#ottawa public health

[liminalweirdo]

Ottawa's COVID wastewater surveillance program extended for another year (but not in the rest of Ontario)

After the Health Canada ordered all previous vaccines destroyed, leaving Canadians without any covid vaccines for weeks, many Canadians have been "asking why it is taking so long for Health Canada to approve new vaccines."

[...] The United States expedited the process and approved the updated mRNA vaccines in August. They were made available almost immediately because of the ongoing COVID wave that has killed up to 1,000 Americans in recent weeks. The vaccines are also approved in Europe. Attaran said there are provisions that would allow Canada’s health minister to approve the vaccines immediately if they have been approved in the U.S. Attaran said he planned to take his family to the U.S. to get vaccinated with the updated shots — at a cost of $200 per vaccine."

But now, at least, thanks to CHEO, the CHEO Research Institute, the University of Ottawa and Ottawa Public Health announced an extension of wastewater surveillance on Friday (no thanks to the provincial government), which gives people in the community at least some autonomy to check and estimate covid risk level, instead of what we were forced to do before: wade through the veritable viral soup outside with our fingers crossed, apparently

Ottawa will be one of the few communities in Ontario where wastewater surveillance continues after the provincial government cut funding for the program early, with little advance notice, at the end of July.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

MONTREAL — Thick, smoky air blanketed many parts of Quebec on Sunday as more than 110 wildfires raging in the northern parts of the province set more communities on high alert for new evacuation orders.

Environment Canada issued smog warnings for wide swaths of the north, south and west of the province, including Montreal, Quebec, Laval, Longueuil and Trois-Rivières.

In Montreal and Ottawa, the air quality health index was listed at 10 or more, a level described as “very high risk.”

Environment Canada said the poor air quality due to the forest fires will likely continue until Monday morning, adding the risk is highest for people with lung or heart disease, elderly people, children, pregnant women and those who work outdoors.

“Stop any outdoor activities and contact your health care provider if you or someone in your care experience shortness of breath, wheezing (including asthma attacks), severe coughing, dizziness or chest pain,” it wrote. “If you experience any symptoms or feel unwell, stay indoors.” [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

Thanks to the person who sent me a link to this story!

By Ted Raymond

The University of Ottawa says it has teamed up with CHEO, the CHEO Research Institute and Ottawa Public Health to extend the wastewater monitoring program to track the prevalence of viruses in Ottawa.

The program began during the COVID-19 pandemic to monitor viral loads of the SARS-CoV2 virus on the city's sewage. It was later expanded to include monitoring of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)

The Ontario Ministry of Health said earlier this year it would no longer fund the program, leading to concerns it could be cancelled. In July, Ottawa Board of Health chair Coun. Catherine Kitts announced that uOttawa had secured funding to keep the program running(opens in a new tab) for several more months.

In a news release Friday, the university said the program will now continue into September 2025 and will also monitor for mpox.

"This new agreement will enable uOttawa, under the direction of Dr. Robert Delatolla, to provide analysis and deliver detailed information that support health surveillance in the city, as well as provide insights to seasonal operations for local health care organizations," the release said.

An Ottawa Public Health spokesperson told CTV News Ottawa that OPH is working on a cost-share agreement for the continuation of wastewater surveillance.

"The OPH portion of the agreement will be financed through a reallocation of municipal and non-provincial funds in the budget," an email said. "OPH will continue to work with Dr. Delatolla’s team at the University of Ottawa to explore future funding opportunities, including through the Public Health Agency of Canada."

Kitts said in a memo sent Friday, "We understand that the Public Health Agency of Canada is planning to expand its wastewater surveillance program within Ontario, and we await further details on the implementation."

Data from the program can be found at 613covid.ca/wastewater/(opens in a new tab)

"Our research group is truly grateful for the overwhelming support we've received from the community over the past few months through emails, letters, and phone calls advocating for the continuation of our wastewater monitoring system," Delatolla said. "We've gained invaluable insights into how this information is essential for community members facing health challenges, and we are thrilled to continue providing this vital service. A heartfelt thank you to OPH, CHEO, and CHEO-RI for their unwavering support."

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Why Ottawa River is Polluted," Ottawa Journal. October 4, 1912. Page 1. --- THE ABOVE IS ONE OF THE PICTURES SUBMITTED WITH THE REPORT OF DR. HODGETT'S AT THE JUDICIAL ENQUIRY THIS AFTERNOON AND SHOWS A SEWER ENTERING THE RIVER IN THE NEPEAN BAY DISTRICT.

[newsfromstolenland]

There’s a renewed call for a public inquiry into why so many New Brunswickers have come down with neurodegenerative symptoms and illnesses.

When an initial cluster of over 40 people presented with similar symptoms – muscle spasms, atrophy and progressive dementia – it was thought to be Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, until they tested negative.

That’s when a Moncton-based neurologist thought they could be experiencing an unknown brain disease. The cluster was initially focused in the Moncton and Acadian Peninsula areas of the province.

But after over a year of confusing back-and-forth for patients and their families, the province of New Brunswick halted further investigation by its federal counterparts, saying there was an explanation for each patients’ illness.

This week, New York Times Magazine released an article that calls that into question, citing that neurologist Dr. Alier Marrero believes the number of people seeking help with similar symptoms is now over 400.

It has sparked Green Party MLA Megan Mitton to call for a public inquiry into what happened internally between the province and Ottawa, as well as further testing, including environmental, to try and find patients some answers.

Full article

Tagging: @allthecanadianpolitics

[notwiselybuttoowell]

In 2014, the Guardian asked me to nominate my hero of the year. To some people’s surprise, I chose Russell Brand. I loved the way he energised young people who had been alienated from politics. I claimed, perhaps hyperbolically, he was “the best thing that has happened to the left in years” (in my defence, there wasn’t, at the time, much competition).

Today, I can scarcely believe it’s the same man. I’ve watched 50 of his recent videos, with growing incredulity. He appears to have switched from challenging injustice to conjuring phantoms. If, as I suspect it might, politics takes a very dark turn in the next few years, it will be partly as a result of people like Brand.

It’s hard to decide which is most dispiriting: the stupidity of some of the theories he recites, or the lack of originality. He repeatedly says he’s not a conspiracy theorist, but, to me, he certainly sounds like one.

