2021 Edge

m
info@canadianinquirer.net
sales@canadianinquirer.net

The Future of Style

facebook.com/
Philippine
CanadianInquirer CANADA’S FIRST AND ONLY NATIONWIDE FILIPINO-CANADIAN NEWSPAPER FORD TO.CA
IN REBATES 67

on most new 2021 Edge models

twitter.com/
pcinews_twt JANUARY 21, 2022 www.canadianinquirer.net VOL. 8 NO. 473

FULL CAPACITY

A signage of full capacity for Covid-19 cases is placed in front of the emergency department of the San Juan de Dios Educational Foundation Inc. Hospital on Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City on
Tuesday (Jan. 18, 2022).
JOEY O. RAZON/PNA

Pope Francis donates 19

P5-M to ‘Odette’
victims No, chivalry is not dead –
but it’s about time it was

BY FERDINAND PATINIO Integral Human Development and in

Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Pope Francis has donated
around 100,000 euros (around PHP5
million) as initial financial assistance for
the victims of Typhoon Odette.
Church-run Radio Veritas report-
ed on Wednesday that the Holy Father,
through the Dicastery for Promoting
collaboration with the Apostolic Nun-
ciature in the Philippines, allocated the 22
financial aid for the rehabilitation of
damaged homes and churches in prov- ` The Tonga volcanic
inces severely damaged by the disaster. eruption has revealed the
The gesture is an expression of the
Pope’s solidarity with typhoon victims. vulnerabilities in our global
“It is intended to be an immediate ex- telecommunication system Here’s to a New You
PAGE 13
❱❱ PAGE 6 Pope Francis donates

Advanced equipment and testing available

We direct bill most insurance companies:

Square One
Sun Life Green Shield
Manulife Blue Cross
Great-West Life Claim Secure Valid only at
Located in Square One Industrial Alliance Square One
inside Pearle Vision
If you are 19 years old and under or 65 years old
905-277-3052
and older, you are covered under OHIP**

visit www.drshekari.com *Eye exams available by Independent Doctors of Optometry inside Pearle Vision.
to schedule your eye exam*
12/31/2021.
2 Philippine News
Gov’t institutionalizes measures vs.
real estate scammers
BY LADE JEAN KABAGANI
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The government
has formally institutionalized
its intensive drive and mea-
sures against illegal activities
related to real estate property
and other housing projects in
the country.
Department of Hu-
man Settlements and
Urban Development
(DHSUD) Secretary
Eduardo Del Rosario
signed a memorandum
of agreement with the
representatives of the
Real Estate Brokers As-
sociation of the Philip-
pines over the weekend
to formalize their part-
nership for a nation-
wide crackdown against
real estate scammers.
The move is part of the
DHSUD’s Special Order No.
2021-002, creating a technical
working group (TWG) that will
institutionalize the depart-
ment’s intensified drive on an-
ti-illegal real estate practices.
The DSHUD, along with the
Department of the Interior and
Local Government, among other
Bloomberg win big honor for Butuan: mayor
BY ALEXANDER LOPEZ
Philippine News Agency
BUTUAN CITY – The city’s
triumph in the 2021-2022
Global Mayors Challenge of the
Bloomberg Philanthropies was
a big honor including for its res-
idents that showcased the com-
petitiveness of local farmers.
This was the statement made
by Mayor Ronnie Vicente La-
gnada on Wednesday, empha-
sizing that dedication and hard
work have led the city to attain
the prestigious award.
“This is a tremendous honor
for the city. It showcases the
constant strives we make each
day to think bigger and bolder,”
Lagnada said.
The city is among the 15 cities in
the world that won the challenge
as announced by the Bloomberg
national government and law en-
forcement agencies as well as RE-
BAP will be adopting a whole-gov-
ernment approach to address
illicit transactions and other is-
sues in the housing industry.
Del Rosario emphasized the
importance of joint efforts to
put an end to unlawful activi-
ties that victimize homebuyers.
its national clout is
vital to catching real
estate scammers.
The housing czar also
thanked the REBAP for its com-
mitment to propel this advoca-
cy, saying “its national clout
is vital to catching real estate
scammers.”
“I would like to thank RE-
BAP for their support to our
campaign to go after illegal real
estate groups who are victimiz-
ing our homebuyers, with your
Philanthropies on Tuesday.
Butuan’s “AgriBOOST” pro-
posal was adjudged winner by
Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The AgriBOOST is an inno-
vation designed to address the
agri-business value chain is-
sues such as boosting the com-
petitiveness of farmers through
Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada (BUTUAN CITY PIO)
help, we can further strength-
en our force to go after them
and ensure that less and less
homebuyers fall prey to their
schemes,” he added.
Del Rosario said the help of
REBAP “will certainly boost”
the department’s campaign
against illegal practices within
the housing sector.
“We will continue
to work with relevant
stakeholders in the hu-
man settlements and
urban development
sector to finally put an
end to this crime,” he
noted.
Under the newly
signed pact, the net-
work of broker-mem-
bers of REBAP will
serve as “monitors” of
illegal practices and be
tasked to submit docu-
mentary evidence to the TWG.
The association is tasked to
look into sales, leasing, joint ven-
tures, among other related activi-
ties of unlicensed/unaccredited/
unregistered individuals.
The monitoring team should
observe and document viola-
tions, as well as secure pieces of
evidence such as media posting,
defective flyers, and testimo-
technical and resource support,
demand-driven production,
and reliable farm gate pricing.
It also strengthens the ag-
ricultural hub in the city that
helps catalyze market forces,
the orchestration of collab-
orative planning and deci-
sion-making among the value
www.canadianinquirer.net
nies from the victims.
It will be followed by submis-
sion of a narrative report of the
violation committed under the
Presidential Decree 957 or the
Subdivision and Condominium
Buyers Protective Decree and Re-
public Act 9646 or the Real Estate
Service Act, and other laws gov-
erning the real estate industry.
The findings and documen-
tation will then be submitted
to REBAP’s national office for
evaluation. Cases with sufficient
merits will be forwarded to DH-
SUD for coordination of legal
proceedings and apprehension
through the authorized agencies.
FIGHT AGAINST SCAMMERS. DHSUD Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario formalizes
partnership with the Real Estate Brokers Association of the Philippines, Inc. (RE-
BAP) (DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT/FACEBOOK)
chain partners.
The hub also serves as a veg-
etable processor, quality and
traceability controller, demand
forecaster, and price manager.
The AgriBOOST also revital-
izes trade practices by enabling
market channels to access sta-
ble supplies of quality vegeta-
bles with predictable social re-
tail pricing.
Bloomberg said the goals of
AgriBOOST are achievable in a
short-term period, particularly
in the increase in vegetable pro-
duction that will bring consider-
able growth to farmers’ income.
Under the AgriBOOST, the
city targets to increase vegeta-
ble production from 19 percent
in 2020 to 150 percent and re-
duce the average vegetable re-
tail price by 50 percent by 2023.
The income of vegetable farm-
ers in the city is also seen to rise
JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY
The DHSUD reminded anew
the public to be vigilant against
bogus brokers engaged in illegal
real estate transactions.
Based on the Housing and
Land use Regulatory Board
(HLURB) under Presidential
Decree 957, no real estate bro-
ker or salesman shall engage in
the business of selling subdivi-
sion lots or condominium units
without being registered.
DHSUD has regulatory pow-
er over real estate developers
and brokers and salespersons
who are obliged to register with
the DHSUD before engaging in
property selling. ■
by 50 percent during the period.
Butuan City’s AgriBOOST
came out as one of the 15 win-
ners of the 631 entries from
99 cities around the world for
the Bloomberg Philanthropies
Mayors Challenge.
The other winning cities in-
cluded Amman, Jordan; Bogotá,
Colombia; Freetown, Sierra
Leone; Hermosillo, Mexico; Is-
tanbul, Turkey; Kigali, Rwanda;
Kumasi, Ghana; Paterson, New
Jersey, USA; Phoenix, Arizona,
USA; Rochester, Minnesota,
USA; Rotterdam, the Nether-
lands; Rourkela, India; Vilni-
us, Lithuania; and Wellington,
New Zealand.
Each of the winners will re-
ceive US$1 million and addi-
tional technical support and
coaching for three years for the
implementation of their win-
ning proposals.. ■
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022
Restrictions on
unvaxxed legal,
not permanent: DOJ
BY BENJAMIN PULTA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The government has suffi-
cient basis to enforce policies restricting
the movement of persons who are un-
vaccinated against Covid-19.
Department of Justice (DOJ) Secre-
tary Menardo Guevarra said on Tuesday
such measures are in effect only in ar-
eas where the alert level is high and not
where vaccines could be unavailable.
“These measures are time-bound and
are not meant to be adopted in places
with very low vaccination rates,” Gue-
varra said in a text message.
He also clarified there is no restric-
tions on travel for unvaccinated per-
sons, “just restrictions on access to pub-
lic transportation or common carriers,
subject to well-defined exceptions”.
“More than three out of four who
get hospitalized are unvaccinated and
more than three out of four who die
of Covid-19 are unvaccinated. The un-
vaccinated are not absolutely prohib-
ited from availing themselves of public
transport, provided that they have pass-
es to show that they are out to obtain es-
sential goods and services, such as food
and medicine, or that they have medical
certifications showing that they could
not be vaccinated for medical or health
reasons,” Guevarra explained.
Guevarra said while public transport
is open for everyone, operators of com-
mon carriers “are bound to carry their
READY TO GO. Passengers show their vaccination cards to a barker of a jeep en route to Manila
at the terminal along West Avenue, Quezon City on Wednesday (Jan. 19, 2022). (ROBERT OSWALD P.
ALFILER/PNA)
Philippine News 3
ORAS NA
PARA MAG-PA
passengers safely to their destinations,
and safely means freedom not only from
BOOSTER
LABAN SA
accidental injury but also from trans-
missible diseases”.
The DOJ chief also said Public Attor-
ney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Rue-
COVID-19.
da- Acosta is within her rights not to be
vaccinated as no law makes inoculation
against Covid-19 mandatory.
Acosta said in a television inter-
view Monday that she is having “sec-
ond thoughts” and will wait for a pro-
tein-based vaccine which, according to Mag-pa rehistro na ngayon
para sa booster.
the World Health Organization, uses
harmless fragments of proteins or pro-
tein shells that mimic the Covid-19 virus
to safely generate an immune response.
The current jabs in use are either viral
vector vaccines, which use a safe virus that Protektahan ang sarili laban
cannot cause disease but serves as a plat-
form to produce coronavirus proteins to sa COVID-19.
generate an immune response, or ribo-
nucleic acid that generates a protein that
itself safely prompts an immune response.
“To that extent, PAO chief Acosta has Kaya nating lahat ito.
the legal right to refuse vaccination. but
the state has the power to regulate the
movement of unvaccinated persons if it
deems that such regulation is in the in-
terest of public health or public safety
and is for the benefit not only of the vac-
cinated but also of the unvaccinated,”
Guevarra said.
He said a person who refuses to get
vaccinated for personal reasons is “du-
ty-bound to obey reasonable state reg-
ulations affecting unvaccinated persons
for the benefit of society at large”. ■
Bisitahin ang ontario.ca/covid19
Bayad ng Gobyerno ng Ontario.
www.canadianinquirer.net
Client: Ministry of Health File Name: 12713-MOH_5X12_TAGALOG_v1 Page: 1 Studio Artist(s): JR
Account Manager: Grant/Jake Creative Team:
Trim/Ad Size: 5x12” Bleed: N/A Live/Safety: N/A
4 Philippine News
Duterte wants DOH sees upward trend
bigger statue for in Covid-19 cases in
Filipino hero other regions
Lapulapu
BY LADE JEAN KABAGANI
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – President Rodri-
go Roa Duterte wants a “bigger
and higher” statue of first Fil-
ipino hero Lapulapu than the
statue of Portuguese explorer
and colonizer Ferdinand Ma-
gellan in Cebu.
“Let me be very clear, I am
not belittling Magellan because
he has our respect ‘yung statue
niya (with his statue). I do not
mean to offend the sensibility
of Cebuanos. I’m just a citizen
of this country expressing my
opinion,” Duterte said in his
prerecorded Talk to the People
aired Tuesday morning.
Duterte recalled the times
when he went to Cebu cam-
paigning for the presidency.
“I went to Cebu and there
was this statue of Magellan and
Lapulapu. Magellan’s statue is
bigger than Lapulapu,” he said.
“But I am very uncomfortable
to say that the statue of Lapu-
lapu is smaller than Magellan.
I mean no offense to Magellan.”
Duterte emphasized that
Lapulapu’s statue should al-
ways be bigger than Magellan’s.
“Hindi talaga ako komport-
able. I do not like what I see.
Paggawa na lang natin (I am not
really comfortable. I do not like
what I see. Let’s have it built),”
Duterte said.
Duterte ordered Acting Pres-
Pres. Rodrigo Duterte (JOEY DALUMPINES/ PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)
idential Spokesperson and Cab-
inet Secretary Karlo Nograles
to coordinate with the National
Historical Commission of the
Philippines to start building a
“bigger and higher” statue for
Lapulapu.
“Gusto ko maski hindi [mat-
apos] maupisahan lang (I want
it to even start). We can reserve
specific sums for the purpose
of giving our national hero a
higher [statue],” Duterte told
Nograles.
“My hero is Lapulapu, not
Magellan, although I respect
Magellan,” he added.
Duterte noted he doesn’t
want to offend his fellow Cebua-
no by expressing his opinion as
a Filipino and wanting to build
a higher statue of Lapulapu.
“As a matter of principle, I do
not want na ‘yung ating (that
our) national hero number
one who fought the invaders,
Magellan whose statue now is
higher than statue fo Lapulapu.
The thing is I want Lapulapu
[statue] bigger and higher than
Magellan,” he said.
Lapu-Lapu, the legendary rul-
er of the Mactan Island, defeat-
ed Spanish soldiers and killed
Magellan in the historic Battle
of Mactan on April 27, 1521.
In December last year, Dute-
rte signed Executive Order No.
152, changing the rendering
of the name of the first Filipi-
no hero from “Lapu-Lapu” to
“Lapulapu.” ■
BY MA. TERESA
MONTEMAYOR
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Department
of Health (DOH) on Tuesday
said there is an upward trend
in coronavirus disease 2019
(Covid-19) cases in other re-
gions as observed in the Nation-
al Capital Region (NCR).
During an online media fo-
rum, Health Undersecretary
Maria Rosario Vergeire said
Metro Manila’s neighboring
provinces of Bulacan, Cavite,
Laguna, and Rizal have shown
an upward trend in cases.
“Mula po sa 153 cases a day
noong unang linggo ng Disyem-
bre tumaas na po ito sa 1,400
cases a day sa bandang dulo ng
nasabing buwan (From 153 cas-
es on the first week of December,
it went up to 1,400 cases toward
the end of the month),” she said.
The increase in cases in other
regions will not be an isolated
case, she added.
The NCR Plus areas and the
whole of Luzon have seen a
SOLUTIONS IMMIGRATION CONSULTING INC.
EXPERT ASSISTANCE - ALL CANADIAN IMMIGRATION MATTERS
CARI GOMBINSKY
Owner/Licensed Consultant
R411207
carig@immsol.com
1183 Finch Avenue West Suite 508, Toronto M3J 2G2
IN CANADA SERVICES
• Family Class
• Extensions/Change of Status
• Permanent Residence
• Hearings and Appeals
• Humanitarian and Compassionate
• Caregiver Programs
• Citizenship Applications
JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY
higher increase in cases com-
pared to the September 2021
surge due to the Delta variant.
Alert Level 3 and most of them
have less than 40 percent vacci-
nation rate,” Vergeire said.
Below are the provinces and cit- Meantime, the NCR logged
ies under Alert Level 3 which saw a a steep increase in their hospi-
similar increase in infections that tal admissions with 60 percent
was observed in the NCR: hospital bed utilization and 58
“Ang mga lugar na may percent intensive care unit bed
mababang vaccination rates ay utilization.
kailangan maghanda para sa To protect NCR’s healthcare
kanilang mga (Areas with low system, the DOH earlier said
vaccination rates need to pre- vulnerable members of the
pare for their) hospital capaci- population would be priori-
ty. Eighteen out of 99 areas are tized in hospitalization.■
People queue up at a sidewalk along Anonas Street in Quezon City to get
Covid-19 jabs at the Quirino Elementary School on Wednesday (Jan. 5, 2022).
(RICO H. BORJA/PNA)
SOL GOMBINSKY ANNABELLE MIGALBIN
President and Licensed Consultant Immigration Services Manager
ICCRC ID: R411199 SERVICE IN PILIPINO
Immigration Specialist Since 1967 annabellem@immsol.com
Former manager, 647-765-1580
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
sollyg@immsol.com 416-661-6376
www.immsol.com
OUT OF CANADA SERVICES
• Permanent Residence
• Canadian Experience Class
• Federal Skilled Worker
• Skilled Trade Programs
• Visitors Visa
• Business
• Family Class
• Work Permits *Student Permits
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022 5

www.canadianinquirer.net
6 Philippine News JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY

