Web Articles

The purpose of Bill 47 is to “bring jobs and investment back to our province” and to increase “opportunities” for workers. One needs to look harder for any mention of fairness for workers or the creation of decent jobs, although the government claims to wish to “protect” workers. At the end of the day, however, Bill 47 will do none of the above.

Equity and social justice, Students

College students with disabilities are too often excluded

Christa Bialka, Villanova University

All students need to feel included in order to succeed in college. But when a student has a disability, inclusion can be more difficult to achieve. One study shows students with disabilities participate in fewer extracurricular activities, like clubs or on-campus events, than non-disabled peers.

Equity and social justice, Students, Teaching and learning

Educators must commit now to tackle grade inflation

Louis Volante, Brock University and Christopher DeLuca, Queen's University, Ontario

Thousands of students received unsettling news this fall regarding the rigour of their high school grades. They learned that at least one university in Ontario — the University of Waterloo — assesses new engineering applicants partially on the basis of which high school they attended and not solely on their grades.

Free speech and expression rights, International issues

Four fundamental principles for upholding freedom of speech on campus

Adrienne Stone, University of Melbourne

It goes without saying – or at least it ought to – that freedom of speech should be a core value of universities. As a scholar of freedom of speech and a university academic, it has been gratifying to see so many Vice Chancellors (and a former Chief Justice of the High Court) take it so seriously.

Contract faculty, Equity and social justice

How we can turn the tide for women in science

Rowan Thomson, Carleton University

For the first time in 55 years, a woman has won the Nobel Prize in physics — Prof. Donna Strickland. This win has publicly highlighted that women are still under-represented in science, particularly in physics. As a woman in physics, this lack of diversity is something that I encounter almost daily, and also something that we can take action to change.

International issues, Students

We all put too much emphasis on test scores

Liying Cheng, Queen's University, Ontario

We live in testing times. We also live in a time of globalization, immigration and the internationalization of schools and universities around the world. Our current obsession with school accountability and student learning outcomes has resulted in the increased use and abuse of test scores — in particular language test scores.

Protecting free speech on campus: A solution in search of a problem

David Edward Tabachnick, Nipissing University

This summer, mere days before the beginning of the semester at most universities in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced a new policy requiring “every publicly assisted college and university to develop and publicly post its own free speech policy by January 1, 2019, that meets a minimum standard specified by the government.”

Equity and social justice, Students

For millennials, employment is a public health challenge

Arif Jetha, University of Toronto

Millennials now make up the largest share of the Canadian workforce and many are facing precarious working conditions. As a society, we have previously assumed that if young Canadians invest in formal training and “pay their dues” in poor quality jobs early in their careers, they will work their way into better quality employment. A recent report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) suggests a different reality.

The more women in government, the healthier a population

The English-Canadian media’s selective outrage on bilingualism

Ontario’s ‘Open for Business’ law will erode workplace rights

College students with disabilities are too often excluded

Educators must commit now to tackle grade inflation

Four fundamental principles for upholding freedom of speech on campus

How we can turn the tide for women in science

We all put too much emphasis on test scores

Protecting free speech on campus: A solution in search of a problem

For millennials, employment is a public health challenge

Topics