In 2014, he was bursting with new ideas and creative ways of presenting them. Today, he wastes his talent on tired and discredited tales: endless iterations of the alleged evils of the World Economic Forum founder, Klaus Schwab, the Great Reset, Bill Gates, Nancy Pelosi, the former US chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, Covid vaccines, medical data, the World Health Organization, Pfizer, smart cities and “the globalist masterplan”.

His videos appear to promote “natural immunity” ahead of vaccines, and for a while pushed ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as treatments for Covid (they aren’t).

He championed the “Freedom Convoy” that occupied Ottawa, which apparently stood proudly against the “tyranny” of Justin Trudeau’s policies. He hawks Graham Hancock’s widely debunked claims about ancient monuments.

A wildly popular clip from one of his videos about the Dutch nitrate crisis offers a classic conspiracy theory mashup: a tangle of claims that may be true in other contexts, random accusations, scapegoating and resonances with some old and very ugly tropes. He claims that “this whole fertiliser situation is a scam”. The real objective is “to bankrupt the farmers so their land can be grabbed”. This “shows you how the Great Reset operates”, using “globalist” regulations to throw farmers off their land. He claims it’s “connected to the land grab of Bill Gates” and the “corruption of companies like Monsanto”.

In reality, the Dutch government was forced to act by a legal ruling, as levels of nitrate pollution, largely from livestock farms, break European law. Its attempts to curb this pollution have nothing to do with the World Economic Forum and its vacuous rhetoric about a “Great Reset”. Or with Bill Gates. Or with Monsanto, which hasn’t existed since 2018 when it was bought by Bayer. So why mention them? Perhaps because these terms have become potent click triggers.

Brand is repeating claims first made by far-right conspiracists, who have piled into this issue, claiming that the nitrate crisis is a pretext to seize land from farmers, in whom, they claim, true Dutch identity is vested, and hand it to asylum seekers and other immigrants. It’s a version of the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, itself a reworking of the Nazis’ blood and soil tropes about protecting the “rooted” and “authentic” people – in whom “racial purity” and “true” German identity was vested – from “cosmopolitan” and “alien” forces (ie Jews). Brand may not realise this, as the language has changed a little – “cosmopolitans” have become “globalists”, “aliens” have become “immigrants” – but the themes have not.

On and drearily on he goes. He manages to confuse the World Health Organization’s call for better pandemic surveillance (by which it means the tracking of infectious diseases) with coercive surveillance of the population, creating “centralised systems of control where you are ultimately a serf”.

Some of his many rants about Bill Gates are illustrated with an image of the man wearing a multicoloured lapel badge, helpfully circled in red. This speaks to another widespread conspiracy theory: those who wear this badge are members of a secret organisation conspiring to control the world (so secret they stick it on their jackets). In reality, it shows support for the UN sustainable development goals.

Such claims are not just wrong. They are wearyingly, boringly wrong. But, to judge by the figures (he has more than 6 million subscribers on YouTube), the audience loves them.

Some of his theories, such as his recent obsession with UFOs, are innocuous enough. Others have potential to do great harm. There’s the risk to the people scapegoated, such as Fauci, Schwab and Pelosi: subjects of conspiracy theories often become targets of violence. There are the risks misleading claims present to public health. And bizarre stories about shadowy “elites” protect real elites from scrutiny and challenge.

While I’m not suggesting this is his purpose, it’s a tactic used deliberately by powerful people to disarm those who might otherwise hold them to account. Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, had a term for it: “flood the zone with shit”. As Naomi Klein has shown, the Great Reset conspiracy theory was conceived by a staffer at the Heartland Institute, a US lobby group that has promoted climate denial and other billionaire-friendly positions. It’s a bastardisation of her shock doctrine hypothesis, distracting people from the malfeasance of those with real power.

[beardedmrbean]

One of the central organisers behind the "Freedom Convoy" protest that caused Canada’s capital to descend into gridlock for weeks in 2022 has been found guilty of mischief.

Pat King, 47, is the first leader of the protests to learn of his verdict. Two others, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, will learn the outcome of their trials within the next six months.

A judge in an Ottawa courtroom on Friday found King guilty on five counts, including one count each of mischief, counselling others to commit mischief and counselling others to obstruct police.

King, who had led a convoy of lorries in Ottawa in protest of Covid-19 measures and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government, had pleaded not guilty.

King was also found guilty of two counts of disobeying a court order, but the judge did not find him guilty of two other charges he faced - intimidation and obstructing police.

Estimates made prior to the trial suggested that King could face up to 10 years in prison.

Lawyers for King argued during his trial that he was part of a peaceful protest against public health restrictions and government mandates, and that police were to blame for rising tensions during the demonstrations.

Crown prosecutors, however, argued that King was a key figure of a protest that had disrupted and harmed the residents and workers of downtown Ottawa for weeks.

They detailed one instance where King allegedly helped move 80 lorries to block a major street in the city, and another where he allegedly instructed protestors to honk their horns every 30 minutes.

Organisers of the Freedom Convoy, including Ms Lich and Mr Barber, are also facing a C$300m ($222m; £175m) civil lawsuit brought against them by Ottawa residents over the disruptions they caused in the city.

Crown prosecutors relied mainly on King's own videos to make their case, which he posted on social media throughout the demonstration to communicate with fellow protesters.

The February 2022 protests were initially sparked by a federal vaccine mandate for lorry drivers crossing the US-Canada border.

Convoys of some 400 heavy trucks and other vehicles descended on Ottawa and blockaded city streets around parliament for three weeks.

City officials deemed it an "occupation".

Separate protests also blocked a key US-Canada border crossing near Detroit, angering the White House and disrupting the flow of goods. Other border points were blocked in Alberta and Manitoba.

The protests received international attention and inspired similar copycat demonstrations abroad.

They were stopped after Prime Minister Trudeau enacted a never-before-used Emergencies Act, which allowed police to clear the streets and freeze the bank accounts of protesters.

King was arrested shortly after on 18 February and was released on bail five months later.

He was ordered back behind bars briefly this year after he breached court-imposed rules on his social media use.

