A&S scholars sharing their expertise in the media this week

From the funding of police and other emergency services in Winnipeg to options for foreign governments when engaging with the Taliban now ruling Afghanistan, scholars from a range of disciplines across the Faculty of Arts & Science are sharing their expertise on a variety of issues in the media.

Here’s some of what they had to say this week.

August 20, 2021

• Jamie Duncan, a PhD student at the Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies comments in a Toronto Star story examining the funding of police and other emergency services in Winnipeg. 

August 21, 2021

• Department of Sociology professor and chair Scott Schieman co-authors an op-ed in the Toronto Star exploring communication among co-workers when working remotely.

August 23, 2021

• Professor Rafael Gomez, director of the Centre for Industrial Relations & Human Resources, comments in the Globe and Mail on a campaign promise by the Conservative Party of Canada that would ensure representation of workers at federally regulated businesses on their boards of directors.
• Department of Economics assistant professor Michael Stepner comments in CNBC on the limited impact of early withdrawal from federal unemployment support programs across the United States on job growth and consumer spending.

August 24, 2021

• Department of Economics professor Michael Smart writes an op-ed in the Financial Post examining the Conservative Party’s promise of a GST tax holiday during this coming December.
• Department of Political Science and Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy professor Peter Loewen comments in the Globe and Mail on election campaigning in Ontario in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Rafael Gomez comments in the Toronto Star on the near-total rejection of work refusals filed in Ontario throughout the pandemic.
• Department of Computer Science professor emeritus Ron Baecker comments in CTV News on algorithms used by the ride-hailing app Uber that estimated a higher fare for a Black woman than for a white man for identical trips.

August 25, 2021

• Department of Political Science professor emeritus Nelson Wiseman speaks in the Wall Street Journal on COVID-19 vaccine mandates as a campaign issue during Canada’s federal election.
• Cynthia Khoo, a research fellow in the Citizen Lab at the Munk School, speaks in the National Post about increased government oversight in the use of algorithms in modern society.
• Eric Merkley, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, comments in Yahoo News on the uncertainty among Canadians about the reason for the current federal election.

August 26, 2021

• Nelson Wiseman comments in the Ottawa Citizen on the potential impact of the evacuations from Afghanistan on the Canadian election.
• Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies PhD student Erick Laming comments in Cabin Radio on the arrest of a woman in Inuvik and claims of violation of rights by male police officers.
• A research project based in the lab of Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology assistant professor Chelsea Rochman that uses GPS technology to track plastic pollution as it floats around Lake Ontario is highlighted in IT World Canada.
• University Professor Janice Stein of the Department of Political Science and the Munk School comments in the Toronto Star on options for foreign governments when engaging with the Taliban now ruling Afghanistan.