Quiet quitting: What the workplace trend sweeping social media actually means
 
The idea is sweeping social media: “quiet quitting.” But for most advocates, the movement is quite different than what the name suggests.

Jessica Mundie - Yesterday - National Post

This trend, which is growing especially on the social media app TikTok, has nothing to do with leaving your job. Rather, it supports the idea of meeting expectations at work and nothing more — avoiding going above and beyond.

The divide is about whether this movement is suggesting slacking off to the point of not getting work done, or if it is just encouraging workers to fulfill the duties of their job description to the best of their abilities within normal working hours.

Some experts suggest it’s just a controversial name for doing your job with healthy work-life boundaries, while others say dedication is still important for advancing your career.

Developing a healthy work-life balance is important, but going above and beyond in your work is not always a bad thing, in fact having ambitious people on a team is important, said Mary Ann Baynton, workplace relations specialist and CEO of Mary Ann Baynton & Associates Corp.

“The problem comes when the going above and beyond is expected without compensation,” said Baynton.

If two people were to work the same job but one is very ambitious and works more hours for recognition, the other should not be punished for just doing the work they were hired for, she said.

It is important, said Baynton, that employees are doing the work they were hired to do to the best of their abilities.

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There’s another phrase in the conversation, too, and that one’s even more contentious: “retire on the job” refers to someone who shows up to work just to slack off and ends up offloading duties on to their coworkers.

“They do not get the work that is expected of them complete,” she said.

Victoria Grainger, founder of Wellness Works Canada, a not-for-profit workplace health and performance association, said the phenomenon of disengaging from one’s job has picked up pace and is disturbing in light of already dismal engagement rates.

“Employee engagement directly correlates with job performance,” she said, in an email. “And if employers want healthy, performing organizations, they need to step up to the task of meeting employee needs.”

Related video: What is 'quiet quitting'? Inside the viral trend sparking controversy
Duration 3:56 View on Watch

There is something to be said for going above and beyond in your work, said Grainger. Savvy employers will notice this and provide recognition, reward, compensation and opportunities for advancement that they deserve.

But, she said, it is also important for employees to be vocal about their needs and to set healthy boundaries that prevent harm to their psychological health.

Kelsea Warren, a workplace wellbeing coach and consultant, said she does not like the term “quiet quitting” for the ideology that it describes.

“It just puts a negative connotation around people doing their job descriptions,” she said.

The trend is not necessarily new, said Warren, who is pursuing a PhD in industrial and organizational psychology. The ideas behind work-to-rule and unionizing are similar to the quiet quitting ideology.

Warren said many times when people start a new job, they are excited by their role, engaged in the work, and want feedback on their progress. But when their hard work is not acknowledged by management, all they are told is what they are doing wrong, and job requirements keep changing, the employee starts to feel less valuable.

“People are just not as motivated to continue going above and beyond when they’re not seeing any benefits of doing so,” said Warren.

This may appear to management or people on the outside of an organization as employees not doing their jobs because they are no longer exceeding expectations, but in reality, they are just doing the minimum work they were hired to do, she said.

Quiet quitting is also about avoiding burnout, a state of total exhaustion caused by excessive stress, which became relevant especially during the pandemic.

“People who at one time felt being ambitious, having poor personal boundaries, and making work the centre of their life, have changed their mind,” said Baynton. “Maybe their sole desire in life is not to achieve at work, maybe it is family, friends, or their health.”

There were also shifts in the way we work, said Warren. Jobs are more remote and there is no need to commute to an office every day.

“Work is important and work can be fun, I do believe that people should love their jobs,” she said. “But post-pandemic I think people are realizing that there is more to life than just work.”

Some people on social media see this trend as overwhelmingly positive, like TikTok user Clayton Farris, who in a video said he still works just as hard and still gets just as much accomplished.

“I just don’t stress and internally rip myself to shreds,” he said, in his video.

Others, like user Shini Ko, who has a full-time job in tech while also running a farm in Perth, Ont., say quiet quitting has negative connotations as it suggests the idea of not going above and beyond is “quitting.”

In a video , Ko says there have been times in her career when she has gone above and beyond her job description and has “let work-related problems live rent-free in her brain.”

“But I don’t do that anymore because it’s so not worth it,” she said, in the video.

Ko said the idea of quiet quitting sounds like a “coping mechanism” and “disengaging.”

“I’m still showing up to my work, I’m still putting in a fair amount of effort to do my job right,” she said, in the video. “I’m just saying no to things that don’t bring value.”

Warren said that if employers see this trend happening in their workplace, they should look at what kind of processes and systems they have for wellbeing and engagement.

“I think identifying the values of the employees and trying to help combat those misalignments is important for organizations that want to keep talent,” she said.

Canada's Most Widely-Spoken Languages Have Been Revealed & Here's What's On The Rise

Janice Rodrigues - Thursday - Narcity

The stats are in and it's official: Mandarin and Punjabi are now some of Canada's most widely-spoken languages.

On August 17, Statistics Canada released new census data that brought some interesting facts to light.

For starters — and this one comes as no surprise — English and French remain the most commonly spoken languages in Canada, with 9 out of 10 people speaking one of the two at home on a regular basis.

However, 12.7% of the population – a whopping 4.6 million people — predominantly spoke another language at home, a proportion that has grown continually over the last 30 years.

According to the data, Mandarin and Punjabi were Canada's most widely-spoken languages after English and French in 2021.

The number of people speaking Mandarin grew 15% between 2016 and 2021, while the number of Punjabi speakers increased by 49% during that same period.

