At York University’s Schulich School of Business, Minoo Bhutani, director of the Career Development Centre, says he helps his MBA students learn to network, too. The school plays host to Friday morning breakfasts – the best time to lure busy industry consultants – and alumni and experts share stories and offer advice. Much of that advice explores the softer skills of business: how to influence superiors, communicate your point of view or balance work and life. In other workshops, students even learn the ins and outs of business etiquette, reported The Globe and Mail March 13. Read full story.
RAIC/Architecture Canada announces 2013 Architectural Firm Award recipient
The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) has announced Hariri Pontarini Architects as the recipient of its 2013 Architectural Firm Award, reported Canadian Architect March 13. Founded in 1994, Hariri Pontarini Architects (HPA) is a Toronto-based, full-service architectural practice known for creating modern landmarks. The firm’s work has been recognized locally, nationally and internationally, having won more than 60 awards, including the Governor General’s Medal in Architecture for the Schulich School of Business and Executive Learning Centre. Read full story.
How big business will make billions on the legalization of pot
“There’s no way Canada will be left in the dust in this billion-dollar industry,” said York University law Professor Alan Young in Canadian Business March 13, who has spent the past two decades in courtrooms challenging Canada’s criminal pot laws on behalf of medical users….“The problem is, there’s a disconnect between capital and the world of marijuana production,” he said. The vast majority of that industry – an estimated 85 per cent – is currently controlled by organized crime. The question facing those jurisdictions legalizing the pot trade is how to make the transition from a criminal to a regulated and taxed industry. Read full story.
Americans top the list of illegal foreign workers caught by CBSA
Israel came in at the number three spot with 33 of its nationals found working in Canada without the proper paperwork last year. Other countries represented by high numbers include India (22), Ireland (19), Mexico (19) and China (15). The trends likely reflect visa requirements and general migration patterns, according to York University sociology Professor Luin Goldring. “Israeli passport holders don’t need a visa to enter Canada nor do Americans or permanent residents. If you are thinking about who is most likely to overstay a tourist visa it would be people without a special visa,” she said in Global News March 12. Read full story.
Man who attacked raccoons with a shovel pleads guilty
York University biology Professor Suzanne MacDonald, a raccoon expert who produced the CBC documentary “Raccoon Nation”, said people must learn to live with raccoons in Toronto. “There’s no way to get rid of them,” she said in the Toronto Star March 12. The Ministry of Natural Resources pegs Toronto’s raccoon population at around 100 per square kilometre. Pest control companies may trap raccoons but can’t relocate them more than one kilometre away, which means they’ll be right back, MacDonald said. “The goal should be to reduce conflict.” Read full story.
Ottawa police delay race data collection program launch
The Ottawa Police Service is pushing back plans to implement a traffic stop race data collection program for another two months, reported Metro March 12….Inspector Pat Flanagan said both parties acknowledged the original timeline was “aggressive”, and wanted more time to insure the project was on the right track….A team of researchers from York University will analyze data on the race of people subjected to traffic stops over a two-year period. Read full story.
Bosnian cultural institutions are threatened
“Dozens of museums, galleries and libraries in more than 40 countries, including the Isolation Room/Gallery Kit in St. Louis, are closing parts of their exhibits this week in solidarity with seven cultural institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina now threatened with closure or cutbacks,” co-wrote Jasmin Mujanovic, a York University PhD candidate in political science, in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch March 12. “That may not seem very dramatic in the face of billions of dollars in cuts under the U.S. federal sequester. But in the case of the Bosnian museums, it is not a matter of money but cultural survival.” Read full story.