening to 'the people,' there's little evidence anything has changed.

1909 image of a sugar mill, Barbados - a Caribbean island with a history of many colonial slavery laws. Allister Macmillan/W.H. and L. Collingridge/Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

The roots of America’s white nationalism reach back to this island’s brutal history

J.M. Opal, McGill University

The vicious ideology that allegedly drove a gunman to kill 22 people in El Paso, Texas last week could be traced back to a tiny island on the eastern fringe of the Caribbean Sea

When drug companies and drug regulators, such as Health Canada, sit down together at “pre-submission meetings” this may have a negative impact on public health. (Shutterstock)

Health Canada and Big Pharma: Too close for comfort

Joel Lexchin, University of Toronto

Drug companies have a job to do and so does Health Canada. When the relationship becomes murky, the public are at risk.

Learning about urban rat populations through genetic testing reveals information about their movements through cities. Shutterstock

Rat detective uses DNA to uncover how rats scurry around cities

Kaylee Byers, University of British Columbia

Genetic analysis shows that urban rats prefer to stay near their relatives; however, some of them migrate. Knowing this could help with pest control efforts.

La Conversation Canada

La recherche contemporaine remet en question l'idée selon laquelle une exposition précoce à une seule langue est préférable. À Montréal, la moitié de la population parle anglais et français. Shutterstock

Les bébés peuvent-ils apprendre deux langues en même temps? You bet!

Adriel John Orena, University of British Columbia; Linda Polka, McGill University

Les bébés «bilingues» apprennent très tôt à reconnaître les marqueurs permettant d'isoler les mots dans une langue ou dans l'autre.

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