The census also found that the number of people who spoke predominantly South Asian languages, such as Gujarati, Hindi or Malayalam, "grew significantly from 2016 to 2021."

Some other languages increasingly spoken in Canadian homes include the East African language of Tigrigna, Turkish, Tagalog, Arabic, Spanish and some Persian languages.

In contrast, there's been a decline in the number of people who spoke certain European languages, specifically Italian, Polish and Greek.
A decline in French

The proportion of Canadians with French as their first official language decreased, falling from 22.2% in 2016 to 21.4% in 2021, according to census data.

To put that into context, French was the first official language for 27.2% of Canadians in 1971.

That isn't to say the language is being spoken less. French was spoken by 7.8 million Canadians in 2021 — up from 7.7 million in 2016.

However, because this growth is slower than population growth as a whole, the proportion of people whose first official language is French has fallen.

Statistics Canada noted that the "proportion of Canadians who spoke predominantly French at home decreased in all the provinces and territories, except Yukon."

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.

Man who died in Alberta RCMP cell needed medical attention before his arrest, expert says


A man who died in an RCMP holding cell in Grande Prairie, Alta., last month should have been medically assessed before he was detained by police, a criminologist says.


© Submitted by Gregory Hartzler

Addison Hartzler, 30, died in a holding cell at the Grande Prairie RCMP detachment on June 3, hours after being arrested at his home in the city 460 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

Addison Hartzler, 30, was arrested in the early hours of June 3 after calling 911 for what he believed was a break and enter at the home where he was living.

When officers found no evidence of a break-in was found, Hartzler was arrested for public mischief — roughly nine minutes after RCMP had arrived at the scene.

Nine hours later, he was found unresponsive in a cell at the Grande Prairie RCMP detachment.

His death is now being investigated by Alberta's police watchdog, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team.

RCMP told Hartzler's family he had been acting in a psychotic and delusional manner before he was arrested, but that he was not medically assessed.

"If the individual is acting erratically, why didn't the officers on the scene request paramedic assistance to come and assess this individual?" said Doug King, a professor in justice studies at Mount Royal University.

The death raises questions about the way police make arrests, assess the medical needs of suspects and protect detainees, King said.

The arresting officer later told Hartzler's father his son had been unwilling or unable to provide his name to police. Because of that, they detained him until he could be identified and the mischief charge could be formally laid.

Hartzler's apparent confusion suggests he needed immediate medical attention, King said.

Officers will need to answer why they instead placed him alone in a cell, he said.

"The question then becomes an issue of police officer judgment.

"When the paramedics get involved, when the medical assessment happens, it is all triggered by one of these judgments. But that doesn't mean that those officers aren't accountable for the judgments that they make."

A patient report indicates RCMP last saw Hartzler alive at 9 a.m., more than two hours before paramedics were called to the detachment, despite an RCMP policy stating that cells should be checked at minimum every 15 minutes.
Speed of arrest questioned

Alberta RCMP were initially tasked with investigating the in-custody death. ASIRT took over the investigation last week after the Hartzler family fought to have the case reassigned.

Sandy Jung, a psychology professor and crime researcher at MacEwan University, said ASIRT's investigation should focus on what evidence RCMP used to detain Hartzler and determine that he was not in need of medical attention.

The speed of the arrest — nine minutes after officers first interacted with Hartzler — is disconcerting, Jung said.

"What kind of investigation even happened to kind of lead them to bring him to holding cells?

"I don't think there was enough time there to make that kind of decision."

Jung questions if responding officers made unfounded assumptions about Hartzler's mental state and motives.

She said Hartzler appeared compliant with officers in home security video of the arrest.

The video shows him sitting in the back of a police cruiser moments after officers arrive. He had not been handcuffed.

"Removing him from the premises and actually putting him in a holding cell? What evidence do they have to support that?" Jung said.

"I would say decisions were made fairly rapidly."

An EMS patient report states that by 11:17 a.m, Hartzler was "obviously dead" in his cell.

RCMP told responding paramedics they suspected he had been using cocaine.

Hartzler's father believes he was experiencing a medical episode unrelated to drugs and alcohol. A cause of death has yet to be determined.

King said that if detachment logs show Hartzler was left unattended for hours, it would be a clear violation of RCMP protocol. Officers involved could be found culpable in his death, he said.

"It has civil implications of negligence. And that can have monetary impact for the RCMP. It could also mean some form of reprimand or sanction against the officers at the scene.

"And I can well speculate that none of that would resolve the anguish that the family feels."

Hartzler's father said the family would consider pursuing a lawsuit against the RCMP if the ASIRT probe uncovers any wrongdoing. He said the family also wants a public inquiry.
Caseload high at ASIRT

The province's director of law enforcement initially said the investigation would remain with RCMP because there was no confrontation between RCMP and Hartzler, and because of the number of files that had been recently assigned to ASIRT.

ASIRT took over the investigation on Aug. 9 and received the case file earlier this week.

In an interview, ASIRT executive director Mike Ewenson said the agency's caseload is high.

"The workload, it ebbs and flows," Ewenson said. "We can become taxed quickly with a few case files that are assigned all at once."

ASIRT's active cases include an investigation into the death of another man in holding cells in Grande Prairie.

The 26-year-old was arrested for mischief on Feb.7, 2021, after police were called to a report of a man who had consumed drugs and was creating a disturbance at a home. He was found unresponsive in his cell the following morning.

Feds probe 'disturbing' tweets by consultant on government-funded anti-racism project


OTTAWA — The federal diversity minister says he's taking action over "disturbing" tweets by a senior consultant on an anti-racism project that received $133,000 from his department.


