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The 1972 federal election was notable for many reasons – (Pierre) Trudeaumania was long gone and the ruling Liberals were reduced to a minority. It was in that campaign that then NDP Leader David Lewis coined the phrase “corporate welfare bums.” Today in The Conversation Canada, the late politician’s grandson, Avi Lewis of Rutgers University, teams up with Roberta Lexier of Mount Royal University to bemoan the 21st century version of those corporate welfare bums that benefit from government handouts and tax breaks and then do little for the
average Canadian.
That’s just one of several great reads we have for you today. The rest of our lineup touches on many important topics:
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The history of how Indigenous woman have faced forced sterilization, as recently as 2017.
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The world’s Climate Clock is ticking faster than ever because of an increase in CO2 emissions last year and again in 2018.
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A look at the legality of Quebec’s plan to ban certain civil servants from wearing or displaying religious symbols while at work.
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As we mark White Ribbon Day, which commemorates the lives of female engineering students who were murdered 29 years ago today, it’s important to also remember that violence against women is still a major problem.
And finally… Yoshua Bengio of the Université de Montréal is world expert on artificial intelligence He explains why scientists must take a stand when it comes to the responsible development of AI – and why Montreal is leading that cause.
A reminder you can read the latest from our French-language experts at La Conversation Canada.
Regards,
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Hundreds of people march in Vancouver to protest against corporate greed as part of the global Occupy movement in October 2011.
(Shutterstock)
Roberta Lexier, Mount Royal University; Avi Lewis, Rutgers University
Canada’s welfare state is disintegrating while corporate welfare soars. In an era of climate crisis, precarious work and instability, it’s time the corporate welfare bums paid us back.
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Politics
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Sébastien Parent, Université de Montréal
As an employer, how will the Québec government's duty to reasonably accommodate the needs of its employees conflict with its plan to ban religious symbols among some civil servants?
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Environment + Energy
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H. Damon Matthews, Concordia University; Glen Peters, Center for International Climate and Environment Research - Oslo; Myles Allen, University of Oxford; Piers Forster, University of Leeds
We are on track to reach 1.5°C of global warming within 16 years according to new data.
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Culture + Society
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Yasmin Jiwani, Concordia University
The day of remembrance and action, also called White Ribbon Day, marks the anniversary of the murders of 14 female engineering students killed in 1989 at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal.
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Science + Technology
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Yoshua Bengio, Université de Montréal
The Montréal Declaration calls for the responsible development of artificial intelligence. A world expert explains why scientists must choose how their expertise will benefit society.
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Health + Medicine
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Erika Dyck, University of Saskatchewan
Recent revelations of the coerced sterilization of Indigenous women in Canada are part of a long, complex and disturbing history -- in which feminism became a fight to keep one's own children.
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