3rd nat’l vax days NCR remains under below

possible if PH Alert Level 4 threshold:
misses 77M Palace
target before April
WALK-IN VACCINATION. Health workers administer a Johnson & Johnson
Covid-19 vaccine to the walk-in vaccinees during the vaccination drive at The
Tent, DIHS (former DNHS Main High School), Barangay Burol 1, City of Das-
marinas, Cavite on Tuesday (Jan. 18, 2022). (GIL CALINGA/PNA)
BY JOYCE ANN L.
ROCAMORA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – A third edition of
the national vaccination days is
another strategy the Philippine
government is looking at in case
it misses its target to fully vac-
cinate 77 million people before
April.
Acting Presidential Spokes-
person and Cabinet Secretary
Karlo Nograles on Wednesday
noted that the government
would also have to see the out-
put of its current “vaccination
demand generation” efforts.
“[I]f we see the need, halim-
bawa matatapos na ang first
quarter ng 2022 at hindi pa
nararating ‘yong 77 million (for
example we haven’t reached the
targeted 77 million before the
first quarter of 2022 ends) then
perhaps it’s one of the strategies
na i-co-consider natin (that we
would consider),” he said in a
television interview.
The first three-day massive
vaccination drive from Novem-
ber 29 to December 3 last year
was hailed as a success, where-
in about 9.9 million people re-
ceived the life-saving coronavi-
rus shots.
More than 7.4 million doses,
meanwhile, were administered
during its second run from
December 15 to 17 despite the
challenges posed by the on-
slaught of Typhoon Odette.
Nograles said the national gov-
ernment is determined to reach
the 77 million target of complete
doses before the elections, hope-
fully, by end of March.
“This is what we are pushing, to
reach 77 million, if not by the end
of the first quarter of 2022 at least
before the May election, our tar-
get is to fully vaccinate the adult
population,” he said in Filipino.
As of January 18, the country
has administered 120.6 million
doses and fully vaccinated over
56 million people.
The average daily dose in the
last seven days is currently pegged
at 762,526, according to the De-
partment of Health’s Covid-19
Vaccination Dashboard.
Among the fully vaccinated, a
total of 5,362,518 have received
their booster shots. ■
BY JOYCE ANN L.
ROCAMORA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The National
Capital Region (NCR) has not
yet reached the threshold to
trigger an Alert Level 4 escala-
tion as it maintains a below 70
percent bed utilization rate,
Malacañang said Wednesday.
Based on government param-
eters, Alert Level 4 is declared
when an area’s Covid-19 average
daily attack rate (ADAR) and two-
week growth rate reach high lev-
els, and its health care utilization
rate hits the 70 percent mark.
“Kapag pumalo na po ang la-
hat into high. Ibig sabihin high
‘yong ADAR, high ‘yong two-
week growth rate o critical at
high din ang bed utilization rate,
which is 71 percent total bed uti-
lization up, then that is the time
na i-elevate or escalate na na-
Pope Francis donates...
❰❰ 1 pression of the Holy
Father’s sentiment
of spiritual closeness
and paternal encouragement
towards the people and territo-
ries affected,” the Vatican said
in a statement.
During his Angelus last De-
cember 19, the Pope immedi-
ately extended prayers for the
victims of the disaster caused
by the typhoon.
At present, the social arms of
the church, including Caritas
Philippines and Caritas Manila,
are conducting relief, rehabil-
itation, and reconstruction in
the ten dioceses that were se-
verely damaged.
Caritas Manila has distribut-
ed up to PHP20 million in cash
tin to Alert Level 4 (If the three
metrics reaches high, the ADAR,
the two-week growth rate, and
bed utilization rate, which is 71
percent and up, then that is the
time we will escalate to Alert
Level 4),” Cabinet Secretary
Karlo Nograles, acting presiden-
tial spokesperson, said in a One
Balita interview on Wednesday.
“Sa NCR nasa moderate pa po
ang ating total bed utilization. So
hindi pa siya angkop at tumata-
ma sa high level of total bed uti-
lization kaya nga po nasa Alert
Level 3 pa po tayo (In NCR, our
total bed utilization is still mod-
erate. So it does not meet the high
level yet that’s why we are still in
Alert Level 3),” he added.
At present, at least 53 per-
cent of Metro Manila’s inten-
sive care unit beds are occu-
pied, including 48 percent of
its isolation beds and 60 per-
cent of ward beds dedicated for
Covid-19 patients.
assistance to the affected areas.
These are the Dioceses of Su-
rigao, Tagbilaran, and Talibon in
Bohol, Maasin, Cebu, Kabanka-
lan and Dumaguete in Negros
provinces, Taytay and Puerto
Princesa in Palawan and the
Archdiocese of Cagayan De Oro.
Pope Francis
Metro Manila remains under
Alert Level 3 until the end of
January 2022.
The government is also
closely monitoring other areas
outside Metro Manila, espe-
cially Calabarzon, Cordillera
Administrative Region, Cen-
tral Luzon, and Ilocos Region
where the ADAR and two-week
growth rates are high.
“Mataas ang kanilang two-
week growth rate at mataas din
ang kanilang ADAR but ‘yong
hospital bed utilization hin-
di pa tumatama sa high kaya
nananatili pa sa Alert Level 3. So
many of the provinces na nasa
Alert Level 3 ‘yon ang binaban-
tayan natin dahil sa indicators
na ‘yan (Their two-week growth
rate and ADAR are high but the
hospital bed utilization has not
yet hit high level that’s why they
are under Alert Level 3. We’re
monitoring these indicators),”
Nograles said. ■
On the other hand, Caritas
Philippines, headed by national
director Kidapawan Bishop Jose
Colin Bagaforo, continues to visit
affected areas to personally ex-
tend financial assistance and de-
termine the extent of the damage
from the recent calamity. ■
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022
Alert Level 3 displaces 11.5K workers: Bello
BY FERDINAND PATINIO
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Some 11,500 em-
ployees from the private sector
have been displaced due to the
Alert Level 3 Covid-19 classi-
fication in Metro Manila and
other areas of the country, De-
partment of Labor and Employ-
ment (DOLE) Secretary Silves-
tre Bello III said on Tuesday.
He said the number is way
below the Department of Trade
and Industry’s estimate that the
Alert Level 3 status will displace
100,000 to 200,000 workers.
“Fortunately, as of, I think
that was yesterday or Sunday,
the displaced workers because
of Alert Level 3 are only more
than 11,500 workers, they lost
their jobs because their compa-
ny, either retrenched or closed
the operation,” Bello said in a
virtual Palace press briefing.
Bello said there are also
workers who did not lose their
jobs but their working hours
or days have been reduced
“because their employers are
observing flexible working ar-
DFA says no Filipino
hurt in Tonga volcanic
eruption
BY JOYCE ANN L.
ROCAMORA
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – No Filipino casu-
alties have so far been reported
following the violent eruption of
an underwater volcano in Ton-
ga, the Department of Foreign
Affairs (DFA) said Wednesday.
The volcano, which lies be-
tween the islands of Hunga
Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai,
erupted last Saturday, trigger-
ing tsunamis and wave alerts in
several parts of the globe.
“As of 18 January, the Philip-
pine Embassy in Wellington has
received no reports of casualties
or injuries in the Filipino com-
munity in Tonga and Samoa,”
the DFA said in a statement.
The Embassy received infor-
rangement.”
“So, although their status of
employment is there, their in-
come is lesser because of the
lesser working hours,” he added.
He said about 20,000 workers
have been affected due to the
flexible working arrangement.
“But there is also some bad
news. There are almost, I think
600 plus (establishments) that
have stopped or closed opera-
tions,” he said.
Bello said the DOLE will be
accepting affected workers un-
der its Covid-19 Adjustment
Measures Program (CAMP).
“With Alert Level 3 extend-
ing its period and coverage, the
DOLE set aside PHP1 billion
Covid-19 Adjustment Measures
Program (CAMP) to provide a
one-time PHP5,000.00 finan-
cial assistance for workers in
the formal sector. We will start
accepting applications anytime
soon once the guidelines are
published,” he said during the
Task Force Group of Economic
Recovery-National Employ-
ment Recovery Strategy virtual
press conference on Tuesday.
He said they also implement-
mation from the Association
of Filipinos in Tonga Inc. “that
every Filipino citizen in the
Kingdom of Tonga has been ac-
counted for and that there are
currently no casualties”.
Internet and international
calls, meanwhile, are still un-
available in the country.
This said, the Embassy con-
tinues to exhaust efforts to con-
tact Filipinos in Tonga primari-
ly using its emergency satellite
phone.
Indications show that it
might take two weeks before
the communications system is
fully restored in the Pacific is-
land country, the DFA said.
“The Department of Foreign
Affairs, through the Philippine
Embassy in Wellington, will
continue to closely monitor the
situation in Tonga, to ensure
DOLE Sec. Silvestre Bello III (PCOO)
ed PHP120 million emergency
employment or TUPAD (Tu-
long Panghanapbuhay sa Ating
Disadvantag ed/Displaced)
with some 25,000 beneficiaries
receiving their wages already.
For tourism workers, the
DOLE also allocated PHP50
million for emergency employ-
ment also under TUPAD in ty-
phoon-stricken areas, and an-
other PHP50 million for CAMP
in NCR.
“Recent events such as Ty-
phoon Odette and the sudden
surge of Covid-19 cases due to
the continued safety of our ka-
babayans,” it added.
The DFA said there are at
least 87 Filipinos in Tonga, 300
in Samoa, and 400 in Fiji.
The United Nations report-
ed that the massive volcanic
eruption was heard as far away
as Alaska, while the tsunami
caused by the blast flooded
coastlines in Japan and the
United States, also killing two
people in Peru. However, it not-
ed that it’s still “too soon” to as-
sess the damage.
“So far in Tonga, no official
contact has been established
with two small low-lying is-
lands Mango and Fonoi, al-
though surveillance flights by
New Zealand and Australia
have revealed substantial dam-
age along western beaches,” it
said in a January 17 report.■
www.canadianinquirer.net
Philippine News
the Omicron variant were seen
to derail our economic and em-
ployment recovery. While the
Omicron variant is threatening
our gains, Typhoon Odette exac-
erbated the situation,” Bello said.
“The huge damage brought
about by Typhoon Odette, es-
timated by the International
Labour Organization at 2.2
million workers, and the rising
Covid-19 infections that greatly
affects the capacity of private
sector establishments strain
the labor market greatly. All the
more that the DOLE, and the
‘Odette’-displaced
families hit 2.3M:
NDRRMC
BY PRIAM NEPOMUCENO
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The number of
families affected by Typhoon
Odette has reached a total of
2,336,249, more than a month af-
ter it swept through many areas
in the Visayas and Mindanao.
In its update released on
Wednesday, the agency said
this is equivalent to 8,329,076
individuals.
These affected families are
in 8,910 barangays in Mima-
ropa, Bicol, Western Visayas,
Central Visayas, Eastern Vi-
sayas, Zamboanga Peninsula,
Northern Mindanao, Davao re-
gion, Soccsksargen, Caraga, and
the Bangsamoro Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao
(BARMM).
7
entire government, will contin-
ue to work hand-in-hand with
the private sector and our social
partners, to address these chal-
lenges before us,” he said.
He said the priority interven-
tions in the next six months in-
clude immediate implementa-
tion of calamity and pandemic
response and recovery initia-
tives.
“We are also committed to
complete the construction of
the OFW Hospital, a lasting leg-
acy of the Duterte Administra-
tion to our modern-day heroes.
We will continue to support the
National Task Force Against
Covid-19’s vaccination roll-out
and booster shots, particular-
ly for our workers; and ensure
strict adherence of businesses
and workers to minimum pub-
lic health standards, and occu-
pational safety and health poli-
cies,” he said.
Also present during the vir-
tual press briefing of Recovery
Cluster were DTI Secretary Ra-
mon Lopez among others. The
program was presented by the
Presidential Communications
Operations Office. ■
Families still inside the 1,170
evacuation centers are placed
at 58,511 while those being aid-
ed outside are at 32,842 with
the remainder being helped by
families and friends.
The number of deaths con-
firmed to “Odette” are placed
at 87 along with 193 injured and
six missing.
Still undergoing validation
are reports of 319 dead along
with 1,072 injured and 59 miss-
ing.
Damaged houses were placed
1,369,433 in Mimaropa, West-
ern Visayas, Central Visayas,
Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga
Peninsula, Northern Mindan-
ao, Davao region, Soccsksargen,
Caraga and BARMM.
Of these, 1,024,783 were clas-
sified as partially damaged and
344,650 as totally damaged. ■
8 Philippine News JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY

PRRD OKs expansion of limited

F2F classes by February
BY AZER PARROCHA es,” he added. nated teachers and non-teaching per-
Philippine News Agency During Duterte’s prerecorded Talk to sonnel will be allowed to participate.
Correspondent/Hosts the People aired Monday night, Briones Meanwhile, she also recommended
Bea Kirstein T. Manalaysay
Joanna Belle Deala described the pilot run of limited F2F that vaccinated students will be pre-
Kathleen Mae Guerrero MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte classes as “highly successful”, noting ferred to participate during the expan-
Arianne Grace Lacanilao has approved the recommendation of the that there was a high level of attendance sion phase.
Violeta Arevelo
Babes Newland Department of Education (DepEd) to ex- among students. Last month, Duterte said he was
Matte Laurel pand limited face-to-face (F2F) classes in She said a total of 287 schools and pleased with the “gradual” rollout of pi-
Graphic Design
areas under Alert Levels 1 and 2 by Febru- 15,000 students participated in the pilot lot limited face-to-face classes.
Shanice Garcia ary, Malacañang said Tuesday. run. There were no confirmed Covid-19 “I’m glad that they have thought
Ginno Alcantara This, after DepEd Secretary Leonor cases among the participants of the pilot of this just dahan-dahan lang, huwag
Arlnie Colleene Talain Singca
Briones proposed the “progressive ex- implementation. masyadong mabilis kasi (gradually, not
Account Manager pansion” of in-person classes in areas For the expanded phase, Briones said too fast because of ) just the better part
Kristopher Yong under Alert Levels 1 and 2 following the she has recommended that only vacci- of prudence,” he said. ■
Director/Producer
positive outcome of the pilot run from
Boom Dayupay Nov. 15 to Dec. 22, 2021.
Schools in areas under Alert Level 3--
Photographers/Videographers
Ginno Alcantara
such as Metro Manila--will not be includ-
ed in the expansion phase due to a surge
Operations and Admin of Covid-19 infection in these areas.
Victoria Yong “Walang objection si Pangulo doon
Amelia Insigne
(The President has no objection to the rec-
Management ommendation),” Cabinet Secretary Karlos
Alan Yong Nograles, acting Presidential spokesper-
son, said in a Palace press briefing.
Nograles, however, said F2F classes
For photo submissions, please email
will only be allowed with concurrence of
editor@canadianinquirer.net local government units (LGUs) and con-
sent of parents and other stakeholders.
For General Inquiries, please email
info@canadianinquirer.net
“It will be the DepEd and the [Depart-
ment of Health] combined that will be
For Sales Inquiries, please email assessing the expansion of pilot imple- Grade 1 pupils sit in chairs with desks installed with plastic barriers while attending class at the La
sales@canadianinquirer.net
or visit
mentation nung (of ) face-to-face class- Huerta Elementary School in Parañaque City on Monday (Dec. 6, 2021). (AVITO DALAN/PNA)
‘www.canadianinquirer.net/advertise-with-us/’

Guanzon denies delaying release

Philippine Canadian Inquirer is located at
#1820-666 Burrard Street
Vancouver BC V6C 2X8 Canada