Ahmed Hussen has asked Canadian Heritage to “look closely at the situation" after what he called “unacceptable behaviour” by Laith Marouf, a senior consultant involved in the government-funded project to combat racism in broadcasting.

Marouf’s Twitter account is private but a screenshot posted online shows a number of tweets with his photo and name.

One tweet said: “You know all those loud mouthed bags of human feces, aka the Jewish White Supremacists; when we liberate Palestine and they have to go back to where they come from, they will return to being low voiced bitches of thier (sic) Christian/Secular White Supremacist Masters.”

Marouf declined requests for comment, but when asked about the post, a lawyer acting for Marouf asked for his client’s tweets to be quoted “verbatim” and distinguished between Marouf’s “clear reference to ‘Jewish white supremacists,’” and Jews or Jewish people in general.

Marouf does not harbour “any animus toward the Jewish faith as a collective group,” lawyer Stephen Ellis said in an email.

Last year, the Community Media Advocacy Centre received a $133,800 Heritage Department grant to build an anti-racism strategy for Canadian broadcasting.

Marouf is listed as a senior consultant on CMAC’s website and is quoted saying that CMAC is “excited to launch” the “Building an Anti-Racism Strategy for Canadian Broadcasting: Conversation & Convergence Initiative” with funding support from Heritage’s anti-racism action program.

He expressed gratitude to “Canadian Heritage for their partnership and trust imposed on us," saying that CMAC commits to "ensuring the successful and responsible execution of the project."

Hussen, who is based in the Heritage Department, said in a statement: “We condemn this unacceptable behaviour by an individual working in an organization dedicated to fighting racism and discrimination.”

“Our position is clear — antisemitism and any form of hate have no place in Canada. That is why I have asked Canadian Heritage to look closely at the situation involving disturbing comments made by the individual in question. We will address this with the organization accordingly, as this clearly goes against our government’s values,” Hussen added.

CMAC did not respond to a request for comment.

The NDP's heritage critic Peter Julian said such comments online were "completely unacceptable," adding that "tolerating hate speech is complicity — it must stop."

"We call on the minister of heritage to take drastic action and terminate his contract," the MP said. "The minister must also come clean about the vetting process in granting contracts. The lack of due diligence is concerning, and Canadians deserve transparency and accountability."

Julian said all Canadians have "a responsibility to act in the fight against antisemitism, racism and all forms of hate."

Irwin Cotler, a former Liberal justice minister who was appointed as Canada's special envoy on antisemitism by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said Marouf's tweet referring to "loud mouthed bags of human feces" was “beyond the pale.”

Cotler said he plans to speak to officials working in the Heritage department on combating racism about the issue.

Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said Canadians "should be appalled" by his tweets.

“Canadian Heritage must review its oversight policies to ensure Canadian taxpayer dollars are provided to groups committed to cherished Canadian values and to combating racism, hate, and discrimination,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2022.

Marie Woolf, The Canadian Press

Federal government sinks $100M into Sudbury underground lab

Early Friday, members of the team at SNOLAB brought a group of partners, politicians and media down the shaft at Vale’s Creighton Mine to give a tour of their clean lab facility, where more than 100 staff members facilitate neutrino and dark matter studies.

In the depths of the facility, innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne held what he called “the deepest news conference in Canadian history” to announce that SNOLAB would be one of 19 beneficiaries of federal totalling $628 million.

The funding will be provided through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s Major Science Initiative Fund, and will support 19 projects across 14 Canadian institutions.

SNOLAB will receive $102 million over six years to support its work.

“The type of research they’re doing here is cutting edge,” said Champagne. “This is one of many research facilities we have across the country which not only aims to answer the big questions of our time, but also to solve our most unique challenge. That’s why we need facilities like this.”

Sustained funding from government bodies has allowed SNOLAB to become a global leader in astroparticle physics, and has helped put Sudbury on the map, according to SNOLAB executive director Jodi Cooley.

She said the money will go towards supporting its ongoing research projects and international staff. She said there are also in the process of bringing a new “next generation experiment” to an area of the lab called the Cryopit, and the funding will help fulfil preliminary processes.

“We have two experiments right now that could fill that space, and have listed (this location) in their initial proposals as the baseline choice,” said Cooley. “To host those experiments, we definitely need to be ramping up some of our infrastructure, and doing some hiring of expertise.

The funding announcement also comes as SNOLAB celebrates its 10th year of its facility. The underground lab — which was the culmination of decades of work dating back to the 1980s — originally opened in 2012, and has seen gained international recognition for its work, bringing in expertise from across the world.

Beyond its work in astropartical physics, the lab’s staff has also conducted genomics and metabolism studies, ultra-sensitive environmental monitoring, and quantum computing testing.

“For more than a decade, SNOLAB has been the centre for cutting-edge research,” said Marc Serre, MP for Nickel Belt, who was also in attendance. “(This funding) will attract world-class experiments to Greater Sudbury and Nickel Belt. I look forward to hearing about the advancements that will be made through this funding.”

Examples of other facilities being funded are:

Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS): Based at the Université du Québec – Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), Canada’s most powerful laser is operated at ALLS, the first facility of its kind in the world. Using lasers to investigate matter, ALLS enables leading-edge research in areas such as biology, medicine, chemistry, physics and telecommunications. Manufacturing more efficient batteries, using X-ray imaging for sustainable agriculture and detecting diseases at an earlier stage are some of ALLS’ numerous applications.

