The TV ad that got so much wrong

Did you see that TV ad for the genealogy company Ancestry? You know, the one that romanticized slavery while also giving the false impression that slavery never existed in Canada. Chances are you didn’t actually see the ad because it was pulled shortly after it was aired. Today in The Conversation Canada, Cheryl Thompson of Ryerson University tells us the ad was not the first to gloss over Canada’s own shameful history of slavery.

As you head into the weekend, we have these fabulous Friday reads for you:

And finally… Meghan Markle is due to deliver a Royal baby any day now and there are reports she wants to give birth at home. Kathi Wilson of McMaster University is a midwife and has looked at the research on the relative safety of home births.

Regards,

Scott White

Editor

Today's Featured Articles

Ancestry ad depicts a white man in 19th-century clothing standing in front of a Black woman holding a ring telling her they can leave and be together in Canada. Ancestry

Ancestry ad gets it wrong: Canada was never slave-free

Cheryl Thompson, Ryerson University

Canadian audiences did not object to Ancestry's ad which romanticized Canada as “Promised land,” but they should have.

Rapidly advancing technologies, including artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D-printing, smart-phones, smart-homes, precision medicine and diagnostics, promise to disrupt health care as we know it. (Shutterstock)

Canadian health care needs agile leaders and bold visions for the future

Rick Hackett, McMaster University

In an era of rapid technological advance, devastating climate change, increasing inequality and a steadily aging society, health-care leadership development is vital.

New technologies are changing agricultural production, but can they help address food insecurity? Shutterstock

Addressing food insecurity in the digital age

Laxmi Pant, University of Guelph

With each industrial revolution, food production and distribution has been revolutionized. With the current Fourth Industrial Revolution, can we address inequalities in food distribution?

Provincial leaders’ portrayal of developments in math education over the past 20-plus years has been disturbingly poor. (Shutterstock)

Ontario math has always covered ‘the basics’

Jennifer Holm, Wilfrid Laurier University; Ann Kajander, Lakehead University

Two math professors set the record straight on Ontario math curriculum and achievement.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, arrives for her baby shower at the Mark Hotel on Feb. 19, 2019, in New York. She is rumoured to want to deliver her baby at home rather than in hospital. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)

Meghan Markle baby watch: Is a home birth as safe as a hospital birth?

Kathi Wilson, McMaster University

A professor of midwifery education reviews the research evaluating the safety of home versus hospital births.

La Conversation Canada

La gentillesse, du point de vue des jeunes enfants, est un acte de soutien émotionnel ou physique qui aide à établir ou à maintenir des relations avec les autres. Shutterstock

Ce que 3 000 enfants et adolescents m'ont appris sur la gentillesse

John-Tyler Binfet, University of British Columbia

La gentillesse, du point de vue des jeunes enfants, est un acte de soutien émotionnel ou physique qui aide à établir ou à maintenir des relations avec les autres.

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