of ruling on Marcos DQ cases

Email: info@canadianinquirer.net,
sales@canadianinquirer.net

Instagram: @pcinews_ig

Twitter: @pcinews_twt
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/pcinews
Philippine Canadian Inquirer is published weekly
every Friday.
Copies are distributed free throughout Metro
Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Greater Toronto.
The views and opinions expressed in the articles
(including opinions expressed in ads herein) are those
of the authors named, and are not necessarily those of
Philippine Canadian Inquirer Editorial Team.
PCI reserves the right to reject any advertising which
it considers to contain false or misleading information
or involves unfair or unethical practices. The advertiser
agrees the publisher shall not be liable for damages
arising out of error in any advertisement.
Member
BY FERDINAND PATINIO
Philippine News Agency
MANILA – An official of the Com-
mission on Elections (Comelec) on
Wednesday shrugged off claims that
they are delaying the resolution of the
disqualification cases against presiden-
tial aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong”
Marcos Jr., to allegedly favor one party.
“So it is not correct to say that we are
delaying in order to favor one party,”
said First Division Presiding Commis-
sioner Rowena Guanzon in a Facebook
live video.
At the same time, she added that the
cases filed against the former senator
which are pending before the First
and Second Divisions have different
grounds.
“The case that was filed in the second
division, the only issue is whether Mar-
cos Jr. made a false statement or false
material representation. The case we
are handling, those are disqualification
cases, the cancellation of the certificate
of candidacy has different grounds, they
have different disqualification grounds
according to the law,” she added.
... it is not correct to say
that we are delaying in
order to favor one party,
Guanzon said in case the respondent has
been disqualified, he can be substituted.
“He can be substituted as long as the
substitute belongs to the same party and
has the same last name. They do not have
to be related as long as they have the same
last name and the same political party.
The cancellation of COC, no substitution,
in disqualification there is substitution
before noon of May 9, 2022 provided that
they belong to the same political party
and surname,” she added.
Guanzon, however, said the rulings
of the division are still appealable to
the Commission en banc.
Earlier, Guanzon said the ruling on
the disqualification cases filed by Bon-
ifacio Ilagan and others, Akbayan par-
ty, and Abubakar Mangelen is set to be
out by the middle of January.
However, Comelec Education and
Information Department director
Elaiza David on Monday said the draft
of the decision is not ready yet as some
staff members of one of the commis-
sioners handling the case contracted
coronavirus.
On Monday, the poll body’s Second
Division denied the petition filed by Fr.
Christian Buenafe, among others to can-
cel the COC of Marcos for lack of merit. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022
Canada’s pandemic recovery urgently
needs a national school meal program
BY AMBERLEY T. RUETZ,
University of Saskatchewan
The Conversation
COVID-19 has exposed yet
again the critical importance of
Canada catching up with other
G7 nations by developing and
implementing a national school
meal program.
School meal programs meet
a variety of children’s critical
needs. For example, Dr. Rosa-
na Salvaterra, now Alberta’s
deputy chief medical officer of
health, and formerly medical
officer of health in Peterbor-
ough, Ont., has written, “this
pandemic has taught us not
only about physical health, but
also the importance of healthy
eating, mental health, social
connection and learning for
our kids. So, what is one ingre-
dient needed for all of these,
and overall student well-being?
Healthy school food.”
In 2017, UNICEF ranked
Canada 37th out of the 41
wealthiest nations for chil-
dren’s access to nutritious
food. Pre-pandemic, children
from all socio-economic back-
grounds had poor
diets. In the contin-
ued wake of the pan-
demic, stable fund-
ing for a national
school meal program School meal programs
is needed now more
than ever.
meet a variety of
Internationally, children’s critical needs.
school meals have
shown to be one of
the most successful
drivers of improved
health, education
and economic growth, with the
equivalent of a $3 to $10 return
on every dollar invested.
Canada should move swiftly
to join the other G7 countries,
and the majority of the mem-
bers of the Organization for
Economic Co-operation and
Development, with a national
school meal program.
Financial promise not yet
allocated
Canada News
In December, Prime Min-
ister Justin Trudeau tasked
both Minister of Agriculture
and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude
Bibeau, and Minister of Fami-
lies, Children and Social Devel-
opment, Karina Gould, with de-
veloping a national school food
policy and working towards a
national school nutritious meal
program.
This followed his October
2021 election platform com-
mitment of spending $1 billion
over five years to work with
“provincial, territorial, munic-
ipal, Indigenous partners and
stakeholders to develop a na-
tional school food policy and
work towards a national school
nutritious meal program.”
Two ministers now have for-
mal and explicit directives that
confirm school meals are now
a key federal priority. While it
would have been good to also see
Health Minister Jean-Yves Du-
clos given this mandate too, it is
encouraging that his ministry is
mandated to advance the healthy
eating strategy, which could be
effectively achieved through
school food programming.
These mandates begin to lay
the basis of the government
spending its $1 billion election
pledge, which if implemented,
would be the largest food policy
commitment in Canadian history.
It has been over two years
since the federal government
first announced its intention
to “work toward creating a na-
tional school food program” in
budget 2019.
This pledge was named as a
key program to “help Canadi-
an communities access healthy
food,” the first of the four action
areas that comprise Canada’s
first food policy. School food,
however, was the only program
in the food policy that did not
receive funding.
It is time for our government
to act on its pledge.
Students need equal access
My recent analysis of school
food programs in Canada, the
most comprehensive analysis
since the 1990s, found there
is a startling disparity and
inequitable access to these
health-promoting breakfast,
snack and lunch programs in
schools. School food policy pi-
oneer Mary McKenna and I
found that student participa-
tion rates vary widely, ranging
from five per cent in Alberta to
83 per cent in the Yukon.
The good news is that at least
one ministry or department in
every province and territory has
provided funding for these free
school meal programs, and in
2018/19 this totalled over $93
million, making the provinces
and territories the largest funder
of school meals in Canada.
While this amount
may sound like a
lot, it only breaks
down to an average
of $0.48 cents per
student per school
day. This is inade-
quate. Only one-fifth
of elementary and
secondary students
can currently partic-
ipate, due to limited
funding.
Next steps
In the near term, I see two
feasible and necessary next
steps. First, the minister of
families, children and social de-
velopment should start devel-
oping federal-provincial/ter-
ritorial accords, similar to the
early learning and child care
agreements.
This step is important to en-
able the development of a ro-
bust, sustainable program as
www.canadianinquirer.net
opposed to a short-term emer-
gency measure. Through the es-
tablishment of shared program
principles, this approach would
increase the consistency of pro-
gramming across Canada.
If adequately funded, these
accords would be an effective
means of comprehensively im-
plementing Canada’s 2019 Food
Guide by including students in
food preparation and providing
complementary food literacy
education; efforts supported
by departments of education
in the United States. Local food
procurement targets could be
developed by each province and
territory, specific to the region
and circumstances, to moti-
vate the procurement of local,
healthy food in schools.
Second, the minister of ag-
riculture and agri-food could
create a dedicated school food
infrastructure fund, akin to the
Local Food Infrastructure Fund
allocated through the food policy.
Schools lack infrastructure
As Jess Haines, professor of
applied human nutrition, and I
note in the Arrell Food Institute’s
Report on School Food in Cana-
da, most schools lack the neces-
sary infrastructure and staffing
to support healthy eating and
teach food skills in an integrated
and comprehensive manner.
9
In 2020, the Coalition for
Healthy School Food called on
the federal government for a
one-time school food fund of
$200 million for infrastructure,
such as kitchens and cafeterias,
greenhouses, appliances and
tools, and eating spaces, as well
as pilot projects. In 2014, the
United Kingdom did something
similar, committing the equiva-
lent of more than $300 million
for school kitchens and din-
ing facilities and contributing
$2.70 for each meal served.
The investment in school food
infrastructure would help en-
hance existing programs, expand
programming as well as provide a
substantial boost to our agricul-
tural, food service and construc-
tion sectors across the country.
As there are schools in every
community, a universal nation-
al school meal program would
be a geographically equitable
way to support families, indus-
tries and the long-term vitality
of local economies and food sys-
tems across Canada.
This is a rare opportunity
to influence the eating habits
of children across Canada; we
should use it. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
10
Federal public service leaves
work-from-home decision to departments
BY KATHRYN MAY
Policy Options
Thirteen unions have been
calling for more guidance from
Treasury Board for clearer,
more consistent work-from-
home guidelines.
OTTAWA – Treasury Board
president Mona Fortier says
she won’t issue a blanket man-
datory order for all federal de-
partments to allow employees
to work from home for the rest
of the pandemic if their jobs can
be done from home.
In a letter to unions, Fortier
said such a one-size-fits-all ap-
proach won’t work for some 100
departments and agencies. Each
department has a different man-
date and operational require-
ments. Also, deputy ministers
are responsible for their depart-
ments, including the health and
safety of employees.
“Recognizing that each de-
partment will have its own op-
erational requirements, there
can be no one-size-fits-all ap-
proach, and as it has been the
case throughout the pandemic,
there are some public servants
whose work cannot be done
remotely,” Fortier wrote in her
letter sent in late December.
Fortier was responding to a
Dec. 17 letter from 13 unions that
asked the Treasury Board’s Office
of the Chief Resources Officer
(OCHRO) to send a clear order to
deputy ministers that employees
who can work from home (tele-
work in government parlance)
should be able to do so, now and
for future waves to come.
The 13 unions argue that
working from home, if possi-
ble, should be mandatory for
the remainder of the pandemic
as it was when public servants
were first sent home to work in
March 2020.
Canada News
With the vaccine mandate in
place, departments had been
slowly phasing in back-to-of-
fice plans and bringing peo-
ple back to the office when the
highly infectious Omicron vari-
ant hit. As the Christmas break
approached, the government
issued new guidelines encour-
aging departments to put plans
to return more workers to the
office on hold and to review ex-
isting levels of staffing in feder-
al workplaces.
The guidelines urged depart-
ments to “consider increasing
remote work as required.” De-
partments were asked to be
flexible, adjust plans if trans-
mission rates increase and take
into account local public health
advice. It also urged public ser-
vants to get booster shots when
eligible, wear masks indoors,
avoid non-essential interna-
tional travel and large gather-
ings, such as conferences and
training events.
For now, the unions’ con-
cerns are moot. Public servants
who can do their jobs from
home are doing so as Omicron
tightens its grip. They worry,
however, about what happens
in the coming months, with no
end to the pandemic in sight.
Dany Richard, president of
the Association of Canadian Fi-
nancial Officers, said the Omi-
cron rampage makes it even
more important for the govern-
ment to take a clear stance on
managing a hybrid workforce
for the coming months.
Such viruses may be here
to stay, making some workers
more anxious about returning
to the office for fear of infec-
tion. They would rather work at
home than risk commutes and
sharing office space.
“Everyone has gone back
to telework now, which is
great, but it’s only a matter of
JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY
time before they start lifting three kids and want nothing to take long for employees to com-
(COVID-19) restrictions and do with telework and to want to plain that they can’t work at
we will be faced with the same work in the office, said Richard. home when colleagues in other
problem all over again,” said “We need to have that dialogue departments can.
Richard. and make that assessment even “The departments that scare
The unions’ long game, how- before we look at re-entry to the me are the ones that are waiting
ever, is that employees will office.” because they don’t know how
permanently have the option With the lack of direction, this reintegration will work
to work remotely as the govern- Richard said departments are all and aren’t making the assess-
ment shifts to a hybrid work- over the map. Some have return- ments,” said Richard. “This is
force as the pandemic eases to-work plans and have assessed why we want OCHRO to make
and moves to the new normal. jobs to see what tasks can be these centralized decisions and
That’s a big and controversial done at home and in the office. say ‘you need to start assessing
change, however, which would Some want workers back in every single position.’”
mean rewriting rules, policies the office a couple days a week There is no date for depart-
and collective agreements. while others have decided to ments to resume their re-
Unions and some managers wing it, bring people back and turn-to-workers plans. ■
alike have questioned OCHRO’s see what works.
hands-off approach, leaving it It’s created confusion that This article was produced
up to departments to decide could lead to conflicts, com- with support from the Accen-
how they want to move to a hy- plaints and undermine employ- ture Fellowship on the Future of
brid workforce. ee safety. the Public Service. Read more of
“We have seen inconsisten- Departments may all be dif- Kathryn’s columns here.
cies across departments about ferent, but the work of accoun- This article first appeared
how telework should be applied tants or data analysts, for ex- on Policy Options and is repub-
due to Treasury Board’s vague ample, is similar wherever they lished here under a Creative
guidelines and lack of direc- work, said Richard. It won’t Commons license.
tion,” said the union letter. “Our
position is clear and consistent
with your prior position: if pub-
lic service employees have the
option to telework, they should
telework whenever possible.
“This will ensure that em-
ployees can stay safe and abide
by public health directives, all
while continuing to maintain
the high and undisrupted level of
service they have been delivering
throughout the pandemic.”
Unions want departments
to get a handle on what work
can be done at home and what
must be done in the office. The
only way to do that is to direct
departments to assess all jobs
before they start bringing em-
ployees back to the office.
After that, they should ask
employees whose jobs could be
done from home if they want to
work remotely.
“Someone could live in a
one-bedroom apartment, have (@MONAFORTIER/TWITTER)
www.canadianinquirer.net
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022
Building on Canada’s electrical advantage
BY BLAKE SHAFFER,
JASON DION
Policy Options
A clean electricity standard
and carbon pricing are two
ways the federal government
could deliver on its net-zero
emissions pledge for the sector.
Electricity is the shining light
of Canadian climate policy.
While overall greenhouse gas
emissions in Canada have risen
since 1990, emissions from the
electricity sector have fallen by
more than one-third — even as
the population and economy
have grown. A mix of regula-
tions (e.g., Ontario’s coal phase-
out) and more stringent carbon
pricing are behind this trend.
The federal government
wants to go further by setting
a goal of net-zero emissions in
the sector by 2035. But how can
it deliver on this target when
the provinces face very differ-
ent challenges and electricity is
provincially regulated?
One option that has been dis-
cussed recently is a “clean elec-
tricity standard,” a regulation
on allowable emissions from
electricity generators across
the country. This is squarely in
federal jurisdiction under the
Canadian Environmental Pro-
tection Act of 1999, as is the sec-
ond option, carbon pricing, per
the Supreme Court decision in
2021. Together, these two poli-
cy levers would give the federal
government the tools it needs to
deliver on net-zero electricity.
So, how should the federal
government use these two op-
tions to achieve net-zero emis-
sions in the power sector by
2035? We argue it should do so
by strengthening its approach
to carbon pricing in the elec-
tricity sector, and by putting
a clean electricity standard in
a supporting role. We unpack
each policy in turn.
Strengthen carbon pricing
Perhaps nowhere is the effect
of carbon pricing as clear as in
the power sector. By raising the
marginal cost of carbon-emit-
ting power generation, the mix of
generation is shifted toward low-
er carbon options. Evidence from
the U.K. shows its carbon-price
floor (specific to the electricity
sector and on top of the EU-wide
carbon-pricing scheme) was in-
strumental to the country’s rapid
move away from coal power. In
Alberta, too, the provincial car-
bon-pricing scheme implement-
ed in 2018 led to a marked decline
in coal-fired generation. By 2023,
the province expects all coal-
fired generation to be gone, well
ahead of the 2030 coal phaseout
deadline.
Yet, Alberta’s example illus-
trates one of the deficiencies of
the current suite of policies in
terms of a net-zero future: much
of the coal-fired generation is be-
ing replaced by generation from
natural gas. This leads to lower
emissions, to be sure, but it’s still
a far cry from the goal of net-zero.
The question is: Can carbon
pricing go even further? Is it capa-
ble of achieving the federal goal of
net-zero emissions by 2035?
A first critical step would be
to strengthen the way the fed-
eral carbon price is applied in
the electricity sector. Under
the federal policy, electricity
generators in Canada fall un-
der a carbon-pricing scheme
called the output-based pric-
ing system (OBPS). The specif-
ic way that the federal OBPS is
currently applied in electricity
has design issues that under-
mine its effectiveness. It’s also
not clear why the sector needs
the OBPS treatment in the first
place, because electricity does
not meet the standard of be-
ing an emissions-intensive and
trade-exposed sector that war-
rants OBPS treatment, unlike
sectors such as steel or cement.
Granted, the current approach
helps reduce electricity price
impacts, but it also reduces the
effectiveness of the policy.
By doing away with OBPS for
the electricity sector altogether,
the federal government could
considerably strengthen the ef-
fectiveness of its carbon-pricing
policy. Removing the current
OBPS treatment would ensure
the emissions differences of the
various types of power gener-
ation were properly reflected,
and it would remove the distor-
tions created by current policy.
To avoid consumer price
impacts and large interprovin-
cial transfers, all the revenue
collected could simply remain
in-province (as is the current ap-
proach under the federal carbon
levy) and be returned directly to
electricity consumers on their
bills. The result of these changes
would be that while the price of
power would rise, the ultimate
cost to end users would be off-
set by the consumer rebate. This
follows the model of California,
Calgary Power’s dam at Lake Minnewanka, Alberta, 1912 (GLENBOW ARCHIVES,
PD-365-2-80)
where power generators face a
carbon price, but distribution
utilities return the carbon reve-
nues to consumers.
The net effect of doing away
with the OBPS in electricity and
returning carbon-price revenues
from the electricity sector to pro-
vincial ratepayers would be 1) in-
creased incentive to reduce emis-
sions from power generation,
and 2) protection of consumers
and businesses from significant
increases in electricity prices.
Because the federal policy
would act as the benchmark for
assessing whether provincial
policies were equivalent, this
change would ensure that pro-
vincial policies were (or became)
equally strong. As long as elec-
tricity regulators were directed
to not consider the effects of the
rebate when weighing utility in-
vestment decisions, there would
be no concern about the rebates
undermining the overall imper-
ative to reduce emissions.
But even with these chang-
es an additional step may be
required. Alberta’s provincial
carbon-pricing policy for elec-
tricity, for example, avoids the
shortcomings of the federal ap-
proach. Yet, in that province,
new natural gas-fired capacity is
being built (i.e., beyond coal-to-
gas retrofits) that is unlikely to
remain competitive as climate
policy stringency tightens in
line with stated federal targets.
This raises the question: Why
would any generation company
or provincial utility be con-
sidering building a generating
facility using natural gas right
now? A significant part of the
answer is because of uncertain-
ty over future carbon policy.
Case in point: while the fed-
eral government has declared
www.canadianinquirer.net
Canada News
that prices will rise to $170 per
tonne by 2030, the government
of Alberta only recently set out
its carbon-price path to 2022;
its price path beyond this year
remains uncertain. Even if a
$170-by-2030 carbon price
was the active policy across
the land, investors and utilities
might still be uncertain as to
the political durability of that
policy. After all, it was only a
few months ago that an election
was held that, with a different
outcome, would likely have
changed the outlook for future
federal carbon prices.
Reducing policy uncertainty
would help drive investment
decisions that are more in line
with stated policy and emis-
sions targets. One key way the
government could do this is
through financial instruments,
for example via the Canada In-
frastructure Bank (CIB), that
guarantee future carbon pric-
es. Effectively, the CIB would
take on the risk of 2030 carbon
prices being below $170. Inves-
tors could then be assured that
they would not be affected by
potential future policy rever-
sals. Policy certainty would im-
prove even for those who didn’t
secure these kinds of contracts,
because once others did, they
would see that any future gov-
ernment had a credible reason
to maintain its policy path (i.e.,
to avoid the financial losses as-
sociated with reversing course).
In short, using financial in-
struments could smartly place
the policy risk where it is best
held, with government, leav-
ing firms to invest according
to “fixed” future carbon prices
– strengthening carbon pric-
ing simply by making its future
path more certain.
11
Implement a perfor-
mance-standard regulation
While more stringent carbon
pricing, coupled with more cer-
tainty on future prices, could
do most of the heavy lifting in
eliminating emissions from the
electricity sector, it couldn’t
guarantee that the 2035 net-ze-
ro target will be met.
A performance-standard reg-
ulation for the electricity sec-
tor (such as the proposed but
still undefined clean electrici-
ty standard) could backstop a
strengthened carbon price by
ensuring the 2035 target for
net-zero electricity production
is reached. It could also help
to resolve policy uncertainty,
to the extent that firms believe
regulations are less likely to be
repealed than carbon pricing.
The performance standard
could be applied in two tranches.
First, the clean electricity
standard could set a limit on the
emission intensity of all newly
constructed generation facili-
ties. The level could be set lower
than that of unabated natural
gas (to rule out construction
of new gas capacity) but leave
room for near–zero technology,
such as carbon capture or cer-
tain forms of hydrogen. Setting
the limit this way would avoid
letting the costs of new natu-
ral gas assets fall on ratepayers
(or taxpayers) in the event that
those assets were later stranded.
Second, the clean electricity
standard could ratchet down
such that by 2035 all new and
existing facilities would need to
be net-zero. Regulated facilities
could comply in part (if they
chose) by procuring negative
emissions, and the allowable
types of emissions offsets, as
well as procurement and valida-
tion protocols would be clearly
laid out in the regulation. This
compliance flexibility is critical
to avoid large electricity price
spikes or reliability problems
in the event that non-emit-
ting sources of dispatchable, or
“on-demand” generation and
other types of flexibility that can
help manage the variability of
renewables are not sufficiently
advanced by 2035 to cost-ef-
fectively displace the relatively
small amount of gas-fired gen-
eration that might remain eco-
nomically viable under a high
carbon price. It would allow
electricity systems to use some
❱❱ PAGE 12 Building on Canada’s
 12
How Canada should be preparing
to help young Afghan refugees
BY EMILY PELLEY,
Canadian Forces College
The Conversation
The government of Cana-
da has committed to bringing
40,000 Afghan refugees to Can-
ada. To date, almost 6,500 have
arrived since August 2021.
With the arrival of such a large
cohort of refugees, there’s been
more attention paid to the ser-
vices that exist for them in com-
munities across the country.
This of course is not the first
time Canada has welcomed a
large number of refugees. Be-
tween 2015 and 2018, for exam-
ple, 58,650 Syrian refugees were
resettled across the country.
Similar to the situation with
Syrian refugees, Canada is an-
ticipating more young refugees
in the coming months. Accord-
ing to Immigration, Refugees
and Citizenship Canada (IRCC),
more than half of all refugees
who arrive in Canada are un-
der the age of 18. These young
people are a unique part of the
newcomer population, and un-
derstanding their needs can
help communities become more
effective in supporting them.
How to support children
and youth
Young refugees from Syr-
Building on Canada’s...
❰❰ 11 fossil generation —
sparingly, with volume
limits to keep emis-
sions in check, and fully offset —
when other options are scarce.
This kind of simple perfor-
mance standard for the emis-
sion intensity of power plants
operating in Canada could serve
as the model for the clean elec-
tricity standard promised by the
federal government. It would
Canada News
ia sparked my research in this
area. Through my PhD research
at Dalhousie University, I want-
ed to better understand how
Canada was prepared to receive
and support refugee children
and youth coming from coun-
tries devastated by war and
armed conflict.
I focused on Halifax, N.S., as a
case study to show how smaller
urban centres supported the in-
tegration of young refugees.
I compiled a complete list of
organizations that participat-
ed in helping to settle young
refugees. I developed it by
looking at the different types
of needs they’d have (for exam-
ple, physical, mental, emotion-
al or spiritual needs, and those
involving social connections in
the community, as well as their
education).
The application of resilience
theory in this research was very
important. Resilience theory
argues that resilience doesn’t
just describe a personality trait.
It’s a combination of personal
and social resources that inter-
act to have a positive impact on
someone’s well-being.
The notion that resilience
is a quality someone possess-
es — rather than something
facilitated by families, schools,
communities and governments
provide a backstop to a strength-
ened carbon price by ensuring
delivery of net-zero electricity by
2035, while still letting market
incentives from carbon pricing
play the primary role in driving
cost-effective emissions reduc-
tions. By providing a measure of
flexibility, it would ensure that
the 2035 target could be met in a
way that would not impact elec-
tricity system reliability.
— oversimplifies the challenges
of young people who have faced
serious adversity. So we can
think about services available
to young refugees as resilience
“resources,” located in different
parts of the young person’s en-
vironment, and how those re-
sources can be strengthened to
better support their well-being.
This is where there’s potential
for service providers. The ser-
vices provided to young refugees
contribute to the resilience re-
sources in their environments,
affecting their well-being. That
means the ability of service pro-
viders to offer support to young
refugees helps them engage with
those resources, which in turn
builds resilience.
Policy-makers and services
providers should therefore re-
gard resettlement and integra-
tion support as a way to make
resilience resources available
to young refugees that could
ultimately ensure positive out-
comes.
Working together
In my book Finding Safe Har-
bour, to be published on Feb. 15,
2022, I present some important
findings from my research on
how communities in Canada
should work together to sup-
port the long-term integration
of young refugees.
Making smart use of avail-
able tools
The federal government has
already put carbon pricing at
the centre of its greenhouse
gas emission-reduction strate-
gy. So, rather than building an
elaborate clean electricity stan-
dard that would duplicate much
of what a strengthened carbon
price could do, the federal gov-
ernment should strengthen its
www.canadianinquirer.net
Effective integration re-
quires support for newcomers,
and specifically refugees, to ex-
ist not just via settlement ser-
vice organizations but across
public services and sectors
throughout communities.
When my research was com-
pleted, I worked with a group
of young people who had come
to Halifax as refugees to run
a public youth forum. Halifax
residents were invited to come
and learn about what these
young refugees had experi-
enced, both when they left their
birthplaces and when they set-
tled in the city.
The young people who
helped run the event spoke
about how the opportunity to
be heard had made a huge im-
pact on them and made them
feel like valuable members of
the community.
This is an important reminder
of the importance of meaningful-
existing approach to carbon
pricing in the sector. An opti-
mal clean electricity standard,
for its part, will be one that
complements carbon pricing,
rather than substitutes for it.
Of course, these are not
the only roles for the feder-
al government in electricity.
Enabling better integration
between provinces through
co-ordination and expanded
JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY
ly engaging with young refugees
in the development of policy, the
creation of services and the deliv-
ery of those services. Their voic-
es and input are integral to how
communities respond to them
and support them.
Halifax and many other cities
across the country have the ca-
pacity to provide better integra-
tion support for young refugees
as they arrive in Canada. With
Canadian cities of all sizes be-
coming more diverse, local in-
stitutions need to actively pro-
mote integration and prevent
the exclusion of newcomers.
With more cultural aware-
ness and intentional collabo-
ration, the community at large
can be an effective resource
for bolstering the resilience of
these young people. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
transmission is another. Stay
tuned for a deeper dive on using
federal and provincial policy to
align electricity systems with
net-zero in a forthcoming re-
port by the Canadian Institute
for Climate Choices. ■
This article first appeared
on Policy Options and is repub-
lished here under a Creative
Commons license.
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022
The Tonga volcanic eruption has revealed
the vulnerabilities in our global
telecommunication system
BY DALE DOMINEY-
HOWES, University of
Sydney
The Conversation
In the wake of a violent vol-
canic eruption in Tonga, much
of the communication with res-
idents on the islands remains
at a standstill. In our modern,
highly-connected world, more
than 95% of global data transfer
occurs along fibre-optic cables
that criss-cross through the
world’s oceans.
Breakage or interruption
to this critical infrastructure
can have catastrophic local,
regional and even global con-
sequences. This is exactly what
has happened in Tonga follow-
ing Saturday’s volcano-tsunami
disaster. But this isn’t the first
time a natural disaster has cut
off critical submarine cables,
and it won’t be the last.
The video below shows the
incredible spread of submarine
cables around the planet – with
more than 885,000 kilometres
of cable laid down since 1989.
These cables cluster in narrow
corridors and pass between so-
Diplomatic talks for denuclearization of
Korean Peninsula pushed
XINHUA
Philippine News Agency
UNITED NATIONS – UN
Secretary-General Antonio Gu-
terres calls for diplomatic talks
between the Democratic Peo-
ple’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)
and all parties concerned to-
ward the denuclearization of
the Korean Peninsula, said his
spokesman on Monday.
World News
called critical “choke points”
which leave them vulnerable
to a number of natural hazards
including volcanic eruptions,
underwater landslides, earth-
quakes and tsunamis.
What exactly has hap-
pened in Tonga?
Tonga was only connected to
the global submarine telecom-
munication network in the last
decade. Its islands have been
heavily reliant on this system
as it is more stable than other
technologies such as satellite
and fixed infrastructure.
The situation in Tonga right
now is still fluid, and certain de-
tails have yet to be confirmed –
but it seems one or more volcanic
processes (such as the tsunami,
submarine landslide or other un-
derwater currents) have snapped
the 872km long fibre-optic cable
connecting Tonga to the rest of
the world. The cable system was
not switched off or disconnected
by the authorities.
This has had a massive im-
pact. Tongans living in Australia
and New Zealand can’t contact
their loved ones to check on
them. It has also made it difficult
for Tongan government officials
The DPRK reportedly fired
two short-range projectiles
into eastern waters on Monday,
the fourth launch in less than
two weeks.
“There haven’t been that
many periods, I think, in re-
cent time where we have seen
so many launches from the
DPRK,” said Stephane Dujarric,
Guterres’ spokesman. “And for
us, it is just another reminder of
the need for the DPRK and all
and emergency services to com-
municate with each other, and
for local communities to deter-
mine aid and recovery needs.
Telecommunications are
down, as are regular internet
functions – and outages keep
disrupting online services,
making things worse. Tonga is
particularly vulnerable to this
type of disruption as there is
only one cable connecting the
capital Nuku’alofa to Fiji, which
is more than 800km away. No
inter-island cables exist.
Risks to submarine cables
elsewhere
The events in Tonga once
again highlight how fragile the
global undersea cable network is
and how quickly it can go offline.
In 2009, I coauthored a study
detailing the vulnerabilities of
the submarine telecommuni-
cations network to a variety of
natural hazard processes. And
nothing has changed since then.
Cables are laid in the shortest
(that means cheapest) distance
between two points on the Earth’s
surface. They also have to be laid
along particular geographic loca-
tions that allow easy placement,
which is why many cables are
the parties engaged to involve
themselves, engage themselves
in diplomatic talks so we can get
what the United Nations would
like to see, which is a very ver-
ifiable denuclearization of the
Korean Peninsula and, in the
more immediate term, a lower-
ing of tensions.”
Asked whether Guterres
should reach out to Pyongyang,
the spokesman suggested the
existing mechanisms be used.
www.canadianinquirer.net
clustered in choke points.
Some good examples of choke
points include the Hawaiian is-
lands, the Suez Canal, Guam
and the Sunda Strait in Indo-
nesia. Inconveniently, these are
also locations where major nat-
ural hazards tend to occur.
Once damaged it can takes
days to weeks (or even longer)
to repair broken cables, de-
pending on the cable’s depth
and how easily accessible it is.
At times of crisis, such outages
make it much harder for gov-
ernments, emergency services
A P-3K2 Orion aircraft flies over an area of Tonga that shows the heavy ash
fall from the recent volcanic eruption within the Tongan Islands. (NZ DEFENCE
FORCE, PUBLIC DOMAIN)
“I think there are existing
mechanisms and existing lines
of communications. And I
think, at this point, these should
be used, and the secretary-gen-
eral is very supportive of those
diplomatic frameworks that al-
ready exist. But they need to be
used,” Dujarric said.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs
of Staff said Monday the South
Korean military detected two
projectiles, presumed to be
13
and charities to engage in re-
covery efforts.
Many of these undersea ca-
bles pass close to or directly
over active volcanoes, regions
impacted by tropical cyclones
and/or active earthquake zones.
In many ways, Australia is also
very vulnerable (as is New Zealand
and the rest of the world) since we
are connected to the global cable
network by a very small number
of connection points, from just
Sydney and Perth.
❱❱ PAGE 15 The Tonga volcanic
short-range ballistic missiles,
which were launched from
the DPRK’s Sunan airfield in
Pyongyang.
The DPRK’s Korean Central
News Agency said last week that
the country’s railway-borne mis-
sile regiment test-fired two tacti-
cal guided missiles on Friday.
Pyongyang said it successful-
ly test-launched a hypersonic
missile on Jan. 5 and a missile
of the same kind on Jan. 11.■
14
Climate change is creating security
threats around the world – and
militaries are responding
BY TIMOTHY CLACK,
University of Oxford
The Conversation
The British military is cur-
rently “too slow and resistant
to change”, according to Admi-
ral Sir Tony Radakin, the UK’s
chief of defence staff. The ur-
gent always takes priority over
the important. But in the con-
text of one of the world’s biggest
security issues – climate change
– threats and adaptations are
evolving at pace.
In summer 2021, the UN’s In-
tergovernmental Panel on Cli-
mate Change raised the threat
level posed by climate change to a
“code red for humanity”. Anthro-
pogenic climate change is at once
evident and escalating, trans-
forming natural, economic and
socio-political environments. As
well as mitigating threats, gov-
ernments and their militaries are
manoeuvring to exploit opportu-
nities and leverage advantage.
A range of climate scenarios
have been forecast – but com-
mon to all is increased frequen-
cy and scale of extreme weath-
er events, more droughts and
floods, melting of ice caps and
permafrost, rise in sea levels,
and oceanic acidification and
deoxygenation.
Both human and national
security will almost certainly
be affected by threats to agri-
cultural regimes including in-
creased pest and disease pres-
ence, spikes in food prices and
shocks to food production and
food logistics. Consequences
will include the recalibration of
diplomatic alliances, displace-
ment and dispossession of peo-
ples, border disputes, endemic
World News
famine and warfare.
The tempo of the threat
from the climate has accelerat-
ed. Certain parts of the world
are becoming “climate conflict
hotspots”. The effects of climate
change shape, proliferate and
amplify the threat, interacting in
complex ways with pre-existing
vulnerabilities such as socioeco-
nomic inequality, fragile gover-
nance and inter-group tensions.
The UN reports that tem-
perature increases in the Sahel
region of Africa will be 1.5 times
higher than the global average.
This is an existential problem
for many countries in the re-
gion, such as Mali, where de-
structive weather already jeop-
ardises agricultural production.
With an population growth rate
of nearly 3%, Mali is also one of
the youngest and fastest-grow-
ing populations in the world.
Tensions between ethnic
groups, for example the Fulani
and Dogon, have been aggravated
by decades of cattle-herding and
horticulture relocation as well as
migration into urban centres. Vi-
olent clashes over grassland, wa-
ter sources and local infrastruc-
ture have become common.
Scorched earth is only fertile
as a recruitment ground for vi-
olent and extremist organisa-
tions. Terrorist groups such as
Boko Haram, Islamic State West
Africa (ISWA), Jamaat Nusrat-
ul Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM)
and Katiba Macina pose a threat
in the Sahel, often with the in-
tent and capabilities to mount
complex attacks against govern-
ment and civilian targets.
Arctic militarisation
In the Arctic, melting sea ice
is amplifying strategic compe-
tition as the accessibility of re-
sources improves, particularly
mineral and fossil fuel deposits.
New trade routes are emerging,
the Northern Sea Route (NSR),
for example, is projected to ri-
val Suez Canal traffic and shift
trade flows between Asia and
Europe. Russia has declared the
NSR “a national transportation
corridor” as a means to ensure
exclusive access to it.
Others, such as China and the
US, however, have indicated that
they regard it as an “interna-
tional domain”. In reference to
the “Polar Silk Road”, China has
started to refer to itself as a “near
Arctic state”, something that,
in absolute terms, is geograph-
ically false. Assorted Arctic and
non-Arctic countries are build-
ing ice-breakers to capitalise on
these new economic realities.
In turn, the high north is
facing an unprecedented pro-
cess of militarisation. Russia
is investing heavily in defence
infrastructure and performing
its power through the presence
of nuclear submarines, MiG-31
Foxhound aircraft flights over
www.canadianinquirer.net
the north pole and into US and
Scandinavian airspace, and ex-
ercises of their Arctic Motorised
Brigade. In concert, this pos-
turing informs Russia’s various
competitors that it is present
and, if required, will use force to
defend its strategic interests.
Nato has been similarly pres-
ent in the contest. US president
Joe Biden, for example, has re-
launched Arctic Warrior, a cold
war training programme – and,
in early 2021, dispatched B-1
Lancer strategic bombers to
Norway. This brought Russian
military targets in the Arctic
and beyond within reach. In re-
sponse and to signal a posture
of competition, Russia sent a
missile cruiser from its North-
ern Fleet to the area.
Carbon bootprints
Climate change also amplifies
national security risks. There
are physical risks. Many coastal
naval bases are, for example, at
risk from sea level rises. There
are liability risks. Countries,
particularly those in the global
south, are going to seek damages
JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY
from others for loss and damage
resulting in economic, physical
and cultural harms.
On a global scale, the green-
house gas emissions of militar-
ies contribute immensely to
the climate crisis. And, as the
UK secretary of state for de-
fence, Ben Wallace made clear
at COP26, the need to reduce
military emissions must be part
of the route to sustainability.
His comments were in line with
the ambitions presented in the
Ministry of Defence’s Climate
Change and Sustainability Stra-
tegic Approach.
Action has followed words.
In the UK, the army has invest-
ed in prototype electric hybrid
armoured, reconnaissance and
logistic vehicles, with signifi-
cantly reduced emissions and
improved performance. The
electric trucks that transport
a field hospital can now supply
power for up to 12 hours, pro-
viding the equivalent of nine
diesel generators. New build-
ings on the military’s training
estate are also net negative,
supplied from renewable sourc-
es such as anaerobic digesters
and solar farms.
The Royal Air Force recent-
ly achieved a world first flight
powered by 100% synthet-
ic fuel, authorised the use of
50% sustainable aviation fuel
in all its aircraft, and plans to
order electric-powered planes
for training. The Royal Navy,
meanwhile, is incorporating al-
ternative-fuelled sustainability
into new ship design.
In addressing their carbon
bootprint, militaries enhance
their role in sustainable se-
❱❱ PAGE 16 Climate change is
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022
Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.:
5 things I’ve learned curating the
MLK Collection at Morehouse College
BY VICKI CRAWFORD,
Morehouse College
The Conversation
For the past 11 years, civil rights
historian Vicki Crawford has
worked as the director of the More-
house College Martin Luther King
Jr. Collection, where she oversees
the archive consisting of iconic ser-
mons, speeches, writings and other
materials belonging to King.
Few archives of historical pa-
pers compare with the impor-
tance of the Morehouse King
Collection. Aside from King’s life,
the collection chronicles many of
the major events that occurred
during the civil rights movement.
Since joining Morehouse, Craw-
ford says she especially enjoys in-
troducing younger generations to
King and helping them understand
the powerful lessons of the struggle
for social justice, particularly how
everyday people organized and
worked for social change.
Of the countless things she has
seen, read and learned about King’s
theology and civil rights activism,
Crawford details five of the count-
less aspects of his life that stand out.
An avid reader
King read voraciously across
a wide range of topics, every-
thing from the “The Diary of
Anne Frank” to “Candide.” Of
course, he also read about the-
ology and religion and philos-
ophy and politics. But he espe-
cially enjoyed literature and the
works of Leo Tolstoy.
The Morehouse College Mar-
tin Luther King Jr. Collection
includes approximately 1,100
books from King’s personal li-
brary, many with his handwrit-
ten notes throughout.
Some of the titles: “Collect-
ed Works of Mahatma Gand-
hi,” “Complete Poems of Paul
Laurence Dunbar,” “Deep Riv-
er: Reflections on the Religious
Insight of Certain of the Negro
Spirituals” by Howard Thurman,
“Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison,
“Kinfolk” by Pearl S. Buck and
“Moral Man and Immoral Soci-
ety: A Study in Ethics and Poli-
tics” by Reinhold Niebuhr.
Others include “Frederick
Douglass, My Bondage and My
Freedom,” “Silent Spring” by
Rachel Carson, “Prison Notes”
by Barbara Deming, “Killers of
the Dream” by Lillian Smith and
“Here and Beyond the Sunset”
by Nannie Helen Burroughs.
A celebrated writer
Following the 381-day Mont-
gomery bus boycott, which
started in 1955, King became a
national figure whose ideas and
opinions were heavily sought
out by book publishers, news-
papers and magazines.
He became a prolific writer
and authored countless letters –
arguably the most famous being
“Letter from Birmingham Jail”
– as well as several books, among
the most notable “Why We Can’t
Wait” and “Where Do We Go from
Here: Chaos or Community?”
But many Americans may
not know that he wrote a regu-
lar column in Ebony magazine,
the leading black national pub-
lication at the time. In his “Ad-
vice for Living” column, he took
questions from readers and
addressed a wide range of sub-
jects, including personal ques-
tions about marital infidelity,
sexual identity, birth control,
race relations, capital punish-
ment and atomic weapons.
A follower of Gandhi
In 1959, King and his wife vis-
ited India, where King’s commit-
ment to the nonviolent teachings
of Gandhi expanded and deep-
ened. King always carried a note
with him on a scrap of paper that
read “Gandhi Speaks for Us. …”
A lover of music
Music formed an important
part of King’s life, beginning
The Tonga volcanic...
❰❰ 13 In regards to Syd-
ney and the eastern
seaboard of Austra-
lia, we know large underwater
landslides have occurred off the
coast of Sydney in the past. Fu-
ture events could damage the
critical portion of the network
which links to us.
How do we manage risk go-
ing forward?
Given the vulnerability of
the network, the first step to
mitigating risk is to undertake
www.canadianinquirer.net
World News
Martin Luther King (NOBEL FOUNDATION, PUBLIC DOMAIN)
with his childhood experienc-
es in Ebenezer Baptist Church,
where his mother, Alberta Wil-
liams King, was the church or-
ganist. Alberta King introduced
young M.L., as he was called, to
music as a child. He later sang
solos and sang with the church
choir. While a student at More-
house College from 1944 to
1948, Martin Luther King Jr.
sang in the renowned More-
house College Glee Club as well
as the Atlanta University-More-
house-Spelman Chorus.
Following his marriage to
Coretta Scott in 1953, King ex-
panded his world of music even
more. He met Coretta in Bos-
ton, where she was studying to
become a concert soprano at
the New England Conservatory
of Music. Coretta introduced
King to classical music. He
came to appreciate both sacred
and secular music and enjoyed
jazz and blues as well.
Some of King’s favorite hymns
research to quantify and evalu-
ate the actual risk to submarine
cables in particular places on
the ocean floors and to differ-
ent types of natural hazards.
For example, tropical cyclones
(hurricanes/typhoons) occur
regularly, but other disaster
such as earthquakes and volca-
nic eruptions happen less often.
Currently, there is little pub-
licly available data on the risk to
the global submarine cable net-
work. Once we know which ca-
15
and gospel songs included “Take
My Hand, Precious Lord,” “How
I Got Over,” “Thank You, Lord”
and “Never Grow Old.”
King was also a friend to Aretha
Franklin and her father, the Rev.
C.L. Franklin, and gospel singer
Mahalia Jackson. King felt that
music was a powerful element in
activism and nonviolent protest.
A Nobel Prize winner
At the age of 35, King was
the youngest person, the third
African American and the 12th
American, to win the coveted
Nobel Peace Prize for his stead-
fast belief that nonviolence was
an integral part of obtaining full
citizenship rights for Black peo-
ple in America.
On Dec. 10, 1964, King an-
nounced that he was donating
the Nobel Prize money to the
civil rights movement. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
bles are vulnerable, and to what
sorts of hazards, we can then
develop plans to reduce risk.
At the same time, govern-
ments and the telecommuni-
cation companies should find
ways to diversify the way we
communicate, such as by using
more satellite-based systems
and other technologies. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
 16 World News JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY

World’s 10 richest men’s fortune

more than doubled in pandemic
ANADOLU
Philippine News Agency
ANKARA – The world’s 10 rich-
est men have more than doubled
their collective fortunes – from
USD700 billion to USD1.5 tril-
lion – in the first two years of the
Covid-19 pandemic, UK-based
charity Oxfam said on Monday.
Incomes of the 99 percent
of the world population have
dropped in the same period,
and over 160 million people
slipped into poverty, according
to Oxfam, which released a re-
port titled Inequality Kills.
“If these ten men were to lose
99.999 percent of their wealth to-
morrow, they would still be rich-
er than 99 percent of all the peo-
ple on this planet,” said Gabriela
Bucher, the charity’s executive
director, adding, “They now have
six times more wealth than the
poorest 3.1 billion people.”
According to Oxfam, inequal-
ity caused the death of one per-
son every four seconds, or at
least 21,000 people every day.
“This is a conservative find-
ing based on deaths globally
from lack of access to health-
care, gender-based violence,
hunger, and climate break-
down,” the statement said.
According to the report, the
pandemic has set gender parity
back from 99 years to 135 years.
“Women collectively lost
$800 billion in earnings in
2020, with 13 million fewer
women in work now than there
were in 2019. 252 men have
more wealth than all 1 billion
women and girls in Africa and
Latin America and the Caribbe-
an combined,” it added.
The charity also stated that
the inequality amongst ethnic
minorities soared during the if their life expectancy was the are already extremely rich and
pandemic, adding that peo- same as White people — this is powerful to exploit this crisis
ple of Bangladeshi origin are directly linked to historical rac- for their own profit,” she added.
five times more likely to die of ism and colonialism,” it added. According to Forbes figures
Covid-19 than the White British Bucher said, as quoted in the as of Nov. 30, 2021, cited by
population in the second wave statement, “Inequality at such the charity, the world’s 10 rich-
of the pandemic in England. pace and scale is happening by est people are Elon Musk, Jeff
“Black people in Brazil are 1.5 choice, not chance.” Bezos, Bernard Arnault and
times more likely to die from “Not only have our econom- family, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison,
COVID-19 than White people. ic structures made all of us less Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark
In the US, 3.4 million Black safe against this pandemic, they Zuckerberg, Steve Ballmer, and
Americans would be alive today are actively enabling those who Warren Buffet. ■

Climate change is...

❰❰ 14 curity. Moreover, as other nations and government This article was co-authored & (In)Security Project, a collabo- This article is republished
agents of “climate di- departments. This is becoming by Lieutenant General (Retired) ration between Oxford University from The Conversation under a
plomacy”, they can a vital role in a warming and in- Richard Nugee, a Senior Research and the Centre for Historical and Creative Commons license.
influence positive change in creasingly insecure world. ■ Associate of the Climate Change Conflict Research (CHACR).

The 2021 Edge is Changing the Game

The 2021 Ford Edge offers a ride as smooth as its design. With refined power and style, the Edge is guaranteed to turn a few heads wherever you go. There
are different models for you to choose from this year. From the well-equipped SE to the sporty Edge ST, the 2021 Edge has a model to suit everyone’s needs.

The future of style and smarts has arrived and it’s a Ford Edge.
Feel the excitement of the 2021 Edge, with innovative technology like the standard Ford Co-Pilot360, SYNC 4, and standard 12” Touchscreen.
Plus, with attention-grabbing design like the ST Line, feel and look more confident today, and every day that lies ahead.
The 2021 Edge offers a suite of standard and available driver-assist technologies with the sensors and cameras that make you aware of the other vehicles and
objects all around you. In an increasingly crowded and stressful world, we can use more confidence on the road.
The Ford 2021 Edge is for those who believe opportunity is for them. Visit your local Toronto Ford dealer for a test drive to feel the Edge.