Canadian Cancer Trials Group Operations and Statistics Centre at Queen’s University: With about 20,000 members across the world, this is the only Canadian research facility with expertise and infrastructure capable of supporting the entire range of cancer trial proposals. Its patient engagement model has been extensively shared nationally and internationally. It was created by cancer researchers and aims to improve the survival and quality of life of cancer patients. The research supported by this facility develops innovative therapies, advances understanding of cancer resistance and reduces the burden of cancer treatment.

Coalition Publica: A partnership between Érudit and the Public Knowledge Project, Coalition Publica is an initiative led by Université de Montréal to advance research dissemination and digital scholarly publishing in Canada. Supporting the social sciences and humanities in fields such as Indigenous studies and education, Coalition Publica is developing a non-commercial, open-source national infrastructure for digital scholarly publishing, diffusion and research.

The Global Water Futures Observatories (GWFO): A network of 76 water monitoring sites across the country, GWFO encompasses lakes, rivers and wetlands in seven provinces and territories including six major river basins, as well as the Great Lakes. This network allows researchers to gain important insights into how changing climate and increased flooding, drought and contaminants are putting Canada’s freshwaters at risk.

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC): Operating a broad range of ocean observatories from the deep ocean to coastal waters, and on land, ONC provides unique technical capabilities to advance our understanding of the role of oceans on climate change and the impact it has on them. The knowledge generated by this unique facility enables scientists, governments, organizations and citizens to make informed decisions for healthy ecosystems, strong economies and resilient communities. ONC is hosted and owned by the University of Victoria.

The Local Journalism Initiative is made possible through funding from the federal government.
mjensen@postmedia.com
Twitter: @mia_rjensen
Mia Jensen, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Sudbury Star

SNOLAB | World-class underground science facility

https://www.snolab.ca

2022-02-11 · 2022-08-19 SNOLAB welcomes major federal investment. 2022-08-18 Second annual Canadian Astroparticle Summer Student Talk Competition a success. 2022-06-30 Dr. Jodi Cooley named Executive Director of SNOLAB. 2022-05-17 The SNO+ experiment completes scintillator fill and PPO loading. 2022-05-04 SNOLAB liquid nitrogen plant comes online.

ANIMAL LIBERATION FAIL

Vancouver Zoo: Missing wolf found safe after pack escaped


Fri, August 19, 2022 

Grey wolves, known by their scientific name Canis lupus, pictured at the Minnesota Zoo in 2022

A wolf missing from a zoo near Vancouver has been found safe and returned to its pack.

One-year-old Tempest, a grey wolf, was found on Friday morning after a three-day search and rescue mission.

Police and zoo staff believe a pack of nine wolves was set free from the Greater Vancouver Zoo by a vandal earlier this week.

One wolf has since been found dead. The remaining wolves were recovered, with Tempest being the last to be located.

Zoo staff said they believe the grey wolves escaped after someone deliberately cut the fence surrounding their enclosure overnight.

Police are now investigating what is believed to be a case of unlawful entry and vandalism.

There were nine wolves and six pups housed at the zoo - located 34 miles outside Vancouver.

A three-year-old wolf named Chia - the second oldest female of the pack - was found dead on the side of the road nearby the zoo on Thursday morning.

The zoo's deputy manager, Menita Prasad, told reporters on Thursday that staff are "heartbroken" over Chia's death.

At the time, Tempest was still missing, and Ms Prasad appealed to the public to help find her.

By Friday morning, Tempest was found near the zoo. Ms Prasad said in a statement that staff are "extremely happy and relieved" the wolf has been found.

Wildlife experts say wolves tend to be wary of humans, but some lose their fear of people if they are continuously exposed to them.

If a wolf is spotted, people are encouraged to stay calm, slowly back away and maintain eye contact. Nearby dogs should also be kept on a leash.

Ms Prasad called the apparent deliberate release of the pack a "senseless act".

"We watched these wolves grow up. We consider the animals at the zoo a part of our family", she said.

The zoo closed its doors to the public since the wolves escaped on Tuesday. It is set to reopen on Saturday.

"The public will now be able to see Tempest re-united with her family." Ms Prasad said.

Greater Vancouver Zoo wolf enclosure was damaged to let animals escape, RCMP say

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Ministry says one wolf still unaccounted for, but zoo has not confirmed how many escaped or remain missing

The Canadian Press · Posted: Aug 17, 2022 11:18 AM PT | Last Updated: August 17

Police and security outside the parking lot of the Greater Vancouver Zoo, which remains closed a day after at least one wolf escaped the facility. (Gian Paolo Mendoza/CBC)

Police say the wolf enclosure at the Greater Vancouver Zoo was damaged by someone who is suspected to have broken in and allowed the animals to escape. The facility remains closed for a second day.

There were nine adult grey wolves and six cubs at the zoo in Aldergrove, B.C., but it has not confirmed how many got loose or remain unaccounted for as conservation workers and zoo staff continue to search.

B.C.'s Environment Ministry said Tuesday that one wolf remains unaccounted for.

The zoo first announced without explanation that it was closed Tuesday morning via its Instagram and Facebook accounts and remained closed Wednesday.

When it announced the escape in a statement Tuesday afternoon, the zoo said it suspected "malicious intent'' and that a "small number'' of wolves were loose.

It said there was no danger to the public. The zoo has been working with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service to "contain'' the animals.

Langley RCMP are investigating what appears to be a case of unlawful entry and vandalism that involved damage to the wolves' enclosure.

"The RCMP is investigating the break and enter and the mischief to the zoo,'' Cpl. Holly Largy said in an interview Wednesday.

"I can just tell you that there was damage done to the enclosure to allow the wolves to exit. At this point, there's no surveillance, so we don't have any information to indicate how they got in or suspect information.''