King has been charged in a separate case with perjury and obstruction of justice related to testimony he gave at a bail hearing. The trial dates for that case have not yet been set.

[bouncinghedgehog]

Jimmy Carter turned 100 yesterday. He is proof that decency and goodness can exist in public service.

Did you know that young Jimmy Carter heroically saved Canada from a nuclear meltdown when he was a naval officer?

It's true!

The world’s first nuclear reactor meltdown occurred in the Ottawa Valley — and a young U.S. naval officer (future U.S. president Jimmy Carter) was brought in and put in charge of the team containing the disaster — over 70 years ago.

Leading a team of two dozen men, 28-year old Lieutenant Carter had himself lowered into the damaged reactor. That week, Carter and his team courageously exposed themselves to a thousand times the level of radiation considered safe by today’s standards.

When the Canadian government turned to U.S. nuclear experts for help, Lieutenant Carter was put in charge of the urgent operation. Carter was one of the few in the world at that time with any expertise in this new technology.

First, the reactor had to be shut down, and then disassembled and replaced.

An exact replica of the reactor was built on a nearby tennis court where Carter and his men practiced each move and tracked their work as they progressed. Every pipe, bolt and nut was rebuilt exactly to replicate the damaged reactor.

Carter divided himself and his men into teams of three. Each team worked 90-second shifts, rushing in and cleaning and repairing the reactor, precisely as they had practiced on the tennis court.

A minute and a half was deemed the longest the human body could handle the amount of radiation that remained in the area — even with protective gear.

It was still way too much radiation. Carter and his men absorbed a year’s worth of radiation in each of those 90-second shifts. Carter’s urine was still testing as radioactive six months later and the future president’s health was affected for the rest of his life.

Photo -Naval History and Heritage Command Photo Archives Branch, photo no. L38-14.02.01

[xenosagaepisodeone]

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has launched a new online course on its Party Safer web page that dispenses guidance on how to tell if someone is suffering from a drug overdose — and what to do about it. The new course takes around 30 minutes to complete and is designed to prepare people to respond to poisonings and overdoses from a range of common recreational drugs. "We're heading into the event and festival season and want to make sure that everybody is prepared if they are choosing to go to these events and might be using these substances," said Megan Francoeur, a public health nurse who works with the OPH's addictions and substance use health team.

The Canadian Red Cross provides an array of online courses for overdose recognition and response as well. In particular, I recommend their opioid response training course. When the training is complete, they mail you a free naloxone kit you can keep with you for emergencies.

[thedjpositive-blog]

Capital Pride & the Gay Purge in Canada

Capital Pride wrapped up with the Pride Parade just yesterday in Ottawa. It was a great turn-out, however a number of companies, public institutions, and the current governing political party dropped from participating in Pride over a statement released by the organizers condemning the 'Pink-washing' of the war in Gaza and expressing solidarity with Palestinians. In this context I thought it would be worth sharing a bit of history on Capital Pride and its connection to the Gay Purge.

In the 17the century, European colonists brought with them to Turtle Island a view of same-sex relations as "sinful" and an idealization of chastity based on certain Biblical interpretations. This view remained fairly consistent in European ontology until the 19th century, when sexuality began to be studied from the perspective of medical science. Rather than being viewed as a sin, same-sex attraction began to be treated as a "mental disorder," and would be classified as such in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders until 1973. This idea of same-sex attraction as a "mental disorder" also took root in Canada, and it became further stigmatized as a "security concern" in the context of the Cold War.

The Canadian federal government authorized in 1948 the investigative powers of a Security Panel that would report directly to Cabinet. The Security Panel deliberately targeted "homosexuals" as a "national security threat" because this "character weakness" supposedly left same-sex attracted persons open to blackmail by Soviet agents—this laid the groundwork for what would become known as 'the Gay Purge.' More than 9,000 Canadians were spied on, interrogated, and ultimately purged from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), the RCMP federal police, and the federal public service between the 1950s to the mid 1990s.

The Security Panel also mandated research on "the detection of homosexuals" that relied on the same assumption of same-sex attraction as a mental disorder. This directly led to the Security Panel approving in 1961 Professor F.R. Wake of Carleton University's development of the infamous 'Fruit Machine.' For four years Wake's team of psychiatrists and psychologists, and the departments of National Defence and Health & Welfare, used the machine to intrusively interrogate suspected queer members of the CAF , but were ultimately unable to make the machine reliably work (due in part to a lack of queer persons volunteering to act as control subjects. Also because it was based on faulty pseudo-science).

At the same time as the Purge was being carried out, there was a greater effort by the Canadian government to criminalize same-sex attraction and identity. Legislative changes in 1952 prevented "homosexuals" from immigrating to Canada due to "security concerns." The following year "buggery" and "gross indecency" were added as triggering offenses to the Canadian Criminal Code. In 1961 the Dangerous Sexual Offender legislation made consensual same-sex relations grounds for indefinite detention by the police. However, the Canadian queer community pushed back.

It began with the 1971 'We Demand' rally in Ottawa—the first large scale gay rights demonstration in the country—which included amongst their demands: that the RCMP disclose whether that had been spying on queer people working in the government, and to allow same-sex attracted persons to work in the military. The 'We Demand' rally is the reason why Pride is celebrated in August in Ottawa, rather than June. In 1985, Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into effect, which provided protection from discrimination on various grounds—including sexual orientation. In 1990, Military Police Officer Michelle Douglas, released from the CAF the year prior as a result of the Purge, took the federal government to court on the grounds of breaching her Charter rights under Sec(15). She won a settlement that saw the policy of discrimination against same-sex attracted persons in the CAF revoked.

By 2003 most Canadian provinces and territories had legalized same-sex marriage, and in June 2005 the Civil Marriage Act extended this right to all Canadians. Despite these accomplishments the work of the 2SLGBTQIA+ movement in Canada is not done. For example, the legal protection of transgender persons continues to be inadequate—see for instance the Alberta government's recent "Parental Rights" bill which has been criticized for endangering trans youth. Pride, including Capital Pride in Ottawa, has always been about solidarity and resistance to authorities that would suppress it. This is what enabled the movement to push back and ultimately overcome the Purge; it did not need the companies, the public institutions, nor the political parties 53 years ago—it does not need them now.