Find out more at FORDTO.CA

www.canadianinquirer.net
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022
Entertainment
The #BettyWhiteChallenge highlights
the growth of animal philanthropy
and the role of rescues
BY MELISSA L. CALDWELL,
University of California,
Santa Cruz
The Conversation
Betty White’s death on Dec.
31, 2021, inspired countless re-
membrances and celebrations
of her life and her brilliant co-
medic work on television.
The actress also had a life-
long love of animals,
especially dogs. She
treasured animals as
companions and sup-
ported efforts to im-
prove their welfare as
an actress, advocate
and donor. Inspired
by this legacy, White’s
fans are encourag-
ing people across the
country to honor her
by making their own
charitable contribu-
tions of at least US$5
to an animal rescue of
their choice on Jan. 17,
2022 – the day that would have
been White’s 100th birthday.
Known as the #BettyWhi-
teChallenge, this campaign has
spread rapidly on social media.
Compassion economies
This outpouring of public
support offers a good opportu-
nity to take a closer look at how
Americans, especially people
like me, care for animals.
I currently have three res-
cued pets: a 13-year-old coon-
hound, a bloodhound and a
feisty cat that keeps everyone in
line. My family has also fostered
more than 25 coonhounds and
bloodhounds.
I’m also an ethnographer of
caregiving, compassion and
charity, as well as a longtime vol-
unteer with several animal res-
cues – nonprofits that are large-
ly volunteer-run and care for
animals in need of new homes. I
study how people come together
to save animals and find them
their “forever homes.”
The growth of rescue or-
ganizations is one big reason
why the estimated number of
adoptable animals that are eu-
thanized every year appears
to be declining. Precise figures
are unavailable, but somewhere
between 1 million and 2 million
dogs and cats are killed every
year. According to the statistics
that are available, that is down
Volunteers can help
in other ways, too.
from approximately 2.6 million
a decade ago.
Efforts to improve animal wel-
fare are underway everywhere in
the United States. One of my fa-
vorite examples occurred during
the 2020 presidential election,
when a rescued blind Bluetick
Coonhound named Oscar be-
came a local celebrity and ral-
lying point for a politically frac-
tured Alabama town.
The full scale and impact of
this work is hard to see. More
than 10,000 shelters, rescue
organizations and sanctuaries
collectively spend more than
$4 billion annually to provide
food, shelter, medical care,
behavioral training and other
care for the more than 6 million
companion animals that enter
U.S. shelters every year.
In addition to cats and dogs,
animal shelters and rescue or-
ganizations may temporarily
care for many other kinds of an-
imals, including horses, goats,
donkeys, reptiles, amphibians,
birds, rabbits, guinea pigs and
other rodents. Some organi-
zations specialize in housing,
feeding and obtaining medical
care for other kinds of animals
that have been abandoned and
abused, such as cows, camels
and elephants.
America’s rescue communi-
ties rely on what I and other ex-
perts call compassion
economies.
In addition to
grants from federal,
state and local gov-
ernment sources,
charitable donations
flow from business-
es, foundations and
individuals. These
gifts can be monetary
or in-kind donations
of medical services,
food, shelter, toys and
transportation. Amer-
icans also contribute
through what may
amount to millions of hours of
volunteering.
The role of volunteers
Volunteers are often her-
alded as the backbone of any
animal rescue operation. They
play essential roles in terms of
guaranteeing that animals get
the exercise, socialization and
nurturing they require while
awaiting adoption.
There’s ample room for cre-
ativity. Rescue Readers is a pro-
gram in which children and
adults read to animals in the
shelter, providing company for
the animals and strengthening
reading skills for the readers. Kit-
ty Cuddlers help by socializing
kittens until they are old enough
and strong enough to be adopted.
And some people temporar-
ily care for adoptable animals
they do not plan to keep long
term in their homes – a prac-
tice called fostering. Fostering
animals not only frees up space
www.canadianinquirer.net
and staffing at animal shelters,
it helps animals recover from
stress. Fosters can also teach
animals to be good companions
for their new families.
Volunteers can help in other
ways, too.
Amateur and professional
photographers can take attrac-
tive photographs of waiting
animals and thereby increase
their chances of being adopted.
Pilots and drivers can pitch in,
through groups like HoundPi-
lot and Pilots N Paws, by trans-
porting rescue animals to com-
munities where they are more
likely to be adopted.
And flight angels are airplane
travelers who take along pets
in transit as accompanied bag-
gage. Once they land at their
destination, a rescue organiza-
tion picks up the transported
companion animals.
The reasons why someone
supports animal rescue efforts
are often deeply personal. They
might volunteer and make dona-
tions to honor their own beloved
pets, because they are unable to
have a pet of their own or because
they are lonely and miss the com-
panionship of having a pet.
Volunteering in animal res-
cue can make people feel like
One of Betty White’s last photos, taken on 12/20/21 (BETTY WHITE/FACEBOOK)
17
they are part of a community
and that they are making real
differences in the lives of ani-
mals and other people.
That has been especially ap-
parent during the COVID-19
pandemic, when many people
have felt disconnected from
friends and family. People who
foster animals describe the
thrill of watching scared, sick
animals blossom into healthy,
happy pets that are ready for
their “forever families.”
A unifying force
Americans’ love for animals
can sometimes transcend politi-
cal differences. Some 36% of Re-
publicans and Democrats alike
are dog owners, for example.
Many people with compan-
ion animals in their homes do
disagree about issues such as
spaying and neutering policies,
euthanasia or pet food.
But a shared love for animals
allows animal lovers with con-
flicting viewpoints to work to-
ward the common good in ways
that may even mediate differ-
ences of opinion about race,
gender and other issues. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
18
The movie ‘Finch’ explores how dogs
help us define humanity
BY ADITI SEN, Queen’s
University, Ontario
The Conversation
Warning: The following ar-
ticle contains spoilers about
the movie ‘Finch’
The movie Finch, released in
November on Apple TV+, stars
Tom Hanks and a former rescue
dog named Seamus. Critic Tom-
ris Laffly, writing for Variety,
describes it as a “big-hearted …
post-apocalyptic saga.”
Hanks plays the titular Finch,
a survivor in a world with a fail-
ing ozone layer. Expecting he
will soon die from the sun’s ra-
diation, Finch builds Jeff, a hy-
per-intelligent robot voiced by
Caleb Landry Jones, to care for
his dog, Goodyear.
Finch, like other science
fiction stories featuring dogs,
explores the human-dog rela-
tionship in part to define what
it means to be human.
Something revealed ‘be-
tween beings’
Over the course of my re-
search on post-apocalyptic fic-
tion — a sub-genre of science
fiction that imagines the Earth
as we know it coming to an end
— I have been struck by how of-
ten dogs accompany the protag-
onists of such stories.
Fiction like I Am Legend
(1954) and A Boy and his Dog
(1969), along with their respec-
tive film adaptations, are some
relevant examples, as is the film
What made Bob Saget’s Danny Tanner
so different from other sitcom dads
BY JESSICA TROILO, West
Virginia University
The Conversation
Bob Saget, who died on Jan. 9,
2022, is probably best remem-
bered for his role as Danny Tan-
ner on the popular sitcom “Full
House,” which aired from 1987
to 1995.
I think fans of the show have
such fond memories of this
character because Danny ex-
emplified what it meant to “be
Entertainment
The Road Warrior (1981) or the
“Fallout” video game series.
Many scholars writing on the
topic of post-apocalyptic fiction
suggest that one of the genre’s
central preoccupations is the
defining of humanity in relation
to nature and to our place in the
universe.
Similarly, literature schol-
ar Joan Gordon, who has re-
searched science fiction related
to animal studies, argues that
the speculative capability of
science fiction is well suited to
explore the human-dog rela-
tionship as “a mutually influ-
ential feedback loop between
beings, as they change and are
changed by one another.”
Dogs help make a home
Finch opens with Hanks’
character picking through an
abandoned supermarket look-
ing for food, and he just nar-
rowly makes it home before be-
ing caught in a terrible storm.
“Home” is an underground
laboratory, but after descend-
ing the cold metallic staircase,
Finch finds a warm welcome:
a mat that reads “home sweet
home” and a friendly dog who
perks up at his master’s return.
Just as pets in our own time
can enhance their human
owners’ health and well-be-
ing, Goodyear is able to relieve
Finch of the mental distress
brought on by apocalyptic so-
cial exclusion.
As argued by the distin-
guished historian of utopia,
there” as a parent. A single dad
whose wife had passed away,
he was eager to lend an ear to
daughters D.J., Stephanie and
Michelle, offering them sup-
port and reassurance through
the twists and turns of child-
hood and adolescence.
Why heap so much praise on
a sitcom dad? It’s easy to dis-
regard TV as mere mindless
entertainment. But entertain-
ment media can both reflect
and reshape culture – including
how fathers interact with their
Gregory Claeys, humanity’s fear
of the dystopian “bad place” is
partially inspired by our fear of
the dangers lurking beyond the
bounds of our societies.
While dogs are not biolog-
ically human, Finch suggests
they nonetheless assist in dif-
ferentiating the safe human
home from the dangerous out-
side world.
Dogs as companions
Goodyear functions much
like the dog in The Last Man,
one of the earliest examples of
post-apocalyptic fiction by the
19th-century English Roman-
tic novelist Mary Shelley. Shel-
ley’s protagonist, Lionel Ver-
ney, ends the novel as a lonely
children. They can influence
how viewers think about fa-
thers, regardless of the accura-
cy of those portrayals.
As someone who studies ste-
reotypes of fathers, I view Dan-
ny as an avatar of the changing
expectations of fatherhood that
began in the late 1970s.
Danny Tanner and ‘being
there’
Danny Tanner was a
30-something widower when
Full House premiered. That
wasn’t a common situation for
www.canadianinquirer.net
survivor of a global cataclysm
— in his case, a plague. Looking
for companionship, Verney at-
tempts to find sympathy among
animals, but when a family
of goats refuses to return his
friendliness, he concedes that
he “will not live among the wild
scenes of nature.”
But like Finch, Verney finds
a companion in a dog: “[He] has
never neglected to watch by and
attend on me, shewing boister-
ous gratitude whenever I ca-
ressed or talked to him.”
While the dog appears only
briefly in Shelley’s novel, hu-
manities scholar Hilary Strang
suggests that its appearance in-
troduces “a perverse kind of op-
his demographic – less than 1%
in his bracket shared it – and it
allowed viewers to watch Dan-
ny parent his three daughters
with the help of his brother-in-
law and his best friend.
Nonetheless, in nearly ev-
ery episode, viewers saw Dan-
ny “being there” for his family.
“Being there” is a concept that
describes being physically and
emotionally involved with your
children. This term took on par-
ticular significance for fathers
in the late 20th century. “Being
JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY
timism in this rigorously pessi-
mistic novel,” for “in the novel’s
final moment, at least there is
the possibility of more than one
living, humanized creature sur-
viving the future.”
In both Finch and The Last
Man, a line is drawn between
the distinctly human realm and
the realm of nature. And in both,
dogs are on the side of humans.
Emotion and character
As in other post-apocalyptic
stories, Finch considers the na-
ture of human character by ex-
ploring the emotional relation-
ship between humans and dogs.
Audience members are invited
to reflect upon their own emo-
tional response.
For critic Bilge Ebiri, writing
for Vulture, Hanks’ successful
portrayal of “an ordinary man
for extraordinary times” makes
the “tear-jerking” Finch partic-
ularly effective. Hanks is able to
play “a deeply human, relatable
hero, suggesting that one needs
not stoicism or expertise or
muscles to succeed against in-
surmountable odds, but rather
decency and vulnerability.”
While Finch shows the pos-
itive side of human character,
many dystopian works encour-
age their audience to reflect on
their own emotions by depict-
ing human beings acting inhu-
manely toward dogs.
Contemporary science fiction
author Paolo Bacigalupi, for in-
❱❱ PAGE 19 The movie ‘Finch’
there” allowed dads to be seen as
more than just financial provid-
ers and recognized that fathers
interact with their children in
varied and important ways.
In the earlier part of the cen-
tury, fathers were assumed to
be breadwinners and not much
else, a stereotype reflected in
the era’s popular media. For
example, sitcom fathers on “Fa-
ther Knows Best,” which aired
from 1954 to 1960, and “The
❱❱ PAGE 20 What made Bob
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022
No, chivalry is not dead –
but it’s about time it was
BY BEATRICE ALBA,
Deakin University
The Conversation
It is customary in many
Western cultures for men to of-
fer a range of special courtesies
to women. This includes paying
on dates, carrying heavy ob-
jects, pulling out chairs, open-
ing doors, and allowing women
to go first, even when the man
was there first.
Despite being general-
ly seen as polite and even
romantic, these acts of
chivalry – where men are
excessively courteous to
women simply because
they are women – have a
dark side.
What does research
tell us?
Benevolent sexism
Psychologists refer
to the paternalistic atti-
tudes underlying these
behaviours as benevo-
lent sexism. Benevolent
sexism involves the belief
that men should cherish
and protect women, and
“put them on a pedestal”.
This is because women
are viewed as being more
morally pure, weaker,
and in need of protection.
Although benevolent sexism
has a positive tone, research has
found people higher on these at-
titudes also tend to be higher on
hostile sexism. Hostile sexism
The movie ‘Finch’...
❰❰ 18 stance, depicts curious
yet callous bio-engi-
neered soldiers abus-
ing a dog in the short story “The
People of Sand and Slag.”
Similarly, Shelley’s contem-
porary Lord Byron took up
this theme in his post-apoca-
lyptic poem “Darkness.” Here,
the mistreatment of a faithful
dog serves to demonstrate the
breakdown of human society.
Lifestyle
involves overtly negative and
suspicious views of women - this
is what people generally think
about when they think of sexism.
While it may seem paradoxi-
cal that benevolent sexism and
hostile sexism are correlated,
ambivalent sexism theory holds
that benevolent sexism is re-
served for “good” women who
conform to traditional gender
roles. Hostile sexism tends to
be directed towards women
... women
are viewed as
being more
morally pure,
weaker, and
in need of
protection.
who are perceived to be seeking
to usurp men’s power.
Negative effects of benevo-
lent sexism
Research shows there are a
range of negative outcomes as-
Byron and Bacigalupi, as
well as Finch’s director, Miguel
Sapochnik, all encourage their
audiences to reflect on their
empathetic reactions to hu-
man-dog relationships.
Trust and becoming human
The robot Jeff’s role in Finch
is to gradually learn what it
means to be human. The robot
begins as a typically mechani-
cal being but takes on more and
sociated with benevolent sexism.
For instance, one experi-
ment found exposure to benev-
olently sexist comments led
women to perform worse on a
cognitive task, and to be more
likely to think of themselves as
incompetent.
A more recent experiment
found benevolently sexist feed-
back led to women displaying
cardiovascular responses simi-
lar to experiencing threat.
In the context of inti-
mate relationships, men
higher on benevolent
sexism have been found
to be more likely to pro-
vide dependency-orient-
ed help to their female
partners, such as provid-
ing solutions that over-
looked their partner’s
skills and efforts. These
women subsequently
felt less competent and
less well-regarded by
their partners.
It may be harder to
recognise this form of
sexism because it can’t
be measured in a pay
gap or in the number
of women in executive
roles. It happens in ev-
eryday interactions be-
tween people, and often
in private. People underesti-
mate how harmful benevolent
sexism is and overestimate how
harmful hostile sexism is.
The seemingly positive tone
of benevolent sexism may even
more distinctly human traits
as the film goes on. The final
hurdle for Jeff to surpass is the
gaining of Goodyear’s trust.
Early in the film, Jeff tells
Finch, “I don’t think it likes
me.” Finch responds: “Well
he doesn’t trust you.” During
a game of fetch, Jeff throws
the tennis ball but Goodyear
keeps returning it to Finch. Jeff
once again expresses disap-
www.canadianinquirer.net
be perceived by some as being
advantageous to women, but
the scientific research does not
bear this out.
Why are women drawn to
benevolent sexism?
Despite all the negatives,
women tend to prefer benev-
olently sexist men. This pref-
erence is even stronger among
women who have high levels of
insecurity about their intimate
relationships.
This preference for benevo-
lently sexist men may be driv-
en by women’s perception that
they are warmer people. Recent
research has found women
saw benevolently sexist men
as more attractive partners be-
cause they were seen as being
more willing to invest, despite
also recognising them as pa-
tronising and undermining.
The preference for benevo-
lent sexism may also be driven
by women’s understanding that
it offers an antidote to hostile
sexism. This is supported by
pointment, but Finch assures
him that Goodyear will come
around. “Trust me,” Finch says.
As the film nears its end, we
find Jeff mourning the death of
Finch. Who should arrive just in
time, wagging his tail and with
a tennis ball in his mouth, but
Goodyear looking for a game
of fetch. Jeff raises his arms in
excited triumph as Jeff runs to
retrieve the ball.
19
experimental research find-
ing women were more likely
to endorse benevolent sexism
when they were exposed to in-
formation suggesting that men
have negative attitudes towards
women.
The poisoned chalice
So why are there so many
negatives to something that is
so widely appealing?
One problem with benevo-
lent sexism is the reinforce-
ment of traditional gender
roles about how women and
men should relate to one an-
other. It’s the same old prob-
lem that who we are or what we
want should be predetermined
by our sex rather than our own
preferences and personalities.
But as the above research
suggests, an even bigger prob-
lem may be that benevolent
sexism has the capacity to un-
dermine women’s performance
and well-being. There’s an in-
❱❱ PAGE 28 No, chivalry is
The film’s final message, then,
is captured in a passage from W.
Bruce Cameron’s book A Dog’s
Journey (also made into a film)
about a dog, reincarnated, who
returns to find his master: “You
can usually tell that a man is good
if he has a dog who loves him.” ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
 20
When is the right time for children
to learn to swim?
BY AMY PEDEN, UNSW
The Conversation
Each year in Australia, an av-
erage of 23 children under five
die from unintentional drown-
ing, usually due to factors such
as a lack of adult supervision,
unrestricted access to water
and not having the skills to stay
safe in water.
Teaching children to swim
is crucial to prevent drowning;
it’s also good for fun and fitness,
and sets kids up for a lifetime of
water enjoyment.
But when is the best age to
enrol children in swimming?
Age four is a good time to
start
Many learn-to-swim schools
offer lessons for children as
young as six months, and parents
often feel under pressure to get
kids started as early as possible.
These lessons can help a
child get used to water, learn to
put their face under and learn
to close their mouths. They can
also be a great opportunity for
parent and child to bond, as the
caregiver is in the water with
the child. Research has even
suggested swimming in the ear-
ly years can benefit physical,
cognitive and language skills
among three to five year olds.
But while it may be possible
to teach young infants basic
What made Bob...
❰❰ 18 Donna Reed Show,”
which ended its run
in 1966, bore little
responsibility for actual child
care beyond a pat on the head
and some occasional discipline.
Beginning in the 1970s, psy-
chologist Michael Lamb encour-
aged a change in how we thought
about fathers and broadened the
definition of what he called “fa-
ther involvement.”
Lamb proposed three dimen-
sions of father involvement:
engagement, availability and
responsibility. The last of these,
responsibility – which involved
financial support and parental
guidance – could be spotted in
some form in the preceding sit-
coms. But engagement and avail-
ability, which tend to involve day-
to-day emotional support, were
Lifestyle
motor skills in water, infants
cannot, and should not, be ex-
pected to know how to swim or
to be able to react appropriately
in emergencies.
There’s not a lot of research
available on what age is the
“best” time to start swim les-
sons. But studies from Austra-
lia suggest children start being
able to master water confidence
and basic aquatic locomotive
skills at around four years of
age, regardless of the age they
are when lessons begin.
The same researchers also
reported that regardless of
whether lessons began at two,
three or four years of age, chil-
dren achieved the skills neces-
sary to perform freestyle at five
and a half years of age.
Some evidence suggests
swimming lessons improve
swimming ability and be-
haviour around the pool in
younger children (between two
and four years of age).
But the jury is out on how
well these skills are maintained
in the long term.
You may have also seen vid-
eos circulating on social media
showing infants being tossed
into pools and rolling over to
float on their back unassisted.
But Austswim, Australia’s
national organisation for the
teaching of swimming and wa-
ter safety, has advised against
almost entirely foreign.
Danny Tanner’s approach
to fatherhood, by contrast,
demonstrated perhaps the full-
est realization of these chang-
ing expectations.
One episode, “Back to School
Blues,” featured oldest daugh-
ter D.J. starting junior high.
Spoiler alert: It doesn’t go
well. She’s teased by older girls,
wears the same outfit as one of
the teachers, and spends lunch
alone. (I was a year younger
than D.J., and this episode made
me nervous about my own en-
try into junior high.)
When Danny doesn’t approve
of D.J.‘s attempts to look older
to fit in and make friends, she
storms off to her room saying
she wants to be left alone. Dan-
ny says he can’t do that, and then
forced back float and submer-
sion in favour of more develop-
mentally appropriate strategies.
Research I led also showed a
negative prior aquatic experi-
ence, which can occur during
formal learn-to-swim lessons,
can negatively impact a child’s
achievement level.
Consistency is key
Parents sometimes enrol
their children in swimming les-
sons at a young age and then pull
them out before minimum com-
petencies are achieved, frustrat-
ed by the cost of lessons and the
seemingly slow progress.
COVID has also interrupted
swimming lessons and water safe-
listens as she explains every-
thing that went wrong at school.
In this short scene, he rein-
forced family rules and provided
emotional support, while show-
ing that he would “be there” for
D.J. whenever she needed.
A different kind of dad
Though Danny represented
a departure from the typical
sitcom father, he didn’t exactly
spearhead a new trend.
Immature and irresponsi-
ble fathers – the kind seen in
popular shows like “The Simp-
sons,” “Home Improvement”
and “Married … With Children”
– were more commonplace. To
this day, the stereotype of the
bumbling dad persists on TV.
In my research, I found that
single sitcom dads with full
child care responsibilities were
www.canadianinquirer.net
ty education for many children.
Some will return to lessons
and catch up, but some may
never return – perhaps due to
the cost of lessons or because
the child is now focused on a
different sport or activity.
So when considering wheth-
er to enrol your child in swim-
ming lessons, consider sticking
with it over the long term until
your child truly has the skills to
stay safe in the water.
Consider your child’s maturity
level and how ready they are to
learn to swim. Factor in the long-
term costs associated with les-
sons and when that investment
may provide the greatest benefit.
shown interacting with their
children more often than mar-
ried sitcom dads. Compared to
their married counterparts on
the tube, they were more likely
to offer kindness, care, love, sup-
port and guidance. Along with
Danny, these characters includ-
ed Mr. Drummond on “Diff’rent
Strokes,” Tony Micelli in “Who’s
the Boss?” and Maxwell Shef-
field on “The Nanny.”
On the other hand, married
sitcom father-child interac-
tions were more likely to in-
volve criticism and sarcastic
humor. In fact, married sitcom
fathers often made jokes at
their children’s expense.
Why does this discrepancy
exist?
My research has found that
in real life, married fathers are
JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY
Once enrolled, what’s the
best way to learn?
You might be wondering
what’s better: a short weekly les-
son or school holiday intensives,
where the child does a swim les-
son every day for a week or two.
The answer may depend on
your family’s schedule and what’s
available in your area but even if
you opt for holiday intensives, try
to provide opportunities for your
child to regularly practise the
skills learned in the pool.
Research I co-authored found
the more often a child swims
(formally or informally) in a
pool, at the beach or at the river,
the better they will do at swim-
ming lessons. My coauthors and
I recommended children swim
at least once a fortnight.
It has been a tragic summer
for drowning so far, with sev-
eral factors increasing the risk
at this time of year. Therefore,
water safety is vital.
For children, in addition to
learning to swim, that means
active adult supervision of chil-
dren at all times around the
water, checking the pool fence
and gate are in good working
order and learning CPR so you
have the skills to respond in an
emergency. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
thought to be loving and kind
but with room for improvement
as parents. They’re seen as the
right-hand man to mothers, who
have taken the lead in parenting.
Because of this, people expect
more bumbling and less skill.
Single dads, however, tend to
be viewed as selfless and dedi-
cated, because the assumption
is that they’ve put their chil-
dren above all else.
Danny Tanner isn’t the nov-
elty today that he was in the
early 1990s. But if his charac-
ter is instructive in any way, it’s
that dads shouldn’t have to lose
their wives to be the best parent
they can be. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022
When meeting someone new, try skirting
the small talk and digging a little deeper
BY AMIT KUMAR,
University of Texas at
Austin, MICHAEL KARDAS,
Northwestern University,
NICHOLAS EPLEY,
University of Chicago
The Conversation
Even as the COVID-19 pan-
demic persists, there’s hope
that life will return to some lev-
el of normalcy in 2022.
This includes more opportu-
nities to meet new people and
build friendships, a process
that’s critical for mental and
physical well-being.
This does not, however, mean
that everyone will take advan-
tage of these new chances to
connect.
Even before fears of a virus
compelled most people to stay
physically distant, our research
suggests that people were al-
ready keeping too much social
distance from one another.
In particular, our forthcom-
ing behavioral science research
suggests that people tend to be
overly pessimistic about how
conversations with new ac-
quaintances will play out.
Across a dozen experiments,
participants consistently un-
derestimated how much they
would enjoy talking with
Why do plants grow straight?
BY BERONDA L.
MONTGOMERY, Michigan
State University
The Conversation
Why do plants grow straight?
– Sara H., age 5, New Paltz, New
York
Have you ever been at a sport-
ing event or concert and had to
wiggle and reposition to get in
just the right spot to see the ac-
tion? Maybe you needed to shift
left or right to see between two
people. Perhaps you even had
to squat on your seat to see over
the person in front of you.
Well, plants often have to do
something similar so that they
can “see” as much light as possi-
ble. Plants need light to perform
photosynthesis – making sugars
strangers. This was especial-
ly true when we asked them to
have the kinds of substantive
conversations that actually fos-
ter friendships.
Because of these mistak-
en beliefs, it seems as though
people reach out and connect
with others less often and in
less meaningful ways than they
probably should.
Moving beyond water cool-
er talk
People usually only disclose
their deepest disappointments,
proudest accomplishments and
from water and carbon dioxide
in the air to feed themselves.
If sunlight is directly above
them, then plants will grow
straight up toward it.
Sometimes, though, it’s not
that simple. For example, you
might have seen house plants
bending towards a window rath-
er than growing straight and tall.
When light comes from an an-
gle, plants will curve toward it
to get better access to the light
they need to grow. Hormones in
the plant’s tissues, called auxins,
make cells on the dark side of
the plant grow taller, bending
the plant toward the light.
In a forest, plants may
branch out so that their leaves
are in open patches of sun,
rather than in the shade. This
often happens if taller bushes
simmering anxieties to close
friends and family.
But our experiments tested
the seemingly radical idea that
deep conversations between
strangers can end up being sur-
prisingly satisfying.
In several experiments, the
participants first reported how
they expected to feel after dis-
cussing relatively weighty ques-
tions like, “what are you most
grateful for in your life?” and
“when is the last time you cried
in front of another person?”
These participants believed
and trees tower over them, or if
they are growing in a crowd of
other plants. It’s much like hu-
mans seeking out sunny spots
or reaching their hands toward
a campfire to warm up when
they feel cold outdoors.
Humans twist or bend by
changing our body positions
temporarily, but when plants
twist, bend or elongate, they
are actually growing toward the
light. The types of plants that
reposition themselves to see
the light are species that grow
in a slow but determined way.
Other types of plants may not
grow straight because they have
different strategies. For exam-
ple, strawberries grow close to
the ground and spread sideways
by sending out runners – stems
that spread out just above the
www.canadianinquirer.net
Lifestyle
they would feel somewhat
awkward and only moderately
happy discussing these topics
with a stranger. But after we
prompted them to actually do
so, they reported that their con-
versations were less awkward
than they had anticipated. Fur-
thermore, they felt happier and
more connected to the other
person than they had assumed.
In other experiments, we
asked people to write down
questions they would normal-
ly discuss when first getting to
know someone – “weird weath-
er we’re having these days, isn’t
it?” – and then to write down
deeper and more intimate ques-
tions than they would normally
discuss, like asking whether the
other person was happy with
their life.
Again, we found that the par-
ticipants were especially likely
to overestimate how awkward
the ensuing conversations
about the more meaningful
topics would be, while underes-
timating how happy those con-
versations would make them.
These mistaken beliefs mat-
ter because they can create a
barrier to human connection.
If you mistakenly think a sub-
stantive conversation will feel
