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Expert: Trial of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro

katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 17:51:50 +0000

Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, has been charged with attempting to stage a coup d’état and reclaim power following his loss of the 2022 election. The verdict and sentencing phase of the trial is now beginning.

This ��ñ�� expert can talk about Bolsonaro’s trial; the legacy of dictatorships in Brazil; the effects of U.S tariffs against Brazil; and human rights and amnesty.

New technique replicates microplastics in the lab with greater precision

kay.pettigrew@mcgill.ca — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 15:02:37 +0000

��ñ�� researchers have developed a novel method to replicate four types of microplastics commonly found in the environment, providing researchers with a standardized approach to study their toxic effects.

Earth’s deep time isn’t just layered — it’s fractal, study finds

keila.depape@mcgill.ca — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 17:40:04 +0000

Geological time, usually seen as a complex system of eras, periods, and epochs considered through layers of rock, may actually follow a simple, unifying pattern. A new study, led by ��ñ�� physicist Shaun Lovejoy, shows that the boundaries dividing the Earth’s most important historical events, such as mass extinctions and major climate shifts, follow a fractal pattern: self-similar and statistically consistent across scales of millions to hundreds of millions of years.

Jennifer Welsh on Canada’s Role in Filling the Global Leadership Void | The Red Passport Podcast

admin — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 15:42:10 +0000

July 31, 2025 | On The Red Passport Podcast, Jennifer Welsh joins Louise Blais, Jeremy Kinsman, and Peter Donolo to discuss the consequences of the United States abandoning its traditional role in global leadership. Together, they reflect on what this shift means for today’s major international challenges — and how countries like Canada can help fill the gap.

L’Europe et le défi américain | Tour de Table

admin — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 17:53:17 +0000

June 18, 2025 | In March 2023, Jennifer Welsh launched Tour de Table, a podcast series that joins leading scholars and policymakers for a bilingual discussion of the political, economic, and security challenges confronting our world and whether and how Canada is prepared to address them.

Gabriel Blanc on Rethinking Canada's Energy Future and Embracing Renewable Growth | Policy Magazine

admin — Mon, 12 May 2025 17:52:45 +0000

May 12, 2025 | In an op-ed for Policy Magazine, MPP '25 Gabriel Blanc critiques Prime Minister Mark Carney’s energy policy, arguing that increasing oil and gas production is a misguided approach to Canada’s abundance agenda. Blanc highlights how the growth of renewable energy technology offers a more sustainable path to economic prosperity, urging Carney to prioritize climate action as an opportunity for leadership in the green economy.

Pearl Eliadis on Why Quebec Must Invest in Second-Stage Shelters to Break the Cycle of Violence | CQPI

admin — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 18:36:03 +0000

March 2025 | In a 2024 policy brief for the Collectif québécois pour la prévention de l’itinérance (CQPI), Pearl Eliadis, alongside Melissa Shemirani and Angelina Freeman, highlights the urgent need for increased investment in second-stage shelters for women and children fleeing domestic and intimate partner violence. Building on a 2022 recommendation from CQPI’s Gender Research Stream, the team conducted a rapid literature review that found second-stage housing plays a vital role in bridging the gap between emergency shelters and permanent housing.

Vincent Rigby on The End of Arctic Exceptionalism | CSIS

admin — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 13:43:36 +0000

March 20, 2025 | Professor Vincent Rigby spoke on the end of arctic exceptionalism on a podcast episode of Center for Strategic & International Studies. Climate change and the reduction in sea ice is opening new shipping routes, and making it easier to tap the arctic’s natural resource wealth, especially critical minerals.

Jennifer Welsh on Advancing Localization in Global Politics | Global Studies Quarterly

admin — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 19:18:15 +0000

January 2025 | Jennifer Welsh, alongside co-authors Adam Kochanski and Emily K. M. Scott, wrote "Localization in World Politics: Bridging Theory and Practice" in Global Studies Quarterly. The article introduces a special forum on the concept of localization, exploring its significance in both international relations theory and real-world policy. It addresses why localization has gained attention, its historical roots, what and who is considered “local,” and how localization can be studied.

Vincent Rigby on the Challenges Ahead for the Canada-EU Defence Pact | Expert Group on Canada-US Relations

admin — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 17:45:02 +0000

June 2025 | Vincent Rigby, alongside other senior experts, co-authored a white paper analyzing the Canada-EU Security and Defence Partnership. While the agreement aims to reduce reliance on U.S. defence suppliers and expand access to the European market, the report warns that its success is far from guaranteed. Rigby and his co-authors highlight major fiscal and political barriers, including Canada’s underinvestment in defence, EU divisions over spending targets, and implementation hurdles in aligning procurement and supply chains.

Norman Hillmer on Canada’s Efforts to Protect Its Sovereignty | Literary Review of Canada

admin — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 14:35:17 +0000

June 2025 | At the Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada, Norman Hillmer gave a stark warning about the threat a second Trump presidency could pose to Canada. He argued that no other American president has been as openly hostile to Canadian sovereignty, describing Trump as uniquely cruel and dangerous. Hillmer reflected on Canada’s long history of trying to assert its independence from the United States—through resisting annexation in earlier centuries, and negotiating free trade on its own terms in the 1980s. While many U.S.

Taylor Owen on Canadians’ Vulnerability to Election Disinformation | TVO Today

admin — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 18:30:43 +0000

April 23, 2025 | Taylor Owen, principal investigator for the Media Ecosystem Observatory, highlights the growing challenge of disinformation in Canada’s high-stakes federal election. In an interview with Steve Paikin on TVO Today, Owen explains how the rapid spread of false and misleading information online is making it increasingly difficult for voters to distinguish fact from fiction.

What problem is Pierre Poilievre trying to solve with his TFSA proposal? | Toronto Star

admin — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 12:43:30 +0000

March 30, 2025 | Professor Jennifer Robson is the 2024-25 McConnell Visiting Scholar. For the last 20 years, there has been no limit to how much you can invest outside of Canada in tax-preferred savings accounts like TFSAs and RRSPs. In a largely stable, rules-based, and tightly-integrated global market, that probably made sense for an open economy like ours (Canada).

Pearl Eliadis on the Risks of Quebec’s Secularism Report | CBC

admin — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 15:57:07 +0000

August 28, 2025 | In a story reported by CBC, a Quebec government committee has issued 50 recommendations, including extending the religious symbols ban to subsidized daycares and requiring people to uncover their faces for public services. These proposals have drawn criticism from community leaders, who argue they discriminate against religious minorities, particularly Muslim women.

Ricardo Chejfec MPP '21 and Abigail Jackson MPP '23 on Why Canada’s Nation-Building Projects Need a Skills Revolution | Policy Options

admin — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 15:18:09 +0000

July 16, 2025 | Abigail Jackson, MPP '23, and Ricardo Chejfec, MPP '21, along with Rachel Samson, co-wrote an article in Policy Options arguing that Canada’s push to accelerate major infrastructure and energy projects must be matched by an ambitious strategy to build the local skills needed to support them. They stress that without early investment in training and better coordination among employers, governments, and educators, many rural and remote communities could be excluded from the benefits of these nation-building efforts.