The Security Panel may be disbanded, the Fruit Machine dismantled, and the legal grounds for discrimination dismissed, but the struggle for equality continues until everyone is safe to freely live and express their identities as they are.

Sources:

Introduction to the History of the Queer Movement. Cyndia Cole, Val Innes, & Ellen Woodsworth. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45136196

"Character Weakness" and "Fruit Machines": Towards an Analysis of the Anti-Homosexual Security Campaign in the Canadian Civil Service. Gary Kinsman. (Note: a major scholar in this field, see also his book with Patrizia Gentile from UBC press: The Canadian War on Queers: National Security as Sexual Regulation).

For more info on the Gay Purge in Canada, highly recommend Sarah Fodey's Canadian Screen Awards nominated documentary, The Fruit Machine, available on YouTube (TW: addresses experiences of homophobia, biphobia, SA.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dLEn0h4hJI

[warningsine]

The youngest daughter of acclaimed Canadian Nobel laureate Alice Munro has said that her step-father sexually assaulted her as a child, and that her mother stayed with him even after learning of the abuse.

In an essay published in the Toronto Star on Sunday, Andrea Robin Skinner described how her step-father began assaulting her in the summer of 1976 when she was nine years old and he was in his 50s.

One evening, when Munro was away, he "climbed into the bed where I was sleeping and sexually assaulted me", Ms Skinner said.

Munro, who learned of the abuse years later, remained with him until his death in 2013.

The author, who died in May at the age of 92, is one of the most celebrated short-story writers in Canadian history.

Her collections often focused on life in small-town Ontario where she was raised, earning praise for their nuanced portrayals of women and girls.

In the weekend essay, Ms Skinner and her siblings said they believed this dark family story must also be part of Munro's legacy.

"I never wanted to see another interview, biography or event that didn’t wrestle with the reality of what had happened to me, and with the fact that my mother, confronted with the truth of what had happened, chose to stay with, and protect, my abuser," she said.

In her piece, Ms Skinner said she was first assaulted during a summer visit to her mother and step-father, Gerald Fremlin, in their home in Clinton, Ontario.

She later told her step-mother, who then told her father, Jim Munro, who decided not to confront Alice Munro at the time.

Ms Skinner returned to her mother's home the next year.

The step-mother, Carole Sabiston, is quoted by The Star in a separate news story as saying: "I told her she didn't have to go. But she wanted to spend time with her mother."

Ms Sabiston confirmed the events as described by Ms Skinner to the BBC.

Ms Skinner was initially relieved her father kept the family secret, she said, because of fears over how her mother would react.

"She had told me that Fremlin liked me better than her, and I thought she would blame me if she ever found out," she wrote.

Over the next several years, during visits, the abuse continued.

Fremlin exposed himself to her during car rides, propositioned her for sex, and “told me about the little girls in the neighbourhood he liked".

He lost interest when she became a teenager, Ms Skinner told The Star.

She said kept quiet about the abuse but in early adulthood found herself struggling at university and with her physical and mental health.

A few years later, in 1992, she revealed the abuse in a letter to her mother. She says Munro reacted as she had feared - "as if she had learned of an infidelity".

Fremlin, meanwhile, wrote his own letters at the time to the family - excerpts of which were published by The Star - in which he admitted the abuse but blamed Ms Skinner.

"Andrea invaded my bedroom for sexual adventure," Fremlin wrote.

“If the worst comes to worst I intend to go public. I will make available for publication a number of photographs, notably some taken at my cabin near Ottawa which are extremely eloquent … one of Andrea in my underwear shorts," he said.

Amid the fallout, Alice Munro left Fremlin, staying at a flat she owned in British Columbia. But she returned to her husband after a few months and stayed with him for the rest of his life.

She said "that our misogynistic culture was to blame if I expected her to deny her own needs, sacrifice for her children, and make up for the failings of men", Ms Skinner wrote.

In 2005, Ms Skinner reported the abuse to Ontario police, presenting the letters written by Fremlin.

Police charged him with indecent assault. He pleaded guilty, but "the silence continued", Ms Skinner wrote, because of Munro's fame.

In a statement, Munro Books, founded by Alice and Jim Munro and now independently owned, said that it "unequivocally supports" Ms Skinner's decision to tell her story publicly.

In a separate statement released by the Canadian bookstore, the Munro siblings said that the store's decision to acknowledge "Andrea’s truth, and being very clear about their wish to end the legacy of silence, the current store owners have become part of our family’s healing".

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: David Millard Haskell

Published: Feb 15, 2024

Almost two months ago, Tesla CEO and Twitter (now X) owner Elon Musk, made critical statements on X about the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In a post that’s now been viewed nearly 36 million times, Musk stated “DEI must DIE. The point was to end discrimination, not replace it with different discrimination.”

Recently, Musk showed he was willing to do his part to hasten DEI’s demise. In its official filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla did a clean sweep of DEI language and references to DEI initiatives. The world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer is now DEI-free.

Musk’s comment and related actions reflect a growing consensus that DEI ideology and instruction—educational materials steeped in critical social justice and offered as mandatory training by most corporations, educational systems and government agencies—does not work.

That is, it fails to deliver on its promise to reduce prejudice and produce greater harmony among groups. Ironically, as Musk observes, it appears to promote the divisive concept popularized by self-proclaimed “anti-racism” scholar and DEI guru, Ibram X. Kendi, that “the only solution to past discrimination is present discrimination.”

In the US, several high-profile controversies have further solidified the connection between questionable concepts (like Kendi’s) promoted in DEI training and reverse discrimination against Caucasians as well as academically successful Asians, and Israel-supporting Jews.

There have been similar DEI-influenced controversies in Canada. The suicide of Toronto public school principal Richard Bilkszto awakened many to the destructive nature of this caustic curriculum. When announcing his death, Bilkszto’s lawyer traced his deteriorating mental health and ultimate demise to a series of diversity, equity and inclusion workshops he had attended. (The allegations have not yet been proven in court.)

Recordings show that Bilkszto was subjected to repeat harassment and humiliation based on his skin colour after he politely questioned the DEI trainer about one of her claims.