The ministry said anyone who sees a wolf should keep their distance and report it by calling 1-877-952-7277.

Wolf found dead by roadside, another still missing after 'suspicious' B.C. zoo escape
Thursday



ALDERGROVE — One of the wolves that escaped its enclosure at the Greater Vancouver Zoo this week has been found dead on a roadside, and a second wolf is still missing, the zoo's deputy general manager said Thursday.


© Provided by The Canadian PressWolf found dead by roadside, another missing after B.C. zoo escape

Menita Prasad said both the zoo's perimeter fence and the grey wolf enclosure were deliberately "compromised" early Tuesday, allowing the zoo's nine adult wolves to escape while five cubs stayed inside the enclosure.

All but two of the adults were contained within the zoo's property, she said.

The zoo in Aldergrove, B.C., has been shut for three days as workers and conservation officers searched for the wolves, while Langley RCMP investigate the incident as a suspected case of unlawful entry and vandalism.

The fences had been cut, Prasad said. An earlier statement from the zoo said the escape was "suspicious, and believed to be due to malicious intent."

Searchers were "heartbroken" to find a three-year-old female wolf, Chia, dead by the side of 264 Street in Aldergrove on Thursday morning, Prasad told a press conference through tears.

It's presumed Chia was hit by a car, she said

A one-year-old female wolf named Tempest is still missing and believed to be in the vicinity of the zoo, Prasad said, adding that the animal, which was born at the facility, has a slim chance of surviving in the wild.

Prasad described Tempest as a "shy wolf" who poses no threat to public safety, though she said she could not say what the wolf might do if a person approached her. She urged anyone who sees the animal not to approach her and instead call authorities to report the location.

The wolf's prime motivation would be to get back to her family, she said.

"As a result of this senseless act, our wolf pack has lost two family members," Prasad said. "We watched these wolves grow up. We consider the animals at the zoo a part of our family."

She said the "search and rescue operation" would continue and is asking for the public's help "to reunite Tempest with her family.”

"She is a small wolf with grey brown puppy fur and white markings on her muzzle and her brow," Prasad said.

Anyone who spots Tempest is asked contact the Greater Vancouver Zoo, Langley RCMP or the BC Conservation Officer Service by calling 1-877-952-7277.

The zoo, which is about 55 kilometres outside Vancouver, is set to reopen on Saturday, Prasad said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 18, 2022.

The Canadian Press

THE 1%
New research reveals Canada's richest athletes with surprise at top
Postmedia News - Yesterday 

© Provided by Toronto SunMario Lemieux (left) and Wayne Gretzky

New research has revealed who Canada’s richest athletes are in terms of net worth.

While a pair of hockey legends are right near the top, the richest Canadian athlete is a bit of a surprise.

OLBG.com , a sports betting community platform, analyzed data surrounding Canada’s most successful athletes to find out who was the most well off. It wasn’t a shock to see Hockey Hall of Fame members and all-time greats Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, but rally driver Peter J. Thomson, with a net worth of $11 billion Canadian, came out on top, according to the research.

That said, most of Thomson’s wealth has nothing to do with sports, but instead from his businesses. Thomson is the son of the late Ken Thomson, who at the time of his death in 2006, was the richest man in Canada and the ninth richest in the world.

Peter Thomson, 56, has been rally racing since 1986 and has won a number of races.

Gretzky’s net worth of $320 million mostly comes from his off-ice ventures, as only a little over $60 million came from his NHL playing days.

Gretzky built his status through hockey, however, even after his retirement he’s continued to build his career with many other investments and business ventures both within and outside the hockey world.

Fellow icon Lemieux’s net worth of $193 million placed him third and, like Gretzky, most of the money didn’t come from his playing career. Lemieux owns the Pittsburgh Penguins, the franchise he starred for.


© Katie Stratman

Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto (19) reacts after a call in the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park April 22, 2022.

Baseball star Joey Votto, of the Cincinnati Reds, who was recently lost for the season due to injury, placed fourth, with a net worth of $140 million. Votto signed a 10-year, $240-million contract with the Reds in 2014.

Two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, now the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, placed fifth with a net worth of $122 million. Nash made nearly $190 million in salary as a player, according to Basketball-reference.com .

Rounding out the list was Sidney Crosby, another Penguins icon, with a net worth of $96 million; Chris Pronger, the dominant defenceman who has a net worth of $84 million; Fellow hockey players Jarome Iginla and Joe Thornton ($77 million apiece) and Formula One driver Lance Stroll ($64 million).

The findings showed a lack of equality, as a majority of the mentions were white males. There was only 1 POC and no women were included in the top 10. An investigation by CBC Sports reveals there is a prevalent issue among Canadian sports. They looked at 400 top positions at 56 universities and only 10% of the positions were held by POC.

Richard Moffat, CEO at OLBG.com said in a release: “It’s interesting to see athletes building their businesses both during and after their athletic careers. This research shows how being a sports personality is a real catalyst for wealth in Canada.”

OLBC.com says the methodology involved using Sportrac’s database “to look at the top rankings of the highest paid athletes for the most popular sports leagues and country specific (retired and active). We then supplemented this with other sources to identify top Canadian athletes all time where this data was no longer available on Sportrac. We used Celebritynetworth, Wealthy Gorilla and Bloomberg to identify athletes’ net worth and ensure we didn’t miss any important athletes.”

They said data was collected between July 28 and Aug. 3.