uncomfortable, you’re going to
probably avoid it. And then you
ground to create new
plants.
Other plants, like ivy,
grow as vines that climb
up trees, walls and
fences and use them
for support. Climb-
ing vines may grow
straight, to the side or
at angles, depending on
what kinds of support
structures they find to
grow on. The purpose
is to expose their leaves
to as much sunlight as
possible.
In my recent book,
“Lessons from Plants,”
I explore how plants
are usually positioning
themselves to see the
❱❱ PAGE 22 Why do plants
21
might never realize that your
expectations are off the mark.
Yes, others do care
Misconceptions over the out-
comes of deeper conversations
may happen, in part, because we
also underestimate how inter-
ested other people are in what
we have to share. This makes us
more reluctant to open up.
It turns out that, more often
than not, strangers do want to
hear you talk about more than
the weather; they really do care
about your fears, feelings, opin-
ions and experiences.
The results were striking-
ly consistent. For the exper-
iments, we recruited college
students, online samples,
strangers in a public park and
even executives at financial ser-
vices firms, and similar patterns
played out within each group.
Whether you’re an extrovert or
an introvert, a man or a woman,
you’re likely to underestimate
how good you’ll feel after hav-
ing a deep conversation with a
stranger. The same results even
occurred in conversations over
Zoom.
Aligning beliefs with reality
In one telling demonstration,
we had some people engage in
both a relatively shallow and
❱❱ PAGE 22 When meeting someone
 22
Here’s to a New You
BY MATTE LAUREL
It’s 2022! Hurrah! Here’s our
chance to start afresh and rein-
vent ourselves. It is vital to re-
vamp ourselves for our health,
wellness, and happiness. Rein-
venting ourselves is akin to re-
discovering our purpose in life,
finding a new meaning in our
existence, and achieving fulfill-
ment. In life, it’s not just about
surviving, it’s all about thriving.
There are challenges that
come with changing to our new
versions. But nothing is impos-
sible if we focus on our goal. It’s
like driving towards a destina-
tion. We must stick to our route
plans. There are numerous
stopovers before we reach our
final destination: The World of
Reinventing Ourselves. Let’s
find out how we can achieve
our newer and better version of
ourselves!
UNDERSTANDING YOUR-
SELF. You need to ask yourself
a lot of questions. You need to
keep a journal and write your
most honest answers. Ask your-
self about your strengths and
weaknesses. What do you think
is missing from your life? What
would make you get out of bed
and feel motivated? What makes
you happy? You need to do an in-
depth analysis of yourself. Cre-
ate a list of things you want to
change in your life; create a list
of goals you want to achieve and
put a timeline to each goal. Set
specific, measureable, attain-
When meeting someone...
❰❰ 21 comparatively deeper
conversation. People
expected that they
would prefer a shallow conver-
sation to the deeper one before
they took place. After the inter-
actions occurred, they reported
the opposite.
Moreover, the participants
consistently told us that they
wished they could have deep-
er conversations more often in
their everyday lives.
The problem, then, is not a
lack of interest in having more
meaningful conversations. It’s the
misguided pessimism about how
these interactions will play out.
able, relevant and time-bound
goals. When you track your
goals and achievements — cross
off each one as you work through
them, it keeps you inspired, de-
termined, and motivated.
CHOOSE A MENTOR. You
can either choose a friend or a
colleague that you admire to
help you with mentoring. You
can also take inspiration from
well-known personalities. You
can learn from history’s great-
est achievers by reading about
them. Our mentors enable and
encourage us with our personal
or professional development.
Our mentors teach and guide
us from their experience. They
give us honest feedback and
help us clarify our situation
when we’re confused and lost.
ACQUIRE NEW SKILLS.
If you are working towards a
new career, it is always a must
to learn new skills applicable
to your future job. Never stop
learning. You can go online or
you can enroll in a school to
learn your new skills. It is es-
sential for us to keep learning
if we are to navigate towards
changing the cultural landscape
of our professional life.
SURROUND YOURSELF
WITH LIKEMINDED PEO-
PLE. It helps to be surrounded
by friends and colleagues who
are on the same wavelength as
you. By doing so, you stay mo-
tivated and on the right path to
achieving your goal of reinvent-
ing yourself. You lift each other
up, you inspire each other, and
It’s possible, though, to learn
from these positive experiences.
Think of the trepidation kids
have of diving into the deep end
of a swimming pool. The uneasi-
ness is often unwarranted: Once
they take the plunge, they end
up having a lot more fun than
they did in shallower waters.
Our data suggests that some-
thing similar can happen when it
comes to topics of conversation.
You might feel nervous before
starting a deeper conversation
with someone you barely know;
yet once you do, you might actu-
ally enjoy digging a little deeper
than you typically do.
you learn from each other.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR
MENTAL HEALTH. The
well-being of our mental health
is crucial to achieving our best
version of ourselves because it
affects how we think, act, and
feel. You need to accept who
you are — it’s healthy to be hap-
py with yourself. Happiness
starts with you. It’s a state of
mind. When you accept your
flaws and weaknesses, you
have a better understanding
of yourself. You don’t need to
please others. When you have
a healthy self-esteem, you can
cope better and stay stronger
when life takes a difficult turn.
GENUINELY CARE FOR
OTHERS. Relationships are
always a two-way street. It is
The broader takeaway of our
work is that these miscalibrat-
ed expectations can lead many
people to be not quite social
enough for their own good and
the well-being of others.
Having deeper conversations
joins a growing list of opportu-
nities for social engagement –
including expressing gratitude,
sharing compliments and reach-
ing out and talking to an old
friend – that end up feeling a lot
better than we might think. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
www.canadianinquirer.net
necessary to have a give and
take relationship with all the
people you’re close to: partners,
friends, families, and colleagues.
Caring for others is healthy. But
you need to be real about it. You
don’t care for others because
you expect something in return.
You don’t give to charity and
brag about it on social media.
You care because it comes from
your heart and because giving
without any expectations makes
you truly happy.
BE AUTHENTIC. Don’t be
a people pleaser. Live your life
according to your rules and not
the rules dictated by society.
Stay in your own lane and above
all, in your own truth — and
out of other people’s business.
Make telling the truth be a hab-
Why do plants...
❰❰ 21 light. It’s fascinating
that we humans, too,
are often positioning
ourselves to see something inter-
esting.
So the next time you see a
plant growing straight, take
notice of whether light is di-
rectly above it. Or if you see a
plant that’s not straight, notice
whether it’s bending toward
light coming from the direction
it’s facing. Or maybe it’s a vine
climbing on a structure and us-
ing that support to take a differ-
ent route toward the sun. ■
JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY
it. Practice what you preach.
Be consistent. Learn what to
share about your life with oth-
ers — not everyone has to know
everything about you. You don’t
owe anyone any explanation.
Realize who you truly are, not
who you want to be.
LIVE A HEALTHY LIFE-
STYLE. Do everything in mod-
eration — in anything that you
do, it’s good to avoid extremes.
Live an active life. Engage in
your favourite sports. Go for
long walks. Exercise daily even
for only half an hour. Drink
lots of water. Eat well. Drink
alcohol sensibly. Pamper your-
self. Indulge from time to time.
Take up a hobby. Making simple
changes to how we live doesn’t
need to take up loads of time
or cost a fortune. The best in-
vestment you’ll ever make is in
your health. A healthy lifestyle
not only changes your body —
it changes your attitude, your
mind, and your mood.
Alrighty, what are you wait-
ing for? NOW is the time to get
the most out of your life. The
most important lesson we all
learned from COVID is this: life
is both short and precious. Live
your best life now by being your
best version. You got this! ■
Matte Laurel is a former
restaurateur and hotelier, a moth-
er, a partner, health and wellness
aficionado, food and wine enthu-
siast, a dog-lover, and lifestyle col-
umnist exclusively for Philippine
Canadian Inquirer (PCI).
Hello, curious kids! Do you
have a question you’d like an
expert to answer? Ask an adult
to send your question to Curi-
ousKidsUS@theconversation.
com. Please tell us your name,
age and the city where you live.
And since curiosity has no age
limit – adults, let us know what
you’re wondering, too. We won’t
be able to answer every question,
but we will do our best.
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022
LeBron apologizes to fans for disappointing
LA Lakers season
ANADOLU
Philippine News Agency
ISTANBUL – LeBron James
on Monday apologized to Los
Angeles Lakers fans for the
team’s disappointing play and
promised that “We’ll be better.”
“#LakerNation I apologize
and I promise we’ll be better!”
James said on Twitter.
Half of the 2021/2022 sea-
son already over and the Lakers
have a 21-22 win-loss record in
the Western Conference, in-
cluding three straight defeats.
The fans have been critical
of their superstar guard Russell
Westbrook lately for his poor
shooting performance.
James, on the other hand,
averaged 28.9 points, 7.5 re-
bounds, 6.5 assists, 1.6 steals
and 1.2 blocks on 51.9 percent
shooting and 36.2 percent from
Sportswashing: how mining and energy
companies sponsor your favourite sports
to help clean up their image
BY ROBIN CANNIFORD, The
University of Melbourne,
TIM HILL, University of
Bath
The Conversation
Fossil fuel and carbon-inten-
sive industries have an image
problem. As awareness of their
environmental impact grows,
energy and mining companies
in particular are desperate to
maintain control over spiral-
ling levels of public esteem.
For decades, greenwashing
has been a go-to tactic for com-
panies seeking to mask their
damaging effects on natural en-
vironments, and governments
across the world have begun to
Sports
the 3-point line this season.
James is a four-time NBA
champion (2012, 2013, 2016,
2020), winning titles with the
Miami Heat (2), Cleveland Cav-
aliers, and Los Angeles Lakers.
He has been playing for the
Lakers since 2018.
Utah ends losing streak
Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz
beat the Denver Nuggets with a
125-102 score on Sunday, ending
their four-game losing streak.
Utah led after a 15-2 run
spanning the first and second
quarters and made a 13-point
lead in the third.
Denver rallied to get an 81-
80 lead on Will Barton’s three-
point play but Utah carried a 91-
88 lead into the fourth quarter.
Rudy Gobert, who missed
the previous five games after
testing positive for COVID-19,
inspired the Jazz for the away
win, posting a double-double.
legislate against it.
Nevertheless, another more
subtle practice remains in the
marketing toolkit: sportswash-
ing. By sponsoring sporting
teams or events, organisations
harness the positive impacts of
sport to wash off negative as-
sociations with problems such
as environmental degradation
and human rights abuses.
In Australia, mining and en-
ergy companies often partner
with sporting organisations
from the grassroots to the
elite level. As our research has
shown, sports sponsorship is a
powerful way to channel the en-
ergy of sporting “atmospheres”
into brands, diverting attention
from firms’ roles in furthering
The French center finished
with 18 points and 19 rebounds
at Ball Arena.
Donovan Mitchell produced
31 points to help his team end a
four-game skid.
Jordan Clarkson came off the
LeBron James (ERIK DROST/FLICKR, CC BY 2.0)
climate change.
So as Australia clinches an-
other Ashes series, let’s take a
closer look at how official part-
ners such as Alinta Energy can
benefit from sponsoring sport-
ing events.
How does sportswashing
work?
Sporting events have long
been a site to exert “soft pow-
er”. Countries that host the
Olympics or the FIFA World
Cup, for example, are able to
challenge negative global imag-
es. Take Qatar: in the lead up to
this year’s FIFA World Cup, the
nation has taken opportunities
to reshape its reputation on a
number of issues including hu-
man rights.
www.canadianinquirer.net
bench to add 16 points and six
points.
For the losing side, Serbian
center Nikola Jokic notched a
triple-double.
Jokic played with 25 points,
15 rebounds, and 14 assists.
Sports sponsorship can serve
similar purposes for businesses.
Mining and energy giants such
as Adani, Rio Tinto, Origin, and
Woodside all sponsor sports
teams and leagues from local to
international levels of sport.
Our research shows when
companies sponsor sport events,
their brands become associated
with atmospheres: intense expe-
riences of shared emotion. Over
time, sports fans come to asso-
ciate sponsors’ logos and names
with these experiences such that
sponsors’ brands become stores
of this emotional energy, rather
like batteries.
This benefits companies be-
cause when people feel emo-
tions in relation to a brand,
23
Also, Monte Morris and
Nah’Shon Hyland scored 13
points each.
Utah Jazz have a 29-14 win-
loss record this season.
Phoenix Suns win again
The Phoenix Suns claimed
their third straight NBA game,
defeating Detroit Pistons 135-
108 at Little Caesars Arena.
Devin Booker led the Suns
to victory with 30 points while
Cameron Payne and JaVale Mc-
Gee each added 20 points each.
For the Pistons, Cory Joseph
and Cade Cunningham finished
with 21 points.
Phoenix Suns are currently
in the first spot with a 33-9 win-
loss record in the Western Con-
ference.
Other results: Sacramento
Kings-Houston Rockets: 112-
118, and Minnesota Timber-
wolves-Golden State Warriors:
119-99. ■
they’re more likely to remem-
ber that brand and become
loyal customers. Simultane-
ously, these positive emotional
associations can distract from
companies’ problematic con-
nections to a range of issues
including climate change and
pollution.
Is the tide turning against
sportswashing?
In 2021 a critical report found
more than 250 advertising and
sponsorship deals between cor-
porate polluters, and leading
sports teams and organisations
around the world.
The report, by the New Weath-
er Institute, implicated a range
❱❱ PAGE 30 Sportswashing: how
24
Inflation inequality: Poorest Americans are
hit hardest by soaring prices on necessities
BY JACOB ORCHARD,
University of California San
Diego
The Conversation
The fastest rate of inflation
in 40 years is hurting families
across the U.S. who are seeing
ever-higher prices for every-
thing from meat and potatoes
to housing and gasoline.
But behind the headline num-
ber that’s been widely report-
ed is something that often gets
overlooked: Inflation affects
different households in differ-
ent ways – and sometimes hurts
those with the least, the most.
Inflation, as calculated by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, is de-
signed to track the price increas-
es in a typical U.S. household’s
basket of goods. The problem is
spending bundles differ across
households. For example, a fam-
ily in the lowest 20% of income
typically spends around 15% of
their budget on groceries – this
is nearly 60% more than house-
holds in the top 20% of the in-
come distribution, according to
my calculations.
‘Plug and play’ spaces for workers
emerge in Cebu after ‘Odette’
BY CARLO LORENCIANA
Philippine News Agency
CEBU CITY – With Typhoon
Odette causing widespread dis-
ruption in Cebu province, many
information technology and
business process management
(IT-BPM) companies carried
out business continuity plans
(BCP), a property consultancy
firm said on Monday.
The plans are being carried
out to immediately provide
their employees with a work-
space that has internet access
and electricity, which resulted
Business
The widening inflation gap
On Jan. 12, 2022, the BLS
released figures showing that
inflation jumped by 7% in De-
cember from a year earlier – the
fastest pace since 1982. To see
how this varied across house-
holds, I used the bureau’s own
price data and factored in the
typical spending habits of dif-
ferent income groups.
I calculate that inflation is
running at 7.2% for the lowest
in high demand for fully fitted
or plug-and-play spaces.
Property consultancy firm
Colliers underscored that of-
fice market opportunities have
emerged in the aftermath of the
calamity.
Winston Luna, senior man-
ager of Colliers Cebu service
office, said in a statement on
Monday that several “plug and
play” office facilities were im-
mediately leased out in the af-
termath of the typhoon as office
locators raced to keep their op-
erations running.
“We have observed that
several IT-BPM players have
income households – higher
than for any other group. For
the highest income families, the
rate of change was 6.6%.
The difference between the
two income groups steadily
increased throughout 2021,
starting the year at just 0.16
percentage point but ending at
0.6 percentage point – near the
highest it has been since 2010.
The reason for this widening
rich-poor inflation gap, known
signed leases in such facilities
in the short-term or until elec-
tricity providers reenergize
their employees’ respective ar-
eas,” Luna said.
The IT-BPM industry, which
employs about 200,000 work-
ers in Cebu in 2021, has already
been implementing a work-
from-home (WFH) setup before
the typhoon to protect their em-
ployees from coronavirus dis-
ease 2019 (Covid-19). This be-
came more challenging after the
typhoon left many residential
communities heavily damaged.
The restoration of electrici-
ty, water, and telecommunica-
www.canadianinquirer.net
by economists as inflation in-
equality, comes down to the
typical spending habits of peo-
ple in each income group.
In times of economic un-
certainty and recession, most
households tend to hold back
on buying luxury goods. But by
and large, people can’t cut down
on necessities such as groceries
and heating – although wealthi-
er consumers are better placed
to stock up on these necessities
when prices are cheap.
This shift of spending away
from luxury items like vaca-
tions and new cars, and toward
necessities, pushes inflation up
for poorer families more than
richer ones. This is because
lower-income households ded-
icate a higher percentage of
their income on necessities.
My data shows that this in-
flation gap tends to be widest in
times of recession or in the ear-
ly stages of economic recovery.
In the aftermath of the Great
Recession of 2008-2009, the
gap in inflation rates between
the lowest and highest income
groups was close to 1 percent-
age point – higher than it is now.
tion lines would possibly take
months for some places.
“Since many IT-BPM loca-
tors generate revenue on a per-
seat and per-minute basis, these
companies carried out BCP to
immediately provide employees
with an alternative workspace,
which resulted in high demand
for fully fitted or ‘plug and play’
spaces,” Luna said.
He said that “many occupi-
ers searched for such options
across Metro Cebu, while oth-
ers even flew their employees
to unaffected cities, including
Metro Manila.”
However, occupiers have been
JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY
By contrast, in times of eco-
nomic growth – for example,
from 2012 to 2018 – the gap nar-
rows. It even inverted at one
point in 2016; the inflation rate
for poorer Americans was almost
a half-percentage point lower
than that of richer Americans.
The main driver of the grow-
ing gap in 2021 was the increas-
es in groceries and gas prices.
This has made inflation run
hotter for all households. But
given the greater proportion of
household income that poorer
families dedicate to food and
energy costs, it has affected
them more.
Take out gas and grocery
prices, then the inflation gap is
reduced significantly.
Going forward, I expect the
inflation gap will follow a similar
pattern as we saw after the Great
Recession – as economic recov-
ery turns into continued expan-
sion, inflation will be lower for
low-income households than
high-income households. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
facing challenges in the office
market even before the typhoon.
“Apart from high compe-
tition for fitted office spaces,
there remain some challenges
for certain occupiers whose
‘must-haves’, such as flexible
lease terms, required area size/
number of seats, and generator
set capacity, are not yet being
met,” Kathlyn Atillo, assistant
manager of the company’s of-
fice services in Cebu, said.
In addition, not all landlords
provide internet connection
and air conditioning which are
❱❱ PAGE 28 ‘Plug and play’
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022
Post-pandemic, ‘small business fetishism’
could cost us jobs, wages
BY SAUL ESLAKE,
University of Tasmania
The Conversation
Small business is “the en-
gine room of Australia,” the
“backbone of our economy,” the
“hope of the side”.
They are the words used by
the then treasurer and now
prime minister Scott Morrison
to justify special treatment for
small businesses, an approach
shared by leaders in every po-
litical party from Labor to One
Nation to the Australian Greens
It’s a belief that underpins a
wide range of grants and subsi-
dies, free advice programs and
preferential tax treatments, in-
cluding
• exemptions from pay-
roll tax
• a lower rate of compa-
ny tax
• discounts on personal
income tax if unincorporated
• exemptions in pre-
scribed circumstances from
capital gains tax
• up-front tax-deduct-
ibility of capital investments
• less onerous arrange-
ments for remitting the goods
and services tax.
What is extraordinary about
the “engine room of the econ-
omy” doctrine is the complete
absence of any evidence for it.
Advocates point to the large
number of people who work for
small businesses.
According to the Bureau of
Statistics’ most recent count (in
which small businesses are de-
fined as those with fewer than
20 employees), they employed
4.67 million people as at the end
of June 2020. That’s equivalent
to 37.7% of total employment.
The ‘engine room’ that
sheds jobs
What is less often pointed out
is that number – 4.67 million
– is smaller than it has been in
all but four of the past 13 years.
At no stage in the past 13 years
have more Australians been
employed in small businesses
than in June 2007.
Rather than being the en-
gine room of job creation, small
business has presided over job
destruction, creating not one
single net new job in aggregate
in 13 years.
Employment in small busi-
nesses has declined 6.3% in 13
years in which employment in
medium-sized businesses has
increased by 46.4% and em-
ployment in large businesses
has increased by 48.4%.
Employment in small busi-
nesses as a share of total em-
ployment
Nor has the “instant asset
write-off” advanced to small
businesses in the 2015-16 bud-
get done anything to enhance
capital expenditures by small
businesses.
Gross fixed capital expen-
diture by small businesses fell
16.1% between 2014-15 (the
year before the instant asset
write-off ) and 2018-19 (the year
before the pandemic) – a much
larger decline than in capital
expenditures by medium-sized
businesses (2.7%) and large
businesses (6%).
Another pervasive myth is
that small businesses are more
innovative.
Less productive, less inno-
vative
While some small business-
es undoubtedly are innovative,
the ABS surveys of innovation
activity have consistently found
small businesses are less likely
to engage in any form of innova-
tive activity than medium-sized
or large businesses.
Productivity is lower at small
businesses than at larger ones.
The ABS puts gross value
added per person employed in
small businesses at A$24,000,
or 21% below the average for all
businesses in 2019-20. Gross
value added per person in large
businesses was almost $41,000
- 36% above the average.
Lower productivity might
be one reason why, in 2019-20,
small businesses paid their em-
ployees 35% less than the av-
erage wage or salary paid by all
businesses. Medium-sized busi-
nesses paid an average of around
12% more, and large businesses
paid almost 34% more.
Apparent average annu-
al wage or salary by size of
business
The obvious conclusion out-
lined more fully in my new piece
in the Australian National Uni-
versity journal Agenda is the
widely held belief small busi-
ness is the “engine room of the
economy” is simply wrong – as
is the corollary that increased
assistance to businesses simply
because they are small is a good
way to boost employment, in-
vestment, innovation and eco-
nomic growth.
Less keen to pay tax
One thing small businesses
are not particularly good at is
paying the required tax.
The Australian Taxation Of-
fice Tax Gap program finds small
businesses (which it defines as
those with incomes of up to $10
million per year) voluntarily
paid only 86.3% of the personal
and company income tax they
should have paid if they had fully
complied with its interpretation
of the 2018-19 tax law.
This is larger than any of the
tax gaps calculated by the ATO.
The ATO finds high wealth
voluntarily paid 91.4% of what
should have been paid had they
fully complied. Large corpora-
tions paid 91.7%.
The Tax Office numbers sug-
gest small businesses account-
ed for 49% of what it defines
as uncollected money. Large
corporations and high wealth
individuals accounted for only
10% and 3%.
Again, this is strikingly at
odds with the popular percep-
tion that small businesses are
unfairly persecuted by the ATO
and that all of Australia’s fiscal
problems would disappear if
only “the top end of town” paid
www.canadianinquirer.net
Business
its fair share of tax.
During the pandemic,
small businesses needed
support
That’s not to say the substan-
tial assistance provided to small
businesses during COVID-19
were unjustified. Small busi-
nesses account for a dispropor-
tionately large share of most of
the sectors that were hardest
hit by the restrictions imposed
in order to suppress COVID-19,
hospitality among them.
Had governments not pro-
vided the extensive support
for small businesses they did,
it is highly likely the economy
would have contracted by more,
and the unemployment rate
would have risen by more in the
middle of last year.
However, it will be important
to ensure this support does not
become entrenched.
Policies that serve to prolong
the existence of small business-
es – which, as noted, on average
have lower levels of productivity
than larger businesses – will slow
down the rate at which factors of
production can move to higher
productivity uses within indus-
tries and across the economy.
Post-pandemic, new busi-
nesses will matter most
Ideally, existing schemes of
preferential tax treatment and
other forms of assistance to
small businesses, simply be-
cause they are small, should be
scrapped entirely and replaced
25
with preferential tax treatment
for new businesses.
There are at least five reasons
for this:
• first, new businesses
are more likely to be started in
sectors of the economy with
more sustainable economic
prospects – whereas small busi-
nesses are typically in the sec-
tor they started in
• second, new business-
es are much more likely to cre-
ate jobs than small businesses –
one recent study showed firms
aged less than two years created
1.44 million Australian full time
equivalent jobs between 2006
and 2011 while firms aged three
years or older shed around
400,000 jobs
• third, new businesses
are much more likely to inno-
vate than small ones – indeed,
the desire to introduce a new
product or service, or to pro-
duce an existing product or ser-
vice in a new way, is one of the
principal motives for starting a
new business
• fourth, since there is
no way new business can pre-
vent itself from eventually be-
coming older, assistance can’t
be gamed by new businesses
staying new in the same way as
it can be gamed by small busi-
nesses staying small
• fifth, since almost all
new businesses are inevitably
small and most small business-
es are not new, the budgetary
cost of measures designed to
help new businesses will be
much less than the cost of mea-
sures designed to help small
businesses, leaving more room
to assist all businesses.
The Reserve Bank has repeat-
edly stressed the importance of
lifting wages growth. The gov-
ernment in last year’s Intergen-
erational Report stressed the
importance of lifting produc-
tivity growth.
We will emerge from COVID
badly if we don’t take the oppor-
tunity to realign our programs
in line with reality so they best
achieve this. ■
Saul Eslake, Vice-Chancel-
lor’s Fellow, University of Tas-
mania
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
26
Building machines that work for everyone –
how diversity of test subjects is a technology
blind spot, and what to do about it
BY TAHIRA REID, Purdue
University, JAMES GIBERT,
Purdue University
The Conversation
People interact with ma-
chines in countless ways every
day. In some cases, they actively
control a device, like driving a
car or using an app on a smart-
phone. Sometimes people pas-
sively interact with a device,
like being imaged by an MRI
machine. And sometimes they
interact with machines without
consent or even knowing about
the interaction, like being
scanned by a law enforcement
facial recognition system.
Human-Machine Interaction
(HMI) is an umbrella term that
describes the ways people inter-
act with machines. HMI is a key
aspect of researching, designing
and building new technologies,
and also studying how people use
and are affected by technologies.
Researchers, especially those
traditionally trained in engi-
neering, are increasingly taking
a human-centered approach
when developing systems and
devices. This means striving to
make technology that works
as expected for the people who
will use it by taking into ac-
count what’s known about the
people and by testing the tech-
nology with them. But even as
engineering researchers in-
creasingly prioritize these con-
siderations, some in the field
have a blind spot: diversity.
As an interdisciplinary re-
searcher who thinks holistical-
ly about engineering and design
and an expert in dynamics and
smart materials with interests
in policy, we have examined the
lack of inclusion in technolo-
gy design, the negative conse-
quences and possible solutions.
People at hand
Researchers and developers
typically follow a design pro-
Technology
cess that involves testing key
functions and features before
releasing products to the pub-
lic. Done properly, these tests
can be a key component of com-
passionate design. The tests can
include interviews and exper-
iments with groups of people
who stand in for the public.
In academic settings, for ex-
ample, the majority of study
participants are students. Some
researchers attempt to recruit
off-campus participants, but
these communities are often
similar to the university popu-
lation. Coffee shops and other
locally owned businesses, for
example, may allow flyers to be
posted in their establishments.
However, the clientele of these
establishments is often students,
faculty and academic staff.
In many industries, co-work-
ers serve as test participants
for early-stage work because it
is convenient to recruit from
within a company. It takes ef-
fort to bring in outside partici-
pants, and when they are used,
they often reflect the majority
population. Therefore, many of
the people who participate in
these studies have similar de-
mographic characteristics.
Real-world harm
It is possible to use a homoge-
nous sample of people in publish-
ing a research paper that adds to
a field’s body of knowledge. And
some researchers who conduct
studies this way acknowledge the
limitations of homogenous study
populations. However, when it
comes to developing systems
that rely on algorithms, such
oversights can cause real-world
problems. Algorithms are as only
as good as the data that is used to
build them.
Algorithms are often based
on mathematical models that
capture patterns and then in-
form a computer about those
patterns to perform a given
task. Imagine an algorithm de-
signed to detect when colors
