York to open small businesses help centre

York University’s Schulich School of Business is looking to help small- and medium-sized businesses expand internationally with a “one-stop” consulting, researching and teaching centre, reported the Toronto Star Nov. 21. The Centre for Global Enterprise will be inaugurated Thursday, with the goal of increasing international visibility for Canadian small and medium enterprises by linking them to faculty and students who can help them identify and seize global opportunities. Read full story.

Philippines typhoon: Helicopters may be added to growing DART team
Ali Asgary, a York University professor who specializes in emergency management, says though the government does post-mission assessments, like the one of the Haiti mission, it’s hard to find independent reviews of how well the 17-year-old Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) team is faring. However, Asgary says now is not the time for debate. “Discussions around whether we should use it or not at this point is not really too much relevant,” said Asgary in CBC News Nov. 14. “This is one of the Canadian capacities in responding to international disaster.” Read full story.

Politicians should come with qualifications
The ongoing saga of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford raises several interesting questions about the standards of behaviour for elected officials in our country, reported the Telegram Nov. 21. The first is that if Ford were a city employee, he would likely be fired, which is what York University law Professor David Doorey told The Globe and Mail newspaper in an interview published Nov. 13. In his regular blog on employment law, Doorey also addressed the potential firing. In his entry about the Ford story, he points out that employees in Ontario also have the law on their side when it comes to addictions and are given one or more opportunities to get assistance before they can be fired. Read full story.

The opportunity gap
“In my role as a professor at the Schulich School of Business, I see the next generation of business leaders on a daily basis. Our modern, accessible building teems with energetic students. However, I notice two population segments are largely missing from our classrooms,” wrote Canadian Abilities Foundation Chair and Schulich Professor Cameron Graham in Abilities magazine’s Fall 2013 issue. “One is Canadian Aboriginals. The other is people with disabilities. These two groups contain some of the brightest and most talented young people you will ever meet. Yet both groups face structural barriers to participation in education and employment.” Read full story.

Toronto’s mayor(s) – Rob Ford and Norm Kelly – at a glance
There have been conflicting reports of Mayor Rob Ford’s postsecondary education, reported the Toronto Star Nov. 20. He attended Carleton University but did not graduate. He also took continuing education courses at York University from 1990 to 1991, finishing “some, but not all” of his first-year classes. Read full story.