Bell Media plans workplace review as Lisa LaFlamme exit ripples through CTV newsroom

Yesterday 12:41 p.m.
\

TORONTO — The parent company of CTV News says it will launch a workplace review conducted by an independent party amid criticism of Lisa LaFlamme's dismissal from her role as chief anchor.


© Provided by The Canadian Press

Bell Media said in a statement Friday it "regrets" the way in which LaFlamme's departure was handled, as it "may have left viewers with the wrong impression" that her storied career wasn't valued.

On Monday, LaFlamme released a video statement saying she was "blindsided" after finding out in June that Bell Media was ending her contract at CTV National News. She said she kept the news under wraps until the details were finalized.

The dismissal, which Bell described as a "business decision," raised questions among media observers about whether sexism and ageism played a role in the shakeup.

Bell Media said Friday it takes allegations of discrimination "very seriously" and is moving forward with a third-party internal workplace review in the newsroom over the coming weeks.

The company did not respond to questions about whether a firm has been chosen to conduct the review.

"In a news organization, making a change at the anchor desk is always a difficult decision. We knew that many viewers and members of the CTV family would be disappointed that Lisa LaFlamme would be leaving her position," Bell Media's statement said.

"CTV regrets that the way in which the news of her departure has been communicated may have left viewers with the wrong impression about how CTV regards Lisa and her remarkable career."

LaFlamme's departure and her replacement were announced on the same day Monday, frustrating viewers who felt LaFlamme should have had a proper sign-off and career retrospective after 35 years with the company.

In a town hall meeting with staff on Thursday, two key Bell Media executives offered their perspectives on the events that transpired in recent weeks.

Karine Moses, senior vice-president of content development and news for Bell Media, said LaFlamme rejected the opportunity to bid farewell on air.

In an audio recording of the meeting obtained by The Canadian Press, Moses told employees that LaFlamme wasn't simply ousted from the company.

She "was offered many options to come back and to do many things, which she declined, and I respect that," Moses said, without detailing the other job opportunities Bell Media presented to LaFlamme.

Moses was asked by one staff member to explain why leadership felt LaFlamme didn't fit into their future business plan, or whether age and hair colour played a role in their decision. LaFlamme is 58 and had chosen to maintain a more natural grey hair colour during the pandemic.

"It's a very, I would say, personal question," Moses responded.

"I don't think the intent of this meeting is to discuss the discussion that happened with somebody else. The intent of this meeting is to discuss what we want to do as a team," Moses responded.

Pressed further about whether LaFlamme's age or gender was an issue, Moses denied the suggestion.

"Not at all," she said. "Seriously, I'm a woman. I've been here for 25 years, and do you really think I would fire a woman because she's a woman?"

The same staff member pointed out that Moses used the word "fired" to describe LaFlamme's exit.

Moses responds with, "That's not what I'm saying, but you know what I mean," and a moderator quickly moved on to another question.

Michael Melling, vice president of Bell Media's news division, told staff he had no intention of speaking publicly or participating in media interviews about the recent events.

He said anonymous sources have been spreading erroneous information that was "said without context or manipulated." He did not specify what he considered inaccurate.

Melling added that in the coming weeks he intends to hold "a number of small team meetings," to discuss the future of the flagship newscast, promising to share audience figures and trends as well as financial data.

"I want you guys to see the bigger picture," he said.

One CTV staff member raised concerns that incoming top anchor Omar Sachedina, who begins his new job as lead anchor on Sept. 5, has seen "a lot of damage" to his reputation from how Bell Media mishandled the transition.

"I think the public consensus is, right now, it looks like Omar stabbed Lisa in the back," the employee said.

Moses, who earlier in the meeting acknowledged CTV shouldn't have announced Sachedina's appointment on the same day as LaFlamme's departure, said "it might take time" for the new face of the brand to build trust with viewers. She added that she's confident CTV News will "turn the corner."

Addressing employee concerns about low morale in the newsroom, she said "it should not be like that."

"We should feel good about where we work," she said.

"So if you guys have any ideas ... on why the morale is not good, I would like to know because we need to fix that."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2022.

David Friend, The Canadian Press

Canada's golden crop isn't built for heat. Canola breeders hope to fix that

Jaela Bernstien - CBC

Canola is the golden crop of the prairies — both in terms of colour and profitability. But the signature export of Western Canada isn't adapted to long periods of heat, as farmers saw last year when extreme heat and drought cut canola yields drastically.

As climate change alters growing conditions, Canadian researchers are working with farmers to breed canola for a future of extremes, in the hopes of growing more heat tolerant varieties for the future.

Canola, sometimes called the Cinderella crop in reference to its success story in Canada, contributes more than $29 billion to the economy every year.

An abbreviation of the words Canada and oil, canola is a specific group of rapeseed varieties bred for cooking oil and animal feed. But before it made its way to North America, rapeseed was grown in Asia for thousands of years. Production in Canada only ramped up during the Second World War, to answer a critical shortage of lubricant oil for marine engines.

Climate change interrupts a Cinderella story

It wasn't until the 1960s that plant breeders in Saskatchewan and Manitoba developed

varieties that produced quality, edible oil. After that, it was a quick ascent to success.

But the industry took a hit when, in the summer of 2021, Western Canada was enveloped in heat and drought. Most of Canada's canola is grown in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Due to extreme heat and drought, production fell to the lowest level since 2007 and canola yields dropped by 40 per cent, according to a report by Statistics Canada.

"2021 was ugly," said Dean Roberts, a small grains farmer who grows canola, wheat, barley, peas, lentils and flax in Coleville, in west central Saskatchewan.

Roberts, who spoke to CBC News while out for a drive scouting his fields, said last year the heat cut his canola yields in half, if not more.

