The province’s highest official honour – the Order of Ontario – will be granted to 25 citizens whose contributions ranged from film directing to human rights to running the Canadian Football League. The appointees, including York University President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri, will be recognized at a special ceremony Wednesday at Queen’s Park, reported the Toronto Sun and others Jan. 31. Read full story.
Ottawa police talk race before starting mandated racial study
The categories Ottawa police will use in the study are Aboriginal Peoples, White, Black, East Asian and Southeast Asian, South Asian and West Asian and other visible minorities, reported the Ottawa Citizen Jan. 31. People wondered where bi-racial individuals would fall and how police would know whether someone was outheast Asian or Latin American….But as researchers from York University, the team conducting the study, pointed out, police perceptions will matter most to the study. Read full story.
Why companies pay big bucks to advertise during the Super Bowl
People watch it live rather than taping it and fast-forwarding through commercials, and a large proportion of those viewers actually want to watch the ads. “The Super Bowl is countertrend,” said Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at the Schulich School of Business, in The Globe and Mail Jan. 31. “There’s very little on the networks these days that gives blockbuster audiences.” Read full story.
Five odd questions about the death of the penny
The penny is on its deathbed, but questions remain about what a penniless Canada will look like….Could pennies power the economic recovery? Well, no, several economists said in CBC News Feb. 1. Here’s a “completely unscientific analysis” by York University finance Professor Moshe Milevsky: “I just counted nine pennies in my coat pocket. Multiply that by 30 million [a rough estimate of the Canadian population] and you get $2.7 million extra spending[…]not much to get excited about.” Read full story.
Green Wood fundraiser features Oscar-nominated film
In support of those who struggle in our community, the Green Wood Coalition presents a special fundraiser centering around the story of a struggling artist….Coalition community outreach worker David Sheffield cited the new definition of homelessness put out by York University‘s Canadian Homelessness Research Network, where the parameters go beyond couch surfing and living on the street to include those at risk of losing their housing because of poverty issues, reported Northumberland Today Feb. 1. Read full story.