Shortly after Bilkszto’s death in July of 2023, the trainer in question, Kiki Ojo-Thompson, released a statement on the website of her consulting company, the KOJO Institute. It said: “This incident is being weaponized to discredit and suppress the work of everyone committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion” which is “building a better society for everyone.”

But is it true that the concepts and training of DEI builds “a better society for everyone?”

This was a question that the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy asked me to answer. To do that I examined the findings of the most significant DEI studies from recent decades published in top social scientific journals like the Annual Review of Psychology, Anthropology Now, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Psychological Science, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Authors of the reviewed literature are from various universities including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Michigan, Syracuse, Aberdeen and others.

What the research shows is surprising—for some. For example, claims that “DEI works!” are not supported; multiple meta-analyses of hundreds of studies could not discern any clear evidence that DEI instruction changes people’s attitudes for the better.

In one particularly damning analysis, the researchers concluded “Implementation of DT [Diversity Training] has clearly outpaced the available evidence that such programs are effective in achieving their goals.”

On the other hand, the research provides clear proof: DEI instruction can activate and even increase bigotry among participants.

You’d think that such a conclusion would cause our corporate, academic, and political leaders to immediately withdraw the millions they’re spending on DEI programs and DEI staff. But old habits die hard, especially when those enforcing the habits have to admit that they’ve been hoodwinked.

The practice of blood-letting lasted more than one thousand years and only began to fall out of fashion in the mid-1800s when a Parisian physician, Pierre Louis, finally decided to measure patient outcomes. To his surprise, the application of leeches to a person’s back or the cutting and draining of the vein at their elbow didn’t do anything positive and could make matters worse.

We now can say the same about DEI.

History is riddled with instances of scholarship exposed as snake oil. Let’s learn our lesson: In the absence of evidence, you need to throw out the leeches.

David Millard Haskell is the author of “What DEI research concludes about diversity training: It is divisive, counter-productive, and unnecessary.” He is a professor and researcher at Wilfrid Laurier University and a Senior Fellow with the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy. 

--

By: David Millard Haskell

Published: Feb 12, 2024

Introduction

In July 2023, public school principal Richard Bilkszto killed himself. When announcing his death, Bilkszto’s lawyer traced his deteriorating mental health and ultimate demise to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) workshops his school board required him to attend.1 Recordings show that he was harassed and humiliated by the DEI trainer for questioning one of her claims.2

A growing number of high-profile cases suggest that diversity workshops and their supporting materials regularly promote questionable claims—particularly about the overarching, malicious character of the majority population.3 Similarly, hostility toward those who challenge DEI claims is part of the pattern.4 In Canada, students who challenge claims have been punished or expelled5; employees have been suspended.6 One whistleblower who leaked DEI training session material maligning the majority population lost his employment.7

While the hostility Bilszto was subjected to during his DEI training is not unusual, his extreme response to it is an outlier. But it also sounds an alarm. It draws our attention to the potentially negative nature of this instruction that is now ubiquitously conducted— usually as a mandatory exercise—in most corporations, educational systems, and government agencies.

The DEI training that Bilkszto attended focused heavily on race; this is typical. While DEI instruction can be as varied as it is pervasive, so-called “anti-racism education” tends to get the most attention during workshops.

Supporters justify DEI training—in particular, the “anti-racist” variety—with the argument that Canada, and Western nations generally, are systemically racist. The logic is this: the medicine must be applied everywhere because the disease is everywhere.

Specifically, DEI advocates assert that discrimination against minorities, while not explicit, is embedded in society’s institutions, and therefore leads to disparities. They hold up any difference in outcomes between the country’s majority and minority populations— at least when they skew negatively for the minority—as obvious proof of systemic racism.8

However, a rudimentary understanding of statistical analysis leads to the conclusion that it is in fact not “obvious” that differences in outcomes between racial and ethnic cohorts are evidence of racism; correlation does not equal causation. In fact, in his recent Reality Check on systemic racism claims in Canada, the Aristotle Foundation’s Matthew Lau evaluates the empirical data and comes to this conclusion:

If the typical anti-racism activist in Canada today is looking for widespread institutional or systemic racism… they will not find it. …Moreover, the data on disparities in income, educational attainment, occupational outcomes, and public school test scores show that, on average, Asians are doing better than the white population.9

Operating under the assumption that society is overrun with intolerance, the expressed goal in DEI workshops is to generate harmony amongst diverse populations. To that end, independent consultants or in-house DEI staff lead participants through a curriculum focusing on such concepts as implicit bias, white privilege, and micro-aggressions.

With reference to the existing scholarship, this Reality Check investigates whether diversity, equity, and inclusion instruction actually leads to greater harmony and tolerance—or to the opposite. As we will see, the national and international research10 shows there is often a disconnect between the evidence and the claims of DEI advocates. (See the appendix table for a short summary of the literature on DEI instruction.)

Diversity training in practice: Aggressive, and justified by circular “proofs”

To “prove” the effectiveness of DEI instruction, proponents often point to surveys conducted before and after workshops that show, following training, participants are much more likely to articulate answers that align with the pro-DEI ideas. That is to say, someone who takes the training can, afterwards, recite what they were told. In these testimonials it is seldom mentioned that for many participants job security and career advancement is contingent on giving the “right” answers.11

This type of methodology has drawn criticism and has proven to be unreliable. In a 2022 article, after reviewing the scholarly literature on DEI instruction, psychological researchers Patricia Devine and Tory Ash concluded that scholars of diversity training “too often use proxy measures for success that are far removed from the types of consequential outcomes that reflect the purported goals of such trainings.”12

A disconnect between DEI claims and DEI outcomes: A look at the literature

Despite criticism of their methods, proponents of DEI instruction continue to assert that it is effective. “Effective,” for them, means more than just reciting talking points from a workshop, they claim that their programs actually change behaviour. Websites and public documents from independent DEI consultants and in-house DEI office staff promise that because of their instruction, workplace harmony, productivity, and collaboration across groups will increase, discrimination will be reduced, and bias and bigotry will be lessened.13

However, the research does not support claims of behavioural change. For example, in their 2018 article “Why Doesn’t Diversity Training Work?” published in Anthropology Now, Harvard Sociologist Frank Dobbin and colleague Alexandra Kalev observed:

Nearly all Fortune 500 companies do training, and two thirds of colleges and universities have training for faculty according to our 2016 survey of 670 schools. Most also put freshmen through some sort of diversity session as part of orientation. Yet hundreds of studies dating back to the 1930s suggest that antibias training does not reduce bias, alter behaviour or change the workplace.14 Supporting Dobbin and Kalev’s observation, numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses—an advanced research method that combines the data of multiple studies to identify overall trends—have determined that the ability of DEI training to elevate harmony and/or decrease prejudice (in any lasting way) is undetectable or negligible.15 Those systematic reviews and meta-analyses are cited in this paper’s endnotes; however, for the purpose of illustration, the key findings of some of the most significant and representative works are discussed below.