"It was too hot and too dry for too long," said Roberts, who is a board member of the Canadian Canola Growers Association and a director of the board for SaskCanola.

"We can take a certain amount of heat and a certain amount of drought, but that was too much of everything."

Heat vs canola: A two-pronged attack

Heat doesn't just hurt canola by drying out the soil. The cool-season crop also suffers if there are long stretches of high temperatures during the flowering season, which is typically late June and early July in Western Canada.

Malcolm Morrison, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada who specializes in oilseeds, said heat during flowering harms canola's pollen vitality, as well as its ability to self-pollinate and, ultimately, fertilization.

"Canola is not a tropical crop," Morrison said.

While sometimes the plants can recover after a few hot days by producing new branches with flowers, that will delay maturity — a problem for Western Canada's shorter growing season.

Heat can also make the flowers abort or fail to form seed pods — which means no oilseeds.

"You really get a two-pronged attack from the weather; you run out of moisture and the flowers abort, so you lose yield on both sides of that equation," Roberts said.

While his crops have fared better in 2022, Roberts knows the future will be unpredictable.

Greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans are contributing to more frequent and more intense heat waves, and Canada is no exception.

Roberts said he doesn't think any canola variety on the market right now could withstand a repeat of 2021.

"I think it's up to the plant breeders now to go back to their genetics and start chasing some of that heat tolerance as it gets to be more prevalent."

That's exactly what a team of plant breeders at the University of Manitoba are hoping to do.

Breeding plants for 20 years in the future

Rob Duncan, a professor at the University of Manitoba and a canola breeder, has been working on developing heat-tolerant varieties of canola, along with Chad Koscielny, North American canola breeding lead at Coteva Agriscience.

"You always have to be looking forward," Duncan said. "You are essentially predicting how the varieties you produce now [are] going to adapt in 10 or 20 years or the long-term future."

Duncan said they've had some promising results through selective breeding — mixing certain varieties of canola to create hybrids with better tolerance for heat.


© Austin Grabish/CBC

Canola is stored in bins pictured on a farm near Starbuck, Manitoba.

While the new varieties aren't ready for the commercial market yet, Koscielny said the goal is to help farmers be better prepared if there's a repeat of the 2021 heat dome.

"These hybrids have the potential to expand potential acres of canola, and minimize the impact of extreme environmental events," he said.

Morrison said he has faith that the scientific community will come up with viable solutions as growing conditions shift.

"We have to make our crops more agile," he said. "I think that one of the best ways of doing this is to have active plant breeding programs."

The difficult thing for farmers is climate change doesn't just make things hotter, but more unpredictable, Morrison said.

"If we could say that, oh, boy, we're always going to be able to plant our crop April 5 [from now on], but we can't because one of the things with climate change is that there's an increase in fluctuation."

Canola farmers no stranger to innovation

If breeders can develop a more heat-tolerant variety, it wouldn't be the first time that research helped canola farmers adapt to harsh elements on the prairies.

Roberts recalls how, on older varieties of canola, the pods would fall and shatter in a big windstorm. Breeding programs responded by developing more durable varieties.

He said heat will be the next challenge. "We're going to need more robust varieties in the future. I don't know if we're there right now."

Duncan agreed, and said farmers may also have to think about diversifying their portfolio, so to speak, by planting a combination of varieties of canola on their fields, some with tolerance to flooding, other with tolerance to heat.

He said breeding is just one part of the climate adaptation puzzle, and that farming strategies including no-till farming and irrigation are also part of the equation.

While Roberts acknowledges that's true, he said farmers are already doing everything they can on the ground.

"We've been dealing with climate change longer than the general public," he said. "We are tied very directly to our land and the weather."

"The genetics are where the biggest move is going to have to come from."

Our planet is changing. So is our journalism. This story is part of a CBC News initiative entitled "Our Changing Planet" to show and explain the effects of climate change. Keep up with the latest news on our Climate and Environment page.

Michelle O'Bonsawin nominated to Supreme Court, making her first Indigenous justice

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nominated Ontario judge Michelle O'Bonsawin to the Supreme Court of Canada on Friday, making her the first Indigenous person poised to sit on the country's highest bench.

O'Bonsawin comes to the court after spending five years as a judge at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa, where she was also the first Indigenous woman to hold that position.

Before that, she spent eight years serving as the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group's general counsel. She has also taught law at the University of Ottawa, and earlier worked in legal services for the RCMP and Canada Post.

Born in Hanmer, Ont., just outside Sudbury, O'Bonsawin identifies as a bilingual Franco-Ontarian and an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation, according to a biography released by the Prime Minister's Office.

The First Nation's elected chief, Richard O'Bomsawin, said news of her appointment has made him proud.

"She's definitely an inspiration to the nation. She's definitely an inspiration to other up-and-coming native people," he said in an interview. "She's truly showed native people that anything is possible. We just have to keep struggling and trying."

O'Bomsawin said he knows the newest Supreme Court justice personally, describing her as "a really good person" who put in a lot of hard work and deserves the opportunity. He and O'Bonsawin belong to the same family but are not closely related, he added.

Praise from O'Bonsawin's appointment came from outside her home community as well.

"Canada's top court has always been missing an individual to interpret Canadian laws through an Indigenous lens — but not anymore," Elmer St. Pierre, the national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, said in a statement Friday.

"Indigenous people have long faced discrimination, racism and prejudice in Canada’s justice system, leading to the overrepresentation of our people in courts and prisons. Governments must continue to ensure Indigenous voices help create laws, interpret and enforce them."

