Analysis

Schools in and around Toronto closed their doors suddenly last week as more contagious COVID-19 variants spread throughout the region. But amid a third wave threatening to overrun its hospitals, Ontario still can’t tell how much the virus is spreading in classrooms.

The U.S. president should spend more money and raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations, writes Julian Brave NoiseCat.

"Seeing" our family car litter 15 plastic straws out its tailpipe every second on the highway completely changed my understanding of our climate pollution emergency. And then I did the math for my flight. Barry Saxifrage details his eye-opening findings.

Despite recent successes, students urging their universities to divest from fossil fuels say school administrations need to pay closer attention to their demands.

Students and recent graduates are unlikely to find a tuition cut or loan relief in Wednesday’s Ontario budget, while one-time classroom funding tied to the COVID-19 pandemic is in play for a government uncomfortable with big spending.

Neither Australia nor Canada should bend over backwards for Google or Facebook, writes Dwayne Winseck, a professor at Carleton University's School of Journalism and Communication.

The Paris Agreement calls on all countries to strengthen their initial targets this year. What should Canada aim for? Here are four charts illustrating the current situation and the choices ahead.

The federal NDP's calls for Proud Boys to be labelled terrorists may play well on university and college campuses — even if the demand is ultimately rejected, writes Camilla Bains.

The perpetrator of the 2017 Quebec City mosque attack — and his consumption of far-right media online — should remind us that social isolation and white supremacy are an explosive mix, writes Nora Loreto.

For the first time, Canada has proposed a way to meet its climate targets, but it will take a lot more tough legislation to rein in emissions from our highest polluters, writes Barry Saxifrage.

Should hospitals reuse medical supplies? A recent study says yes.

Across the province, a growing distrust in the LTB’s processes means legal clinic lawyers are increasingly turning to the courts to handle urgent eviction matters amid a second wave of COVID-19 infections, according to multiple lawyers who spoke to Canada's National Observer.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce has boasted in recent weeks that the Progressive Conservatives’ back-to-school strategy is working, but epidemiological studies and experts suggest it’s difficult to make that claim without more testing.

The Americans and Europeans have sprinted ahead, and even the coal-choked Chinese economy is about to pass us by, says Barry Saxifrage.

U.S. president-elect Joe Biden’s win gives the globe a better chance of averting climate catastrophe, but major obstacles remain.