In a review of all available research between 2003 and 2008 focusing on the impact of DEI programs, Elizabeth Paluck, then at Harvard and now at Princeton, and Donald Green at Yale generated a sample of 985 studies. After aggregate, statistical assessment they concluded:

… the causal effects of many widespread prejudice-reduction interventions, such as workplace diversity training and media campaigns, remain unknown… Due to weaknesses in the internal and external validity of existing research, the literature does not reveal whether, when, and why interventions reduce prejudice in the world.16

Updating her research in 2021 with a second meta-analysis of over 400 current studies, Paluck and colleagues again found little evidence that instruction in diversity, equity, and inclusion works to decrease prejudice. They begin by stating: “Although these studies report optimistic conclusions, we identify troubling indications of publication bias that may exaggerate effects.”17

They then clarify what they mean by “exaggerate effects.” When examined through the lens of their rigorous methodology, Paluck and team found that the effect size of diversity-type training is near zero. This is of consequence because effect size measures the difference between those who participated in the training and those who did not. DEI proponents say their training makes a difference; the research disagrees. Importantly, the effect size (minimal as it was) decreased as the academic rigour of the study increased (e.g., as the sample size became larger).18

In their 2022 meta-analysis, Divine and Ash uphold the findings of Paluck and others writing:

Our primary conclusion following our review of the recent literature echoes that of scholars who conducted reviews of the DT [Diversity Training] literature in the past. Despite multidisciplinary endorsement of the practice of DT, we are far from being able to derive clear and decisive conclusions about what fosters inclusivity and promotes diversity within organizations. Implementation of DT has clearly outpaced the available evidence that such programs are effective in achieving their goals.19

Contributing to the muted outcomes of DEI programs, the meta-analyses repeatedly observe that even when diversity-type training seems to produce a measurable, positive effect, that effect tends not be enduring. Negative stereotypes and prejudices that appear to decrease immediately following a DEI workshop typically re-emerge when evaluated a few weeks or months later.20

DEI does have an impact… but it’s not positive

While the “good” of DEI training remains elusive, the harms associated with such instruction are less equivocal.

DEI instruction has been shown to increase prejudice and activate bigotry among participants by bringing existing stereotypes to the top of their minds or by implanting new biases they had not previously held. Reviewing the related findings of past research, Dobbin and Kalev state: “Field and laboratory studies find that asking people to suppress stereotypes tends to reinforce them—making them more cognitively accessible to people.”21

For example, in a laboratory setting, a University of Toronto research team led by Lisa Legault (now at Clarkson University) determined that race-focused DEI campaigns that exert strong pressure on people to be non-prejudiced backfired, yielding heightened levels of bigotry.22

Similarly, for their landmark paper “Out of mind but back in sight: Stereotypes on the rebound,” the University of Aberdeen’s Neil Macrae and colleagues conducted experiments measuring the outcomes of DEI-type training that, like Legault et al., asked participants to reject prejudicial stereotypes. They confirmed that in trying to suppress bigotry, DEI-type training can activate it:

Indeed, this work suggests that when people attempt to suppress unwanted thoughts, these thoughts are likely to subsequently reappear with even greater insistence than if they had never been suppressed (i.e., a “rebound” effect). … The results provide strong support for the existence of this effect… stereotype suppressors [those told to suppress their bias] responded more pejoratively to a stereotyped target on a range of dependent measures.23

Simply put, numerous studies show that when DEI-type workshop leaders instruct participants to suppress their biases—be they existing or newly implanted—many will cling to them more tightly and mentally generate additional justifications for their presence.24

The language and practice of division: DEI’s inequitable treatment and impact

While DEI-type instruction can activate prejudice in individuals of any race, in its ability to produce feelings of isolation and demoralization, it has a singular effect on the majority population.25 In his article “Diversity-related training: What is it good for?” Columbia University sociologist and research fellow Musa al-Gharbi summarizes the findings on that phenomenon:

Diversity-related training programs often depict people from historically marginalized and disenfranchised groups as important and worthwhile, celebrating their heritage and culture, while criticizing the dominant culture as fundamentally depraved (racist, sexist, sadistic, etc.) … In short, there is a clear double-standard in many of these programs… The result is that many members from the dominant group walk away from the training believing that themselves, their culture, their perspectives and interests are not valued at the institution—certainly not as much as those of minority team members—reducing their morale and productivity. … The training also leads many to believe that they have to “walk on eggshells” when engaging with members of minority populations…. As a result, members of the dominant group become less likely to try to build relationships or collaborate with people from minority populations.26

Illustrating al-Gharbi’s point that DEI instruction can lead participants to perceive the majority population less sympathetically, researcher Erin Cooley at New York’s Colgate University and her team found that teaching students about white privilege, a core component of the DEI curriculum, does not make them feel more compassion toward poor people of colour but can “reduce sympathy [and] increase blame… for White people struggling with poverty.”27

To al-Gharbi’s point that such instruction hinders unity, a 2022 study from the University of Michigan analyzed online discussions and found that mention of white privilege made even previously “supportive whites” less supportive of racially progressive policies, less engaged in group discussions, and “led to less constructive responses from whites and non-whites.”28

While the Caucasian majority is typically the focus of contempt in DEI instruction, leaving them feeling isolated and demoralized, increasingly participants of Asian ethnicity are also being targeted. In achieving, on average, greater salary and educational outcomes than the majority population (as Matthew “DEI instruction has been shown to increase prejudice and activate bigotry among participants by bringing existing stereotypes to the top of their minds or by implanting new biases they had not previously held.” What DEI research concludes about diversity training Lau showed in his Reality Check),29 this community presents a problem to the major claim of DEI instruction that skin colour or ethnicity matters most for success.