The congress said it is "thrilled" about the decision — the same word used by the Canadian Bar Association, which said O'Bonsawin will be a "great asset" for the court.

Murray Sinclair, a former senator and former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said in a statement O'Bonsawin will be an "important voice" on the court.

Sinclair said he advised O'Bonsawin on her application for the job and described her as "immensely qualified" for the position.

"It is long past due that the court has a seat for an Indigenous justice, one who has seen firsthand the impact of colonialism on Indigenous communities," he said. "The court is made stronger, and our decisions are better, when there are diverse perspectives where they are needed most."

RoseAnne Archibald, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, tweeted that O'Bonsawin's nomination is "an important appointment at a critical time" and congratulated the incoming justice for making "#HERstory."

O'Bonsawin will fill the vacancy left by Justice Michael Moldaver, who is set to retire Sept. 1 a few months before he turns 75, the court's mandatory retirement age.

Last year, Justice Mahmud Jamal became the first person of colour to join the Supreme Court's ranks.

Related video: Michelle O'Bonsawin becomes 1st Indigenous person nominated to Supreme Court of Canada

Duration 2:01  View on Watch

The requirement for English-French bilingualism has been cited as a factor that previously complicated efforts to find Indigenous candidates for the court amid long-standing criticism about diversity on the bench.

Drew Lafond, president of the Indigenous Bar Association, said despite three seats being set aside for Quebec judges, the court has also never reserved a spot for somebody to represent Canada's population of Indigenous Peoples.

The process that led to O'Bonsawin's nomination was the first to include Indigenous representation on the Trudeau-era Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments. Lafond's association successfully nominated lawyer David Nahwegahbow to join the committee earlier this year.

When it comes to matters that affect Indigenous Peoples, "it's very difficult to have confidence in the ability of the court to pronounce on those issues when you don't have any individuals at the court who spent their lives working in Indigenous laws, customs or traditions," Lafond said. "Hopefully with Michelle's appointment we can begin to change that."

Polsia Carrozza and Brooke Wakegijig, both executive members of the Indigenous Law Students Governance at O'Bonsawin's alma mater, the University of Ottawa, said they were excited — though not surprised, since her name's been "floating around for a while," as Carrozza put it — when they heard news of the nomination Friday morning.

"The worry with these kinds of big appointments is, 'are they just ticking a box? Is this a diversity hire?' That’s always the fear, that she’s just there for Justin Trudeau to say that he did this and he gets to put that on his track record," said Carrozza.

But the incoming justice is "unbelievably qualified" and her nomination is a much-needed first step, said Carrozza, who is Métis and a third-year student in the same French common law program that O'Bonsawin graduated from. "It’s taken a long time for Indigenous people in general, but especially Indigenous women, to be taken seriously and to be trusted in positions of authority."

Wakegijig, a second-year law student from Wiikwemkoong First Nation in northern Ontario, said she feels a little cynical about how dramatically things will change with one Indigenous voice at the table.

Still, she's enthusiastic about the experience O'Bonsawin brings to the court.

"It's a good day for Indigenous women, and women in general, and it's a good day for people who experience mental health issues that are involved with the law, and Indigenous peoples involved in the criminal justice system."

Before O'Bonsawin begins in the new role, the House of Commons justice committee is expected to meet next Wednesday to hear from the justice minister and the chairperson of the independent advisory board for Supreme Court appointments. O'Bonsawin will then appear before the committee and members of the Senate for a question-and-answer session.

The hearing is not expected to prove controversial, with Canadian Supreme Court nominees rarely facing the same dramatic scrutiny as their counterparts in the United States. Conservative justice critic Rob Moore issued a statement on Friday congratulating her on her nomination.

O'Bonsawin's biography says she has "developed a thorough understanding of legal issues related to mental health" and "performed significant research regarding the use of Gladue principles in the forensic mental-health system."

She successfully defended a PhD thesis at the University of Ottawa earlier this year about the application of Gladue principles, which outline ways for judges to consider the unique experiences of Indigenous Peoples.

In an online post last year, the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice quoted O'Bonsawin, one of its board members, saying that her role model is former Supreme Court chief justice Beverley McLachlin.

A required questionnaire posted by the Department of Justice upon her appointment to the Ontario Superior Court elaborated on her experience with mental-health law.

"I would like to ensure that the stigma associated with mental health is reduced and one day completely eliminated. This applies not only to the general population but also to the judiciary," O'Bonsawin wrote.

"Quickly identifying mental-health problems at the start of any legal proceeding would help individuals more quickly access the appropriate treatment they need to improve their mental health and to become productive members of society."

She also wrote about her appreciation for the situation faced by Indigenous Peoples and described being discriminated against and made fun of as a young Indigenous girl growing up off-reserve.

She said her experience as a francophone Indigenous woman, as a mother and as a professional in the mental health and Indigenous law fields is "a clear example of the rich diversity that makes our country so special to me and my family."

Answering a question about the appropriate role of a judge in a constitutional democracy, O'Bonsawin wrote that judges must interpret the constitution as a living document and "demonstrate great skill in striking the delicate balance between the needs of the public and the rights of the individual."

She said judges must be politically neutral, without external influence and always keep in mind that decisions "may help protect vulnerable populations, those that cannot speak for themselves and are often exploited."

In a video posted to the University of Ottawa website, O'Bonsawin described wanting to become a lawyer as early as the age of nine and pushing back when a high-school guidance counsellor said it might not be in the cards for someone from a small northern Ontario community.

"No, this is what I'm going to do," she told him then. "Watch me."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2022.

Marie-Danielle Smith, The Canadian Press