appear on a clear surface. If the
set of images used to train that
algorithm consists of mostly
shades of red, the algorithm
might not detect when a shade
of blue or yellow is present.
In practice, algorithms have
failed to detect darker skin
tones for Google’s skincare
program and in automatic soap
dispensers; accurately identi-
fy a suspect, which led to the
wrongful arrest of an innocent
man in Detroit; and reliably
identify women of color. MIT
artificial intelligence research-
er Joy Buolamwini describes
this as algorithmic bias and has
extensively discussed and pub-
lished work on these issues.
Even as the U.S. fights
COVID-19, the lack of diverse
training data has become evi-
dent in medical devices. Pulse
oximeters, which are essential
for keeping track of your health
at home and to indicate when
you might need hospitalization,
may be less accurate for peo-
ple with melanated skin. These
design flaws, like those in algo-
rithms, are not inherent to the
device but can be traced back to
the technology being designed
and tested using populations
that were not diverse enough to
Without a diverse range of test subjects, some new technologies could fail
to work as intended for many people. (JOHN PAUL VAN WERT/RANK STUDIOS VIA
DELTA NEWS HUB/FLICKR, CC BY 2.0)
www.canadianinquirer.net
represent all potential users.
Being inclusive
Researchers in academia are
often under pressure to publish
research findings as quickly as
possible. Therefore, reliance on
convenience samples – that is,
people who are easy to reach and
get data from – is very common.
Though institutional review
boards exist to ensure that study
participants’ rights are protect-
ed and that researchers follow
proper ethics in their work, they
don’t have the responsibility to
dictate to researchers who they
should recruit. When research-
ers are pressed for time, con-
sidering different populations
for study subjects can mean
additional delay. Finally, some
researchers may simply be un-
aware of how to adequately di-
versify their study’s subjects.
There are several ways re-
searchers in academia and in-
dustry can increase the diversity
of their study participant pools.
One is to make time to do the
inconvenient and sometimes
hard work of developing inclu-
sive recruitment strategies. This
can require creative thinking.
One such method is to recruit
diverse students who can serve
as ambassadors to diverse com-
munities. The students can gain
JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY
research experience while also
serving as a bridge between their
communities and researchers.
Another is to allow members
of the community to partici-
pate in the research and provide
consent for new and unfamiliar
technologies whenever possible.
For example, research teams
can form an advisory board
composed of members from var-
ious communities. Some fields
frequently include an advisory
board as part of their govern-
ment-funded research plans.
Another approach is to in-
clude people who know how to
think through cultural implica-
tions of technologies as mem-
bers of the research team. For in-
stance, the New York City Police
Department’s use of a robotic
dog in Brooklyn, Queens and the
Bronx sparked outrage among
residents. This might have been
avoided if they had engaged with
experts in the social sciences or
science and technology studies,
or simply consulted with com-
munity leaders.
Lastly, diversity is not just
about race but also age, gender
identity, cultural backgrounds,
educational levels, disability,
English proficiency and even
socioeconomic levels. Lyft is
on a mission to deploy robo-
taxis next year, and experts are
excited about the prospects of
using robotaxis to transport the
elderly and disabled. It is not
clear whether these aspirations
include those who live in less-af-
fluent or low-income communi-
ties, or lack the family support
that could help prepare people
to use the service. Before dis-
patching a robotaxi to transport
grandmothers, it’s important to
take into account how a diverse
range of people will experience
the technology. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022
The metaverse is money and crypto is king –
why you’ll be on a blockchain when
you’re virtual-world hopping
BY RABINDRA RATAN,
Michigan State University,
DAR MESHI, Michigan State
University
The Conversation
You may think the metaverse
will be a bunch of interconnect-
ed virtual spaces – the world
wide web but accessed through
virtual reality. This is large-
ly correct, but there is also a
fundamental but slightly more
cryptic side to the metaverse
that will set it apart from to-
day’s internet: the blockchain.
In the beginning, Web 1.0 was
the information superhighway of
connected computers and serv-
ers that you could search, explore
and inhabit, usually through a
centralized company’s platform
– for example, AOL, Yahoo, Mi-
crosoft and Google. Around the
turn of the millennium, Web 2.0
came to be characterized by so-
cial networking sites, blogging
and the monetization of user
data for advertising by the cen-
tralized gatekeepers to “free”
social media platforms, includ-
ing Facebook, SnapChat, Twitter
and TikTok.
Web 3.0 will be the foundation
for the metaverse. It will consist
of blockchain-enabled decen-
tralized applications that sup-
port an economy of user-owned
crypto assets and data.
Blockchain? Decentralized?
Crypto-assets? As researchers
who study social media and me-
dia technology, we can explain
the technology that will make
the metaverse possible.
Owning bits
Blockchain is a technolo-
gy that permanently records
transactions, typically in a
decentralized and public da-
tabase called a ledger. Bitcoin
is the most well-known block-
chain-based cryptocurrency.
Every time you buy some bit-
coin, for example, that trans-
action gets recorded to the Bit-
coin blockchain, which means
the record is distributed to
thousands of individual com-
puters around the world.
This decentralized recording
system is very difficult to fool or
control. Public blockchains, like
Bitcoin and Ethereum, are also
transparent – all transactions
are available for anyone on the
internet to see, in contrast to
traditional banking books.
Ethereum is a blockchain like
Bitcoin, but Ethereum is also
programmable through smart
contracts, which are essential-
ly blockchain-based software
routines that run automatical-
ly when some condition is met.
For example, you could use a
smart contract on the block-
chain to establish your owner-
ship of a digital object, such as
a piece of art or music, to which
no one else can claim owner-
ship on the blockchain — even
if they save a copy to their com-
puter. Digital objects that can
be owned – currencies, securi-
ties, artwork – are crypto assets.
Items like artwork and music
on a blockchain are nonfungi-
ble tokens (NFTs). Nonfungible
means they are unique and not re-
placeable, the opposite of fungible
items like currency – any dollar
is worth the same as, and can be
swapped with, any other dollar.
Importantly, you could use a
smart contract that says you are
willing to sell your piece of digital
art for US$1 million in ether, the
currency of the Ethereum block-
chain. When I click “agree,” the
artwork and the ether automati-
cally transfer ownership between
us on the blockchain. There is no
need for a bank or third-party es-
crow, and if either of us were to
dispute this transaction – for ex-
ample, if you claimed that I only
paid $999,000 – the other could
easily point to the public record
in the distributed ledger.
What does this blockchain
crypto-asset stuff have to do
with the metaverse? Everything!
To start, the blockchain allows
you to own digital goods in a vir-
tual world. You won’t just own
that NFT in the real world, you’ll
own it in the virtual world, too.
In addition, the metaverse
isn’t being built by any one
group or company. Different
groups will build different virtu-
al worlds, and in the future these
worlds will be interoperable –
forming the metaverse. As peo-
ple move between virtual worlds
– say from Decentraland’s virtu-
In the metaverse, your avatar, the clothes it wears and the things it carries belong to you thanks to blockchain. (DUNCAN
RAWLINSON - DUNCAN.CO/FLICKR, CC BY-NC)
al environments to Microsoft’s
– they’ll want to bring their stuff
with them. If two virtual worlds
are interoperable, the block-
chain will authenticate proof of
ownership of your digital goods
in both virtual worlds. Essen-
tially, as long as you are able to
access your crypto wallet within
a virtual world, you will be able
to access your crypto stuff.
Don’t forget your wallet
So what will you keep in your
crypto wallet? You will obvi-
ously want to carry cryptocur-
rencies in the metaverse. Your
crypto wallet will also hold your
metaverse-only digital goods,
such as your avatars, avatar
clothing, avatar animations, vir-
tual decorations and weapons.
What will people do with their
crypto wallets? Among other
things, shop. Just as you like-
ly do on the web now, you will
be able to purchase traditional
digital goods like music, movies,
games and apps. You’ll also be
able to buy physical-world items
in the metaverse, and you’ll be
able to view and “hold” 3D mod-
els of what you are shopping
for, which could help you make
more informed decisions.
Also, just like you can use
ye old leather wallet to carry
your ID, crypto wallets will be
linkable to real-world identi-
ties, which could help facilitate
transactions that require legal
verification, such as buying a
real-world car or home. Be-
cause your ID will be linked to
www.canadianinquirer.net
Technology
your wallet, you won’t need to
remember login information
for all the websites and virtu-
al worlds that you visit – just
connect your wallet with a click
and you are logged in. ID-asso-
ciated wallets will also be useful
for controlling access to age-re-
stricted areas in the metaverse.
Your crypto wallet could also
be linked to your contacts list,
which would allow you to bring
your social network information
from one virtual world to anoth-
er. “Join me for a pool party in
FILL IN THE BLANK-world!”
At some point in the future,
wallets could also be associated
with reputation scores that de-
termine the permissions you have
to broadcast in public places and
interact with people outside of
your social network. If you act like
a toxic misinformation-spread-
ing troll, you may damage your
reputation and potentially have
your sphere of influence reduced
by the system. This could create
an incentive for people to behave
well in the metaverse, but plat-
form developers will have to pri-
oritize these systems.
Big business
Lastly, if the metaverse is
money, then companies will
certainly want to play too.
The decentralized nature of
blockchain will potentially re-
duce the need for gatekeepers
in financial transactions, but
companies will still have many
opportunities to generate rev-
enue, possibly even more than
27
in current economies. Compa-
nies like Meta will provide large
platforms where people will
work, play and congregate.
Major brands are also getting
into the NFT mix, including
Dolce & Gabbana, Coca-Cola,
Adidas and Nike. In the future,
when you buy a physical world
item from a company, you
might also gain ownership of a
linked NFT in the metaverse.
For example, when you buy
that coveted name-brand outfit
to wear to the real-world dance
club, you might also become the
owner of the crypto version of the
outfit that your avatar can wear
to the virtual Ariana Grande con-
cert. And just as you could sell the
physical outfit secondhand, you
could also sell the NFT version
for someone else’s avatar to wear.
These are a few of the many
ways that metaverse business
models will likely overlap with
the physical world. Such exam-
ples will get more complex as aug-
mented reality technologies in-
creasingly come into play, further
merging aspects of the metaverse
and physical world. Although the
metaverse proper isn’t here yet,
technological foundations like
blockchain and crypto assets are
steadily being developed, setting
the stage for a seemingly ubiqui-
tous virtual future that is coming
soon to a ‘verse near you. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
 28
Forget the Winter Blues with these
Five Enticing Stays with Outdoor Hot Tubs
BOOKING.COM
While winter days can often
feel cold, dark and uninspir-
ing, it can also serve as a magi-
cal backdrop as there’s nothing
quite as enchanting as a soak
in a hot tub on a cold winter’s
day. According to our research,
more than half (54%)* of glob-
al travelers agree that they’d be
more inclined to book a place to
stay with wellness facilities like
a hot tub now than before the
pandemic. With that in mind,
we delved into our more than 28
million reported listings in over
153,000 destinations across the
globe to present five enchanting
stays with hot tubs where trav-
elers can take in the breathtak-
ing winter views while enjoying
a warm soak. Surrounded by
lush forests, perched on a hill-
top or set alongside a peaceful
waterfront, these enticing stays
will help you forget about the
winter blues.
Blabjorg Resort, Iceland
Set in the fishing village of
Borgarfjordur Eystri on the
northeast coast of Iceland,
this unique guest house offers
breathtaking views of the sur-
rounding mountains and sea.
Once a fish factory, Blabjorg
Resort is now home to beau-
tiful outdoor hot tubs that are
No, chivalry is...
❰❰ 19 herent condescension
in benevolent sexism
that views women as
less competent than men. This
is not to say individual acts of
kindness are a problem – but
the double-standards driving
them are a problem if they dis-
advantage one gender.
The broadest implication of
all this may be that benevolent
sexism enacts men’s agency
and dominance and women’s
passivity and subordination.
Men take a higher-status role as
providers and protectors, while
Travel
perfect to relax in while taking
in the views, listening to the
Atlantic waves crash against
the rugged shoreline and the
local birds (the well-known
bird colony at Hafnarhólmi is
just a short drive away). Guests
who are lucky enough can even
watch the Northern Lights
while soaking, whose season
normally runs from late August
to mid-April.
West Coast Hideaways, UK
Situated in Nedd, a small
village on the western head of
Loch Nedd in Scotland, this
cozy lodge offers self-catering
shepherd huts with memora-
ble mountain and sea views. As
women play the role of weak
and dependent followers.
By rewarding submissive-
ness, benevolent sexism is anti-
thetical to women’s power, and
an impediment to women’s at-
tainment of leadership roles. It
may be an added challenge to be
a figure of authority when you
are expected to be extra pleas-
ant and deferential.
Benevolent sexism enables
men to have loving relationships
with women while maintaining
male dominance in interperson-
al relationships. It goes hand-in-
if the breathtaking views were
not enough, guests are welcome
to take advantage of the out-
door hot tubs, which are heat-
ed by a wood fired stove. The
warmth of the water on your
body along with the beautiful
views and fresh air offer an un-
forgettable opportunity of end-
less relaxation in the highlands.
Lapochkin’s Nest, Russia
With 68%* of global travelers
like to travel to ‘off-the-beat-
en-path’ destinations that are
less crowded, these unique tree
houses in the Tula region south
of Moscow, are ideal for those
looking for much-needed quiet
time amongst nature. Walking
hand with hostile sexism, which
punishes women who challenge
the status quo and seek gender
equality. Benevolent sexism is
the reward women get for be-
ing submissive to men, and that
kindness is conditional upon
their conformity to traditional
gender roles.
Achieving gender equality
might mean sacrificing some of
these perceived perks. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
www.canadianinquirer.net
through the peaceful forest,
guests will discover relaxing
places to stay (including out-
door hot tubs!) hidden amongst
the tall pine trees. Beyond the
outdoor hot tub, this tranquil
location also offers guests the
opportunity to enjoy a variety
of outdoor activities in the win-
ter such as snowshoeing and
tubing.
Peuma Lodge Patagonia,
Chile
Located on over 300 hectares
of beautiful Chilean wilderness,
Peuma Lodge Patagonia offers a
cozy place to stay in the heart of
the Futaleufú Valley in North-
ern Patagonia. While staying
at this lodge, it’s essential for
guests to take a soothing soak
in the hot tub located on the
property’s outdoor terrace. The
panoramic views and fresh air
are especially enticing for those
who are looking for a relaxing
stay, no matter how cold the
temperatures get this winter.
A Snug Harbour Inn, Canada
Located in Ucluelet, British
Columbia, this beautiful bed
and breakfast features breath-
taking ocean views thanks to
its unique location on the Wild
Pacific Trail, which guests can
enjoy views from the comfort of
the Inn’s outdoor hot tub. They
can also descend the stairs 85
feet down from the main deck to
‘Plug and play’...
❰❰ 24 integral to tenants’
operations, Atillo said.
Social distancing
must also be implemented and
observed in the workplaces to
limit the spread of Covid-19,
and most occupiers need to
follow a one-meter or one-seat-
apart setup in the workplace.
This translates to a larg-
er-sized office requirement,
which means additional costs
for many companies. All these
challenges may cause delays in
the implementation of BCPs.
“Lessors need to be flexible
JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY
a small private and pristine peb-
bly beach. After spending time
outside, guests can warm up
inside the large comment room
complete with a grand stone
fireplace and large picture win-
dows that provide endless views
of the great outdoors. ■
*Research commissioned by
Booking.com and conducted
among a sample of adults who
plan to travel for business or lei-
sure in the next 12-24 months. In
total 24,055 respondents across
31 countries and territories were
polled (including 501 from Ar-
gentina, 1003 from Australia,
500 from Belgium, 1001 from
Brazil, 500 from Canada, 1000
from China, 1007 from Colom-
bia, 1001 from Croatia, 508 from
Denmark, 1002 from France,
1000 from Germany, 1005 from
Hong Kong, 1000 from India,
502 from Israel, 1003 from Ita-
ly, 1002 from Japan, 500 from
Mexico, 501 from The Nether-
lands, 501 from New Zealand,
500 from Peru, 1000 from Rus-
sia, 1005 from Singapore, 1002
from South Korea, 1002 from
Spain, 501 from Sweden, 501
from Switzerland, 504 from Tai-
wan, 500 from Thailand, 1000
from the UK, 1002 from the US
and 501 from Vietnam). Respon-
dents completed an online sur-
vey in August 2021.
with their offered commercial
terms and lease durations, espe-
cially during these extraordinary
times. Flexible workspace pro-
viders should gauge interest for
fitted spaces in the market and
create more plug and play facil-
ities that capture the evolving
needs of occupiers,” Luna said.
With the Covid-19 pandemic
still raging and natural calami-
ties inevitable, having a robust
BCP has never been more cru-
cial to ensure the protection of
an organization’s operations,
assets, and employees.■
FRIDAY JANUARY 21, 2022
What’s the difference between sugar, other
natural sweeteners and artificial sweeteners?
A food chemist explains sweet science
BY KRISTINE NOLIN,
University of Richmond
The Conversation
A quick walk down the drink
aisle of any corner store reveals
the incredible ingenuity of food
scientists in search of sweet fla-
vors. In some drinks you’ll find
sugar. A diet soda might have an
artificial or natural low-calorie
sweetener. And found in near-
ly everything else is high fruc-
tose corn syrup, the king of U.S.
sweetness.
I am a chemist who studies
compounds found in nature,
and I am also a lover of food.
With confusing food labels
claiming foods and beverages to
be diet, zero-sugar or with “no
artificial sweeteners,” it can be
confusing to know exactly what
you are consuming.
So what are these sweet mol-
ecules? How can cane sugar and
artificial sweeteners produce
such similar flavors? First, it is
helpful to understand how taste
buds work.
Taste buds and chemistry
The “taste map” – the idea
that you taste different fla-
vors on different parts of your
tongue – is far from the truth.
People are able to taste all fla-
vors anywhere there are taste
buds. So what’s a taste bud?
Taste buds are areas on your
tongue that contain dozens
of taste receptor cells. These
cells can detect the five flavors
– sweet, sour, salty, bitter and
umami. When you eat, food mol-
ecules are dissolved in saliva and
then washed across the taste
buds, where they bind to the dif-
ferent taste receptor cells. Only
molecules with certain shapes
can bind to certain receptors,
and this produces the percep-
tion of different flavors.
Molecules that taste sweet
bind to specific proteins on
the taste receptor cells called
Food
G-proteins. When a molecule
binds these G-proteins, it trig-
gers a series of signals that are
sent to the brain where it is in-
terpreted as sweet.
Natural sugars
Natural sugars are types of
carbohydrates known as sac-
charides that are made of car-
bon, oxygen and hydrogen. You
can imagine sugars as rings of
carbon atoms with pairs of ox-
ygen and hydrogen attached
to the outside of the rings. The
oxygen and hydrogen groups
are what make sugar sticky to
the touch. They behave like Vel-
cro, sticking to the oxygen and
hydrogen pairs on other sugar
molecules.
The simplest sugars are sin-
gle-molecule sugars called
monosaccharides. You’ve prob-
ably heard of some of these.
Glucose is the most basic sugar
and is mostly made by plants.
Fructose is a sugar from fruit.
Galactose is a sugar in milk.
Table sugar – or sucrose,
which comes from sugar cane –
is an example of a dissacharide,
a compound made of two mono-
saccharides. Sucrose is formed
when a glucose molecule and a
fructose molecule join together.
Other common dissacharides
are lactose from milk and malt-
ose, which comes grains.
When these sugars are eaten,
the body processes each of them
slightly differently. But eventu-
ally they are broken down into
molecules that your body con-
verts into energy. The amount
of energy from sugar – and all
food – is measured in calories.
High fructose corn syrup
High fructose corn syrup is
a staple of U.S. foods, and this
hybrid sugar sweetener needs
a category all on its own. High
fructose corn syrup is made
from corn starch – the main car-
bohydrate found in corn. Corn
starch is made of thousands of
glucose molecules bonded to-
gether. At an industrial scale,
the starch is broken into indi-
vidual glucose molecules using
enzymes. This glucose is then
treated with a second enzyme
to convert some of it into fruc-
tose. Generally, high fructose
corn syrup is roughly 42%-55%
fructose.
This blend is sweet and cheap
to produce but has a high cal-
orie content. As with other
natural sugars, too much high
fructose corn syrup is bad for
your health. And since most
processed foods and drinks are
packed full of the stuff, it is easy
to consume too much.
Natural nonsugar sweeteners
The second category of sweet-
eners could be defined as natu-
ral nonsugar sweeteners. These
are food additives such as stevia
and monk fruit, as well as natu-
ral sugar alcohols. These mole-
cules aren’t sugars, but they can
still bind to the sweet receptors
and therefore taste sweet.
Stevia is a molecule that
comes from the leaves of the
Stevia redaudiana plant. It con-
tains “sweet” molecules that
are much larger than most sug-
ars and have three glucose mol-
ecules attached to them. These
www.canadianinquirer.net
molecules are 30 to 150 times
sweeter than glucose itself. The
sweet molecules from monk
fruit are similar to stevia and
250 times sweeter than glucose.
The human body has a re-
ally hard time breaking down
both stevia and monk fruit. So
even though they’re both really
sweet, you don’t get any calories
from eating them.
Sugar alcohols, like sorbital,
for example, are not as sweet as
sucrose. They can be found in a
variety of foods, including pine-
apples, mushrooms, carrots and
seaweed, and are often added to
diet drinks, sugar-free chewing
gum and many other foods and
drinks. Sugar alcohols are made
of chains of carbon atoms in-
stead of circles like normal sug-
ars. While they are composed of
the same atoms as the sugars,
sugar alcohols are not absorbed
well by the body so they are con-
sidered low-calorie sweeteners.
Artificial sweeteners
The third way to make some-
thing sweet is to add artificial
sweeteners. These chemicals
are produced in labs and fac-
tories and are not found in na-
ture. Like all things that taste
sweet, they do so because they
29
can bind to certain receptors in
taste buds.
So far, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration has approved six
artificial sweeteners. The most
well known are probably sac-
charin, aspartame and sucralose
– better known as Splenda. Ar-
tificial sweeteners all have dif-
ferent chemical formulas. Some
resemble natural sugars while
others are radically different.
They are usually many times
sweeter than sugar – saccharin
is an incredible 200 to 700 times
sweeter than table sugar – and
some of them are hard for the
body to break down.
While a sweet dessert may
be a simple pleasure for many,
the chemistry of how your taste
buds perceive sweetness is not
so simple. Only molecules with
the perfect combination of at-
oms taste sweet, but bodies deal
with each of these molecules
differently when it comes to
calories. ■
Kristine Nolin, Associate Pro-
fessor of Chemistry, University
of Richmond
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
 30
A competitive cooking show puts a humble
fermented rice dish on the global stage
BY ADITI SEN, Queen’s
University, Ontario
The Conversation
It was Kishwar Chowdhury,
a competitor and second run-
ner-up on the 13th season of
MasterChef Australia, who
made a dish called panta bhat
internationally famous. A rather
humble dish from eastern India
(Assam, Odisha and West Ben-
gal) and Bangladesh, one could
never have imagined it achieving
such a level of critical acclaim.
Panta bhat is cooked par-
boiled rice that is soaked in
cold water and left to ferment.
Very often it’s left overnight, al-
though some may even ferment
it longer. The rice is then eaten
with accompaniments that can
vary depending on the econom-
ic condition of the family or the
individual — ranging from ba-
sics like mustard oil, raw onion
and green chillies to more elab-
orate sides like fried fish, bat-
ter-fried veggies and potatoes.
How to make panta bhat.
Fermenting in pond water
Ten years ago, panta bhat was
associated with several cases
of cholera. The dish is a rural
staple and popular breakfast in
eastern India and Bangladesh,
but the use of contaminated
water in the preparation of the
Sportswashing: how...
❰❰ 23 of Australian sports
events and leagues
including the Austra-
lian Football League, Australian
Baseball League, and the 2021
Australian Tennis Open.
Some condemned the Aus-
tralian Open for accepting gas
giant Santos as an “official nat-
ural gas partner”. And last year
Comms Declare, an advertis-
ing and marketing industry
body, said the decision was at
odds with Tennis Australia’s
commitment to the United Na-
tions Sports for Climate Action
Framework.
Surf Life Saving Australia
has also been criticised for ac-
cepting sponsorship from pet-
rol supplier Ampol, not least
because the fossil fuel industry
threatens the very coastal en-
vironments that surf lifesaving
Food
rice created the perfect condi-
tions for the development of
disease.
Using pond water in mak-
ing panta bhat had been a ma-
jor cause of the disease. There
were several public health cam-
paigns that were specifically de-
signed to prevent the villagers
from using pond water, but they
were often ineffective.
Despite its role in causing
cholera, the popularity of the
dish never declined. It’s a cheap
meal that needs no refrigera-
tion. Further, one can cook the
rice in a pot and soak the left-
A regular serving of panta bhat (ASHIS SAHA – OWN WORK/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS,
CC BY-SA 3.0)
calls home.
Sportspeople are joining
these critical voices, too. For-
mer Australian rugby captain
and conservationist David Po-
cock last year criticised Rugby
Australia’s decision to accept
Santos as the Wallabies’ major
sponsor, likening it to tobacco
company sport sponsorship in
the 1980s.
What does this mean for
sport sponsorships?
As awareness of sportswash-
ing grows, we think sponsor-
ship deals are likely to gener-
ate increasing scrutiny from
consumers, investors, and from
other companies. This will have
big implications for companies
whose sponsoring partnerships
are perceived as sportswashing.
In recent years, sports fans
have protested against the own-
overs in the same pot. Finally,
it is not only cheap and conve-
nient, but also needs very little
time to make.
The role of panta bhat is so
central to Bengal that there is a
popular folkloric figure called
Panta Buri — “old woman who
eats panta” — who has many
adventures after a thief steals
her panta bhat. In order to seek
justice for the theft, she goes on
a long journey to meet the king.
On her way, she meets many
eclectic characters like a talking
knife, a catfish, a bael (a native
fruit species) and an alligator.
ers of sports teams, as well as
event organisers, for a range of
issues. Research shows that ac-
tivism can damage revenue and
share prices for companies.
www.canadianinquirer.net
While the characters change in
different versions, the context of
her journey remains the same.
Panta bhat is a dish that re-
flects the soul of rural Bengal.
Yet the dish has now made it to
a very popular television show,
and feeds into the growing in-
terest in fermented foods.
Panta bhat is an acquired
taste — a penchant for fer-
mented rice is certainly not as
widespread as, say, fried pota-
toes. Immigrant chefs are now
pushing us towards bolder
taste, a taste that is defiant, and
not overshadowed by past colo-
nial ambivalence.
Acceptance through food
Increasingly, immigrants
have become unapologetic
about their culinary roots. For
example, British-Ghanaian
chef Zoe Adjonyoh actively
discusses issues like colonial-
ism and racism that influence
how traditional cuisines are
perceived and accepted. Nadi-
ya Hussein became popular af-
ter winning the 2015 season of
The Great British Bake Off, and
helped popularize unique fu-
sion foods through her writing
and a series of television cook-
ing shows.
This interest in ethnic cui-
sines can also be seen in the
growing number of food shows
and documentaries like Ugly
More generally, by creating
negative media publicity and
government attention, sports
activism can undo the intended
benefits of sponsorship, further
JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY
Delicious, High on the Hog, Fla-
vorful Origins and many others
that show a growing interest in
the subject and a curiosity about
authentic culinary storytelling.
We have a very long way to
go when it comes to embracing
versatile tastes from non-west-
ern cultures. In 2019, American
national security affairs profes-
sor Tom Nichols felt the need to
openly disparage Indian food
on Twitter.
While it sparked a major
controversy, Nichols’ tweet ex-
posed the fault lines of racism
that so frequently get expressed
in belittling immigrant tastes.
But there is hope, and a lot of
curiosity. Instead of trying to al-
ter and adjust their cuisine to ex-
isting western standards, young
immigrant chefs are learning
about their culinary past, and
slowly trying to integrate their
unique flavours into the growing
world of global cuisine in very
honest, authentic ways.
Let’s face it, fermented rice
with strong mustard oil and
spicy green chillies is like a
bold, raw taste of defiance. ■
Aditi Sen, Assistant Professor,
History, Queen’s University, On-
tario
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
damaging brand images.
In some cases, activists have
been able to demand policy
u-turns. For example, Liverpool
FC supporters forced owners to
scrap ticket price rises and is-
sue an apology. Whether activ-
ists can bring about change in
environmental sportswashing
remains to be seen.
Nevertheless, it may be time
for sports governing bodies,
owners and event managers to
reconsider contributions from
environmentally unsustainable
companies. Such sponsorship
is at odds with the the cultural
value of sporting events and the
benefits sport brings to all lev-
els of society. ■
This article is republished
from The Conversation under a
Creative Commons license.
 JANUARY
JULY 21, 2022
17, 2020 31
28

