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The diplomatic dispute between Canada and Saudi Arabia has caught the world by surprise. Today in The Conversation Canada, Houssem Ben Lazreg of the University of Alberta takes a closer look at the controversy and helps us understand the Saudi reaction to Ottawa’s criticism of the Middle Eastern country’s human rights record.
Another political controversy involves the new Ontario government’s decision to shut down a basic income project before the test program was scheduled to end. Gregory Mason of the University of Manitoba says Ontario made the right call because the program, as constructed, never had a chance to succeed.
Anyone who has ever lived in Toronto knows that politicians and planners have been debating for decades what to do about the city’s waterfront. Deborah de Lange of Ryerson University looks at some new plans for the waterfront – and concludes the city is still doing things the wrong way.
And finally…would you let your child work in an environment with heavy machinery, chemicals and confined spaces? Those things are found on family farms, where kids regularly work. Catherine Trask and Valerie Elliot of the University of Saskatchewan have done a fascinating research project on why parents bring their children into the farm work environment.
Regards,
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Ensaf Haidar stands next to a poster of her husband, jailed blogger Raif Badawi, in Montreal in June 2015. The arrest of Badawi’s sister, Samar, is at the centre of a bitter spat between Canada and Saudi Arabia.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Houssem Ben Lazreg, University of Alberta
The ongoing diplomatic spat between Canada and Saudi Arabia will hurt Canada if the kingdom intensifies its aggressive retaliation measures.
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There’s a hue and cry about Doug Ford’s scrapping of Ontario’s basic income project. But the project was a failing experiment with a dearth of high-quality data.
Flickr
Gregory C Mason, University of Manitoba
Ontario's basic income project was deeply flawed and cursed by a lack of quality data. It needs a major overhaul.
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Density is an idea sold to us by corporate developers who want to build on every last bit of green space. To fully enjoy our city now and for the future, we need more public green space.
(Shutterstock)
Deborah de Lange, Ryerson University
As Toronto hurtles towards its population dense future, the making of significant green communities for its waterfront needs to be urgently considered.
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Research shows that farm parents do not mindlessly expose their children to risks; rather they weigh them against the the positive impacts of involvement in the family’s agricultural heritage.
(Shutterstock)
Catherine Trask, University of Saskatchewan; Valerie L. Elliot, University of Saskatchewan
Instructing farmers to keep their kids away from farm machinery doesn't work to reduce traumatic injury. A recent research project tried listening instead.
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Environment + Energy
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Eric Beckman, University of Pittsburgh
In 2015, over 320 million tons of polymers, excluding fibers, were manufactured across the globe.
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Politics
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Peter Bloom, The Open University
Right-wing and left-wing populists both claim to speak for victimised or disenfranchised majorities. Here's the difference.
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Science + Technology
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Richard Betts, University of Exeter
We're still not sure whether the "hothouse" is speculation – or destiny.
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