Speaking to about 200 students at York’s Glendon College on the eve of a provincial election at home, Quebec Liberal leader Jean Charest warned that just because the constitutional debate has been superceded by more mundane issues like health care and taxes does not mean Quebecers’ desire for self-affirmation has diminished, reports The Gazette in Montreal Feb. 14. The Toronto Star, Canadian Press and Montreal station CBMT-TV also covered Charest’s Feb 13 visit.
Make love, not war
“Bullies and warmongers, you may gain tiny footsteps now and then, but you will never reach the pinnacles of purpose and satisfaction that only love can give you. So give up now and take us out of these nasty modern caveman days. Make love, not war,” writes Vlado Zeman, who teaches “Light and Sound” at York University, in an opinion piece in The Ottawa Citizen Feb. 14.
Anti-Islamic references growing in media
“When you see Muslims portrayed over and over as the enemies, as a threat to our moral and social order, it changes the way you interpret, see and interact with the world,” said Carol Tator, an anthropology professor at York University, in a Toronto Star story Feb. 14 about a study that found Canadian newspapers have taken an increasingly anti-Islamic tone.
Racism ruling has symbolic importance
Legal experts say an Ontario Court of Appeal ruling allowing judges to consider systemic racism when sentencing black offenders will not have a huge impact on courts around the province, reports The Hamilton Spectator Feb. 14. “I think it has enormous symbolic importance,” said Alan Young, professor at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School. “I don’t really see big, dramatic changes in sentencing as a result.”
Banned substance hard to detect
Norman Gledhill, professor in York University’s School of Kinesiology and Health Science, spoke to reporter Judy Maddren on CBC’s “World Report” Feb. 13 about a Montreal doctor accused of supplying one of Canada’s top cyclists with a banned substance. “Hypo is hard to detect. If we were able to go through all the suitcases of somebody at major meets or major cycling competitions, my guess is that we’d find it, which is basically right now, the only way we’re going to detect it, ” he said. Gledhill was one of several experts interviewed the same day on CBC national “News” about Eprex, another sport enhancement drug that boosts oxygen in the blood when taken by non-healthy athletes but which is not meant to be prescribed to healthy athletes.
On air
Professor David Tanovich of York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School commented on Justice Marc Rosenberg’s approval of reduced and tailored sentencing for black offenders to reflect the systemic racism in their communities, on “News” (CFMX-FM), Cobourg, Feb. 13.