CANADA

PINOY EXPRESS DELIVERY

TRUCK OR CARGO AVAILABLE FOR RENT WITH A DRIVER.
Driver will help: Load-Pack-Unload

Perfect for: *Furniture Pick-up *Online Purchases

Room * Bachelor * 1-2 Bedroom
No More Hassle and Headache of going out to Rent.
Just pick up the phone and will show up at your door.
Let your Kababayan help you!!! We Speak your language
Maraming Salamat

Call: (416) 841-0244 for more details.

Leave a Message and we will call you back.

Electronic Technicians Needed

Experience in Low Voltage
Electrical System
installation and Servicing
Computers with Networking
Email resume to suda@alarmboss.com
Call 416-432-1902

CHRISTMAS SIGNING BONUS!!! TIN TIN DIM SUM Spectrum Health Care is Hiring
Do you have:
Proudly serving fresh
Personal Support Workers
Cleaning, sweeping and moping experience (Outside Retail)
Experience in using a power washer & leaf blower
Enjoy Working Outdoors
and not frozen dim sum all day who want more!
Good time management skills and can work unsupervised
Have your own transportation $10.99 only More hours
Iron Platter Style (with rice & veg in soup)
Competitive Pay Rates Tonkatsu Combo (Chicken or Pork)
Pay Via Direct Deposit Spicy Ramen Pot

6455 Macleod Trail SW, Unit 192A, Calgary, AB T2H 0K9

$500 Signing Bonus
(Located inside Chinook Mall)
Please email your resume to SecuredGroup
info@securedsecuirty.com or fax 604-239-0251 securedsecurity.com
(403) 253-7742 Learn more at www.spectrumhealthcare.com

www.canadianinquirer.net
32 JANUARY 21, 2022 FRIDAY

2021 Edge

The Future of Style

IN REBATES 67

on most new
2021 Edge models

FIND OUT MORE AT FORDTO.CA

Vehicle(s) may be shown with optional equipment. Dealer may sell or lease for less. Limited time offers. Offers only valid at participating dealers. Retail offers may be cancelled or changed at any time without notice. See your Ford Dealer for complete details or call the Ford Customer
Relationship Centre at 1-800-565-3673. For factory orders, a customer may either take advantage of eligible raincheckable Ford retail customer promotional incentives/offers available at the time of vehicle factory order or time of vehicle delivery, but not both or combinations thereof. Retail offers
not combinable with any CPA/GPC or Daily Rental incentives, the Commercial Upfit Program or the Commercial Fleet Incentive Program (CFIP). ©2021 Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited. All rights reserved.

www.canadianinquirer.net