The solution that some DEI advocates have adopted is to deny that Asians qualify as visible minorities. They claim that having outcomes similar to the majority population puts one in the majority population and excludes one from being a “person of colour.”30 Borrowing ideas from academic race studies,31 some DEI proponents have begun to refer to Asians as “white adjacent” (or near white) and have accused them of perpetuating “white supremacy.”32 On the extreme end, certain school boards in the United States have gone so far as to remove the category “Asian” from student profiles, lumping anyone of Asian ancestry into the “White” category.33

Beyond denying minority status to those of Asian ancestry, the current trend among DEI consultants and departments is to weight the scales against them (a move reminiscent of the institutional racism they faced in some Western countries during the 19th and early 20th century34). Nowhere has this been more obvious than in college admissions in the US. Striking evidence shows that, for the benefit of diversity and inclusion, Asian students are being excluded from some of America’s most elite universities.35

Specifically, submissions before the US Supreme Court disclosed that when applying to Harvard, the University of North Carolina, and other universities, students of Asian descent are required to hold entrance exam scores “450 points higher than black [students]… to have the same chance of admission.”36 Thus, out of a possible score of 1600 for combined math and verbal skills on the SAT, Asian students need to be nearly perfect.37

Such universities justify their unequal standards for admission by citing their commitment to a core notion of DEI instruction: “Diversity is our strength.” They note that without intervention, the proportion of Asian students would skyrocket leaving less room for other visible minorities. That is, there would be “diversity” but not the right type of diversity. Therefore, to achieve the right outcomes, criteria other than academic merit need to be implemented.38

In the US, these unequal standards have been successfully challenged. In summer of 2023, citing violations of America’s Fourteenth Amendment and federal civil rights law, the Supreme Court ruled that universities cannot discriminate by race when making admission decisions.39

Canada has no such legislation; in fact, our Charter of Rights and Freedoms40 and our human rights laws41 allow for discrimination against the majority population. This constitutional allowance has now resulted in employment postings that, in the name of DEI, explicitly promote reverse or “recycled racism.”42

Conclusion

While job candidates not categorized as a minority are increasingly prevented from applying for certain employment openings, the research shows that a reputation for promoting DEI can more generally affect job applications to an organization. Specifically, findings reveal that some Caucasian candidates perceive organizations that heavily promote messages of diversity and inclusion as potentially discriminatory work environments.43

DEI’s negative perception extends beyond potential job candidates. Two-thirds of human resource specialists—those in charge of overseeing DEI initiatives—report that diversity training does not have positive effects.44 Interestingly, both the research into DEI and the majority of those involved in such training have arrived at the same conclusion: when it comes to harmony and tolerance, DEI does not make things better, but it can make things worse.

==

It's time to start talking about DEI the same way we talk about homeopathy. It's fake, it's unscientific, it's not based on evidence, and not only doesn't work, it makes things worse.

In the case of DEI, this is not a bug, it's a feature.

Marx was frustrated that he could not get the proletariat to rise up against the bourgeoisie, because they were comfortable, especially with the free market producing inexpensive items of comfort.

DEI's objective isn't to unify, it's explicitly to divide, to agitate for "liberation," a violent revolution in which liberal secular society is torn down. Those designated "oppressed" are supposed to come out feeling paranoid and persecuted, and those designated "oppressors" are supposed to come out feeling guilty and shamed. Because then the expectation is they'll both work together to destroy society and replace it with a Maoist, Leninist "utopia." The kind that killed millions.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A resident physician at the University of Ottawa's faculty of medicine who was suspended over pro-Palestinian social media posts says he's been reinstated but has no plans to return to the institution. Dr. Yipeng Ge, 29, was sanctioned by the university last November after it got several complaints about a series of pro-Palestinian posts he'd made, ones that included references to "apartheid" and "settler colonialism." At the time of his suspension, Ge had been a fourth-year public health and preventive medicine resident and was completing a residency at the Public Health Agency of Canada. His research has focused on Indigenous health, anti-racism and decolonization.

Continue Reading

Tagging @politicsofcanada

[covid-safer-hotties]

Statement from the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada on Respiratory Illness Season - Published Dec 14, 2024

Statement December 14, 2023 | Ottawa, ON | Public Health Agency of Canada

Respiratory illness season is well underway in Canada. While respiratory infections can occur year-round, it is common to see a significant increase in the fall and winter months. For some areas where the health care system is currently at capacity, these elevated or increasing levels of respiratory illness are already posing significant challenges to hospitals. As a result, it is especially important that we all take steps to protect ourselves and our families at this time of year, including during the holiday season.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) continues to assess the levels of respiratory viruses across Canada and provides weekly national updates. While there is variability across the country, multiple viruses, including influenza (flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 are circulating at the same time. On November 25, 2023, PHAC indicated that flu season in Canada had officially begun. As of the week ending December 2, 2023, RSV and flu activity continued to increase in Canada but remained within expected levels for this time of year.

For COVID-19, at a national level, the percent of laboratory tests coming back positive remains relatively high. Additionally, some provinces and territories are seeing increases in COVID-19 activity, including to high and very high levels in parts of the country. However, trends in a number of indicators, including wastewater surveillance, vary by region. It is important for people in Canada to consult their local public health authorities for the most up to date information on respiratory virus activity in their region.

As the holidays approach, we can expect further spread of viruses as we travel and socialize more. I encourage everyone to take action to keep yourself and your loved ones healthy. If you haven't already done so, now is a good time to get your updated flu and COVID-19 vaccines. Both vaccines can be given at the same time. Health Canada has now authorized three XBB.1.5 COVID-19 vaccines, which better target new sub-variants of the virus. We can expect new COVID-19 variants to continue to emerge, like the currently circulating BA.2.86 variant which is growing in Canada and internationally. While we are continuing to learn more about this variant, and the JN.1 sub-lineage, early evidence suggests that the updated XBB.1.5 vaccines provide protection against these latest circulating strains.

