In the National Post’s Motions: A Look at the Legal World’s Comings and Goings Aug. 4, Sandra Rubin reported that Patrick Monahan, dean of York’s Osgoode Hall Law School, played host to quite an array of talent at the Tennis Masters Canada tournament. Among those watching Thursday’s match from Osgoode seats were David Brown, chairman of the Ontario Securities Commission; Neil Finkelstein from Blakes; Tim Kennish of Oslers; John Campion of Faskens; Carol Hansell, of Davies; John Tobin of Torys; former Osgoode dean Peter Hogg, now at Blakes; Jeffrey Palmer, executive vice-president of Magna International; Tom Bastedo of Bastedo Stewart Smith; Fred Kaufman, a retired Quebec Court of Appeal justice; and Atul Tiwari, managing director of mutual funds and investment management at BMO Private Client Group.
Tiwari is poised to become the next president of the Osgoode Hall Alumni Association – which means he’ll be strong-arming former grads for donations and such. For most, it was tennis and dinner. For Tiwari, it was business development. Be warned if you see his name come up on call display. It could cost you money, wrote Rubin.
Embracing corporate social responsibility
David Wheeler, the Erivan K. Haub Chair in Business and Sustainability at York’s Schulich School of Business, was quoted in a National Post story Aug. 1 about mining company Placer Dome’s role in the Boac River disaster. Wheeler was commenting on Placer’s subsequent move to embrace the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). “We have to come up with models of CSR that make business sense,” he said.
Seeking refuge
Howard Adelman, professor with the Atkinson School of Analytic Studies & Information Technology and the Centre for Refugee Studies at York, was quoted in an opinion piece in The Record (Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo) Aug. 4 about Immigration Minister Judy Sgro’s apparent frustration with Canadian churches that harbour refugees. Mennonite pastor Brice Balmer wrote about his experience with Hmong people. An outside observer could hardly understand why these men, women and children might not be accepted for immigration into Canada today. But the rules and attitudes of government changed when Brian Mulroney was prime minister. Adelman said Canadians had an immigration policy which expects the newcomer to become a productive citizen and remain in Canada for the rest of his/her life. Hmong, Vietnamese, and Laotians, as well as early refugees from Central America and other areas, did well under these policies. Then in the mid-1980s, the Immigration and Refugee Board was established and refugees needed to prove themselves, said Balmer.
20-somethings less likely to vote
York’s Institute for Social Research (ISR) was mentioned in a Globe and Mail story Aug. 4 on voter turnout in the recent federal election. It was down among young people, revealed a recent Canadian Election Study conducted by ISR. Previous election studies reveal that much of the decline in turnout has been driven by generational replacement. Today’s 20-somethings are much less likely to vote than their parents were in their 20s.
Workplace theft takes toll
Monica Belcourt, human resources management professor with York’s Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies, was quoted in a Globe and Mail story Aug. 4 on the consequences of employee theft in the workplace. Employee theft often results from companies’ failure to do proper background checks, said Belcourt. “People who have a tendency to lie and cheat and steal as part of their personality are brought into the company” and the theft begins shortly after.
History prof adds to Acadian history
William Wicken, a history professor in York’s Faculty of Arts, was mentioned in The Daily News (Halifax) Aug. 3 about a new book called The Conquest of Acadia, 1710: Imperial, Colonial and Aboriginal Constructions. Wicken is a contributor to the book.
On air
- Astronomer Marshall McCall, a professor in York’s Faculty of Science & Engineering, commented on the recent NASA launch of the probe to Mercury, on CTV’s “News and Current Affairs” Aug. 3. Asked why we’d want to look at the planet, McCall said, “Mercury is interesting, because it’s a so-called rocky planet. And the rocky planets of the solar system include the Earth; Mars and Venus being the others. And so, from that context it’s interesting to learn about it, because what we learn about Mercury helps us to learn about our own planet.”