Vaccination is particularly important for those at increased risk of severe illness due to COVID-19 or influenza, such as adults 65 years of age and over. As of December 3, 2023, approximately 41.3% of adults in Canada 65 years of age and older have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine (XBB.1.5). Others at increased risk include individuals who are pregnant, Indigenous populations, those with underlying medical conditions, and for influenza only, children 6 months to under the age of 5 years.

In addition to vaccination, the use of personal protective measures can help reduce your risk of getting or spreading respiratory infectious diseases. These measures include properly wearing a high quality, well-fitting respirator or mask in indoor public places, regular hand hygiene and improving indoor ventilation. It is also important to stay home if you do get sick to avoid spreading infections. Just like layering up to protect ourselves against the Canadian winter, using multiple layers of protection is the most effective way to reduce the risk of infection during respiratory illness season.

Taking steps to prevent illness not only helps to keep you and your loved ones healthy, but can reduce hospitalizations due to respiratory illness, which decreases pressure on our health care system.

Let's all do our part to keep ourselves and communities healthier this holiday season.

Contacts Media Relations Public Health Agency of Canada 613-957-2983 media@hc-sc.gc.ca

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Recommends Depopulation of Nepean Bay District," Ottawa Journal. October 5, 1912. Page 1. --- THIS PICTURE WAS SUBMITTED BY DR. HODGETTS IN HIS REPORT AT THE JUDICIAL ENQUIRY YESTERDAY AFTERNOON SHOWS THE SHORES OF NEPEAN BAY LITTERED WITH EVERY CONCEIVABLE KIND OF RUBBISH.

[puckeyldigest]

The Puck Shooter's Field Encyklopedia

Hey there, puck shooter! Below, you may find a compendium of free-to-consumer resources of multiple medias in alphabetical-ish order on various enthralling subjects. Searching for PWHL/LPHF-specific news and media? Look here!

[last updated: 05-MAR-02024]

Index: . >> Athletics {empty} . >> Geography {new additions!} . >> Health, Exercise, Sports Science {new additions!} . >> Hockey, Competition {new additions!} . >> Hockey, Fundamentals {empty} . >> Language {empty} . >> Recreation {empty} . >> Social Studies {new additions!} . >> Miscellaneous / Uncategorized {empty} . >> Epilogue {new additions!}

Puckey seys Note: Note what? Pucke oft’ sez: A smart person knows how to spend their time. Do w/that whatcha will.

Index: . [Link] == weblink of unspecific origin. . [OP Link] == weblink to original publication. . [WP Link] == weblink to Wikipedia.  . [YT Link] == weblink to YouTube.

_# ATHLETICS #_

{empty}

_# GEOGRAPHY #_ subsections . > PWHL Cities . > PWHL Nations

PWHL Cities

Boston: [WP Link]

Minneapolis–Saint Paul: [WP Link]

Montréal: [WP Link]

Ottawa: [WP Link]

New York City: [WP Link]

Toronto: [WP Link]

PWHL Nations

Canada: [WP Link]

United States of America: [WP Link]

_# HEALTH, EXERCISE, SPORTS SCIENCE #_

Note well: Not a substitute for qualified medical consult; for informational purposes only.

Bipedal Gait Cycle [WP Link]

Body Schema [WP Link]

Female Athlete Triad / RED-S [WP Link]

Exercise [WP Link]

First Aid [WP Link]

Motor Control [WP Link]

Motor Learning [WP Link] - Puck sez NB! “Knowledge of performance, knowledge of results” under §Feedback given during practice

Motor Skill [WP Link]

Motor Skill Consolidation [WP Link]

Muscles of the Human Body, Skeletal, List of [WP Link]

Muscle Architecture [WP Link]

Muscle Memory [WP Link]

Neuromechanics [WP Link]

Neuroscience Crash Course Playlist (Brain Discoveries) by TED-ED [YT Link]

Neuroscience Crash Course Playlist (Exploring the Senses) by TED-ED [YT Link]

Neuroscience Crash Course Playlist (Mind Matters) by TED-ED [YT Link]

Nutrition Science Crash Course Playlist (You Are What You Eat) by TED-ED [YT Link]

Procedural Memory [WP Link]

Psychology Crash Course Playlist (Mental Health Awareness) by TED-ED [YT Link]

Psychology Crash Course Playlist (The Way We Think) by TED-ED [YT Link]

_# HOCKEY, COMPETITION #_

Ice Hockey at the Olympic Games [WP Link]

_# HOCKEY, FUNDAMENTALS #_ {empty; proposed subsections:} . > Skating . > Puck, stick handling . > Hockey Sense / IQ . > Puck tracking . > Goaltending

_# LANGUAGE #_

{empty}

_# RECREATION #_

{empty. what are the puck shooter’s reading, watching, listening to nowadays? send word! meanwhile, here’s wonderwall 🌱}

_# SOCIAL STUDIES #_

Living wage calculator, methodology [Link]

Media Literacy Crash Course Playlist (Hone Your Media Literacy Skills) by TED-ED [YT Link]

Universal human rights described by UN Sustainable Development Goals [Video] [Audio??] [Print]

_# MISCELLANEIOUS / UNCATEGORIUZED #_

{empty}

Think something’s missing? Comments/Questions/Feedback? Feel free to Mail in at, none other than, **foobo(alloneworld) chider1 (aht)gee, whizze… electronic-snail-mail (dawt, you get it…).

— Puckey Digest

also available via:

Medium .commahe

Substack .com,,,,,

and, ofc, TuMbLr [¿r we getting meta nao? X3c]

click here 4 a good time

[MORE AMENDMENTS COMING TO PUCK-O-PEDIA SOON! ☻]

[last updated: 05-MAR-02024]

_# EPILOGUE #_

Pucke Says! The athlete and critical problem-solver should — among other things — learn to approximate and convert units of distance, weight, and time on-the-fly, off-the-cuff, & ad-hoc. Such skills will take one far in life, and serve the athlete and problem-solver well in many contexts.

Knowledge is power; France es bacon; and, lest I forget:

[MORE AMENDMENTS COMING TO PUCK-O-PEDIA SOON! ☻]

[last updated: 05-MAR-02024]

⚘❃⚘⚜❃❁❀✿✾✽ Many Flowers 4 U~!! ✽✾✿❀❁❃⚜⚘